Audiobook Review - Some Sort of Happy by Melanie Harlow • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Some Sort of Happy (Skylar and Sebastian): A Happy Crazy Love Novel by Melanie Harlow

Narrated by Nelson Hobbs and Lucy Malone. Light contemporary romance.

I loved Frenched (currently free) by Melanie Harlow, so I was excited to read something else by her. I definitely was not disappointed in Some Sort of Happy. I loved that the characters were real, flawed people, but I will say, that those realistic features made the characters take a little longer to really love.

Skylar left her small town to become a star. Previously the Cherry Queen, the only real acting job she got was on a reality show where she was portrayed as an evil bitch who hated her town. When she realizes acting is not for her and she comes home, she discovers she is not the ‘special snowflake’ she thought she was. Skylar has hit rock bottom at 28, she had no job, and no prospects. Her two sisters are very successful, but she was always ‘the pretty one’. After her TV appearance, she was even dethroned as Cherry Queen.

“It was the one thing I had, the one great acheivement of my life, my mantle picture! And now it’s gone and I have nothing! My life is a complete mess and I’m a total failure at everything I do!”

Then she sees a tall glass of water. Sebastian Pryce is gorgeous. Unfortunately, before we even got to know him, he was fantasizing about strangling Skylar while he jerked off to thoughts of her. Not the best first impression. Turns out Sebastian went to school with Skylar. He was the nerdy, creepy kid with major OCD and anxiety, but he turned into a handsome, smart, strong guy who is putting a lot of work into overcoming his many problems. Despite his crush since high school, he is totally afraid of getting into another relationship, he has a fear of hurting people, and his OCD is very serious, it’s no ‘slight’ case. After my first impression, I really felt for this guy, but it was hard to get past this.

“Suddenly the disturbing image of Skylar gasping for air, my hands around her neck, lodged in my brain, along with the question, What if I choked her?”

Skylar totally grew on me with how she treated Sebastian. How she was nice to him in school, and how she was patient yet firm when they were together. But what surprised me was how alpha and manly Sebastian could be.

“From the moment I saw you again, I knew you could undo me. I knew I should stay away from you, but I couldn’t. I can’t. The only thing I can do is make you mine.”

The sex scenes were totally hot. He was a total dominant alpha in bed. And as much as I liked the sex scenes, I found that they did not go with his personality at all. He is shy normally, but aggressive and bossy in bed. He has OCD and needs to wash his hands all the time, and everything needs to be even numbers, but during sex, it all disappeared. I mean he goes down on her and doesn’t wash after, he doesn’t count how many thrusts…nothing.

But he sure satisfied Skylar.

“Deep inside me, something began to tighten.
Too deep.
THAT deep.
Oh god. Oh no.
Please, please don’t let Sebastian Pryce own the one cock that can reach The Spot.”

I really liked Skylar in the end. She was smart, friendly and funny and her inner monologue was very cute. Since it was told from dual points of view, we got Sebastian’s too, and though I loved his heart, his OCD was sometimes tough to listen to.

Likes:

I really ended up liking Skylar a lot in the end.
Skylar’s internal monologue.
Dual points of view.
All of the information about how fake reality shows are.
The very realistic portrayal of OCD.
Making someone with a severe issue be the hero.
Hot sex scenes.
Despite the serious content, it was still a light-hearted read.
I liked the narration. Though the male narrator is usually not my favorite, he was perfect for Sebastian, and I liked her voice a lot.

Dislikes:

It took a while to get over the initial introduction of each character in a less than positive way.
Sebastian in bed was every girl’s dream, but it totally didn’t go with his personality. All of his issues disappeared in bed.

The Down and Dirty:

I love that Melanie Harlow tackled a severe mental illness and made him the hero of the book. I had some trouble with both of the characters initially, but as I listened, I really ended up loving them. I had a small issue with the fact that the super-hot and dirty sex scenes didn’t go with the hero’s OCD personality, but I can suspend belief for the sake of a hot scene. All in all, I will continue this series if there are deals for the audiobook upgrade. Filled with heart, humor and heat, I really enjoy Melanie Harlow’s style of light-hearted stories with real characters that have me smiling throughout.