Love Wanted

By: John Inman

Narrated by: Ezekiel Robison

When it rains, it pours. Not only has Larry Walls been evicted from his apartment, but his hours have also been cut at the department store where he works, leaving him facing homelessness.

Meanwhile, Bo Lansing, a total stranger to Larry, toils at a dead-end job as a fry cook while attending night classes to become a certified chef. When the school closes its doors without warning, leaving Bo in the lurch for thousands of dollars in tuition, his dream of becoming a chef is shattered and his financial troubles spiral.

Desperate for a new beginning, each man answers an ad for live-in help posted by a wealthy recluse, and wonder of wonders, they are both hired! Just as their lives begin to improve, a young Kumeyaay Indian named Jimmy Blackstone joins the workforce at the Stanhope mansion.

When Mr. Stanhope's true reason for hiring the young men is discovered by one of the three, a fourth entity makes its presence known.

Greed.

With all these players vying for position in a game of intrigue orchestrated by one lonely old man and a mischievous ghost, can a simple thing like love ever hope to survive the fray?

©2017 John Inman (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press

Great narration

I admit I was leery of this when I read the blurb. I really don’t like love triangles and I was worried about 3 men involved but not in a ménage. Well… yeah. So it is a bit of a love triangle and I didn’t really like it… but…

There are many great things about this:
John Inman is a great descriptive and creative writer and if you like stories with a unique twist and a bit of humor and some quirky characters – this is for you!

Ezekiel Robison – the reason I chose this to review – is amazing! He’s near the top of my short list of favorite narrators. He’s great at giving everyone unique voices, he moves the story along with his ability to portray emotion and comedic timing and he’s easy on the ears!

If you’re in the mood for something a little – diferent – I’d read some reviews and consider this one. It’s not your typical love story!

3.75 (rounded to 4) of 5 stars

I love Ezekiel Robison!

Told from multiple points of view the pacing is a little slow story-wise in the beginning as you get to know all of the characters and some of their motivations, however, the characters, conflict, and even the ghost are all richly portrayed.

From the blurb I had an idea of what was going to happen in the story - and was completely shocked by the turn of events. John Inman definitely got me. Though he has a sometimes heavy hand with the purple prose, he definitely wrote a story that had some twists I was absolutely not expecting.

Ezekiel Robison was a fantastic narrator choice for this story. Robison's use of distinctive character voices and his complete performance drew me into the story and kept me captivated until the end. His timing and pacing were perfect for the writing, and he made this absolutely entertaining.

Everything works out in the end - where there's a HEA - and in all I enjoyed the story especially because of the wonderful narration.

Sweet and light hearted, great narration.

Love wanted is a slow paced romance. But also one of friendships and an epic love that transcends life itself. It was incredibly well written and Ezekiel Robison made it a pleasure to listen to. This story is told form multiple POV’s but that didn’t bother me. It enabled the reader (listener) to really understand all the angles, the feelings and motivations for the people involved.

Larry, down on his luck and on his last dime when the store he's working for keeps cutting his hours and his landlord just served him with an eviction notice for being late with the rent, again. Then we have Bo, the aspiring chef, working as a short order cook. He too is out of luck and money when his school shuts down and keeps his tuition money.

Both men answers a help wanted add from a Mr. Roger Stanhope, a wealthy 93 year old man looking for a live in chef and caretaker. What they don't know about, is Roger's plan for these young men and it might just be more than they bargained for. Some weeks later on the gardener quits and Jimmy is hired on to take care of the grounds and the cars. And with his arrival, will all the best laid plans come tumbling down?

This was a love triangle that I honestly didn't mind. I truly dislike love triangle for the sake of things, when it's only used as a plot device but brings nothing to the story itself, or when everyone falls in "love" with the same picture perfect person at first sight. Please spare me from those. Most triangles are painfully obvious from the beginning and hold no suspense or guesswork where it will turn out in the end. I want to guess, be left in suspense, and wonder about who and how it will all turn out. That's what makes a love triangle work for me. And with this book? I have to say it all worked out very well.

One of my favourite parts of this story was the relationship between Roger and Jeremy. They’d had a lifetime loving each other, they’d loved truly and well. And nothing, not even death could separate the two lovers. Their love shone through everything and it was wonderful to share those moments with the two. They lived that one true and forever love so many are looking for, but so few are lucky to find.

Ezekiel Robison was a very good choice of narrator for this book. His distinction between the different characters were clear and you had no problems following along the story or differentiate between which POV you were currently following. I’d be happy to listen to more of his works in the future.

Love Wanted is the book you want to pick up when you are looking for something light-hearted, but very well written. There were some sad moments, many happy ones and ones that made me smile. And in the end, that’s what you really are looking for with this kind of story.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes Reviews.