Not My Match

The Game Changers, Book 2

By: Ilsa Madden-Mills

Narrated by: Summer Morton, Alexander Cendese

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a smart and sexy romance about a professional football hottie and the girl he’s sworn to never touch.

Homeless and heartbreakingly innocent, Giselle Riley walks into my penthouse and chaos follows.

I shouldn’t have invited the girl genius to live with me, but it’s clear she needs my help - not only for a place to lay her pretty blonde head but in finding real love, which she’s not going to get with the crazy men she picks up online.

Too bad she’s a twenty-four-year-old virgin and I’m a bad boy wide receiver. She’s off limits for a hardcore player like me - and we’re just friends.

Instead, I’m her matchmaking service, no matter how jealous it makes me when I tag along on her dates.

I can keep my self-control. Right? No way will I give in to everything inside me that dreams of a girl like her in my world.

I may be the best wide receiver in the country, but how could I hold on to a girl like her?

©2021 Ilsa Madden-Mills (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Narration is key!!!

OK someone needs to let this author know that she could make so much more if she invested in better narrators. Her stories are pretty good all by themselves but would be exceptional with the right voice behind it.. I am not completely done with this book but had to get this out. Alexander's voice is so annoying I am having to pace myself. I want to finish this book but he just throws me off. Ugggh

Struggled through but prevailed

I normally don't write in reviews so this is very different for me. I love this author and have enjoyed her books for awhile. I was excited to see this book for audible so I purchased it. Summer Morton, I think, did a great job for the Gisele. I have heard other stories from her and was equally impressed. Alexander Cendese was new to me as far as narration. I struggled with him a lot in this book. He made the main female sound very like an airhead. He seemed very rushed throughout the whole story. I would sometimes get lost in what was being read because there was no different tones being used.
I will continue to listen to this author but I might be a little apprehensive if Alexander Cendese is reading.

Fun story, well written, narration not so much

Recently discovered this author & find her stories well written & fun to read. I was looking forward to this book, the story line was fun but the narrators are hard to listen to. It’s read like every scene should have exclamation points which was a disappointment. Advising to get this story on you kindle.

Could not finish

This book is worse than the first book in the series. The male narrator is better than the male narrator in the previous book, but his accent does not fit with his background of being from California. I could not get past the first few chapters because of the storyline and the narration. I then jumped to the end and I could not even finish. Complete waste of time.

Male narrator ruins it

Fantastic story! Characters are well-developed, pacing is excellent, and writing is very good. Female narrator did an excellent job. Male narrator, however, is a deal breaker. He would be great for a children’s book, but he is the absolute wrong pick for something that will be listened to by adults. His female voice is so falsetto and breathy that it completely derails the listening experience - it is a sad caricature of the female protagonist. His pacing sounds extremely rushed; everything becomes a jumbled run-on sentence, which is difficult to follow. Finally, he transitions from one voice/accent to another very poorly. On balance, his narration ruins the entire listening experience for me; will not purchase anything read by him again.

Did not enjoy Male narrator

The female narrator was great, but the male narrator was grating. Still loved the story!

Ehhh

I started the audio book, but decided to just read the book without it. The male narrator unfortunately is the reason I decided to read the book without the audio book. Would have continued listening had it been a different male narrator.

Quirky

This book is so quirky and I loved it.

I laughed, felt and just loved every bit of it.

Giselle is a super smart physicist! She’s so different from anything Ive ever read/listened to. She has BIG dreams, CERN, a book and losing her v-card! Her book though 🤣😂

Devin is a bad boy footballer. Who has serious commitment issues. He’s use to everyone leaving him and never sticking around. So he lays all his cards out for Giselle. And it is EPIC!

Ilsa never disappoints!!

Enjoy IMM's story, but AC is a problem...

I really did enjoy IMM's story - the Tigers and Daisy world she created is populated by some memorable and wonderful characters and not just the mains, though Devon and Giselle were indeed a joy both together and apart. Their romance hit a lot of my favorite beats - H who can't stay away; forced proximity; adorkable h (love her multiverse theories!); and then there's that epilogue, which put the perfect bow on the package that was their story. So much to love in the writing here; IMM is truly talented!

Now for the narrators. Summer Morton did a good job; she kept me engrossed in Giselle's POV and the story in a satisfying way. I've only listened to a few of her performances, but have always enjoyed them.

However, Alexander Cendese's performance was a problem for me. This is unfortunately not a new thing - it's mostly due to his staggeringly poor female voice impersonation. When he voices the male parts and the general narration bits, he's okay - he'll never be a go-to narrator for me, there are too many others who just blow him out of the water; but, he is serviceable when he's operating in his range of male voices. Then he reads dialogue from female characters, and any patience or goodwill I have for him is gone - it is just painful to listen to those bits. What is worse, it really interferes with my listening flow and just takes me right out of the story, which is the total opposite of what should be happening.

I am sure he's trying, but it might be best if he sticks to either MM or duet narration rather than dual narration when working in the romance genre - anything that requires him to voice less female characters. It's gotten to the point where I refuse to buy books he narrates and will only listen when they are available through the library or audible catalog. Thank goodness this one was a read and listen through KU; I would have hated to miss out on what really is a lovely IMM story.

IMO not worth a credit, but worth it if you can listen thru your library or KU.

Narrator was weird

The guys voice when he was talking as Giselle is absolutely horrendous hahaha it was so awkward. Actually I hated pretty much every chapter he narrated. His voice was nothing like I imagine Devon would sound like and something just felt… off. His pacing or something was weird. Other than him, it was great. I was worried I wasn’t going to like this one as much as Not My Romeo, but I think I ended up liking it more. Giselle was hilarious and relatable. Overall, I really enjoyed the book whenever the guy wasn’t narrating lol

Cute and funny

Kooky, cute and funny. Less angsty than the first book. The romance is a slow burn from friends to lovers.

listenable

light hearted and easy to listen to, I like happy endings so this hits the spot