Too Stupid to Live

Romancelandia, Book 1

By: Anne Tenino

Narrated by: Tobias Silversmith

It isn't true love until someone gets hurt.

Sam's a new man. Yes, he's still too tall, too skinny, too dorky, too gay, and has that unfortunate addiction to romance novels, but he's wised up. His one true love is certainly still out there, but he knows now that real life is nothing like fiction. He's cultivated the necessary fortitude to say "no" to the next Mr. Wrong, no matter how hot, exciting, or erotic-novel-worthy he may be.

Until he meets Ian.

Ian's a new man. He's pain-free, has escaped the job he hated and the family who stifled him, and is now - possibly - ready to dip his toe into the sea of relationships. He's going to be cautious, though, maybe start with someone who knows the score and isn't looking for anything too complicated. Someone with experience and simple needs that largely revolve around the bedroom.

Until he meets Sam.

Sam's convinced that Ian is no one's Mr. Right. Ian's sure that Sam isn't his type. They can't both be wrong...can they?

©2013 Anne Tenino (P)2016 Riptide Publishing

A cute story with a so-so narration

*3.5 stars*

I originally read this book two years ago and adored it, and I stand by that review, which you can find here. However, re-reading an old favorite changes things a bit. This time, I listened to it in audiobook format, and I think that definitely affected my opinion of the story.

First I'll talk about the narration, which was done by newbie narrator, Tobias Silversmith. Now, the narrator did a decent voice for Sam, but I wasn't that crazy about the voice for Ian. It didn't have enough differentiation for me, and I didn't think it was strong enough to reflect his character. I also had some issues with the editing, which was choppy and noticeable at times. There would be a slight change in volume or tone to sections that were transitions or later edited in, and I found those little details to be distracting. The sound quality also wasn't great, with a very "home recorded" quality to it, instead of that buttery, clear sound of some of the more mainstream audiobooks.

I wavered between liking the narration and thinking that it was so-so, and I have to classify this one as a book where the narration lowered my rating versus boosted it. I'm hoping that this narrator hones her (while the narrating pen name is male, the narrator is a transwoman) craft over time and works on being careful with the different tones of each character. The narrator also sounded sort of breathy at certain moments, and I think a stronger voice would have helped.

In terms of the plot, this book was still adorable. I loooooved skinny, insecure Sam and his obsession with classic romance tropes. He was slightly kinky, totally lovable, and a very well-conceived character. I also really liked Ian, and I'm a sucker for any coming-out or closeted man story. Ian was sexy, and as Sam says, reformed rakes make the best heroes!

I thought it my first time reading, and I thought it again now; this book really does best when you read the Whitetail Rock books (Whitetail Rock) that precede it, even if it is billed as a stand-alone. I think you get more out of it that way.

If you are a fan of Anne Tenino, and like her sweet, sexy, fun brand of books, this one will be a winner. While the audio could have been a bit better, it was a easy listen that will please most listeners.

**Copy provided in exchange for an honest review**

Liked Sam and Matt

The story is not one you havent heard before but it is told with some humor and the Two friends Sam (the one MC) and Matt are kind of Funny and their Logic is absolutely not helpfull when trying to advice eachother On something. So that Raises the book a little above the others of its kind. I would probably have given it 3.5 if that was possible because i Think that its a long Way from reaching 5 but still better Than medium. So all in all, not bad, there are some really Funny parts, but i will probably not remember it in a months

Rugby guy finds romance with twink

Pretty much 3 starts, but add and extra 1/2 for Ian's growth and applying that new knowledge to his relationship with Sam.
I both read this and listened to the narration. As everyone else has said, it has a lot of fluf. Sam is pretty much exemplified in the narrators voice but Ian was a gruff monosyllabic "fake" to me sounding voice. That said, the portions of the voice of Sam and Ian made it more or less Sam's story. However, I thought he was pretty stereotypical of his "type" and kind of went with the flow, where as Ian had huge growth thru the whole story. Normally I see myself as Sam and wanting the "hairy chested manly straight acting gay guy to, sweep me off my feet". And yes this kind of happened with lots of angst in between. Something was kind of missing for me. Even thought a lot of the stereotypes were stood on end. The real message was the growth that Ian went thru.
This trope is also carried in the Whitetale Rock stories as well and therefor Jurgan and Nick are best friends with these boys and figure prominently in the story.
I am mostly loving listening to stories, but of the two narrators, I prefer a deeper manly voice. Go figure, thats my "type" as well.

