Review of ‘The Roundabout’ by Gerri Hill,
Audiobook narrated by Nicol Zanzarella
Since Megan Phenix, owner of ‘The Phenix Grill’, broke up with her girlfriend, she is tired of being invited on dates by all the eligible lesbians in the small town of Eureka Springs. When Leah Rollins opens a shop next to the grill and starts receiving unwanted attention, she agrees with Megan to fake-date so they can keep lesbians at bay. Can they pull it off? There’s only one minor issue, they don’t like each other. Or do they?
‘The Roundabout’ is Gerri Hill’s take on the fake relationship trope plus age-gap and small-town romance. Nothing wrong with that, it has been done by different authors many times and very well. My problem with this book is that the reason why the characters agree to fake-date seems too far-fetched and unrealistic. I accept that this trope normally asks for a suspension of disbelief but, in this case, I just couldn’t go along with it. Unlike with many other of Ms. Hill’s books, the chemistry between the main characters is quite mild.
The association between Gerri Hill and Nicol Zanzarella has proven to be successful with titles like ‘The Neighbor’, ‘After the Summer Rain’ and ‘Chasing a Brighter Blue’. I’ve particularly loved the last one. Ms. Zanzarella is an accomplished narrator, she’s got a playful tone that matches the story and her different characters’ voices are distinctive and natural. She does a great job with this book and makes the listening experience much better than the reading but if you are new to them, there are better audiobooks to start.
3.5 stars for the story, 4.5 stars for the narration. Overall, an ok lesbian fake relationship audiobook. 4 stars.
Duration: 6 hours, 36 minutes.
