Simple Man

By: Lydia Michaels

Narrated by: Brian Callanan

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

From bestselling author, Lydia Michaels–When Shane, a tattooed young musician becomes the guardian of a surprise baby, his life and heart are forever changed. Opposites attract when this single dad is assigned to a prissy social worker who dislikes him at first sight. Months after Shane Martin’s sister vanishes, his world crashes down and he finds himself the sole guardian of a surprise baby. Blissfully ignorant, Shane trades in late nights and fast women for midnight feedings and lullabies. But when Kate McAlester, the prissy, stuck-up social worker interferes, his devotion to family is tested.

Kate isn’t impressed by Shane’s messy bachelor pad, rocker image, sarcastic attitude, or showy tattoos. He claims he’s a simple man, but he quickly becomes the greatest complication in her life.

Passion explodes when opposite personalities collide in a touching story of love and redemption.

©2015 Lydia Michaels (P)2023 Lydia Michaels

Tugs at your heart strings

At first I thought this book was a mistake, the beginning had me thinking that I'd miscalculated, but thankfully I hadn't and buy the end I was smitten with the characters and the story.

Shane's journey of self discovery during the story is poignant and compelling. The change between who he was at the start of the book and who he'd become at the end are huge, and yet the key parts of him were all still there. It was beautifully written and I loved listening to the book.

Speaking of listening, the narration was very well done, the range of character voices was really impressive and the overall delivery was smooth and emotive.

This book tugged at my heart and I really enjoyed it.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

If you found this review helpful would you please take a moment to click yes below.

Funny & Sad

I enjoyed the Simple Man, my first book by Lydia Michaels, an interesting combination of sad and happy with a splash of romance.

The main character Shane was a hard working blue collar worker (a wonderful change from all the arrogant billionaires) who struggled to make a home for his orphaned nephew. His dedication to learning how to take care of a baby was hysterically funny and achingly sweet.

When Shane falls for Kate, the social worker from family services, their relationship is threatened by his insecurity, her professional responsibilities and their many differences. Shane was simply a wonderful yet flawed man who loved with all his heart, treating Kate with kindness and respect.

Great story with graphic language and explicit sex but absolutely NO domination or sexual violence. Shane adored his mother, raised his younger sister after his parents died and wanted to find a loving & equal partner to share his life. Shane was so much sexier than any alpha jerk!

Beautiful story

This was a heart wrenching but beautiful story about family, love, friendship and loss. We witness Shane’s journey as he learns to cope with his grief, becomes a great dad and falls in love. Brian Callanan was absolutely stupendous. He portrayed every character perfectly. It was a pleasure to listen to him bring the book to life. I received this audiobook for free upon my request. I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased review.

Excellent Story & Listen🎧📚🎧Captivating & Heartfelt

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the story swept me in right from the start, grabbing my attention and captivating it the entire book. Lydia Michaels is a gifted author, I had the pleasure to enjoy another of her books, a fantastic PNR, so it is great to see another side of her creative mind in “Simple Man”. This story is beautifully written and told, the storylines and characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with. I adored the two lead characters, Shane Martin and Kate McAlister, the secondary characters were great too. Shane found himself growing up quickly after his parents accident, he was 17 years old at the time, his younger sister, Noel, was only 11. As soon as he turned 18 he became her guardian. Ten years later she is out on her own and he does not agree with her life choices and they have a falling out. Months after their fall out, his life takes another turn and he faced with a new challenge, a two month old baby. My heart went out to Shane for all the losses he faced in his life and the sacrifices he made. I admired his strength and determination to get thru it all. I loved how the author lightens things up with some hilarious moments in the midst of the heavier and heartfelt moments. Kate McAlister is the case worker assigned to Shane’s custody case, she needs to check in on him and how he handles parenting a 2 month old. The two do not exactly hit it off right away, he feels she is judgmental and looks down on him and his living situation. But Shane does the best he can and does everything he can to make it right. I just loved how everything plays out in this book, the story is beautifully plotted, there is plenty of drama, some angst, humor, lots of heartfelt and emotional moments and a wonderful, slow burn romance. Lydia Michaels, thank you for the beautiful story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, Brian Callanan is a talented narrator and voice artist. He does an awesome job portraying the characters, humanizing them, give each their own their own voice and personality. He sets the perfect tone for the story, captures the characters emotions and projects them into his performance. He is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for the awesome listen 🎧

Thank you 🎧@AudiobookObsession AudiobookObsessionReviewer🎧

Sweet story

The story didn't pull me in as much as some books. However, the story was sweet and the narration was done well.

This was fantastic!

A Simple Man is the story of a young man trying to do right by his family with EVERY obstacle to overcome. Some he tackles, some take him down, but his resilience to go the distance is astounding. Kate, the child welfare advocate assigned to him and his nephew, is instrumental is making him try harder to be the best version of himself. I am familiar with this author, but now I'm a fan. This is one of the best listens for me this year (and I've done a whole lot of listening).

The narration by Brian Callanan is absolutely fabulous. He embraces all the voices with emotion and passion (doesn't even make the female voices sound cringe-y), bringing this story to life. Thank you to the narrator for providing me a copy of this audiobook. It truly was a gift.

Adorable, heart-wrenching, and steamy

This audiobook is like the male equivalent of women's fiction, so it could be called men's fiction. It is told completely from the hero Shane's perspective as a young single man who grows as a person after he takes on the raising of his late sister's baby boy. Although the story contains some romance, I cannot classify it as a romance partly because Shane meets his love interest 25% into the story. Also, it still takes a while before any hint of romance occurs. Shane’s fatherhood and personal growth is the focus of this heartwarming story. The book is at first heart-wrenching, then adorable and sometimes amusing. Shane is such a good guy who really loves his nephew and gets his life in order so that he can properly take care of little Logan. The story is so sweet. There is some bad language and a few steamy love scenes.

The narrator Brian Callanan does a solid job. His men's voices are great, and his women’s voices are pretty good. He is perfectly emotive and really enhances the listener's connection to the characters. Brian Callanan's gravelly voice is very pleasing to my ears and very masculine.

I requested and received a free audiobook copy via #AudiobookObsession, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
#AudiobookObsession Reviewer

Contemporary

This audiobook is emotional. You need to keep tissue nearby. The story was wonderfully written. Narrator Brian Callanan did a wonderful job.

Excellent story!!!

This is an excellent story of life... struggle and love.

A hero who, because of things beyond his control, ends up with his nephew in his care at a very young age. He doesn’t know how to care for a baby, and has no one to ask or lean on... but he steps in and steps up for the baby even though he needs help. A heroine who comes into his life as a judge of sorts... who ends up being a source of information and help for him.

I live how this story unfolded from the very beginning. Other than the loss of his sister, it’s an excellent story and one I would and will recommend highly! Lydia Michaels at her finest! Brian Callahan has a voice that is very pleasant listening and his character portrayals are easily heard.

#AudiobookObsession #LydiaMichaels

Sweet

I have to say this was my first read/audio of this author and narrator and I really enjoyed it.
Shane was just too sweet and cute and sexy. I liked that even though in the beginning he was kind of a laid back take nothing serious type of guy, the minute that he got little Shane (Logan) he just took charge and did everything he could to take care of that little boy. Loved that
His friends... Freaking hilarious. And even though they sounded like a bunch of losers they supported their friend and his choices.
Loved this story and definitely will read/listen to more of this author