Starting from Scratch

Starting from Series, Book 2

By: Lane Hayes

Narrated by: Michael Dean

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Charlie Rourke is an ultra-fabulous human whirlwind on a mission to launch the next biggest band in the world. However, he might have taken on more than he could handle when he signed on to manage Zero. Promoting a rock band and finding gigs shouldn’t be hard. They’re a talented group with a ton of star power. If Charlie can find the right record label, he’s sure he can help them get to the next level. The only problem is the skater boy slash bassist with a quirky sense of humor. He’s annoying and silly, and he’s exactly Charlie’s type. Except, he’s straight.

Ky Baldwin isn’t afraid to switch things up. He loves a challenge as much as anyone, but Charlie doesn’t make things easy. Zero’s manager is a force of nature with a razor-sharp tongue, a quick wit, and a no-nonsense attitude. Ky can’t stop thinking about him. Winning over Charlie becomes Ky’s pet project. 

But, when the ice between them thaws, neither is prepared for the intensity of going from enemies to lovers. They’ll have to decide if they’re willing to start from scratch and take a chance on the unexpected.

©2019 Lane Hayes (P)2019 Lane Hayes

A thrilling enemies to lovers!

This is book 2 in the Starting from scratch series and can be read as a standalone.

Charlie and Ky were so sexy together. Their chemistry was off the charts and so intense

I loved the flirty banter and seeing their relationship develop from frenemies to lovers was thrilling.

Another amazing addition to the series.
The narration was enjoyable and engaging!

Good story. Good narration.

Once again, I fell in love the characters Lane Hayes has created. They are complicated and engaging people. I enjoy getting to know them and watching them fall in love.

Hate the narration/ main character

I struggled to finish this book because of the narration and I hated the main character! Let me clarify... I hated the narration of the main character " Charlie", he used a stopped up, nasal , whiney voice! It was irritating and I just wanted him to stop. The main character was immature and so stereotypical and it was just irritating. I usually like books by Lane Hayes but this one was not my cup of tea. Can Audible create a team to listen before allowing people to narrate.

I enjoyed reading Starting From Scratch but listening to it, was even better!

Starting From Scratch is one of the hottest , sweetest and quirky , friends to lovers , M/M, Rock Star Romance I read in 2019 . And now, I am adding listened, to the statement above.

Michael Dean narration was exciting, enthusiastic and engaging. And his performance of the hot AF, explicit - dirty-smutty and utterly delicious sexy times were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

This audio is so hot that I almost feared of self combustion 😉😁😍

I love Ky and Charlie!

I read this book originally when released as I'm a huge fan of Ms. Hayes.  I've included my original review of the book but added my thoughts on the vocal performance.

As you can read in my review below, I loved this book but for the conflict scene between Ky and Charlie.  Listening to the book actually helped make that part of the book a bit more bearable.  Simply put Michael Pauley IS these characters.  His voice for Ky - gah!  I could listen all day.  The vocal performance was perfect!  

Oh man, this book was totally getting 5 Stars from me until conflict scene…I read it 3 times and still don’t understand what happened. The argument between Ky and Charlie STILL has me scratching my head.

Nevertheless, this is a fantastic read. Honestly, the jury was out on Charlie at the end of book one for me, but I liked him in this book. I absolutely love that what you see is what you get with him. He lives and loves big and doesn’t apologize for it.

Ky…Ky surprised me. I love his free spirit and how well he balance’s the always wound tight and anxiety-ridden Charlie. My favorite thing about Ky though is his attraction to Charlie…strange as that sounds. His intense feelings and the pull he felt to Charlie’s chaos when everyone else usually runs melted my heart.

Ky and Charlie’s banter is endearing and while they spat at each other occasionally it was clear they were fighting attraction and not a true dislike of each other.

Again, the build up around Ky’s dad outweighed the payoff and conflict in my opinion but I still loved the book.

I’ve loved this series so far and I REALLY hope Tegan’s book is next because I’m all in with these guys!

