Review of ’30 dates in 30 days’ by Elle Spencer,

Audiobook narrated by Lori Prince

Veronica Welch is a lawyer about to be named partner at one of the most prestigious law firms in New York City. Her professional life’s goal almost achieved, she wants to get married by the age of 35. As she lets her plan known to her assistant, Bea organises a series of 30 dates in 30 days for her boss. Rachel Monaghan doesn’t do serious relationships. She’s a renowned wedding photographer and part-time bartender at her cousins’ place. There, she meets Veronica and each of her daily dates. Sparks fly between them but Veronica believes in true love and Rachel doesn’t. Do they have a chance together?

Although the idea of online dating in romance novels isn’t new, I loved the way Ms. Spencer handled this with humour and originality. Some of the dating stories are hilarious borderline with ridiculous, but the story captures really well how unnerving the situation could be. The premise of identifying each date by their choice of drink is very clever and so is the fact that the reader doesn’t know Veronica’s real kind of drink until the end. V and Rachel are very well written characters, in their differences and similarities. Both V’s desire to find the one and Rachel’s aversion to serious relationships are believable and relatable.

However, what really stole the show for me was the off the charts chemistry between the mains. Ms. Spencer knows how to build the tension so thick that you could cut it with a proverbial knife. The intimate scenes are really hot, especially the one that involves a mirror. It reminded me of another hot scene in Lee Winter’s ‘The brutal truth’. Kudos to the author to bring originality in those crucial but hard to write parts in a romance book. The secondary characters are lovable with their joy of life at old age. Behind the banter and witty dialogues between them, the reader can pick some pearls of wisdom about life and love. In addition, the mains from ‘The road to Madison’ make an appearance in this book so the reader can catch up with their lives.

This was a much-anticipated audiobook release, narrated by the talented Lori Prince. Her cheerful and youthful voice captures the tone of this novel perfectly. All her voices are very well performed but Rachel’s husky tone is a winner for me. One little detail that is not her fault: V and her assistant Bea’s names sounded almost the same to my ears which confused me a little at the beginning (though English isn’t my mother language so take it with a pinch of salt). Even though most of the book is light and funny, there are some emotional parts too. Ms. Prince performed them all superbly. She made one of my favourite books of the year even sound better if possible. Unfortunately, it’s not available in either Audible Escape or Scribd but it’s worth your money. Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes.

Overall, a clever, funny and light lesbian romance audiobook with great chemistry and a superb cast. 5 stars for both the story and narration.