Better Than GoodStory Rating: 4.5 stars
Audio Rating: 4.5 stars

Narrator: Tyler Stevens
Length: 6 hours, 5 minutes

Audiobook Buy Links: Audible
Book Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance


Matt is in a good place. He is months away from graduating law school, has a great internship, an apartment with his close friends, and a girlfriend. His girlfriend is more of a convenience as they are both busy and Matt certainly is not looking to progress their relationship. When Matt goes with his gay roommate to a club, he sees the most beautiful man, the most beautiful person he has ever seen. Sure Matt had one encounter with a guy years ago, but never found another man he was attracted to and his world as he knows it shifts in an instant.

Aaron is cautious of the straight guy with a girlfriend that he keeps running into. Aaron is out and proud and will not hide his eyeliner-wearing self for anyone. He is definitely attracted to Matt and has a great time with him, but he refuses to be someone’s experiment and has sworn off falling for the straight guy. Matt attempts to get his thoughts sorted out and even keeps his distance from Aaron for a time, but he just can’t stay away.

Better Than Good is a fairly simple straight forward story. It’s a contemporary tale of two guys who are attracted to each other and just have to sort out how they can be together. It’s the characters that make this one and Matt and Aaron are both as interesting separately as they are together and they certainly held my attention.

Matt doesn’t really struggle with his attraction to Aaron, although it does catch him by surprise. He had one encounter many years ago with a man and there has never been another man that caught his attention so he has dated women. The story is really about just finding the one person that you can’t live without, regardless of their gender.

The story is told through Matt and we really get to know him. He only wants to spend time with Aaron, even when relegated to the friend zone, and he’ll hang out with Aaron’s friends, but has to figure out how to add Aaron in to his own world. The guys are opposites in many ways, from the way they dress, to their taste in music, to their chosen careers, but they just simply fit together. Matt’s feelings throughout the book are clear and he just simply falls in love with Aaron.

There is minimal angst in this book, even with Matt trying to figure it all out and win Aaron over, which made this just a great story of two guys falling in love. There is fabulous sexual tension that evolves into heated intimate scenes. The main conflict did come towards the later portion of the book and I certainly could have used an epilogue or another scene to show these guys in the relationship that they worked so hard to get to. I could have also used some more insight into Aaron’s thoughts as he was a great character, but I do also prefer dual POV overall.

The audio on this was a fantastic way to enjoy this book. Tyler Stevens has a smooth voice that was slightly addictive and I just kept on listening. There was a lot of inner dialogue from Matt and his tone was sexy and sensitive or vulnerable when needed. Aaron’s voice completely matched his energy and attitude and Stevens offered a true performance overall. The only area that stood out to me was that Aaron and his friends (and Matt’s one gay friend) all had high pitched or effeminate or lilting voices and all of Matt’s other friends had the dude vibe going. Many of the side characters then came off as a bit too stereotypical for me, but that was just one interpretation. The audio here gave this book an edge for me and I would recommend the narrator and the quality of the production with a story that will keep you engaged with two guys looking for love.

A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.

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