Spencer Cohen Series, Book One

By: N.R. Walker

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Spencer Cohen is the guy who gets answers to relationship questions. Playing the role of the new lover, his job is to make his client's ex realize one of two things: he doesn't want to break up or he really does. Either way, his client gets answers.

The ex would either apologize and beg, or turn and walk. But in the end, Spencer's client won. If he wanted his ex back and got him, it was great. If the guy walked away, then as hard it was for the client, he knew it was over. Regardless of the outcome, Spencer's work was done.

Andrew Landon's ex left him without so much as an explanation. But his sister can't stand to see him miserable, so, much to Andrew's dismay, they hire Spencer to be Andrew's new boyfriend to get the ex back.

For Spencer, it is never personal. Merely a business transaction. No emotions, no strings, no complications. Yeah right. Even a blind man could see how this would end.

Contains mature themes.

©2016 N. R. Walker (P)2018 Tantor

Critic reviews

"If you're looking for an unusual, touching romance with beautifully-rendered characters, this book should be at the top of your list." (Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews)

Intimate. Slow Burn. Heart-Touching.

I had a wonderful time listening Joel Leslie narrate the beautiful and romantically written Spencer Cohen, book One .

This very intimate story is a very slow burn; I mean, heroes share just one kiss in the entire 5 hours and 26minutes of this audio. Yet, the anticipation, chemistry between Spencer and Andrew was off the charts hot.

Will I Re-listen?: No
Recommend: Yes

#ListenedOn2020 #Audible #AudibleEscape #KindleFire

So. Nice.

I really appreciate good character development. And a story that doesn't have to depend on drawn out and over written sex scenes is refreshing. Don't get me wrong. This book had lots of build up and wasn't prudish. A winner. Looking forward to a prolific series.

An eccentric Aussie fake boyfriend

I am a huge N.R. Walker fan, so when ‘Spencer Cohen’ was released on audio, I seized it. And with Joel Leslie narrating? Heaven!

That being said, this wasn’t my favourite N.R. Walker audio, but given that several of hers are at the top of my all-time favourite list, it would have been hard to achieve those heights. ‘Switched’ and ‘The Weight of it All’ are always on my recommendation list.

I did enjoy the book. Other readers have spoken highly of the series and I can see why. Spencer is an Aussie transplant who has a backstory that is slowly revealed as the story progresses. It’s a story that is, unfortunately, all too familiar to gay teenagers.

America, and Los Angeles in particular, has been good to Spencer. By a stroke of fortune, he met his landlords Emilio and Daniela when he went into their tattoo and piercing shop to get his first tattoo. He met his best friend Lola and her beau Gabe through a series of unusual events, and in the process, found a creative employment solution – “Dial-A-Boyfriend”.
I have to admit, it’s a unique endeavor. Women and men hire Spencer to help them get their ex-boyfriends back. Spencer’s primary weapon is jealousy – following the logic that if the dumper sees his ex with a new lover (Spencer), he will start to appreciate what he let slip through his fingers.

The story is told entirely through Spencer’s point-of-view, common with N.R.’s books. He is a lumbersexual hipster with full-sleeve tattooed arms and a short beard. He has a crew: Daniela and Emilio as well as Lola and Gabe. They rally around him, helping him with his clients, and as Spencer says, he’s ‘f-ing good’ at his job. The crew have a shorthand name for all of the clients so it’s natural for them to nickname Andrew Pianoman.

For reasons he doesn’t understand, that irks Spencer. He sees Andrew as himself, not as a moniker. This is the first sign that Spencer sees Andrew differently from those who have come before him. Andrew is a good-looking man whose ex-boyfriend left him after they had been living together and had even agreed to marry. Andrew is completely baffled as to why Eli left and wants him back. Spencer’s job is simple: get Eli and Andrew back together.

To be effective, Spencer needs to get to know his clients. He has a VETO policy – if he asks a question that is too personal, the client can say ‘veto’.

Andrew is adorable. Slightly geeky and completely unable to see his own worth. He’s sexy – although he doesn’t show off – and he has a great personality once his shyness gets set aside. So Spencer spends time getting to know the real Andrew. And that goes both ways. Spencer loves Jeff Buckley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (one of my all-time favourite songs, and although I listened to Jeff’s version, the best one out there is Patricia O’Callaghan’s). For Andrew, it’s Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Given his ability to play piano, this isn’t a surprise. When Spencer digs deeper, though, Andrew admits to his true love. And the image of Andrew playing for Spencer. Wow.

