How Not to Tuck

Lovestrong, Book 2

By: Susan Hawke

Narrated by: Michael Pauley

An invitation given to a nemesis backfires in sexy, fabulous way.

Honey Combover slays them, honey...and hey, she can't help it if her "equipment" is too large and in charge to stay tucked away during her drag performances, right? As for Honey's "other half", Larry Perretti is a large, kind man who excels loves his job teaching music at a private high-school.

Godric Sheppard is the principal of Grace Academy. He’s known for being a meticulous and authoritative man who’s never shown a hint of impropriety. In the two years they've known each other, the pair of passionate educators have never been able to agree on anything.

The two men clash when Godric tells Larry that he can't lead the Glee Club in performing Born This Way while dressed as his drag persona. He has a point, since Honey is infamous for her wardrobe malfunctions. Determined to show the uptight little prig that he can keep things, er, tucked away...Larry invites him to catch his show to prove him wrong.

After the inevitable untucking event occurs, Godric knows two things. One, Larry needs a keeper. And two? It probably needs to be him. Godric's firm hand and gentle touch is just what Larry needs. It doesn’t hurt that Larry melts a little every time Godric calls him pretty.

©2019 Susan Hawke (P)2019 Susan Hawke

Honey Combover Sweetness

This short story was okay but brought to be enjoyable by the narration. Larry was a side character I enjoyed in the first book and I was glad he got his own happy.

short but fun

Michael Pauley/Dean killed this narration....I guess its a good thing that Larry's story was so short otherwise Michael may not have had any voice left over! This audio was a lot of fun. I love Larry's sassy, snarky attitude. Then there is Godric, who seems a bit stuffy and prudish, these two together create fireworks!!!!

Honey Combover and her man

I want to start my review by discussing Michael Pauley’s narration. When he narrated Book 1 of the Lovestrong series, he encountered Honey Combover. I admit being surprised at how deep he chose to make Honey’s voice and although I struggled with it a bit, I did eventually get used to it. I even came to kind of care about Honey so when I heard she was getting her own book, I was thrilled. Again, Michael’s portrayal was spot on and this book is well worth the listen.

In real life, Honey is Larry Perretti, a mischievous choral director who believes in advocating for his students, especially when dealing with stick-in-the-mud principal Godric Sheppard. The men have sparred on and off for almost two years, but it’s Larry’s insistence that he direct the choir as Honey Combover that has ruffled Godric. See, Honey’s wardrobe malfunctions are legendary and there is no way Godric is exposing the students and members of the community to Honey’s cobra. Big man, big… Well, you get the picture.

Believing he can perform without having a mishap, Larry invites Godric to watch the show at Saint’s Drag Night. Well, big surprise that Honey can’t stay tucked and she exposes herself to the entire bar. Most are used to the adventures, but Godric’s response is primal. He’s ready to dedicate himself to Honey and ensuring no one ever sees the large snake again.

This is a quick down’n’dirty audio that had me laughing almost the whole time. Larry’s dedication to his students was admirable and his interest in Godric was a long in time coming. That Godric realized the larger man needed to be taken in hand wasn’t a surprise but the speed of the relationship was quick. I also liked that the men didn’t necessarily fall into all the stereotypes. I enjoyed watching them find their way into the new relationship and the epilogue left me quite hopeful.

It’s hard not to say great things about this book. It’s cute, perky, funny, and heartwarming. Between Susan’s words and Michael’s narration, this is a perfect listen. There are more books in the series, so I suspect there is more of Godric and Honey to come. Thanks goodness.

Honey & Godric

This was both sexy and hilarious. I loved the domineering personality of Godric and how he told Ms. Honey (Larry), just how it was going to be. And Honey loved it! This was a great novella and I enjoyed their story. I loved Ms. Honey getting their HEA. The narration was fantastic!

Good novella, short but sweet.

This audio is on the short side and I think my review will kind of be the same. When we first met Larry in How Not to Blend, he was an interesting character. He was a caring individual, as Honey to his drag daughter and as Larry to the kids he worked with in choir. But his rough voice and general persona made him seem like comic relief. Not to mention his multiple tape malfunctions.

We know a lot less about Godric. He is on the serious side but Larry helps lighten him in some ways. I don’t know if he is a natural dom, or if Larry/Honey’s crazy antics make him feel like he needs to take control, especially to keep his man from revealing all his bits in public at the drag bar. At the end, I didn’t quite have a good grasp on who Godric was, but I did feel like the two men were a great match. Godric tempered Larry and Larry brought fun into Godric’s life.

Michael Pauley is a great narrator. I think he emotes well. I can feel the humor in a scene by the tone of his voice, and I can feel when characters are in pain, though that doesn’t really happen in this book. I liked his voice for Larry/Honey, but like I mentioned before it felt sort-of comical. So I admit that I couldn’t really get into the sexy scenes with Larry’s voice. However, I don’t read or listen to books for the sex scenes, so it doesn’t really effect my rating.

This book is a novella in the middle of the series, and can be read as a stand-alone. However the whole series is really good, and I recommend all of the books.

I loved this!!!

I loved this!!! And I especially love the voice that Michael Pauley uses for Larry. We met Larry in book 1 and he was outrageous and hilarious and all-inclusive, and he is continuing all of the above in this book. Larry has a tendency to let it all hang out when he performs in drag. Of course, this is totally accidental. Wardrobe misfunctions all the way. Even so, the principal, tight-ass Mr. Sheppard, at the school where Larry teaches feels that this could be an issue when Larry takes his students on a road trip and wants to take them while he is in drag. This story is fun, a little bit kinky, and a quick and entertaining read. A perfect pick-me-up for a grumpy kind of day - or just because. :)

Honey Combover

We met her in the first book and what a character! I loved the book and loved Michael Pauley's portrayal. Great!!

good but short

The story is good but it's really short. it's almost like everything happened in a whirlwind.

meh

This story was too short for any type of development.
I have listened to some shorter stories before to where there was a little bit of something, but this book didn't do it for me. Couldn't stand the narration for Larry/Honey. That alone probably ruined it for me.

Save a couple dollars and couple hours of your time.

Ugh! Michael Pauley let me down!!

I found two major problems with this novella:

1: Michael Pauley, one of my favorite narrators, gave Larry/Honey the WORST VOICE EVER!! It didn’t suit him at all and it GRATED on my ears. I had to finish this short on ebook because I couldn’t stand the voice!

2. Too short to develop any feelings that were believable between the two men. It went from enemies to lovers in the span of an hour. After the sex, they’d decided they were in it for the long haul.

I did like how the smaller man was the D of the D/s relationship they skim over in a few hours. I also liked how both men were over 40.

But, like someone else said, save yourself the dollars—I’m returning mine because I just couldn’t listen to Larry’s voice AT ALL!