If You Keep Me

Okay, let’s talk about the *narrators* first because they’re the reason this audiobook sticks the landing. CJ Bloom sells the heroine’s chaos with a voice that’s equal parts ‘I can’t believe I said that’ and ‘I’d 100% do it again.’ There’s a scene where she’s mid-panic-spiral in a bathroom, and Bloom’s delivery had me cackling—she nails that specific brand of humiliation-comedy. Lee Samuels, meanwhile, turns Flip Madden into the perfect grumpy-sunshine hybrid: his ‘I’m too old for this shit’ sighs contrast sharply with the moments his voice drops into something dangerously tender. Their back-and-forth in the fake-dating scenes is *electric*, though I’ll admit Samuels’ growl during steamier moments occasionally veers into *too* much gravel (like, sir, we get it, you’re a hockey player). The story itself is a wild ride of ‘how is this working?’ energy. The premise—a virgin blackmailing a playboy into a lessons-in-seduction deal—should feel sleazy, but Hunting makes it weirdly *sweet* by grounding it in the heroine’s exhaustion with dating apps and Flip’s bone-deep loneliness. The hockey setting isn’t just window dressing; the locker-room dynamics and media scrutiny add real stakes to their fake relationship. My only real critique? The middle act drags slightly with repetitive ‘will they/won’t they’ cycles, and a secondary character’s drama feels shoehorned in for conflict. But the last third? *Chef’s kiss.* The grovel is specific, the payoff is steamy without being gratuitous, and the epilogue—narrated with such smug satisfaction by both—had me rewinding just to bask in it. If you love rom-coms with bite, heroines who own their bad decisions, and heroes who are *done* being the villain in their own story, this is your next listen.