The Laughing Listener
July 2018
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Therese Plummer
Length: 8 hours & 17 minutes

Story Rating: 3 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 3 Stars

A cute finale to a cute series. For a throwaway romance, these books have been pretty good! I’ve had a lot of fun listening to them and I absolutely LOVE how quick they go by. At just over 8 hours, this one is by far the longest in the trilogy and it still went by really fast. That extra time was needed because Jolie and Hauk finally get it on, but you won’t hear me complaining. Those two are super cute together and I really liked watching their intimacy grow. There’s even some awesome action-y stuff that made this extra fun.

I had to knock the rating down from the previous books though because the ending of this was just so… random. These books have been toeing the line of fantasy in a subtle way that I’ve really enjoyed. I liked that these felt so contemporary with only a dusting of magical elements here and there. But the ending of this book completely crossed over that fantasy line in a way that had me like...



Fantasy is the genre I read most, so I’ve heard some pretty crazy things. Maybe the way this ended shouldn’t have thrown me so much, but when compared to the rest of the series it just felt so weird.

Plus, some things happen that made me more than a little salty. I won’t give anything away, but Jolie and Hauk are forced to make a decision about their future and they really don’t agree. When they finally manage to work it out, I really liked where they landed. Their decision made for a good ending and I was pleased. Then RIGHT when I thought it was all over and I was happy, the author sneaks in this final thing in that NEGATES EVERYTHING THAT JUST HAPPENED. Both Jolie and Hauk agonize over what to do and when they finally decide, Garren is like JK GUYS IT ACTUALLY DIDN’T MATTER AT ALL. It was such a cheap cliche shot and I hated it! UGH.

And don’t even get me started on the logistics. I mean, Jolie’s wedding band is the thing that makes Hauk pretty again???? WTF. What happens when she needs to wash her hands? Or take a shower?? Or eat bbq ribs??? Because you KNOW that sauce gets everywhere! Is she just going to leave the ring on all the time? What if something happens and she needs to get it repaired? Are Hauk and Jolie just going to trap themselves in their apartment for days?? I. DON’T. UNDERSTAND.

They also never actually get rid of the bad guys???? The book just ends without the problem really being solved. All they managed to do was not get dead (#SpoilerAlert) and I was so confused. When it ended I was like, wait that’s it?? It was infuriating because this book had been great until the last few chapters!! GRRRR.

FINAL WORD

If you read the last two books and enjoyed them, then I vote you still read this too. Most of it was really fun, just don’t be surprised at the kinks in the ending.