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My Review:Title: Anything You Can Do
Author: R.S. Grey
Published by: Audible Studios
Release Date: June 6, 2017
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Kimberly Roelle, Joshua Kumler
Length: 6 hours and 46 minutes
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Comedy
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 #LetsReadIndie Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes
My rating:
Blurb:Lucas Thatcher has always been my enemy.
It’s been a decade since I’ve seen him, but our years on opposite coasts were less of a lasting peace and more of a temporary cease-fire. Now that we’re both back in our small town, I know Lucas expects the same old war, but I’ve changed since high school—and from the looks of it, so has he.
The arrogant boy who was my teenage rival is now a chiseled doctor armed with intimidating good looks. He is Lucas Thatcher 2.0, the new and improved version I’ll be competing with in the workplace instead of the schoolyard.
I’m not worried; I’m a doctor now too, board-certified and sexy in a white coat. It almost feels like winning will be too easy—until Lucas unveils a tactic neither of us has ever used before: sexual warfare.
The day he pushes me up against the wall and presses his lips to mine, I can’t help but wonder if he’s filling me with passion or poison. Every fleeting touch is perfect torture. With every stolen kiss, my walls crumble a little more. After all this time, Lucas knows exactly how to strip me of my defenses, but I’m in no hurry to surrender.
Knowing thy enemy has never felt so good.
3.75 stars — After listening to and LOVING The Foxe and the Hound, which is sort of a sequel to this book in that it follows Lucas’s sister (and Daisy’s best friend) Madeleine, I just couldn’t help myself and NEEDED to hear Lucas and Daisy’s story…even if I was a bit wary.
Can I just start off and say that the existence of two narrators is a bit misleading? I thought this would be a dual POV story, and it really wasn’t. When I was 9 chapters in and still hadn’t had a Lucas chapter, I was starting to get confused. Lucas doesn’t really have a POV in this story. He gets maybe 3 mini chapters which are just unsent emails from him, and I ADORED them (and actually really loved Joshua Kumler’s narration, will be looking for more from him), but I would have enjoyed even more from his perspective. It was like a tease. 😛 So essentially, look at this story as a single POV and avoid getting disappointed if you’re a dual fan (as I am). That being said, I thought Ms. Roelle’s narration was pretty fantastic. I loved the different voices she did for different characters, I couldn’t believe how unique she made them. Honestly, the only part where I was less than enthusiastic was occasionally when Daisy got a bit crazy and it got crazy even in the narration…this was totally purposeful, and I get it. But it made scenes where I was already cringing because of the antics even more cringeworthy…like double the cringe. That being said, I won’t hesitate to check out more books narrated by Kimberly Roelle!
So this is a MEGA enemies to lovers story, and if I’m being perfectly honest, that’s not my favourite trope. I think the problem for me is that often times for people to be honest to goodness enemies, it usually involves characters behaving badly…it just kind of goes hand in hand. And that always makes me cringe. Not always, mind you, but it is a common theme. I just have way too much sympathetic embarrassment, and so it takes a special book to win over my heart. This book almost didn’t. Daisy is…hard to like sometimes. She is just as neurotic as so many of Ms. Grey’s heroines, but in her case it’s wrapped up in hatred and competition and I just had a hard time sympathizing with her, you know? The funny thing is, the part that made my opinion turn the corner was in the fact that Daisy’s behavior didn’t get excused away. She didn’t get let off the hook. It wasn’t a case of “oh, well, Lucas did this…” Daisy truly feels the effects of her blindness. I really appreciated that. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more of an understanding of why she was so blind…was it being raised in a single parent family? Or just a quirk of her personality? But I was still really happy with the way the book turned that final corner and wrapped up.
Lucas also helped to really sell the story for me. I think if I’d had more of his POV, I wouldn’t have struggled so much. I had inklings of what was going on with him, but each email chapter scrap I devoured eagerly. My heart just ached for him and his hidden affections. And again, while it was mostly blind Daisy, I appreciated that Lucas got a bit of flak for not speaking up. But OMG, those videos. I freaking CRIED you guys.
The story was rounded out with some pretty solid chemistry (even as it took forever to get there, and I kept worrying about Daisy ruining it), some hilarious moments, and great secondary characters. Not my fave read by Ms. Grey, but a lot of that is due to my taste in trope. But the winning moments made me grin hard enough to make all the cringing worth it.
Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes ever! This sounds awesome.
Nice review!
You included a lot of what I like to know when deciding about going into a book like this. Enemies to lovers is one that has to be handled just right for me. I agree that its usually people misbehaving so I want to see them get a clue and feel remorseful by the end. And, yes, the other danger is that their ‘enemy’ antics are enough to put me off the character or romance itself.
Great review, Lenoreo!