Still Waiting for book 2

The narrator really nailed the main character, perfect voice for the main character and versatile enough to make the other characters come to life. I have listened to this audio.book twice already, great story

Story was good, but narration lacking

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Definitely a different narrator. Sometimes a good narrator can make a poor book better and the opposite is true here. Many of the characters sounded so similar I couldn't differentiate them.

Would you recommend Too Stupid to Live to your friends? Why or why not?

Well... Do you have a testicle fetish? Because if you do, this book is for you! Seriously, the amount of time balls were mentioned is staggering. I'm not much into balls, but I know some people are and I can almost guarantee you will LOVE this book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes. In spite of the ball thing, the sex scenes were hot and the story was sweet. I really like Ian and his growth as a character

Any additional comments?

There's one scene that will make you say "No one's mouth is *that* wide."

This is an hysterical, sweet, super HOT!

Wow! I had forgotten how wonderful Anne Tenino is as a writer until this re-read/listen I did this year.

In order to fully appreciate this, you have to go back to the free read – Whitetail. There we are introduced to Jurgen, Sam and Nik and then the sequel The Fix for our first glimpse of Miller and Ian.


But… technically you can understand what’s going on if you haven’t read them…

In any case, Sam is a big, obviously gay, gangly, dork who stands over 6 feet tall but is terribly thin no matter what he does. He reads romances voraciously and has a running commentary in his mind about how life mirrors various romantic tropes. In his case, he considers himself Too Stupid To Live… the hero/heroine who always opens the door in the haunted house, chases the dog in the storm, explores the basement when there are mysterious noises…you get the idea.

He meets Ian, Jurgen’s cousin, at Nik’s party and falls instantly in lust. But Ian is a player, closeted, and … well… kinda mean. He tells Sam he’s not attractive and gives him the brush off. But later… well, something changes and Ian gives Sam some attention that leads to super hot smexy times. Now, neither man can forget the other, but neither knows how to navigate this “relationship” – whatever form that may take.

Ian is the broken, tragic hero. He needs to do a lot of self exploration before he can be worthy of our hero – Sam. Luckily he has Jurgen and a therapist to help him – or he’d really mess things up!

**

This is an hysterical, sweet, super HOT and very touching story. Full Stop. All the angst (well – except for a bit at the end) is about the relationship and the two finding their way to each other. I LOVE that. Love that the bulk of this really is about the romance.

It’s hard to like Ian – and the first time I read this I don’t think I saw his appeal. Now, years later, I can see the turn around for what it is and just how awesome he is. Sam is easy to love, though you want to strangle him at times, as well.

In any case – this is a wonderful story- truly romantic and with some amazingly hot smexy times thrown in to make things even better.

5 of 5 stars

Audio

Tobias Silversmith is a new narrator for me and I didn’t quite love his performance. His dialog was delivered well and he had a great grasp of emotion. I liked that he attempted unique voices for the characters but his pacing on the non-dialog portion seemed hurried and flat. His voice is a little breathy and nasally so it wasn’t as pleasing as some of the other narrators in the genre. It’s still a good way to listen to this but it wasn’t my favorite.

4.5 of 5 stars overall for the audiobook

Stupid Cute!

This is one of those stories that make you want to say aww every 5 minutes. Great narration. Was a little hard to follow in the first couple chapters with all the jumping around from character to character TBH this would have been better as a first person point of view. But once I got to know the characters it was surprisingly funny and sweet.

Sweet and hot

Much better than I was expecting. At first I really hated Ian. But he redeemed himself beautifully. I adored Sam and I'm so happy he got his HEA. I thought this would be a sweet funny story and was pleased to find out the sex scenes were pretty hot and plentiful.

To stupid to listen to.

There is nothing in this book that makes me want to ever hear it again. The characters are stereotypical in every way. They have nothing in common except for all the sex that happens in Every chapter. Why some writers feel that just jotting down cliches and stereotypes is cause for a good book is insulting.
There is no character building. The characters never take time to learn about each other, they just have sex. The lead, Sam , has no self respect.
Basically I only finished this book because I was hoping something good would happen, but No. Even the ending the writer threw every cliches and lame expression into it.

It had potential and then just went down from there

I don't like giving negative reviews. Most of the time I always gives very positive or none at all. The concept of this book actually is very good but I have to say the writing is very poor. Absolutely no character development. The book is just pretty much sex, and trust me I love that hit sex in a books, and lots of it. I also like a storyline , I like to get to know my characters, I love a good plot, and I love a good romance. I love the building up to the romance, I love the tension between the two main characters, and this book had absolutely positively none of it. And the narrator sometimes I get confused on which character he was because he would not change his voice