Trying It

I’ll admit: I approached *Trying It* skeptical that a best-friends-to-lovers erotica could avoid cliché. But Hart dismantles the trope with surgical precision, turning what could’ve been a fluffy fantasy into something raw and recognizably human. The sex scenes are explicit but never gratuitous—each encounter reveals another layer of Evan and Frankie’s history, like the way Evan’s hesitation isn’t just about the kink but about *losing* Frankie if it goes wrong. That said, the middle act drags slightly with repetitive internal monologues about ‘crossing lines,’ and I wished Hart had trusted the subtext more instead of spelling out the stakes so often. Michael Dean’s narration, though, is flawless. His voice for Frankie—smoky and self-assured—contrasts perfectly with Evan’s tighter, more hesitant cadence, and he nails the humor in their banter without undercutting the tension. The production is polished, though I docked half a star for a few oddly placed chapter breaks that disrupted the flow. What really sold me, though, was how Dean handles the quieter moments: the way Frankie’s voice softens when Evan’s insecurities surface, or the catch in Evan’s breath when he realizes this isn’t *just* an experiment. It’s these details that make *Trying It* feel like eavesdropping on something real, not just a fantasy. If you’re tired of erotica that prioritizes heat over heart, this one delivers both—just be prepared to cringe a little at the friends-to-lovers angst (in the best way).