Audiobook Review: Starting from Here by Lane Hayes, narrated by Michael Dean (Starting From #3)


Note: The audiobook was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design.

Nearly more than a year after the release of the second audiobook in the Starting From series, Lane Hayes and Michael Dean are back with the third installment! Starting from Here is a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers (did you get all that?) romance, or if that sounds a wee bit complicated, simply put, it's a second-chance romance between two former friends turned hostile rivals and then reluctant co-artists under the same record label on the brink of music stardom. Tegan Monroe is the drummer for Zero and Declan is the singer/songwriter for Jealousy. Zero is struggling to have a firmer foothold and garner more success with the release of their second album, and Jealousy recognizes that the first impression they make will either help them soar to greater heights or plummet into obscurity. Neither band wants to have anything to do with the other, and there's a reason for that, but when Jealousy's drummer is injured just as the band is recording their debut album, the only one who can step in is the one person Declan would rather not help: Tegan. This is only temporary...but could it lead to permanence?

Having listened to the first two audiobooks in the Starting From series, I more than appreciate the fact that Michael Dean has been able to add even the most subtle of nuances to make each of the voices of this cast of characters distinct, which I'm pretty sure is no easy task. He truly did bring both Declan and Tegan to life, and did a marvelous job narrating another wonderfully penned story from Lane Hayes. While not overly angsty, there was just enough angst to make me a happy, angst-addicted camper, and I liked the lightheartedness here. This wasn't a romantic comedy by any means, but Hayes always injects wit and bites of humor in her stories, the kind that entices a smile from her readers. Declan and Tegan's story had the sort of push and pull that leads to that delicious sense of anticipation I crave and look for in the enemies-to-lovers trope. The Starting From series has been a consistent source of aural delight, and I can't wait to see what Hayes and, presumably, Dean have after Starting from Here, which snags five-plus stars.

Date Listened to: 07 November 2020

Learn more about Lane Hayes.

Learn more about Michael Dean.

Purchase Starting from Here on Audible.

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