My Charming Rival

By: Lauren Blakely

Narrated by: Zachary Webber, Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Note: My Charming Rival was previously released as Stars in Their Eyes. It has now been updated and turned into a duet.

To do list: graduate with honors, get into medical school, and snag the most sought-after celebrity photo of all time to cover my tuition. One more thing - resist the hot British guy who's my biggest rival.

But from the first day I run into William on his motorcycle, he makes that difficult, since he's flirty, charming, clever, and keeps trying to convince me to spend the night with him.

Trust me - stripping him down to nothing is on my wish list, but I can't let him get under my skin as I chase cheating directors and stake out clandestine trysts. Yet everywhere I go, my most charming rival is there - is he following me, trying to woo me, or aiming to sabotage my plans?

When I'm offered a brand new ticket to my dreams, I have to decide if I want to team up with the sexiest enemy ever.... Except there's a third option too - and that one's looking mighty appealing - if I'm willing to take a crazy chance.

My Charming Rival is book one. The story continues in My Sexy Rival.

©2014 Lauren Blakely (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

not your standard LB

CLIFFHANGER ALERT ..the story took a long time to get going and then it just ends rather abruptly. The characters were a bit flat and not quite fleshed out by the end of the 4 hour book. The development was slow and the chemistry was a bit lacking. I usually love LB but this book was just a bit meh... glad it was an Audibles Escape option. (sorry Lauren but I was just not feeling it with this one).

The narrators are among my favorites so it helped keep me listening.

1/2 of Audiobook

I enjoy Lauren Blakely's books but it's so annoying when the split a book into 2 or 3 books just for more revenue, which is exactly the situation for this Rival series. You can hardly call My Charming Rival a full novel thus it's hardly worth a full credit. I'm glad it's part of Audible Escape or it would be extremely disappointing.

Gahhh!! Tough to review!

I generally love Lauren Blakely audiobooks and can't wait to dive into them. But My Charming Rival fell flat for me. I felt like this entire audiobook could have been reduced and/or condensed and added into the second book in the series. I get the cliffhanger and it was a good one. But so little happened in this book that if it hadn't been two of my favorite narrators, I might have not finished. Let me just clarify, it isn't bad persay, but I feel like I was kind of cheated out of a story. Even with it being a duet with a cliffhanger, it seemed like it wasn't a full book. Just a bit bummed and not used to this from Lauren Blakely.

Charming!

Interesting book, I just listened to a book where the main characters didn’t have any chemistry I am sooo very happy it didn’t happen to me two times. This book had the chemistry! This is exactly what I love about romance, even in the slow burn type of books. I want the main characters to want, to want each other.

The ending oh boy somebody has some explaining to do…..

I do like that Jess has insecurities, it makes her relatable. I like that Lauren didn’t give her too many and that it wasn’t harped on it was just a fact.
William is an interesting character and I love that he knows so many different languages for some reason that makes me like him more than I already did.

I LOVE the narration, these are two of my favorite narrators and I love that ZWebber can do the accent justice.

MEH...

I hope the second half is better. This could have just been one book instead of breaking it in to two parts.

Disappointed!

I was soooo disappointed that the book just ended leaving you not knowing the end. I am a HUGE fan of Lauren's and read/listen to at least 3 books of hers a month but I have to say that this one left me feeling shocked that it just ended when it did.

Good story!

Glad I have book 2 as it is a cliffhanger. But it is a good story. Lauren Blakely can always be counted on for a good story though. And Zachary and Saskia are always great!!!

Fun read - PG13 in book 1 / Light R in book 2

Overall opinion: Fun read with minimal heat and witty banter.

Brief Summary: No need to expand on the author's summary.

Narrator(s) good

POV: dual

Overall Pace: fast

Instalove: somewhat

H Rating: very good

h Rating: very good

Sad/happy/thrill/Angst/TSTL happy

Heat Level: mild

Descriptive Sex: no

OW/OM Drama: no

Sex with OW/OM: no

Cheating: no

Separation: no

Triggers: demanding bosses

Closure (HEA/HFN/Cliffhanger): Cliffhanger

Additional Thoughts? If you are looking for a hot read, this is not it. The second book contains a bit more but in very soft terms.

a little convoluted

This story is a bit convoluted with the characters, Jess and Will playing as paparazzi for their own gain. But so many names are mentioned, there's very little in terms of emotional attachment developed for the characters, in my opinion. There is a cliffhanger so perhaps the story finishes in such a way that builds more of a connection with the characters but I won't be rushing to listen! However, Lauren Blakely has extremely good books so if this is your first book by her, try others.

You can't get a narrator better than Zachary Webber. He did a great accent and was able to flow seamlessly between the accented voice and the non-accented voices. Saskia also did quite well with the different characters so there narration is excellent overall. If only the story was better!

Twists & Turns.

The 2 main characters do not have chemistry...well, it’s not like off the charts. Yup, it’s not Lauren Blakely’s writing style however I think she pulled it off quite well. It didn’t really need too much of romance considering the storyplot was quite cute, interesting, entertaining, & a bit of a mystery. I did love the twists & turns in the book. It was a page turner for me. I got the 2nd book and so, I am ok with that cliff hanger. LOL.