Review of The Adventurers by Bryce Oakley, Audiobook narrated by AJ Ferraro

This was a light, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, age-gap romance with an original premise. I hadn’t read anything by this author before and this seemed a good place to start. I enjoyed it very much.

Joey Moore is recovering from a breakup at her engagement party. So she moves away from her small town to the city to start over. There she meets Kendall O’Hara, a veterinarian 14 years her senior, who is adamant about not getting involved in a serious relationship after a failed marriage. Together they will start an unlikely friendship in which both push each other out of their comfort zones and realise that maybe their chances at love weren’t that bad after all…

This was a very funny story, with an original premise of two very different women who decide to tackle their bucket list together. The book is overall light and entertaining with several laugh-out-loud moments starting with their meet cue, followed by an awkward visit to a sex shop, among others. Some situations were mostly ridiculous but work well with the overall light tone of the novel.

This story hits several tropes: age gap, friends to lovers, slow-burn romance, and opposites attract. Despite both main characters are well written and authentic, their chemistry together is OK but not off the charts. However, the experiences they share together make their bond special and fun to read. The cast of secondary characters, especially a cheeky dog and cute kittens make this story entertaining.

I’ve listened to the audiobook narrated by AJ Ferraro. She is a good voice actor but I admit that I’m not a fan of her voice. However, her performance was convincing enough and the tone of her narration was very good. I think this story would have been perfect for Lori Prince as her comedic timing is impeccable but Ms. Ferraro did a good job anyway. 4 stars.

Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins