Call Me Anytime by Max Monroe | Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Call Me Anytime (The Protectors) by Max Monroe

Narrated by Lee Samuels and Summer Morton

First in a series of related standalones.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy for review

Every time I read a Max Monroe book, I wonder why I don’t read them more. Then stupidly, I wait a few more years to pick up another. Call Me Anytime was fun and unique, and I really need to add the author(s) to my auto-buy list, because it’s pretty rare to get me to actually laugh out loud, and they always do.

I’m not sure why 2025 was the year of Alzheimer’s romcoms, but this was the fourth one I read. It was a huge part of the story, but Max Monroe was able to keep the heavy parts from getting too heavy. Hannah May’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when Hannah was just twelve, and she has been taking care of her ever since. At twenty-five, she has no friends, no social life, and is still a virgin. Her only “friend” is her mother’s caregiver, but she’s expensive, and Hannah is broke and has no experience to find a decent job.

When she finally gets an interview for a telemarketing job, it sounds almost too good to be true. Flexible hours, great pay, but there’s a catch. It’s actually a phone sex line. And she’s a virgin with no experience with men, or even friends to gossip with. Her first call is from a man calling himself Detective Dunn. She thinks the guy wants to role play as a cop, and the exchange is so funny.

“Oh nooo,” she says slowly, flattening her voice into a weird whisper. “Have I been a bad girl, Detective?”

Dominic Dunn, thirty-five, is a Nashville detective. He is also heir to a huge coffee company, but he loves police work. When he comes across a second dead woman with the same recent call on her phone, he calls the number, only to get this crazy woman trying to talk dirty and role play with him.

“Hannah May isn’t at all what I pictured during my phone call with Ruby Cocklover. Not even a little bit. Five minutes ago I knew nothing about her. Five seconds ago, she became one of the most intriguing people I’ve ever met. What will she be five minutes in the future?”

When they realize that the last two women who worked at that phone line were murdered, Dominic and his partner need to monitor all the calls. So here is this awkward virgin who has no idea how to talk dirty, and now she has two hot detectives listening to her.

Hannah’s mom spends all of her time watching NCIS. Her Alzheimer’s has her thinking she is on the show and that her daughter is one of the detectives. The NCIS theme runs throughout the whole book. It actually has me wanting to watch that show now. If you already do, you will love Call Me Anytime, because it plays a huge part in the story.

Dominic wants to make sure the bad guys keep calling, so he coaches Hannah a little on the dirty talk, and they get closer. He had a family member with Alzheimer’s as well, so he was very understanding of what she was going through.

The first half of this book was five stars for me, which is pretty crazy considering I honestly can’t stand adult virgin books. But this one actually made sense. The second half lost a lot of the awkward humor that made the first half so good. I felt like their relationship just kind of happened overnight, and then there was a TSTL moment that had me yelling at the book. So while I still loved the book, the last part disappointed me compared to the first half. Still, I loved the combination of suspense and humor mixed with steamy romance. Romantic suspense romcoms are one of my favorite genres, but not a lot of authors have been writing them lately. I’m so glad Max Monroe is, and I look forward to the next in this series.

Likes:

Made me laugh out loud. A lot.
A very unique storyline.
I liked all the characters and side characters.
Though emotional, I liked the way they depicted the Alzheimer’s and didn’t make it depressing.
I loved Dominic and his whole family.
There was a lot going on, but somehow it was never overwhelming.

Dislikes:

The second half wasn’t nearly as funny as the first.
A huge TSTL moment. Actually two.
Dominic’s “Karaoke Cowboy.” He’s known around Nashville to just walk up to a band and start singing with them, especially in the Broadway bar he and his cop friends hang out at. This drove me a little nuts. No local, especially cops, would go hang out on Broadway. That’s all tourists and bachelorette parties. Also, I feel like this didn’t really play into the story at all. Maybe it will in future books in this series.

The Narration:

I have never heard Lee Samuels and Summer Morton together, and they were fabulous. They brought Call Me Anytime to life in the best way.

The Down & Dirty:

Call Me Anytime started off amazing, and I loved it, but a few scenes at the end just didn’t live up to the first half. I still loved the book overall, but there were some things that weren’t needed, and the outcome could have been the same with a few tweaks. Still, I had a blast listening to Call Me Anytime, and I am going to make sure I pick up all of their books from now on, because I’ve loved every one I’ve read.