Another fantastic book from this killer combo

I love the guys Lane created in this series. I loved Charlie from the last book and couldn't wait to hear his story and I was eager to hear about Ky too. She always manages to work in such great life lessons for the reader that really resonate with me while still managing to write a funny and sexy story. Michael was perfectly cast for these books and he does a great job!

Excellent Experience

Audio review of Starting from Scratch by Lane Hayes with narration by Michael Pauley.
I read this book earlier so reviewing the audio was quite the treat. At first, I was not sure I was going to like the audio version but after chapter one I was sold. The voice of Charlie grated on me a little but then so did the character when I read the novel. When Charlie was speaking, his words were so succinct, sharp and somewhat exaggerated. Then again this is Charlie, who is a sharp-tongued, witty and prickly man. Mr. Pauley’s interpretation of him was spot on. Trust me, Charlie will grow on you. He is the promoter and manager of the Band Zero who is fiercely passionate about his job and wants nothing more than to have this band skyrocket to the top of the charts.
I loved the narration of Ky which had a much slower surfer dude vibe to it. This is essentially the first impression you get from Zero’s bassist and the thorn in Charlie’s side. Ky is a loving and caring young man that has demons from his past to battle and you get a deeper understanding of his relationship with Charlie as the story progresses. Ky and Charlie spar often but this is only because Ky secretly craves Charlie’s approval. Mr. Pauley transitioned seamlessly between the two and you were never left guessing who was speaking. He also did an amazing job on Charlie’s younger brother Ollie and I absolutely enjoyed listening to this inquisitive and cautious young man. I was able to lose myself in this story and the narrator absolutely did this quirky and sweet romance justice.
This bright and sizzling story by Lane was wonderful both in the written and audible versions. I highly recommend adding this well-produced audiobook to your library. Happy listening!

One of my favorites for 2019... 5+ stars!

I may have a thing for Lane Hayes's audiobooks. I've listened to every single audiobook edition of her books because she always seems to have awesome narrators paired with her stories. As of late, Michael Pauley seems to be her go-to narrator, having narrated her two on-going series, Out in College, which features college athletes coming out of the proverbial closet, and Starting From, which is about an up and coming band called Zero, and it's this Hayes-Pauley combination that's become one of my personal favorites. Their latest work together is the second audiobook in the Starting From series, Starting from Scratch, which features Zero's bassist and its manager.

Charlie Rourke loves working with Zero, especially since he considers its members family. All of them except Ky Baldwin. Sure, Ky's got the whole hot California surfer slash skateboarder dude going and he's a good bassist, but Charlie doesn't think Ky's serious about anything, which means that he can't possibly be serious about Zero. Ky's clued in to Charlie not liking him, and he isn't exactly sure why either. But when Ky offers to teach Charlie's younger brother how to skateboard, Charlie begins to see Ky in a different light. The attraction that's been simmering between them finally boils over, but will keeping their new relationship secret end up hurting everyone in the end?

As always, Lane Hayes has penned a great story that had my heart feeling full by the end of the audiobook. I loved Charlie and Ky, and going from people who liked to push each other's buttons to a couple pushing the boundaries of their relationship from professional to personal (and antagonistic to flat-out adorable) highlighted how good they were for one another after all. Michael Pauley, once again, doesn't disappoint, what with varying inflections that made one character easily distinguishable from another and bringing story to life with gusto. Naming Starting from Scratch one of my favorite audiobooks for 2019 is no hardship, and neither was listening to it. Five-plus stars. ♥

Such a touching story with wonderful narration.

If you follow my reviews at all (thanks if you do) then I'm going to sound like a broken record. I reviewed Starting from Scratch as an eBook when it first released in mid-October. It was a great read but now Michael Pauley's audio performance makes it super special.

Michael's voice for Charlie is super fantastic and made my heart melt. There were some fairly sad scenes in this story and he had all of the emotions of the characters coming through loud and clear; I just can't say enough good things about his performance of this story.

Books that get my emotions involved are usually my favorites but it's somewhat rare for them to get as deeply engaged when listening to the audio of a book I've already read. The audio of Starting from Scratch was one of the rare ones. More than once the tears started flowing while I was listening. Some were sad and some were happy tears.

