🎧 Berls Reviews The Best Time

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Best Time by Sienna Waters
Narrator: Felicity Munroe
Published by Tantor Audio on May 10, 2022
Genres: LGBTQIA, Romance, Contemporary
Length: 6 hours 53 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads

What would you do if your past walked through your door?
Dumped and depressed, Lil Bradley is left running her dream bookshop without her dream woman. All that's left of her fiancée is the half-finished coffee shop in the corner of the store. And then Riley Winters reappears.
Riley is convinced that she's dying. So she's come back to Amberly, the home that she's been avoiding for fifteen years. And when she walks into Lil's store it's like turning back the hands of time. Except it's a clock that neither one of them really wanted to mess with.
There's no way that they're about to recapture their history together. If only because Kayden, Lil's best friend and Riley's big brother, would never forgive them. Anyway, Lil's happy alone and Riley's busy dying.
Until Riley's diagnosis isn't quite as fatal as she thought, and it turns out she came home for all the wrong reasons. But can she be persuaded to stay for all the right ones?
Big brothers, best friends, recaptured youth, false pregnancies, non-lethal illnesses, regrets and true love all come together to create the perfect happy ending. Because sometimes you can turn back the clock, and sometimes all it takes is a reminder of what's truly important to turn your life upside down...
The Best Time is a new stand-alone lesbian romance from Sienna Waters, the bestselling author of The Wrong Date and A Perfect Mess.

My top thoughts:

Last year I read a lesbian romance by Sienna Waters that was probably my favorite to-date, so I was excited to pick up The Best Time. While I did enjoy it, I didn’t sweep me away as I had hoped.

What I liked/didn’t like:

This is a second-chance romance, which I do like done right, but it’s not my favorite trope. But perhaps more than that, it was that the characters frustrated me. The way for the feel for each other is obvious and the only thing in their way is themselves. Riley is convinced she’s dying (simply because her mother died of stomach cancer and thus surely that’s her stomach problem… not any myriads of gastrointestinal problems you have to see a doctor to diagnose). And Lil has her perfect plan for her life and she can’t budge from that, not one iota. And Riley’s life and dreams — supposing she’s not dying from stomach cancer — doesn’t fit perfectly into that plan.

Frustrations aside, I did like both the characters as individuals. They are smart and independent women, very successful in their chosen paths. I enjoyed their relationship with Riley’s brother, who happens to be Lil’s best friend. I enjoyed the small town setting and the book shop. All together an enjoyable sweet second chance romance with a fairly predictable HEA. I just wanted a bit more so I could be truly swept away.

Narrator thoughts:

I listened to The Best Time narrated by Felicity Munroe and enjoyed her performance. She delivered distinct voices for male and female characters and I was able to easily listen at my normal 2x speed. I’d not hesitate to listen to her again.

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