Add Love and Mix

By: Sean Michael

Narrated by: Steve Balderson

Firefighter Jason "Jase" Weller and EMT Scott Bronson are living the perfect life. They work together in jobs they love, they live together, and in their downtime, they still can't get enough of each other. It's been six amazing years. Then on Christmas Eve, Jase's former lover Elsa shows up with a six-year-old girl in tow. The strung-out junkie claims Kerry is Jase's daughter and it's his turn to care for her, and then she walks out.

Shocked at both the fact that Elsa is now a junkie and that he has a daughter he never knew about, Jase nonetheless steps up to the plate as her father and Scott offers his full support. Having an instant family comes with plenty of challenges, and the two men work to deal with sweeping changes in their lives and to make things right for Kerry.

It's not going to be easy, and their new circumstances test them and their relationship like nothing ever has. They'll need all the love they have for each other--and the love they discover for their daughter--to keep from breaking apart.

©2016 Sean Michael (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press

Good story. Fast reader

The story itself was good. A nice look at how two people in love can deal with the sudden change of circumstances. I love that there were real problems and they were (eventually) dealt with in an adult manner.

The reader talks very fast. He almost sounds sped up. I had to listen to the whole thing at .75 speed.

Not sure where this was going...

Boy. I’m not sure how to really even review this.

First, the couple is already together – as you can tell by the blurb – so their “romance” is pretty well … established. It almost reads like a sequel wherein we’d met the MCs in an earlier book and this was “what happens next”. They definitely have stuff to overcome in their relationship, but it’s not that they don’t love one another so it’s kind of a strange book to categorize from that sense.

It’s Sean Michael, so we do get some sex and that is pretty steamy – but this is the “family book” Sean Michael versus the “BDSM” Sean Michael so sex isn’t the main focus.

The main focus is, instead, the trials and tribulations of two youngish men, who hadn’t ever really “wanted” kids (at least not yet) suddenly becoming parents. Which is… kinda interesting but more … exhausting and sometimes whiny.

On the one hand, I think the author did a good job of setting up realistic hurdles and having the couple work through them in ways that felt authentic. Maybe a little too realistic. It just felt like work and I wasn’t ever very invested in anything because you knew they were going to stick together so it was just a matter of time and… it was just a bit – blah.

What didn’t help was the fact that I was listening to this and the narrator, isn’t very interesting either. His narration felt very “story book telling time at the library” to me and didn’t inspire a lot of passion. It was fairly monotone with no variations for the MCs and the girl’s voice was just pitched higher.

He’s a new narrator to me, and I’d be cautious about picking another story narrated by him in the future. It might have been his subject matter or it might have just been how he chose to portray it.

In any case, I can’t really say I recommend this. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good.

All in all I’d give it 2.5 of 5 stars for both the story and the narration.

Liked, not loved

Add Love and Mix deals with an established couple facing a major life change in the form of a 6 year old daughter who was previously not known about. The book gives an honest look into how an unexpected upheaval can tax even a solid long term relationship and force partners to either work together or grow apart. While I like this idea of an established couple having to find themselves again, there were a few things that kept me from falling hard for this story.

The book opens with the couple, Jase and Scott, returning to the fire station from a call. The main conflict presents almost immediately. This meant there is minimal introduction to the couple, as individuals or together. Though the sudden emergence of the Jase’s unknown daughter captured my interest, I wished there was more of a backstory or glimpse of the couple before Kerry appeared on scene. It was hard to have a connection or feeling from the couple that wasn’t riddled with angst and the unknown because the reader never gets to witness their previous version of normal. From the little clues given, they seemed to have a somewhat relaxed view of their relationship at first. While the way their casual stance on a 6 year relationship struck me as odd, it made the relationship changes and growth over the course of the book more apparent. Despite not having a solid read on Jase and Scott at the start, they were undeniably likable characters. Both were good men who wanted to do right by each other and Jase’s daughter, and I couldn’t help but hope they got their HEA.

The writing in Add Love and Mix was easy and relaxed with a steady pace throughout the book. The narrator, Steve Balderson, embodied the characters’ voices well and his different tones for Jase and Scott made it easy to distinguish between the men during prolonged dialogue. I think this is the first audiobook I haven’t needed to turn up the speed because the narrator used an ideal tempo. However, the pacing felt a little stilted. I am uncertain whether this was due to the writing or narration style, but the flow wasn’t the smoothest. The shorter sentences and occasionally repetitive descriptions made the pacing stand out and kept me from being swept away by the story.

The final few chapters of the book stood out the most for me. I saw so much more from the characters in regard to their relationship as a couple and I liked how the resolutions unfolded once Jase and Scott talked out their issues. Add Love and Mix had all the components for a really great book, it just never took off for me. This audiobook was a good read with admirable characters and a solid plot, but I don’t know that it was entirely memorable.

*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*

A sweet story that will give you the feels!

Would you listen to Add Love and Mix again? Why?

Yes. It was heartwarming and gives you hope. A very sweet, fun story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Add Love and Mix?

I think when Elsa shows up on Christmas Eve with a surprise for Jase.

What aspect of Steve Balderson’s performance would you have changed?

His cadence. He has a nice voice but the reading was a little choppy.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and I did.

Any additional comments?

Add Love and Mix is a sweet romance between two men that have their lives all worked out. Scott is a paramedic and Jase is a firefighter. They have been together for years and love each other. To be together more they work the same shifts.. When Elsa shows up with Jase's child and obviously a druggie he wonders how much else he doesn't know and if this will change their relationship. It is a story of life change and true love.
If you like firemen, men in uniforms, holiday stories and cute kids you will love this!

Romance with little angst and easy solutions

Would you listen to Add Love and Mix again? Why?

Add Love and Mix is a romance with very little angst but lots of family-style love.
Jase is a firefighter who happens to be bi but currently lives with his boyfriend Scott. Six years ago Jase ended a relationship with a woman, met Scott, and they’ve been together ever since. What Jase didn’t know was his former girlfriend was sliding into drug addiction and she was pregnant with his baby. Then on Christmas Eve, while Jase and his boyfriend were on duty, a woman, clearly strung out on drigs, showed up at the fire station with a little girl in tow. Announcing that she was sick of the child, who showed signs of abuse, she thrust her at a shocked Jase, who didn’t even recognize the woman initially. Horrified at the kind of condition the child was in, and on Christmas Eve at that, he immediately accepted her as his daughter, hoping this wouldn’t hurt his relationship with Scott.
Scott is a paramedic who is deeply in love with Jase. They live together, work the same shifts, and spend their spare time together. Scott has fears and doubts about becoming a “co-father” but puts on a brave face and tries to assure Jase they are in this together. Then the grandparents show up, full of happiness and advice.
The story has its ups and downs for Jase, Scott and little Kerry. Most of these roadblocks to family happiness are resolved a bit too easily, but then again, it’s nice to read a book in which not everything turns to ashes. If you are looking for a sweet read and love stories about children with two daddies, this is the book for you. I loved it.

What did you like best about this story?

light reading

What about Steve Balderson’s performance did you like?

Excellent voices

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes