Sweet Talk (Love Line #2) by Carla Bastone

Sweet Talk is lovely, heartwarming, and clean romance, a bit serious than its predecessor with a good theme and layers.

Books in this series I read-

Call Me Maybe (Book 1)

Seatmate (Book 3)

Synopsis

Listening Length: 5 hours and 42 minutes

Stay up all night with this funny, surprising romantic comedy from Audie Award-nominee Cara Bastone — scripted exclusively for audio!

It’s officially booty o’clock, I’m alone again in my kitchen choking down a slice of terrible chocolate cake…and I’m pretty sure I just got drunk texted by the man I have a ginormous crush on.

I’ve been daydreaming about Eliot Hoffman’s dimples for two months, and even though I’m sure this was a mistake on his end, it doesn’t mean it’s not an opportunity on mine. It’s the middle of the night, and I just wanna talk to him. So I text him back.

And then somehow we keep talking…ALL NIGHT. We’re both insomniacs, so talking all night soon turns into talking EVERY night.

And talking about nothing soon turns into talking about something.

And here we go from in-depth analysis of reality TV to my relationship with my family to his amazing artwork. There’s no topic we don’t cover…

Except for who I really am. It’s the only question of his I won’t answer.

As my crush turns into an avalanche of Eliot, I think of him all the time now. But if he knew who I was, the entire house of cards we’ve built this relationship on would come toppling down. I want him to be mine, but we might never be more than just a sweet dream….

Review of Sweet Talk

Sweet Talk is lovely and, as title suggests, sweet romance that revolves around Eliot and his anonymous contact Miss Wrong Number, two insomniac night owls, falling for each other as they talk every night and get to know each other more. The story is about family, friendship, love, loyalty, kindness, trauma, and insomnia.

That synopsis says enough about the book and the beginning so I’ll just dive into the review. What kept me hooked is who is JD, how she met him and know him, why she wouldn’t reveal her identity, what happened to Eliot two months ago and how that is related to her brother. It was interesting to get those answers.

I highly suggest you don’t skip first book as this started a week before Vera’s expo and covers the week of her expo and a few days more after it. It was amazing to see snippets of the first book here through Eliot’s perspective and meeting Vera once again. Both Eliot and JD are developed and their love for their family is amazing.

Eliot is the heart of the book. We know this dyslexic brother of Vera from the first book who voice texted his friends because of his dyslexia. We also know he didn’t sleep well at night but why is revealed in this book.

Eliot is cute, lovely and adorable hero. He is an artist, has well paying career, and also writes webcomic series anonymously that has tons of following. I’m really surprised he has been alone so long and he preferred that way. He is total gentleman and I could see he has bit of dramatic flare like his sister but it shows in his work more.

Unlike what his sister and everyone believe he thinks he isn’t perfect as he made huge mess in past that made him change his life, incorporate rules and live by it. What happened with him two months ago made him insecure and scared him from sleep. His vulnerability and self-consciousness made him more realistic and relatable. I loved how talking with JD made him feel less alone at night and share things he never shared with anyone else.

JD is mysterious. Her anonymity made me more curious to know more about her. She is strong, brave, loyal, badass boxer with tattoos and piercings who drives motorcycle with a leather jacket. I have seen that description for guys only so far so it’s good to have a heroine who is a total badass tough cookie outside but with soft and sweet inside. I admired her for leaving everything so she can take care of her father and taking his job that came with the apartment. She has so much responsibility with ill and dying father, brother who gets into trouble, and job that includes helping people. I could see why she feels she can’t add more responsibility by having a boyfriend too.

I loved how JD slowly let Eliot in who made her realize she doesn’t have to do it all alone and needs to have people in life who take care of her too, she cannot save her brother always and she needs to make him accountable for his action.

Romance between Eliot and JD is sweet. I enjoyed their chat over dating show and their guessing games with points. It was lovely to see them turning from strangers to friends and much more by the end of the book. I loved every conversation between them.

I loved theme and message in this which makes it is a little different from the first book. It also includes a little heavier theme of trauma and dealing with the grief of a dying parent. Author perfectly balanced this serious topic with light and fluffy moments. There is a message about loyalty and accountability as well. I agree with what JD’s dad and Eliot said.

Again the narration is brilliant with a full cast and perfect sounds of messages, rings, car passing, doorbells, club music, and all background noises. I’m so in love with Chris Brinkley’s voice and I’m totally listening other books he narrated.

Climax is interesting. I could see what happened with Eliot and her brother at some point but not who JD really is and what’s her job. It totally surprised me when they finally met and Eliot found out who JD is. I liked JD for finally confronting her brother and telling him how much he messed up her life. Eliot’s idea of grand gesture is fabulous and I cheered for him when he succeeded in it. I loved him even more for his forgiveness at the end. The end is super lovely, feel good and perfect.

Overall, Sweet Talk is heartwarming and clean romance, a bit serious than its predecessor with a good theme and layers.

I highly recommend this if you like,
Quick read
Clean adult romance
Serious yet lovely story
Amazing full cast of narrators
Enjoy good audiobook
Anonymous and mysterious heroine
romance over texts and phone calls

Book Links

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

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