Park Avenue Player

By: Penelope Ward, Vi Keeland

Narrated by: Sebastian York, Andi Arndt

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

From New York Times best-selling authors, Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland, comes a new standalone novel. 

It started out like any normal day. 

Then the fender bender happened. 

The guy I collided with drove an expensive car and was drop-dead gorgeous. 

Too bad he was also a total jerk. We argued over whose fault it was and any other thing that came out of his condescending mouth. 

Eventually, the police came and we went our separate ways. The insurance companies would have to figure things out. I had a job interview to get to anyway - one I was excited about. 

Though that excitement changed to disappointment the moment the person interviewing me walked in. The guy from the accident. 

Whoops! 

Yeah, so I didn’t get the position. 

The problem was, I really wanted it. No, I needed it. Anything to get me out of my current career and back into working with kids. 

So, even though Hollis LaCroix was as intimidating as he was devastatingly handsome, I went back to see him and begged for a chance. 

To my surprise, he gave me a shot taking care of his troubled niece. At least my attraction to him wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. I wasn’t about to jeopardize my job or the strong bond Hailey and I formed. But resisting the magnetic pull between us wasn’t that simple. (Then there was our little underwear game - don’t ask.) 

We continued to flirt without crossing the line - until it finally happened. 

This is the part of the story where we fall in love and live happily ever after, right? 

Well, life has a way of throwing some major curveballs. 

Ours was one I didn’t see coming.  

©2019 Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward (P)2019 Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

Loved it!! Ending hit close to home

I have always love both authors books, this one hit close to home. I’m battling cancer and just last week wrote my 4 children letters, leaving them is so scary not because I’m afraid one dying but because of the pain they will be in after. Thank you for ending the book the way you just sounds like one of you have experienced this or maybe not but anyway loved this book!

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

LOVE!

You can't go wrong with a book narrated by Sebastian York and Andi Arndt then add Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward as the authors what's not to like.

Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland are the queens of the slow-burn. They do an excellent job creating characters and situations in a realistically believable way then weaves in a little twist or an event that puts unexpected pressure on them. Park Avenue Players has characters that touches my heart and won’t let go.

The story begins with Elodie working off her anger toward her ex by setting up cheaters for a PI to improve the spouses’ divorce settlements. It is a good job with good pay, but Elodie is ready to find a position using her childhood education degree.

On her way to an interview for a nanny, she has a fender bender with—you guessed it—her potential new boss. From the moment Hollis walks into the conference room, it is clear Elodie does not have a chance in hell to get the position.

Hollis is a troubled man. Six years later Hollis still struggles with his ex-girlfriend’s betrayal. The walls around his heart are sky-high. He refuses to be trapped in a relationship again, but there is something about Elodie. It is more than her beauty; he can see her soul. Elodie is a positive influence on his niece, Hailey. Every day around Elodie, another piece of the wall comes down.

Elodie and Hollis' story has a little of everything. The story unfolds perfectly for two people who have a lot to balance, not the least of which is Hailey, Hollis' niece who recently came into his life. Elodie is the perfect nanny for Hailey. She can relate to having parents that don't measure up.

There is a twist that throws a wrench in everything. It is not what I expected at all. My first reaction after the twist is that Hollis is unreasonable, but when I thought about it, I understand. It isn't easy on anyone when everything you believe turns out to be wrong.

Park Avenue Player is a beautiful enemies-to-lovers novel. The supporting characters enhance the plot immensely. Hailey is a pre-teen learning to deal with family issues while adjusting to her new home, school, and her changing expectations. The narrative unfolds at precisely the right pace to keep the reader engaged and turning the page.

I am never disappointed with this writing duo. Individually, Vi and Penelope's writing style is excellent—as a duo, they are beyond A+++. For me, each new release is better than the last, and that isn't easy to do. Park Avenue Player is bumpy road of fun, disappointment, and love brought to life by wonderful narrators.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

The Best I’ve Read in a Long Time!

This book has it all, love story, importance of family, value of friendship, humor, tears, and faith. It’s unusual to find a romance that has that “hot and heavy” aspect” but also imparts very powerful messages about faith, love, relationships, faithfulness, & more. If that weren’t enough, there’s also laugh-out-loud scenes (we’re talking laugh until you cry!!), and a bird with personality.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Worth a read

Great narration was great as always by these two awesome performers. The main characters were relatable and the story was good overall. However, it felt like the authors were doing a lot in the story. It felt a little piecemeal. Some aspects felt a bit forced/ unrealistic (even for this genre) and took me out of the story a bit. For instance, “the game” between the two main characters did not really fit in with the story and was kind of off-putting. Still, I enjoyed the book and would recommend these authors.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Excellent story

