In a Jam

De: Kate Canterbary

Narrado por: Jason Clarke, Kit Swann

When Shay Zucconi’s step-grandmother died, she left Shay a tulip farm—under two conditions.

First, Shay has to move home to the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island. Second—and most problematic since her fiancé just called off the wedding—Shay must be married within one year.

Marriage is the last thing in the world Shay wants, but she’ll do anything to save the only real home she’s ever known.

Noah Barden loved Shay Zucconi back in high school. Not that he ever told her. He was too shy, too awkward, too painfully uncool to ask out the beautiful, popular girl.

A lifetime later, Noah is a single dad to his niece and has his hands full running the family business. That old crush is the farthest thing from his mind.

Until Shay returns to their hometown and turns his life upside down.

CW/TW: absentee parent(s), brief mention of parent death, brief mention of parent chronic illness, mention of incarceration, mention of temporary foster care placement, reference to teenage teasing/bullying (not detailed, not explicit), brief incidence of fat-shaming, living with a neurodivergent child.

Produced by One Night Stand Productions.

©2022 Kate Canterbary (P)2023 Kate Canterbary

Daddy Bread Baker for the Win!

This book! THIS BOOK! I'm still a puddle of mush after finishing it. In a Jam checked so many of my boxes (and some I didn't even know I had)! Noah is my absolute favorite type of hero - the filthy cinnamon roll. He was so incredibly sweet, loving, and tender, but also a beast in the bedroom. His dirty talk was chef's kiss and I'm still not over how incredibly sexy and steamy this book was. Daddy Bread Baker for the win!! The amount of pining was off the charts too and I loved how gone he was for Shay. The "proof" at the end had me swooning so hard. There was some OW/OM drama that I could have done without, but I think it was necessary to see Shay's growth. The secondary characters were hilarious and Gennie stole the show any time she was on the page. There are some heavier moments in the book, but I appreciated how they were explored and addressed. I could not control the happy sigh as I finished this one and I can't recommend it enough!

I had been wanting to read In a Jam for a while, but I kept holding out for the audiobook since I knew it would be narrated by one of my favs - Jason Clarke. It was 1 million percent worth the wait. Hearing him growl and say "wife" sent shivers down my spine. He was the PERFECT Noah and oh my goodness those sexy scenes and his performance had me blushing. Kit Swann was equally wonderful and I loved this narrating duo! Please do yourself a favor and get this one on audio!

Audiobook Review
Overall 5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 5 stars

Tropes: small town, single parent, marriage of convenience, forced proximity, pining, caretaker, second chance-ish, childhood friends to lovers, cinnamon roll hero

CW (from the author's website): Absentee parent(s), brief mention of parent death, brief mention of parent chronic illness, mention of incarceration, mention of temporary foster care placement, reference to teenage teasing/bullying (not detailed, not explicit), brief incidence of fat-shaming, living with a neurodivergent child.

Outstanding!

This author never lets me down. I love the small town, second chance romance and throw in a 6-year old little girl who swears like a pirate? I’m sold!

