Asking for a Friend by Lauren Blakely - Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Asking for a Friend (Boyfriend Material #1) by Lauren Blakely

Narrated by Andi Arndt and Jason Clarke with guests Zachary Webber and Erin Mallon

Standalone First in an inter-related Series

It’s no secret that I don’t ever miss a Lauren Blakely audiobook. I listened to Asking For a Friend back in December, then took vacation before I had a chance to review it, so I re-listened before listening to Sex and Other Shiny Objects. I loved it just as much the second time around.

All of Lauren’s books interconnect in some way, but there is absolutely no need to feel like you need to read other books before Asking For a Friend. We have met Amy, the heroine, in other LB books, but the author does a great job of re-introducing her. Amy is a bookworm with a passion for a thesaurus. She is a junior editor with a great group of friends, especially her best friend Peyton, who just went through a terrible breakup with her fiancé. Helpful and sweet as Amy is, she helps Peyton by setting up an online dating app in her name and vetting out all the potential dates for her.

Meanwhile, a new employee starts to work in the same agency as Amy and there was an instant attraction.

“What is Clarke Kent’s name? Just in case I want to stalk the new employee. I mean, look him up and do a little friendly neighborhood research as to who the hot tamale is.”

Amy had trouble not letting her own self shine through when she chatted with potential guys for Peyton. She also didn’t expect to have such a connection with one of the dates she was trying to find for her friend. The banter in their emails/texts were my favorite part of the book. Honestly, I kind of fell in love with Amy myself!

When they finally get together, as always with Lauren Blakely books, sparks fly.

“You better get your butt to my place or else.”
“Or else what?”
“Just ‘or else’.”
“Hmmmm. Is this a good ‘or else’ or a bad ‘or else’?”
“Its a naked ‘or else’,” I say.

As always, there was no shortage of romance. Lauren’s attention to detail, her quirky characters, the little factoids she drops in all her books, the lack of made-up drama, the intelligent characters and so much more came together once again for an amazing Lauren Blakely read.

Likes:

It took place in the book world and they were major book lovers.
I loved Amy so much!
The clever title tie-in.
I love how Lauren Blakely brings in characters from other books but you never really need to know or read them first.
They are all smart and quirky and I just love the Lauren Blakely friendships.
The perfect amount of very hot sex.
I listened to the whole thing with a huge smile on my face.

Dislikes:

There is nothing to dislike!

The Narration:

Lauren Blakely has spoiled me for all others with her narrations. While this one wasn’t an ensemble cast, that is OK, because we had guest appearances by Zachary Webber and Erin Mallon. They were so smoothly woven in that you almost don’t notice until after they speak. So 4 of my top favorite narrators in one book? Hell yes.

The Down & Dirty:

Once again, Lauren Blakely delivered a great audiobook. Asking For a Friend had one of my favorite heroines to date and a ton of the online banter I love. I see people say that they don’t believe an author can consistently deliver good material as quick as Lauren does, but she proves them wrong every single time. Lauren is a genius at taking popular tropes and making them fresh and fun, and let me tell you, Sex and Other Shiny Objects is shaping up to be just as amazing Asking for a Friend (review to come).