This story contained it all - humor, tears, twists, and love that all made sense. The story slowly rolls out and isn't totally revealed until the end... I did guess the main part of what was revealed in the letters at the initial hospital scene.
Loved Haley's (sp?) part in this as she added another realistic dimension to the story. Addison also played a key role as Hollis' partner/friend that I enjoyed. Hewie/Hugh'y added another layer of humor and reality. All the many layers added up to a great story.
Totally recommend listening or reading this story.
Airways love Sebastian York and Andi Arndt as narrators and they did a terrific narration again. Thanks!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

The performance made this 4 stars

I would have given this an overall score of 4 stars if it weren’t for the performance from Sebastian and Andi who are always excellent. The story left a lot to be desired for me. I just didn’t buy that Elody and Hollis were in love with each other for most of the book. They seemed to be more sexually attracted to each other more than anything. Hollis was annoying to me because (spoiler alert) he was just way too cautious. I get that he was hurt in the past but literally, Elody is the perfect woman and has zero negative traits. They try to make it seem like she’s abrasive but she just knows how to stand up for herself. I liked Elody but yea she had no defects, she has a great personality, gorgeous with blond hair and blue eyes. I like some vulnerabilities. She didn’t seem to have any because she easily wanted to commit to Hollis even though she was hurt in the past. IDK I felt that the conflicts between them were contrived and very uninteresting. I only gave the story 3 stars because of the steamy parts that honestly gave me butterflies because they were so hot. Save your credit for something else mainly Hate Notes by Vi if you haven’t heard it yet. Similar setups but the reasons for conflicts are much more realistic and understandable.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A real story!

What a fabulous story! Of course a funny build to a steamy romance, but also some tears shed listening to my two favorite narrators! A plot twist brought some surprise too! Have some tissues handy. One of the best romances with humor and heart!

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Every Emotion.

Loved the story. It was funny, thoughtful, happy and sad. And as usual, Andi Arndt and Sebastian York delivered the feelings that bring the story to life. I couldn't stop listening once I started. Cursed the one phone call that interrupted the reading.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Almost clean

For Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland this book is out of character. The supreme steaminess they usually write has been replaced with just a few "fucks" by the leading man, and a few mentions of her clitorus by his love interest. Wow!
The story bogged down in a few places, otherwise it kept up a good pace.
Definitely worth waiting for.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Too bad to finish

This book isn’t Penelope and Vi’s finest. I am a loyal listener of their books and this one was so bad I had to stop listening. What’s bad about it? Well, it’s mostly about masturbating (which I’m not opposed to hearing about but it got old in this book). And as much as I love Sebastian York as a narrator he drove me crazy saying the name Ellodie as L-O-D. Save yourself time and avoid this book.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Blaaa.

Onkel and nanny every day angst.
Thin storyline with just the bare minimum of content.
You are born, you live and the you die, that’s the abridged content.
Sorry it’s a do over !

BRILLIANT!

Park Avenue Player by Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland was yet another read by these two authors I could not get enough of! I adore these two authors writing who seem to know just what I want and need from my romance read.

PARK AVENUE PLAYER is fun, flirty, had a female character with sass and backbone which I love and a bossy Alpha who is a bit on the arrogant side.

Hollis & Elodie have their first encounter when they have a little car accident on a car park, Elodie is late for an interview and Hollis claims he has an appointment. Hollis meets Elodie again when he discovers she is the person he is supposed to be interviewing for the nanny position to his niece, who he has custody of, this scenario isn't new for me, I have read books before with this sort of start to a relationship but it's the after, the sass and determination of Elodie who obviously didn't get the job at first and the events that followed that made this different, and I book I couldn't get enough of.

Elodie and Hollis had chemistry, passion, I enjoyed the push and pull and there was even a surprising twist in this story that I didn't see coming, it was a twist that had me all kinds of confused and I actually felt hurt for Elodie, it was actually a heartbreaking moment.

PARK AVENUE PLAYER is told in first person dual pov and leads to a hea. I listened to this in audio and as always the narrators Sebastian York and Andi Arndt who normally narrate for Vi and Penelope's books really made this story more believable, more real. more enjoyable than actually reading the book.

Another amazing story by this amazing writing duo!

Tissues required

I have found myself laughing and crying with this one. Really loved it and worth the wait.
Andi Arndt and Sebastian York are fantastic as usual.

absolutely loved this book

this was such a great book, a bit of a tear jerker at times but full of emotion, love and laughter that all make for all the feels.
10 🌟

Beyond excellent

As per usual this was a superb story with excellent narration totally recommend worth more than five stars

0 of 1 people found this review helpful