Not so Vanilla

By: Morgan Noel

Narrated by: Piers Ryman

Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

Bartholomew's life is perfect. He's got a job he loves; he's in a committed relationship with his loving boyfriend who appreciates his neurotic tendencies, social anxiety, and general awkwardness. It's not "white picket fence and Golden Retriever" perfect, but their nice little apartment in the city and the cat they rescued from the shelter come pretty close. 

The domestic bliss gets disturbed when his boyfriend Kyle brings a very hot friend from high school into their sanctuary, making both of them wonder if perhaps "perfect" is as relative as good sex.

©2018 Morgan Noel (P)2018 Morgan Noel

Donut

I enjoyed this book so much. It had a fun, uncomplicated plot, extremely hot , a rousing game of Never Have I Ever, and doughnuts. What's not to like. It's very enjoyable audiobook.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Broome's Books Review

This was probably the best audio experience I’ve ever had. Piers is British so that kind of made it all kinds of awesome for an American listener.  There was no hesitation during certain scenes and his voice flowed smoothly. Anytime Mew had stuttering, cut off thoughts, it felt right. You could hear the different characters with different inflections of his voice but it wasn’t like he changed his voice. He just spoke softer, or more quickly, or there was a lilt for another character. Hands down, I loved listening to him and plan on snagging anything else he narrates.You will never, ever, look at donuts in the same way again. I’m pretty sure I blushed the first time I saw donuts at the bakery.

I loved Mew (Bartholomew). He was so awkward, adorable and curious that I couldn’t help but relate to him a bit. I have that stuttering, social anxiety that he had. And I love my cats. Kyle also, so supportive of Mew. Even if he wanted something more you could tell that he was willing to go slow for Mew because he loved him.

Adam *fans self* oh boy. Temptation on legs would be an apt descriptor for him. It was interesting to see him lightly push at Mew’s boundaries but never go over the line. He stopped. There was teasing from Adam and Kyle but it was never too much. Sometimes I have a problem with the teasing and pushing boundaries but this didn’t make me uncomfortable as I read it. It felt like a playful push and pull kind of relationship.

This was definitely explicit. But it was a good explicit? It wasn’t overly done where you have the characters cursing every other word or weird phrases like cum gutters. This was well written sex between two/three agreeable parties. Plush I’m pretty sure I was red as a tomato while listening to this at work, but I couldn’t stop myself from listening. I also gave my coworkers a play by play and they were dying. So that made it so much fun.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

even better in audio

Not So Vanilla is such a great story, and I loved it even more in audio. Somehow while reading the eBook, I missed some very funny parts and was happy to discover them while listening to this audio book. The narrator does a very good job and this is one of those books that are even better in audio. I loved it and recommend it for everyone who enjoys listening to romance books with a bit of sweetness and kink.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

So much fun to listen to!

I've had this book pretty much since it came out, but one thing or the other had prevented me from reading it, so when given the chance to listening to it instead, I jumped at it and I wasn't disappointed!

Not So Vanilla is fun, very hot (*fans self*) and enjoyable. Mew was adorkable and definitely my favorite part of the book. Kyle and Adam were okay, although I found it a bit odd that Kyle would bring an ex-con into the house he shared with Mew, especially with as awkward as he is in social situations. And well, Adam, while nice to Mew, had no real concept of personal space.

Even if it all felt a bit too convenient for Kyle and Adam, I have to admit they were all really sexy together and OMG, I'll never look at a donut in quite the same way ever again! LOL

Regarding the narration, Piers did a fantastic job! I wasn't expecting a British accent, but it totally worked and gave a certain something extra to the story. His Mew, especially, was the right blend of awkward and endearing.

This is definitely one audiobook that I'll have to listen again!

