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Truly Madly Deeply by L.J. Shen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This old flame just might set them on fire.
Conceited, unattainable, and downright delicious, renowned Michelin-starred chef Ambrose Casablancas has one passion in life—food.
Women are a distraction, and he doesn’t do those. Especially Cal Litvin, his baby sister’s best friend. Her entire existence is a complication; she’s awkward, eccentric, infuriating…
And, much to his chagrin, hotter than his kitchen.
Ambrose has a lot on his a new restaurant to open, a multimillion-dollar property deal to execute, and a violent stalker to tame.
Then Cal shows up at his doorstep, looking for both a job and salvation after their messy goodbye. His resolve, like his patience, is ebbing each day she works at his restaurant.
Because Cal is no longer a doe-eyed girl.
Now? She’s the woman he’ll do anything to conquer.
***
Quirky, compassionate ball of sunshine Calla Litvin can’t catch a break, and not just because she swore off running.
Back in her hometown to nurse her mother’s broken heart after losing her father, she finds herself jobless, hopeless, and penniless. She hopes to rekindle her friendship with her former BFF, but Dylan is attached at the hip to her cruel brother—the one Cal’s been secretly crushing on since middle school.
Falling for the bad boy the second time around would be a mistake of gargantuan proportions.
Too bad she’s always been clumsy.
Truly, Madly, Deeply, is a grumpy x sunshine, enemies to lovers romance. It is the first in the Forbidden Love series, but can be read as a standalone.
Truly Madly Deeply
Grumpy vs. sunshine grumpier!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 🖤💙💜❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 🙂🥰😎
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration
The heroine: Calla Litvin (a.k.a. Cal) – when she was eighteen and about to leave for college, she hooked up with her best friend Dylan’s older brother Row. She had a crush on him for a long time. He had the bad boy vibe to a T, was tall, muscular and a total hottie. When Dylan found them together, she threw a hissy fit and ended their friendship. Cal left the next day for Columbia and told herself that she never wanted to step foot in town again. Years later, her father’s death brought her back to town. She had been waiting tables in New York, while trying to get the nerve to start her own true crime podcast. Though now she promised to stay for a while to help out her mother who was reeling from her husband’s death.
The Hero: Ambrose Casablancas (a.k.a. Row) – he is now a world-famous chef, restauranteur, and reality tv judge. He was often featured on morning shows, opening new restaurants and more. He is a grumpy, grouchy broody, sarcastic celebrity. He moved back to his hometown and opened a restaurant nearby. It was awarded three Michelin stars, the only restaurant in the state with that designation.
The Story: Cal was nervous to run across her former bestie, but when Dylan and Row showed up at the funeral, she was happy to find that though Dylan didn’t forgive her for sleeping with her brother, she admitted that she used their falling out to leave Cal behind before Cal left her when she went away to Columbia. Cal was even more surprised to find out that Row now seemed to hate her and wasn’t afraid to show it. Though Cal needed to find somewhere to work while she was in town and when she finds out that Row had two servers quit on him suddenly, she gets a job working at his restaurant.
The story had a good premise, and I do like the grumpy or broody alpha Hero trope. Though some parts were a bit too predictable. Cal had been messaging with some anonymous guy for years, and was able to talk to him about things she couldn’t talk to anyone else. The first time it was brought up in the story, I knew he would turn out to be Row. The guy went by the screen name McMonster and said he worked at a restaurant.
The story also made me feel a bit old since Cal had a bit of an obsession with the 90’s. She went on about how it was a time that had been over before she was born but she liked to dream of the time before social media, influencers, and people being famous for nothing, and all the things that are so prevalent today. I was surprised to find myself getting bored at times during this one. I usually love L.J. Shen romance stories. This just needed something to happen at times.
The female narrator was a problem for me as well. She sounded like she was depressed. Though Cal was a bit depressing quite a bit. This book was billed as grumpy vs. sunshine with Cal having the sunny disposition, but I didn’t find her sunny, quirky or lighthearted. She dwelled on her past and her issues quite a bit. Actually, both of the main characters ruminated way too much on how they couldn’t be together when it was so obvious that all they wanted was to be together. It went on for far too long with neither of them talking out a way to make it happen.
“Unpopular opinion. It’s ok not to forgive people who destroy our lives.”
This audiobook was told in two points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Lila Winters. Teddy Hamilton is one of my favorite male narrators. I have to say, I am much fonder of the male narrators than the female for some reason and Teddy is one of the best. He has a sexy, gravelly voice and he always sounds so natural. Lila Winters isn’t horrible, though I am not too fond of her voice. She sounds a bit nasal and angry at times, depressed at others. She seemed to overact when she was narrating Row and Dylan’s parts. It annoyed me.
I voluntarily listened to & reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook. All thoughts & opinions are my own.
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