Fool of Main Beach (Love in Laguna)

By: Tara Lain

Narrated by: K.C. Kelly

A Love in Laguna Novel

Merle Justice wants to reach for the stars, but it’s tough to get respect when playing a teenybopper vampire on TV. Then he meets a famous director anxious to give him all he thinks he wants—and maybe a bit more. Everything’s looking up until a life-threatening encounter with some homophobes on Main Beach puts Merle face-to-face with a Sasquatch-sized hero in a pink puffer coat.

Tom Henry defies description. As unsophisticated and simple as an angel, he walks through life content with who he is and asking for very little except to care for his sister, Lily, and the dogs he loves. Then he meets Merle, the embodiment of dreams he barely knows he has. Merle knows the people who hold his future in their hands might love Tom—but they’ll never understand Merle and Tom together. Tom knows it too. With lives this far apart, who’s really the fool of Main Beach?

©2017 Tara Lain (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press

Sweet

This was a sweet romance and while it slows somewhat in the middle with a frustrating separation, it (thankfully) picks up again quickly. Overall I loved K.C. Kelly's narration and really thought he did well and had a good handle on the many different character voices and was able to convey the emotions of many scenes without going over the top. Told in Merle and Tom's dual POV, this is sweet without being excessive. Just a nice, low angst, sexy, romance with a lovely HEA.

My only complaint about the narration was the (to me) mispronunciation of the car brand Audi. I've always been taught it's pronounced "ow-dee" and Kelly kept pronouncing it "awe-dee". Perhaps that's a regional pronunciation? Regardless, fans of the series should enjoy getting to spend time with the casts from some of the other books in the series who make appearances and even play more supportive roles to help Merle and Tom along in their romance.

Though this is the fifth book in the series, it can absolutely be read/listened to as a standalone.

Awesome, wonderful, fabulous

There are not enuf words to describe how much I loved this story. It grabbed me from the start and I was hooked. I loved the characters, almost all of them; the storyline was extremely interesting, it was funny and different from the usual; and I could not put it down. I just kept listening to it until the end. So glad I got it, and plan on listening again soon.

Loooooooove this story and series

This is one of my favorite series, but this story is my absolute FAVORITE of the stories. Fantastic cast of characters (I adore Tom). Great story line, and K.C. Kelly was brilliant as always.

Another Great One

I loved this book. I’ve read the entire series and look forward to the next book. KC Kelly is my favorite actor.

Another Sweet Love Story

This sweet story. I loved this book. Tara Lain sets her sights on your heart and hits it time after time. This is a tale of two unlikely men who meet and fall in love. One is beautiful and famous, the other is handsome and simple, at first glance. Looks can be deceiving, though. Tom is the truly beautiful man on the inside as well as the outside. His simple approach to life and love hide the insightful, caring man at Tom’s core. Though the world looks at Merle and Tom and wonders what Merle sees in Tom, Merle wonders what Tom sees in him. There are other characters and dramas going on around Merle and Tom that keep pushing them back towards each other. Tara Lain writes a beautiful story of love and loss, sadness and happiness with heart and soul. I listened to the audiobook with narration by K. C. Kelly and it was perfect for this story. I am off now to listen to more books by Tara Lain.

Wow. Love it.

This book is just, wow. Really sweet story, lovable characters you can't help falling in love with.
Really enjoyable narration. Great book.

Great book. Great narration.

I love the Love in Laguna series books.
Merle is wishy-washy for a little too long but this book has the best ending of them all.
Great characters, likable, and lovable. I’m glad we get to see the characters from the previous books too.
As always, K. C. Kelly narrates these books perfectly.

I loved this!

I LOVED THIS!

Tom is sooooo freakin’ adorable and Merle is (almost) perfect for him!

There were so many times that I was absolutely BAWLING while I read this. Poor Tom had such a low opinion of himself and I was HATING Merle for not seeing how fabulous he was for such a long time! I was also furious with Tom’s sister and – the fact that I felt all those emotions so strongly goes to show just what a great job Tara Lain did!

I have to admit, it was a close call – Merle ALMOST didn’t make me love him. He’s pretty self-involved and I wasn’t ever as attached to him as I was to Tom – BUT – he does manage to see the light and make me believe that he’s good enough for Tom by the end. (However, if he’d done a bit more groveling this might have been a 6 star book ;) )

This book had me right from the start and I couldn’t put it down. I was totally invested in Tom’s happiness and I wanted to see him find his true love so badly! It was great seeing some of the previous MCs from the series – but this was Tom’s story (more than Merle’s) and for that it was perfect!

If you’re a fan of the series or new to it, you’re going to want to read this. For fans of hurt/comfort or books about people with disabilities I think this will absolutely make your day. I think Tara did a great job of not actually ever “labeling” Tom and yet it’s clear what his situation is.

Usually I’m not a “Hollywood/Actor” fan – and this was still amazing!

Highly recommended!

(I love the cover too!)

Audio

What a great choice for narration!!! KC Kelly has narrated a few books where the main character has a unique speech pattern and I'm always impressed by his ability to do this. In this case he chose a perfect, subtle, wonderful voice for Tom and picked just a slightly more frenetic voice and not "lispy" at all - for Merle.
KC is not only great at choosing these voices but at carrying off the emotion, whether it's the passion, the humor, the anger - he's excellent!
Highly Recommended!


5 of 5 stars