Fin & Matt

Title: Fin & Matt
Author: Charlie Winters and Luke Itzvic (Narrator)
Publisher: Audible, Inc
Release Date: January 20th 2016
Genre(s): M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
Reviewed by: Belen
Heat Level: 4 flames out of 5
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

Fin MacAuliffe had always been less than masculine; never truly confident enough to be himself. He’d long known he was gay – he’d just never shared it with anyone, not even his own free-thinking, liberal parents. Sure, they knew. Yet, they never quite gave up on linking him to some respectable girl with good genes and a generous bank account. Fin’s own account was nothing to be ashamed of, but even with all of the advantages, the only true thing he longed for was companionship.

After dragging himself back home to Missouri after graduation, Fin prepared to start his adult life – beginning with taking a new job as a music teacher at a private school. He was set, at least by the traditional standards. On his very first day, he saw him…

If there was a God, he made Matt DiFiore personally. Disheveled, straight black hair which appeared to be self-cut. Chiseled cheekbones. Tanned smooth skin.

Fin knew he was staring. Matt’s lower half was covered by track pants with side snaps, but Fin knew that beneath those snaps housed the most glorious legs in existence. Those full lips wrapped around an apple, biting down as a small smile formed and he turned to walk… Fin’s… way.

I don’t normally do this…but here’s my two cents: For those who like a more sentimental insta-love romance, I’d totally recommend this story – just STOP before reading or listening to the epilogue.

Seriously. DO NOT READ THE EPILOGUE.

Twenty-three year old Fin has moved back to St. Louis after graduation. Fin doesn’t need to work, he’s a trust fund kid and his parents lavish money and presents on him constantly, but he wants to feel useful, so he accepts a teaching position at a local private high school teaching music and theater. On his first day he meets thirty year old Phys Ed teacher Matt DiFiore. The two hit it off and begin seeing one another.

Told entirely from Fin’s POV, we do get a bit of angst in the story, mostly from Matt. Matt comes with quite a lot of baggage; he’s a board certified Sports Medicine doctor unable to practice in his field (for reasons) and he lives under a very tight budget paying off old debts, so there’s some money friction between the two as well.

The story revolves entirely around Fin and Matt’s whirlwind (read: insta-love) romance. There are some pretty hot sexy times, and, though there were a couple of times when the romance started reading far more like a het-romance and I would side-eye it, it generally got back on track pretty quickly, and was a really enjoyable listen.

Charlie Winters is a new M/M writer, and you can tell this was a first attempt at times. There are some stumbles, but on the whole the story is mostly enjoyable, I was really digging the whole thing. There are times I really like a sappy romance and this was ticking off all my boxes…especially with the narration.

I really, really enjoyed the narration by, new to M/M romance, narrator Luke Itzvic. He was sexy, saucy, swishy, masculine…all of his character voices were great, I liked his pitch and timing, and his tone. I’ll definitely be looking for more audios narrated by Itzvic in the future.

Then came the one glaringly huge exception: THE EPILOGUE.

The epilogue almost ruined this story for me. Seriously. In my opinion, if you like your romances with a HEA then DO NOT READ THE EPILOGUE. I guarantee you will be happier for it. This would have been a solid 4.5 star listen for me if it weren’t for that damn epilogue.

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