Shy

By: John Inman

Narrated by: Tommy O'Brien

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dating is hard enough. Throw in an incontinent Chihuahua, an unrequited love affair, a severe case of social anxiety disorder, a dying father, and a man-eating hog, and it becomes darned near impossible. Still, it takes two to tango - and when Tom Morgan, a mild-mannered assistant bank manager with a debilitating case of shyness, meets Frank Wells, who is straight off the farm and even shyer than he is, sparks start flying.

Just when Tom and Frank's burgeoning love affair is rolling along nicely, Frank must return to Indiana to oversee the farm while his father battles cancer. Tom tags along to help Frank out and finds himself slopping hogs and milking cows and wondering what the hell happened to his orderly citified existence. And what's with all the chickens? Tom hates chickens!

With Frank's help, Tom grits his teeth and muddles through. Funny what a couple of guys can accomplish when they're crazy about each other. Not even 900 chickens can stand in the way of true love.

©2012 John Inman (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Overcoming shyness with good lovin'... on a farm

I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. This book was fantastic. I am a sucker for anything funny, throw in a decent plot, and entertaining characters, and I'm hooked. Oh Tom and Frank, I don't know where to begin. I just think they both are utterly adorable. I can't recount the number of memorable moments that lightened my heart, or made me bust a gut. I LOVE FLAWED CHARACTERS. And these two were flawed beyond belief, but in cute, and meaningful ways. Another thing I loved about this book was the idea of comfort... we're always feeling our best when we're comforted by the familiar and such... So when someone who's very UNcomfortable stepping out of their comfort zone, is thrust into an environment WAY beyond his comfort zone, with a jerk named Stanley (I HATE that name. HA) it's bound for some hilarity.

I have to say I wanted more. Thanks John.

Great Story

Narration was kinda bad. But the story itself was great. Something Wonderful at that. Fell in Love with Tom, Frank, and His Father.

Don't 'Shy' Away From This One

Would you listen to Shy again? Why?

Yes. I plan to many times. It is a hilarious, but heartwarming story about two socially
disfunctional people who find each other and fall in love under very stressful circumstances. It hit all of my emotional buttons.

What did you like best about this story?

The love story was great, Pedro is adorable, but the coup de grace was Stanley's comeuppance.

Which character – as performed by Tommy O'Brien – was your favorite?

Frank's dad, Joe.

If you could rename Shy, what would you call it?

I can't think of a better title at this time.

Any additional comments?

The narrator used just the right tones to express what each character was like and I hope we hear more from him. John Inman is great. Please publish all of his book in audio format.

OK until the end

Like other reviews I agree this could have been two different books; one about two men with social anxiety and one about two men on a farm building a life. I generally enjoy John Inman books. His writing is witty and smart with enjoyable characters. And that is what I thought this book would be . . right up until near the end. OMG I hated what happened to Stanley so much I can't even tell you. Yes he was an a**hole throughout the story, but my god no one deserves that. And the reaction horrified me even more, they laughed and treated it like a joke!! WTF!! And as a parent I can tell you that no matter how much of a jerk your child is, that is NOT what you would want to happen to them. So honestly that is the whole reason for giving this story 3 stars. The narration was pretty good; not a lot of diversity of voices, but the pace, timing and emotions were there.

Love this book

Well-written, totally believable. Will have you engaged for hours. Can’t wait to find other books by John Inman.

Best ending ever!

This is my second time listening to this book and that is a rarity for me. I loved it so much, I made both my Mom and best friend listen. the characters are so amazing and I absolutely love the animals having their own tiny voices. Or in Samson's case, not so tiny.

Love the story

I’ve never read a book by John Inman that I didn’t absolutely love. This one is no exception when I read it myself. Tom and Frank are both very lovable characters. Though they have insta-love, it seems enduring. The story gets much better when they get to the farm. There are many laughs, as usual with a John Inman book. Some tears and very little angst. The narration is awful. The characters aren’t given different voices and the funny, sad and sex scenes are read with all the enthusiasm and inflection of a rock. I’m just glad he hasn’t narrated any of Mr Inman’s other books.

Really nice story

What a great story. There were surprises, regreats, and conflicts. I thought the author did a wonderful job of drawing me into the story to actually care about the characters.

Narration was fine as well.

Best gay book I've ever read.

Oh my where do I start, this book was so amazing that I just couldn't stop listening to it. Lol. I loved the whole story and it was almost all predictable for me but the ending for "Stumpy" was shocking for me. I also loved the narrators voice. He sounded just as sexy as the characters he was reading about. Yum. Lol. I just wish it would have been longer that's the only thing I didn't like per-say, was that it wasn't longer.

Mixed Reviews

This was a difficult topic for the author plus who to pick for the narrator with the right voice tenor. I thought that the narrator played just the right emotion for this topic of severe shyness but how can the correct narration happen when the story felt so lackluster. About midway through I felt this story was heading in a certain direction and it, and sadly, it didn't miss that direction. They were shy so they would have sex. They were shy so they'd room together. I just felt I didn't care for the characters after while and hoped the story would end. Sorry for the harsh critique but It's how I felt.

Vaguely Amusing

Shy is one of those books you can pick up quite happily if you have time to spare but put down just as easily. It's the literary equivalent of light entertainment, didn't make me laugh outright but coaxed the odd smile now and then. there is so many poop joke I started to worry John Inman has some kind of fixation on the other hand there is some moments that are really emotionally rich, almost beautiful. Tommy O'Brien is fairly competent if a little bit monotone sometimes I've definitely heard worse but it took the shine off the story a bit.

Pretty terrible

What would have made Shy better?

Despite a half-decent narration, unfortunately this book hits a lot of my pet hates:

1. improbable 1 dimensional characters, 2. it tidies everything up for the end too quickly for the requisite happy ending - including having a character killed-off in the most horrific manner imaginable which is passed off as a quasi-comedy comeuppance, 3. panders to modern fashions in over-diagnosing spoof medical conditions. 4. none of the main characters an ounce or resilience.

Despite these, I did get to the end but it really wasn't worth it.

Giggles!

Would you consider the audio edition of Shy to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version (stupid question Audible!)

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shy?

So many moments but the chicken shed keeps coming back to me "Why did the chicken cross the road, to get away from me!"

What about Tommy O'Brien’s performance did you like?

To start off with I thought I might find Tommy O'Brian's voice irritating or perhaps it was the way the story is written in the first person and with the world's most annoying Chihuahua! There is also a slight obsession with poop. Fortunately you get so caught in the story this ceases to be an issue :-)

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh, so many times!

Any additional comments?

This book possible has the best comeuppance of any book I have ever read. If anyone ever got what was coming to them it was here. There were also lots of "awww" moments. Bit too much instalove perhaps but still awww :-)