There are other adventures to be had. Spencer invites Andrew to hang around with him – to get to know each other so Eli will believe they are a couple. There is a great scene in the tattoo parlour where Daniela asks Spencer, “what about a Prince Albert?” Spencer’s reacts by thinking that his ‘dick retracted into his body’. This is just one of the doozies that goes through Spencer’s inner monologue. I love him. He is self-deprecating and brutally honest. Sometimes he manages to keep his thoughts to himself, but sometimes he just blurts them out.

And, when it comes down to it, he understands that a good portion of his job is building up the self-esteem of the client who has been dumped. And he does this brilliantly:

“Jesus, Andrew, if there was a magazine called Sexy and Cool Cartoonographers who play jazz funk piano and watch Stanley Kubrick films, you would be on the cover of every issue.”

By this point, Spencer has moved from just seeing Andrew as a client to seeing Andrew as a man who Eli clearly did not appreciate. And as he gets Andrew closer to getting Eli back, he sees that he is closer to getting his own heart broken. Spencer has known heartbreak. The one VETO he uses is when Andrew asks about the tattoos. Spencer explains that there is something cathartic about having scars inked into your skin. That insight spoke to me. He tries to come across as a happy-go-lucky guy, but there is depth to him. Those depths are stirred when he meets Andrew.

When the plan works and Eli asks Andrew to talk to him, Spencer sees his own life falling down around him. I empathized with him on that as well.

The good news? There are THREE more Spencer books including, ‘Yanni’s Story’.

Finally…Joel Leslie. What can I say? My lovely Joel Leslie. He does Australian brilliantly (having voiced N.R.’s series Red Dirt Heart) of course, but he’s also comfortable with an American accent as well as a Spanish inflection. And I adore his voice for Lola. I grinned every time Lola spoke, seeing her in my mind’s eye. And the image of her driving Cindy Crawford like Evel Knievel in Los Angeles? That is one of the reasons I love this book – N.R.’s humour and Joel’s delivery. Another perfect book.

4 1/2 Great Stars

This is a great mm romance and I give it 4 1/2 stars. Spencer and Andrew was such a cute couple. Joel Leslie did a great job with narration.

Good Story

The narrator did a good job. I enjoyed Spencer and Andrew, the storyline and the secondary characters. This was an emotional book.

Excellent performance!!!👏👏👏👏

Joel Leslie and NR Walker are a pair impossible to follow.I cannot wait to listening the second part.This book rock it!!!!

Love this series!

Listening to this book made me happy, it brought a smile to my face and it was just a low angst and a genuinely feel good novel. This was all that a great slow-burn romance should be, the tension the anticipation, the butterflies. I loved it all.

Spencer Cohen has an odd job to say the least. He pretends to be a new boyfriend to his clients in hopes to get the client back together with the ex. It really is the perfect job for someone afraid of getting truly close to people and being abandoned. But when he meets his new client, Andrew one rule after the other goes flying out the window. And he slowly realizes that being alone might not be what he truly wants after all. Too bad that Andrew is focused on getting back together with his ex-boyfriend…

This book was very, very low steam, and it just fit perfectly with what was going on. The focus was solely on Spencer and Andrew getting to know each other, dancing around each other. There was plenty of UST, and the longing they felt, it was just great. I loved to watch Spencer and Andrew form a genuine friendship and ultimately fall for each other. There was no unnecessary drama and it truly lives up to what we’ve come to expect from N.R. Walker.

Joel Leslie was brilliant as usual; he does accents like no one else and he always brings a lot of feeling to his books. There is a reason Leslie ends up on my top 5 list of narrators and listening to this book brings that point home. He always brings the books he narrates to life, brings the characters to life. He has a true talent for performing books and as always I’m in awe of his range.

This was a terrific start to a series and while it didn’t end in a cliffhanger per se, the story is far from over and I’ can't wait to jump right to the next one.

Love Spencer

I absolutely love Spencer. And all the snarky banter made this an amazing book.
And the narrator did a superb job. Very enjoyable.

Awesome Stsrt

NR Walker excelled in this one and Joel, fantastic. I look forward to the others.

Joel Leslie at his best

the main character is wonderful, and his love interest is sweet and kind and the shipping begins early. The premise is unusual, giving an original feel to this boy meets boy romance. Joel Leslie is perfect for the time and characters.