Single-Minded

I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes at the ‘big-city burnout moves to Mayberry’ premise—until Stella Hunter’s narration sold me on the heroine’s prickly charm in the first five minutes. There’s a scene early on where she’s arguing with a squirrel (yes, a squirrel) over her bird feeder, and Hunter’s mix of exhaustion and indignation had me cackling. That’s the tone of *Single-Minded*: warm but never saccharine, with a heroine who’s flawed in ways that feel human, not manufactured. Connor Crais’s performance as the contractor, Jake, is equally strong, though I’ll dock half a point for his ‘sexy whisper’ during steamier scenes—it veers a little too close to audiobook trope territory. Where Crais *shines* is in the comedic timing, especially during Jake’s deadpan reactions to the heroine’s urban paranoia (e.g., her horror at his lack of a ‘proper’ coffee maker). The story’s pacing is its secret weapon. Knupp lets the romance simmer in the background while the protagonists clash over her renovation disaster (a subplot that’s genuinely funny, not just a contrivance). The audiobook’s dual narration makes this work brilliantly—you *hear* the miscommunication in their tones before the words even register. My only real critique? The secondary characters sometimes blend together in the audio format; a few more distinct vocal tics for the town gossips would’ve helped. But the core relationship? Electric. The final act’s emotional payoff lands because the narrators sell the vulnerability beneath the sarcasm. If you love enemies-to-lovers with actual stakes (and a hero who’s handy *and* has a therapy vocabulary), this is your next listen.