Wonderful Story & Listen🎧 Charming & Heartwarming

This book was amazing, and I loved everything about it, from Kate Canterbary wonderful writing style to the fabulous characters and storylines she created to the perfectly cast narrators who bring it all to life from the pages to the ears. The story not only captivated my attention the entire time, but it tugged on my heartstrings too. I laughed, I cried, but mostly laughed, because the witty dialogue is both brilliant and hilarious with the best coming out of the mouth of a naughty and troublesome little girl who has the mouth of a sailor, there is an innocence and genuineness about her that makes it is easy to overlook what comes out of her mouth. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with and you can not help but fall in love with them, especially Imogen, aka Gennie. Shay Zucconi’s fiancé never showed up on her wedding day, leaving her broken-hearted. Soon after, she finds out she inherited her step-grandmother’s tulip farm, an inheritance that comes with two conditions, having to move to move there, a small town of Friendship, Rhode Island and to be married within a year. The timing could not be more perfect for her to get away, so she goes to there and plans to stay for the year, and it will only be the year because marriage will not happen for her. When she gets to the farm, she runs into an obstacle and couldn’t enter the property. She saw who obstacles belonged to and headed to the neighboring farm, Little Star Farms, to get them removed. And who she finds there is the last person she thought would be back in Friendship. It was not in his plans, but Noah Barden came back to the place he grew up and took over running the farm and turned it into a profitable business. He also became the guardian of his sister’s daughter, Gennie, who was a handful. It took a few minutes for Shay to realize who Noah was, the girl he has a crush on in High School and they shared some special times together. It was disappointing when she did not recognize him right away, but the way she handled and treated his niece, Gennie, was impressive. Shay was a kindergarten teacher and great with kids. When Noah learns about the stipulation of her inheritance and her idea of what to bring to the farm, he offers to marry her, besides he has some ideas of his own for the land. She gets on board with the idea but wants to keep it to themselves, mostly for the sake of Gennie, who she agreed to help. It was great watching these two get to know each other again, it was also great to see the bond Shay and Gennie shared. This wonderfully plotted story has the perfect balance of drama, humor, some heart-rending moments, heartfelt emotions, and a steamy romance and love that was meant to be. Kate Canterbary, thank you for another amazing story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fantastic narration, Jason Clarke and Kit Swann were the perfect cast to bring these characters and story to life. They had a complete understanding of the characters they were portraying, gave each a voice that suited their persona and were believable in every role they played. Clarke nailed it as Noah, from his seriousness and brooding demeanor to his bossiness. Swann’s Shay was perfection, she grasped all sides of her personality, from her vulnerability to her strength and determination. Both were great voicing and performing the roles of the secondary characters and the show stealer herself, Gennie. They set the perfect tone for the story, handled the witty dialogue with ease and landed the humor effortlessly. You could hear how much heart they put into their work as they captured all the character’s emotions and projected them into their performance. These versatile voice artists are entertaining storytellers and a pleurae to listen to. Thank you for this amazing listen.

Five raspberry jams

Such a cute story of deep love and friendship and family… I found Noah intense sometimes but also charming, it’s a book that will make you laugh and read past your bedtime. Shay, Noah and Gennie are a unique family.

Cute story

It’s a light feel good story. Pretty predictable but there are a couple of spots. It’s cute and a quick read

Perfect pairing

I loved this book when I read it. This pairing of narrators to the characters brought out so much more of the emotions without going over the top.

Contemporary romance with a marriage of convenience and a pining hero!

I’ve read a handful of books by Kate Canterbary and In a Jam was on my TBR since it released! And I’m so glad I finally got to it. This is a contemporary romance with a pining hero (she’s the girl who got away in highschool), a marriage of convenience (she needs to marry to inherit a farm), grumpy-sunshine, curvy heroine, and a single dad hero (he’s the guardian of his niece).

Shay is a teacher and when the story starts she gets left at the altar by her awful fiancé, he even cancels over a phone call after not showing up at the wedding! A few weeks later, Shay finds out her step-grandmother left Shay her tulip farm in Rhode Island. She just has to move to the farm and be married within a year to keep it. Shay heads there for a fresh start, planning to take a gap year before running back home. But she runs into Noah, her old highschool friend who still lives next door, and when she tells him about the inheritance, he proposes…a marriage of convenience!

Noah has his hands full with his farm, jam business, and his niece Gennie who he is the guardian of. When Shay, his teenage crush, comes back into his life, he can’t believe his luck. Gennie takes to Shay right away and Shay even offers to tutor Gennie for the summer since she was kicked out of summer school. When Shay tells him how she has to marry by next summer to keep the farm, he offers to marry her as he wants the land (the last plot on the hill he doesn’t own) and it would allow him to have an event center.

I did really enjoy the first half of this, I think it lost me around the time they give into their feelings. It started feeling like the plot of the story stopped around then and just focused on their physical relationship. That said, I did like a lot about this, especially the gruff hero who has his moments of bossy and possessiveness and is the one pining. There were lots of moments I liked in this: we get a lot of time at farmer’s markets, little fake dating moments in front of others he’s trying to avoid, Noah and Gennie planning a surprise birthday dinner for Shay, his bread baking, her quirky-kitschy earrings, “my wife”.

AMAZING!!!

This book is EVERYTHING! It is cute, funny, and spicy! This is the funniest book I’ve read! The little girl is cute, but her swearing gets me every time! There is even a little twist at the end, it’s a masterpiece!!!

Loved it!

Loved this book! It’s my first five star of the year! So good! Get it!

Great Story - Loved the Narrators

I loved the story and the narrators, especially Jason Clarke were terrific. I highly recommend.