Review: Not So Vanilla, by Morgan Noel

A quick read (listen, for me technically). Didn't end up enjoying it as much as I had thought going into it. I felt a potential for these characters to really go somewhere and develop, but much was left out for me. There's a great premise having a third guy come to live with a couple and there was conflict there. Mew had a chance to grow both sexually and socially, too. While he technically did by the end, it was a bit too easy of a conclusion and then the story was over. I think working this into a larger story could do all the characters justice and I would be interested in reading that book.

Still, with the potential I feel it had, I'll be checking out more of Noel's writing. I may stick to text over audio though. Mew came out as too whiny for being a sole narrator and maybe that shaped his character into an even less enjoyable one than he was created to be.

I’ll never look at donuts the same way

Most of the story is dealing with Mew coming to terms with his life. His boyfriend brings home an old friend to stay and Mee finds himself attracted to Adam and Kyle. There isn’t much to the story besides Mews inner musings. I don’t know if there is going to be another book as a follow up but I hope so. I wasn’t a fan of the narrator. At some points it was hard to distinguish who was supposed to be talking.

My favorite was Bartholomew, a.k.a. Mew...

This review is going to be somewhat rant-y. I don't usually rant in reviews - actually, I don't think I've done it before - but there's one thing that's really, really bugging me. One character, more precisely: Kyle, at the beginning of the book.

Mew has social anxiety and hates surprises, but one night Kyle comes home and is like "Hey, babe! Surprise! Here's a big, scary guy who is a stranger to you and I'm going to act very shifty when you question me about him. Oh, and he's staying for dinner. And by dinner, I mean I invited him to live with us for a while, in our apartment, without asking you first. It's totally cool, right? Oh, and Adam and I used to fool around in high school. He was my first."

Okay, he did not use those EXACT words, but basically that's what happened. I get that Kyle and Adam are friends and Adam has nowhere to go, but pulling that on Mew is so unfair and quite frankly made me dislike Kyle right away. And a lot.

Then Kyle goes "If you don't like Adam, he doesn't have to stay here"... But he'd already told Adam he could stay with them. He's putting Mew on the spot and if Mew didn't agree to let Adam stay, Kyle would have to say "Yeah, I promised you to stay, but Mew doesn't like you, so bye," which is pretty cruel/messed up towards Adam, and would make Mew seem like a bad guy, even though under the circumstances, he has every right to say no to Adam being there.

As someone with social anxiety that gets pretty bad sometimes, I know I'd feel trapped if my boyfriend pulled something like this off.

Kyle's way of making amends?

With some naughty action in bed. It's good that he's trying to make amends, but naughty time shouldn't make up for something so big. He apologizes later, but even that is only a couple of lines, said as if he forgot to do the laundry. Mind you, that last one might be on the narrator and the way he read the lines.

Still. There are parts where Adam - a complete stranger, is taking Mew's feelings into consideration more than Mew's boyfriend, who keeps telling Mew he loves him.
This really rubbed me the wrong way.

Kyle got better as the story went on - he was much more considerate of Mew, but I still can't get over everything I've talked about until now.

That was it for the rant.

As for the rest of the story, and the other three (I'm counting the cat too) characters...

My favorite was Bartholomew, a.k.a. Mew. I don't know if it was due to the story being told from his POV, because I can relate to his awkwardness, or because of both, but I really seemed to connect with him. Maybe that's why I reacted so strongly to how Kyle mistreated him in the first couple of chapters.

Then we have Adam. He seems like a chill guy, but I didn't see that much of a personality from him. My opinion: he's okay.

Then we have Boots - a typical cat, and therefore, he won me over.

Story-wise, I enjoyed the book. The plot is simple and the book is a quick read with short chapters, that I think I might've enjoyed even more if I was actually reading, and not listening to it. The narrator speaks too fast at the beginning (slows down later on), and his version of Mew isn't good. The character is prone to stammering, but the way he is read just makes him feel awkward and slow. Still, the book gave me a few chuckles, and they were mostly Mew-related.

