Interior Design and Other Emotions

By: Kate Forest

Narrated by: Kassiopia DeVora

Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

There are side effects to falling in love.

Gina Giancarlo is an interior design genius, fast as lightning with numbers...and autistic. Yearning to be just like everyone else, she joins a drug trial that promises to help her experience a full range of emotions.

With the ink still wet on his MBA, Chris Rinaldi has only two goals - make bags of cash and bag lots of women. Dancing on the edge of insider trading, he pushes his company to buy stock in a pharmaceutical firm because of its promising new autism drug.

As Gina's understanding of the world blossoms, she forms a connection with the Wall Street hustler, who appreciates her - quirks and all. And for the first time since his sister's death, Chris experiences true emotions with a woman who has recently discovered passion herself.

Gina believes the pills are responsible for her awakening. Chris knows they're responsible for his success. And when the drug is discontinued, the cost of "normal" might bankrupt their future.

©2016 Kate Forest (P)2018 Kate Forest

Had a hard time getting into this narration

This narration was a struggle for me, I personally could not get the voice to go with the character. Good story overall though. "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

A different kind of love

I've been wanting for a while to find a different type of romance and add some variety into the many tropes out there. This was just what I was looking for to shake things up.

Chris is living the good life as a financial analyst on Wall Street. He's loaded and living the playboy lifestyle but it's not enough. He's taking a big risk by asking the clients at his firm to buy stock in a pharmaceutical firm with a new drug being tested.

Gina is autistic. She lives with her grandma and works at a coffee shop. She's brilliant with numbers and how things should fit in a space but socially she struggles. Her emotions are muted and she doesn't pick up on a lot of social cues. That is until she is offered to be a part of a new drug trial.

As Gina starts taking the medication, her world starts to open up for her. During the drug trial, she is tasked with putting herself out there socially to see if the medicine is helping her to cope. This is how she reconnects with an old childhood acquaintance, Chris.

This is a slow burn love and not your usual romance. You get to see an autistic woman learn to live in a new world because of this drug she has been taking. Chris, has no intentions of being romantically involved with Gina but the more she opens up, the more Chris connects with her.

It really is a beautiful love story but like all love stories, there are things that happen to test the love these two have for each other. The word count is on the shorter side but you feel like you are getting a full length novel. A lot happens but it also never felt rushed. The timing of everything was pretty spot on.

I recommend listening to the audiobook. The narrator did a really good job with Gina's character.

Wow! Loved everything about this!

Audiobook: Narrator – Kassiopia DeVora

This narrator did an excellent job of giving voice to the heroine who is autistic. The fluctuations of her voice or lack thereof that was necessary for this character were spot on. The hero’s voice was distinct and rough enough to be believable as well as the accents required for the secondary characters.

This book really took me by surprise. It didn’t take any of the obvious roads other books using this plotline might have taken.

When Gina has the opportunity to participate in a trial of a new drug to help autism, she is excited and scared. Even as her emotional eyes begin to open and she experiences emotions that had always been a mystery to her before, she fluctuates between fear and excitement. In this new world she learns that with the feel good moments there also comes times of sadness. Putting into practice all of the strategies she has been taught she gives everything she has into moving forward into her new world.

Chris was not a nice guy when this story begins. He uses women and he has his eye on only one thing…making money and moving to the top of his company. With a bit of shady insider type information, he presents a new investment to his superior. When he meets Gina, a girl from his old neighborhood, he is taken with her quirky ways and the way she views the world through innocent eyes.

I loved how Chris and Gina were exactly what the other needed to bring out the best in each other. Chris slowly yields to the good boy his momma raised as he takes Gina under his wing and into his heart as well. Even as he was protective over her, he allowed her to stretch her limits and grow. I enjoyed watching him fall in love even as much as I enjoyed seeing Gina morph into the woman she could be.

When the rug is suddenly pulled out from underneath them, they both have hard decisions to make and that is when the true depth of these characters shine. My heart broke for Gina as she comes to terms with what her future might hold as well as for Chris as he faces his family and his position in the company.

While the angst is relatively low throughout most of this story, it does amp up towards the end due to Chris and Gina’s own decisions rather than any outside forces. This book has a great pace to it that was constantly moving forward. The chemistry between these two was scorching and I adored how Chris wanted to only do what was right for Gina.

Fresh and original, this was an excellent read!

Dual POV

Good story!

This was an interesting look at autism and a good listen. Narrator did a great job as male and female. I enjoyed both perspectives. The story showed many of feelings that autism can cause a family to experience and how others perceive them. Nice surprise and I would recommend!

Excellent!

This is one of those books that anyone & everyone can read. It helps understand the inner thoughts of an autistic mind. How the don’t feel emotion. I have an autistic nephew & the depiction of how he works through things was spot on. Narration was wonderful.

Sweet Listen

This was a sweet listen by Kate Forest. The premise was completely original and the story was something like I have never read before. I loved listening to Gina and all that she went through, all her "new" experiences and just seeing her develop as her own person after not being completely herself due to her Autism. Chris was a great character as well and I am a sucker for the guy who thinks he has everything and doesn't realize what is truly important. Kassiopia DeVora did a great job bringing these characters to life and all their emotions on their journey.

I know this is fiction but I really liked the premise of this story and this had me really thinking about clinical trials and how they work and how they impact those that are part of the studies.

Great Story

This was a great story with a insight into autism. Narration was great! I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and/or author and/or narrator in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic romance listen with a unique heroine

Loved this listen and adore the fact that the heroine has autism. This was a fantastic overall listen. Loved the narrator too! I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

My Thoughts on Interior Design and Other Emotions

This was a good story with unique characters. I enjoyed the growth shown by both main characters and the way they seemed to be good for each other. I can't say I loved some of the secondary characters but that kind of added to the overall enjoyment of the story for me.

The narrator did a great job. In all honesty she was probably my favorite part. She did a great accent for all the characters and just made it really fun to listen to the audiobook. I will definitely be looking for more books by her.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

lovely amazing soft

can I love this book more I think I can't I loved the story very much it was very well written and the book was too short I wanted more I need more from those characters so very much and I loved it I loved it the author didn't made this story too long because you can see that she could do it but she didn't and I respect her for it
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.