Bayside Romance

I’ll be honest: I approached *Bayside Romance* skeptical of yet another small-town love anthology, but the narration sold me within five minutes. Savannah Peachwood’s Harper isn’t just sassy—she’s *exhausted* by Gavin’s antics in a way that feels refreshingly real, like she’s one eye-roll away from walking into the ocean. Jacob Morgan, meanwhile, nails the tricky balance of making Gavin likable despite his arrogance; his delivery walks the line between smug and self-aware, which is harder than it sounds. Their back-and-forth in the first story (“The Sister Pact”) had me laughing out loud on my commute—something I didn’t think possible for a romance audiobook. That said, the anthology format isn’t without its hiccups. The transitions between stories can feel abrupt, and one or two tales (I’m looking at you, “The Wedding Crash”) lean a little too hard on miscommunication tropes without the payoff of the stronger entries. The production quality is top-notch—no distracting edits or volume inconsistencies—but I did notice a slight echo in Morgan’s recordings during louder passages, as if he were recorded in a larger space than Peachwood. Still, these are minor quibbles. The real triumph here is how Foster and her narrators turn what could’ve been forgettable fluff into something addictive. If you’ve ever binge-watched a rom-com series for the *vibes* more than the plot, this audiobook is your next fix. Just maybe don’t listen in public unless you’re prepared to explain why you’re grinning like an idiot.