I'd recommend Not So Vanilla to people who want a quick read with some guy on guy (on guy) action. Since the chapters are so short, I think the audiobook will be suitable for people with a brief commute to work.

My overall rating: 3.5/5
Book rating: 4/5
Narration: 3/5

So-so storywise. Narration competently done.

I didn't care much for Mew/Bartholomew. And that was a bit problematic because we only have his pov throughout the entire book.
I don't mind his social awkwardness, which can be endearing, but I just couldn't get past how self-absorbed he is.
Adam was my favourite of the three men, a bit crude and very direct, but kind and considerate of Mew's feelings. The same cannot be said of Mew, who doesn't give a thought to how Adam feels or in any way tries to avoid hurting the other man's feelings. To me it feels like Kyle and Mew just use Adam to spice up their sex life, without any talk or hope of deeper feelings, with Kyle subtly and steadfastly manoeuvring Mew into accepting Adam into their home and (love) lives.

There was a lot of potential for hurt/comfort here, but nothing much came of it, which I found disappointing. I had hoped that things would progress beyond the physical between the three men, but that didn't happen. Or at least not as far as Mew is concerned. There are enjoyable moments in this book, and it is written fluently, so I do give it a three overall.

The narrator did a good job, giving each MC a distinctive voice. I was confused by his British accent though, because this story seems to be set in the US ("redneck", "white thrash").

Cute and funny

Bartholomew's perfect life comes to an end when his boyfriend Kyle brings home a former boyfriend to spend some time with them. Mew is shy and feels awkward around the stranger, who behaves too entitled and cocky for Mew's liking. But cheeky squatter living on their sofa soon grows on him, and Mew has problems dealing with the conflicting feelings Adam's presence is stirring on him...
I loved this little story. Basically told from Bartholomew's point of view, it is funny and very entertaining. Mew is really shy, and has issues because he considers himself too boring and vanilla for his more experienced boyfriend. The arrival of sexy Adam make his insecurities rise, but he also realises Adam is attracted to him, which is not completely unreciprocated and that conflicts him. It takes some time together and a night of sugar and alcohol to get them to solve their differences and reach a satisfactory agreement.
As I said, the story is funny, even hilarious sometimes, and Piers' narration does a lot towards that goal. His renditions of a flustered Mew, a teasing Kyle and a cocky Adam are just perfect. I loved every single minute of it!!!

Love it

This story is just sooo good. And I hope there will be more.
Even if I'll always look differently at doughnuts, but I'll still eat then ;)

And the narrator, was new to me, but amazingly good. Can't wait to try more of Piers Ryman narrated book.

Hmm not to sure about this

I can’t decide if having an English narrator read American books is a good thing, saying Ass instead of Arse just does not sound correct in my head, I do think it should be tailored to the accent but that is only my opinion.
Other than that it’s an enjoyable short listen, as with most books I also like to read the story which I will do with this one from Morgan Noel.

I couldn’t stop listening!

Oh I really liked this story. Mew was written so well, and I loved that he stayed in character the whole time! It is a great complete story but I think I would love to see more of these boys. Weather the MCs of the story or side characters I would probably get that book.

It is really well read, Mr Ryman’s inflections were great, his accents really helped draw me in.

Nice sweet MMM story.

It took me awhile to get into this story as the narrator seemed to be taking great pains to pronounce each word carefully so put me off a bit, but after about 10% of the book I really got into the story and by half way through the narrator appeared to have settled. Had he chosen a better voice and more relaxed way of speaking whilst talking as mew and Kyle then I would have given it a 5 star, however I struggled to tell mew and kyle’s voices apart from each other, and the way he spoke mews words got a bit irratating at times.

Despite that this was a good sweet story, that is perfect for anyone wanting a BDSM free, angst free book that has a hot threesome sex scene.

Funny and sexy

A most enjoyable listen, helped by the pleasant tones of the narrator. There are several laugh-out-loud moments and his timing made them work perfectly. I shall seek him out with other authors!