My Charming Rival

By: Lauren Blakely

Narrated by: Zachary Webber, Saskia Maarleveld

Note: My Charming Rival was previously released as Stars in Their Eyes. It has now been updated and turned into a duet.

To do list: graduate with honors, get into medical school, and snag the most sought-after celebrity photo of all time to cover my tuition. One more thing - resist the hot British guy who's my biggest rival.

But from the first day I run into William on his motorcycle, he makes that difficult, since he's flirty, charming, clever, and keeps trying to convince me to spend the night with him.

Trust me - stripping him down to nothing is on my wish list, but I can't let him get under my skin as I chase cheating directors and stake out clandestine trysts. Yet everywhere I go, my most charming rival is there - is he following me, trying to woo me, or aiming to sabotage my plans?

When I'm offered a brand new ticket to my dreams, I have to decide if I want to team up with the sexiest enemy ever.... Except there's a third option too - and that one's looking mighty appealing - if I'm willing to take a crazy chance.

My Charming Rival is book one. The story continues in My Sexy Rival.

©2014 Lauren Blakely (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Disappointed...

I love both of the narrators. And I’m always a fan of Lauren Blakey, but I found myself irritated that Jess was playing this poor guy. Dunking her head in ice water, really? That’s when I stopped listening.

1/2 of Audiobook

I enjoy Lauren Blakely's books but it's so annoying when the split a book into 2 or 3 books just for more revenue, which is exactly the situation for this Rival series. You can hardly call My Charming Rival a full novel thus it's hardly worth a full credit. I'm glad it's part of Audible Escape or it would be extremely disappointing.

Good but cliff grrrr

Good book

Didn’t blow my mind but I definitely have to get the next book to know what happens. I’m not a fan of cliff hangers. Though this one doesn’t throw you off a cliff. I did step off and now I’m like well hell.... next book...!!! Have to know how this unravels. I think this could have been better one bigger book but I can tell more after reading (listening to) the next one.

The storyline started with a unique look

it's not often we find a paparazzo romance and while the expectation is for a maybe obvious photographer with a celebrity this was not it.

I liked the way the author took this heroine in real girl, trying to pay the Bill's with a very present family life it was as if listening to someone's real life/ love experience.

a little convoluted

This story is a bit convoluted with the characters, Jess and Will playing as paparazzi for their own gain. But so many names are mentioned, there's very little in terms of emotional attachment developed for the characters, in my opinion. There is a cliffhanger so perhaps the story finishes in such a way that builds more of a connection with the characters but I won't be rushing to listen! However, Lauren Blakely has extremely good books so if this is your first book by her, try others.

You can't get a narrator better than Zachary Webber. He did a great accent and was able to flow seamlessly between the accented voice and the non-accented voices. Saskia also did quite well with the different characters so there narration is excellent overall. If only the story was better!

My Charming Rival

An intriguing, fun, and cute story. Im interested to know what comes next.
Zachary Webber and Saskia Maarleveld were wonderful narrators.
Can’t wait to hear the book.

Fun and flirty start to this duet

I love anything by Lauren Blakely. And this is one exception. The tone was a little different than in some of her other books though. The underlying issues were very prominent in the book from the start. It really wasn’t all fluff and the characters’ problems really made you invested in them right away. But oh, my goodness...the cliffhanger at the end of this one. I have to start “My Sexy Rival” right away!
I listened to this on Audible and loved every second! Saskaia Maarleveld and Zachary Webber are two of my favorites narrators anyway (LB always gets the best!), but Zachary’s British accent had me swooning! He did such a good job! Loved it!!

Abrupt Ending

I was very much enjoying the story when it abruptly ended. It almost felt like the author just got tired. I did love the male narrators sexy British voice!

Cute but kind of boring

This was a cute and pretty straight forward romance. I was a bit surprised because Lauren Blakely usually has more drama and romantic scenes and this was kind of bland in comparison. Jess is a celebrity photographer, trying to catch them in compromising positions and get the scoop first to make money for college. William is a newbie on the scene and they form a flirty friendship. There weren't really twists and they didn't hook up until the end. Maybe book two has more of both?

New story

Great start. now on to the rest of the story. Can't wait to see how it ends.