WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

Recipe for a Boston Classic Cocktail: one part finance geek, one part starving actor, two shots of stubborn and a healthy squeeze of passion. Shake well and serve in a vintage glass.

When Kate Bishop walks into Boston’s famous Bull and Finch pub, all she’s looking for is one guy from her investment firm that she can trust to have her back—a tall order. With a salesman at her side, maybe stage fright won’t paralyze her completely when she presents her meticulously prepared research to clients. And maybe she can save her job.

Romance is the last thing on her to-do list, but a meet-cute with a Shakespeare-quoting bartender has her speculating on the value of diversifying her life portfolio.

Will Talbot is not a fan of the slick financiers who cram into his bar after each day’s closing bell. With their calls for Harvey Wallbangers and their Hermès ties, they’re all the same.

Except for a certain beautiful, buttoned-up brunette with fire in her eyes and a storm in her heart. They’re totally wrong for each other. He should be focusing on his upcoming audition, not coaching Kate on how to act like she's a bona fide member of the Gordon Gekko club.

Problem is, they can’t seem to stay away from each other.

The course of true love never did run smooth, but in this 1980's sweet-and-sexy rom-com, returns on love can’t be measured on the S&P 500. 

Audiobook Release Date: June 16, 2020

Home Cooked Books

Boston Classics #1

Nostalgic Romance

Narrated by : Joe Arden & Karen White

Length: 9 hours and 31 minutes
Source: Audiobook Publisher
Audio Speed: 1.25x

Previously posted at That’s What I’m Talking About 

Liza's Review:

What I'm Looking For is the first book in the Boston Classics series from Karen Grey. Ms. Grey takes her readers back to the 80's and I felt all the nostalgia while reading this book as I grew up in the 80's. Kate is bit of a numbers nerd working as a top financial analyst, which was a very male-dominated field in the 80's. Will works as a stage actor and part-time bartender to help make ends meet. They meet when Kate heads to happy hour to convince one of her male coworkers to join her on sales trips. While Kate is a wizard when it comes to stats, she has poor presentation skills and feels a salesman would help her become more comfortable. Will and Kate seem to connect pretty much from their first meeting when Will mixes her the perfect cocktail to drink while with the Old Boy's Club.

Will and Kate are defiantly an opposites attract romance. Kate is on the fast path to partner as a financial analyst and Will pretty much eschews anything to do with her business because of this past with his father. Also, until Will meets Kate he is pretty comfortable just making ends meet and not trying to work in any other medium than stage acting. I really liked that Will helped Kate come out of her shell and bit and Kate seems to help Will look at options beyond only the stage for his acting career. I enjoyed the banter between Kate and Will and felt they had really great chemistry. I really felt like they helped each become the best part of themselves. I will say I loved how Will tried to come up with the perfect Shakespeare quote for every situation. I loved even more when I knew the quote already.

I did have a few issues as I listened to this book. Will and Kate weren't always the best with communicating with one another. I get all romances have their own dark moment before the couple moves forward. I wondered if they would continue to have communication issues later. I also didn't love some of the mentions of product placement from the future; be it the Harvard facebook or wireless phones (aka cell phones), especially since there were already cordless phones by the late 80's. I did laugh out loud at the actually brick car phone mentioned, especially as Kate yelled when she used it the first time. That was so spot on with the friends I knew who had early versions of car phones.

I enjoyed the story on the whole even with the few issues. I especially adored the supporting characters from this book. Will's roommates who totally mothered him had me laughing out loud almost every time they were around. I also loved Kate's best friend Alice, and while I didn't expect to at first meeting, "Hot Steve" from Kate's office. He grew every bit as much as a character as both Will and Kate over the course of the book, and I'd love to see more of him in future books.

Rating Narrations: 5 Stars (A) Joe Arden and Karen White are 2 of the best narrators in the business and they both totally brought this story to life for me. I know when I see either of them listed on an audiobook, I'm in for an amazing narration. I felt there was a seamless transition between these two as they moved between the different characters. Outstanding performance by both.

Rating Story: 4 Stars (B-) Liked it, but had a few small issues. Recommend