Fool Me Once

By: Ashley Winstead

Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

“A simmering slow burn bursting with banter… This is a romance for anyone who’s ever felt too messy to be loved.”

—ROSIE DANAN, author of The Roommate

In this fierce and funny battle of the exes, Ashley Winstead's Fool Me Once explores the chaos of wanting something you used to have.

Lee Stone is a twenty-first-century woman: she kicks butt at her job as a communications director at a women-run electric car company (that’s better than Tesla, thank you), and after work she is “Stoner,” drinking guys under the table and never letting any of them get too comfortable in her bed…

That’s because Lee’s learned one big lesson: never trust love. Four major heartbreaks set her straight, from her father cheating on her mom all the way to Ben Laderman in grad school—who wasn’t actually cheating, but she could have sworn he was, so she reciprocated in kind.

Then Ben shows up five years later, working as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history, just as Lee is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Things get complicated—and competitive—as Lee and Ben are forced to work together. Tension builds just as old sparks reignite, fanning the flames for a romantic dustup the size of Texas.

Don't miss The Boyfriend Candidate, Ashley Winstead's next laugh-out-loud rom-com about learning to embrace living outside your comfort zone!

©2022 Ashley Winstead (P)2022 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Smart and delicious

Ashley Winstead is a brilliant writer and has created another gem. The characters are smart and complex including the bad-ass but lovable fallible heroine. Laugh out loud funny, exciting and poignant story and super hot. My favorite Audible in a long time. Perfectly read by Ann Marie Gideon. Loved it so much.

Humorous Second Chance Romance

I loved everything about Lee and Ben’s reunion and their push to turn Texas green. This story about love and trust is laugh-out-loud funny and smart. Lee and Ben are a flawed and relatable couple that have a far from perfect path to finding love a second time.

Narrator Ann Marie Gideon makes Fool Me Once an entertaining listen. Gideon takes you on the Lee Stone roller coaster showcasing all of Lee’s contradictions, sarcastic humor, and growing pains as she figures out her issues. This is one of the best audiobooks that I’ve listened to in a while.

Cute. Light. Relatable

I listened to this book for book club and I am so glad I did!
The characters are so relatable and the story line is accurate to a Texas City.
It has it all. Politics, scandal, and romance!

Refreshing modern story

I loved the characters, the struggles and the themes. It held my attention and gave me the ending I needed.

Cute & quirky

Cute & sassy romcom. Maybe a bit too much politics for my taste but this was well written and entertaining.

What an absolute mess!

This book was such a mess! It was all over the place. There were waaay to many plot twists and scandals in the story. It is very unrealistic. There is absolutely no way that the main character would have gotten the job of a communications director. She was such a mess. She was a pothead, alcoholic, and possibly a nymphomaniac. Also, she was very impulsive and trashy. She and Ben were very pathetic. And honestly, the more I read, the more cringy and sad it got. I wish I never wasted a credit on this mess of a book. Do yourself a favor and read “Meet Me in the Middle”. This book tried to accomplish what “Meet Me in the Middle” does, but did not succeed to say the least. I guess if you love toxic relationships and immature adults, then this book is for you.

no

Oh my this was a tough listen. The narrator was great, but Lee was AWFUL. irredeemably awful.
One star for the story, and no — the politics has nothing to do with that

Mediocre Story and Poor Narratiion

Written at a junior high level, this mediocre story may have been helped by a great reader. Sadly, it was not to be. Save yourself a frustrating experience and pass this one up!