Whether you listen to or read Starting from Scratch I think you will love it.

The following is my original review of the ebook:

Starting from Scratch is the second book in the Starting From series and it's a fantastic story. You don't really have to have read book one, Starting from Zero, first but I think you'll enjoy this new one more if you do.

The story is told in first person, alternating between Charlie and Ky and I loved everything about it. Charlie is out and proud and he is fabulous. He dresses sharp and puts together outfits that no one else could manage to look good in but they look great on him. Lane Hayes descriptive writing style sucks me in every time and keeps me glued to my e-reader.

Ky is his own person; he doesn't like labels. He likes who he likes, dates who he wants to date – male or female – and Charlie has captured his attention. In the beginning they have a bit of a love-hate relationship going on. That soon changes as the heat between them becomes explosive.

They keep their relationship quiet for a while but the way they look at each other starts to clue others in on their relationship. I love Charlie's younger brother, Ollie and Ky is so good with him. Ollie is having a bit of a crisis about needing to wear glasses; he's afraid that everyone will make fun of him because he's not one of the cool kids. Ky used to be a professional skateboarder and he starts giving Ollie lessons and that really helps boost Ollie's self-confidence.

I really can't say enough good things about this book. It's witty – the repartee between Charlie and Ky is great – and sexy (HOT!) and brought me to tears more than once; it's absolutely my favorite kind of book to read.

I'm not sure who Lane Hayes will write about next but I can't wait for more stories set in this world.

An advanced copy of this audiobook was provided to me via IndiGo Marketing but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

Great Narration and a Wonderful Read!!

Michael Pauley is a great narrator who brings the story to life.

I love the world Lane Hayes has created and I have the highest praise for the first book of the series featuring Justing and Gray, but for me, there were a few stops and starts between Charlie and Ky that I didn't understand. They are both great characters; Ky knowing exactly who he is and what he wants, while Charlie is blunt, sometimes mean without a brain to mouth filter, and doesn't know how to deal with his lusting for Ky while he's managing the band, Zero. Their relationship had so many moments of I won't but I want to, I got whiplash from Charlie changing his mind.

But in the end, Charlie and Ky are such wonderful characters that I rooted for them to find their happiness together. The secondary characters are great, but ultimately not as great as the first book in the series.

There’s more than meets the eye with these two!!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.75 stars
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Heat Level: 4
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration: 5

There’s more than meets the eye with these two!!

A sort of enemies to friends to lovers to in love story with more depth than I first realized. I love Lane’s characters and I’m so glad Charlie got his own story! I love him!

I love Charlie’s “authentically me” personality and how he knows who he is, flaws and all! Charlie is just Charlie, out and proud, fashion-forward, and adorably sassy. He’s chalk to Ky’s cheese but they just work.

I loved that there was SO much more to Ky then first meets the eye and I liked that Lane took her time revealing all the complexities of Ky and his big heart. I loved that he was able to accept and go with the flow with his feelings for Charlie and I loved that they didn’t run from each other. Of course, there’s a nice bump/break in the road but thankfully everyone came to their senses really quickly and their happily ever after was back on track. I loved the push and pull with these two and the sexual tension was off the charts. I loved the tease and release 😉 These two have become two of my favorites! I can’t wait for more Zero stories and look forward to the next one. I’m loving Zero!

Thanks for reading!

Opposites attract

Opposites certainly attract in the latest instalment of this rock star series. Charlie and Ky definitely shouldn’t work, Charlie is chaotic, outspoken and has zero filter whereas Ky is quiet and a bit unsure of himself. But boy do these guys have chemistry, their banter and pranks are great Lane Hays does an awesome job of conveying their back and forth and it was only a matter of time before the UST exploded and that it did!
I loved how we saw Charlie grow in this book, he was vulnerable with Ky and when Ky needed him he was always there. Ky has had it rough and his life isn’t short of drama in this book either, although stubborn at first he learns to open up and let Charlie help him.
Michael Pauley can do no wrong in my eyes, he portrays Charlie exactly as I expected him to be I loved his narration of Ollie as well, kids can be hard to get right and he nails it.