Audio Review: Kiss Me Again by Garrrett Leigh, Performed by Dan Calley

17 March of 2020 by ButtonsMom2003

Story: 5

Narration: 4

4.5Overall score

Wonderful story, good narration.

Kiss Me Again By Garrrett Leigh, Performed by Dan Calley

Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM

Released: audio-February 27, 2020; ebook-June 7, 2019

Publisher: Fox Love Press

Length:5 hrs, 41 mins; 227 pages

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh

Synopsis

Tree surgeon Aidan Drummond is content with his own company. He works alone, and lives alone, and it doesn’t occur to him to want anything else until a life-changing accident lands him in hospital. Then a glimpse of the beautiful boy in the opposite bed changes everything.

Ludo Giordano is trapped on the ward with a bunch of old men. His mind plays tricks on him, keeping him awake. Then late one night, a new face brings a welcome distraction. Their unlikely friendship is addictive. And, like most things in Ludo’s life, temporary.

Back in the real world, Aidan’s monochrome existence is no longer enough. He craves the colour Ludo brought him, and when a chance meeting brings them back together, before long, they’re inseparable again.

But bliss comes with complications. Aidan is on the road to recovery, but Ludo has been unwell his entire life, and that’s not going to change. Aidan can kiss him as much as he likes, but if he can’t help Ludo when he needs him most, they don’t stand a chance.

“Kiss Me Again is a deliciously tender and prickly romance about the intimacy that comes with acceptance. Ludo and Aidan accept and love each other for exactly who they are—complications, injuries, mental health issues, moods—and I loved them for it.” — Roan Parish

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

Wonderful story, good narration.

I read and reviewed the ebook of Kiss Me Again back in June 2019. Now I’ve had the chance to listen to this wonderful story performed by Dan Calley and I loved it all over again. This is the third book I’ve listened to performed by Dan Calley and I’m getting used to his voice now. His tone is very pleasing; it has just taken me a few books to fully get used to his accent.

Below is what I wrote when I reviewed the ebook:
Kiss Me Again deals with the difficult topic of mental illness and Garrett Leigh handles it beautifully and compassionately. She didn’t put any trigger warnings in the book’s blurb. As much as I hate them sometimes, I think it might be wise to mention that the story has recollections of things that one of the MC’s has done in the past. Things like cutting and suicidal thoughts. The other MC has a drinking problem at the beginning of the story.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way I must try to convey how much I loved Kiss Me Again. It’s kind of funny to me… One of the ways I measure how much I like a book is by how much it makes me cry. Surprisingly to me, I didn’t shed a tear while reading this story but I still loved it.

While this deals with very serious topics there are still some lighter moments and the story is far from being what I would consider really dark. Both Aidan and Ludo are broken in some ways but somehow, they manage to forge a friendship that turns into something much more. Ludo brings light into Aidan’s dark world and Aidan helps to calm and provide stability for Ludo.

This is what I consider a slow burn story; you won’t find pages and pages of hot sex. What you will find is two men who learn to care for each other and put their needs behind those of their partner.

I applaud the author for writing a story about such a difficult subject that most people don’t want to talk about or even acknowledge exists. I have seen depression and mental illness up close and personal and Garrett Leigh has written a touching love story that also felt very realistic to me.