Unzipped

Audio review The audio book is narrated by Andie Arndt and Joe Arden, who did a great job. I particularly liked Joe’s performance of the hapless and clueless Kyler (Tom). The camaraderie and banter between Tom and his brothers gave me quite a few laughs. Both Andi and Joe gave light hearted performances that complemented the story. After an excessive “grand” gesture to get the woman Kyler believes he is in love with goes embarrassingly wrong, he meets and becomes friends with Finley. They bond over having unusual names and in fact she decides to use his middle name Tom, instead of Kyler. Tom is clueless as to what happened with his college girlfriend and took her comments to heart and changed his life. Now he believes it is time to seek her out and let her know he has changed and is ready for love. Finley can see he has no clue what he is doing and so she offers to help him achieve his objectives. Finley is a comedy writer, who enlists Tom as a sounding board/muse and writes some TV episodes based on Tom’s journey. It soon becomes apparent that Tom and Finley share more in common than just roller coasters and film quotes. The connection between Tom and Finley was at times cringe worthy but some of their conversations had me in tears of laughter. These two are meant to be. I was intrigued by the premise of this story and it was as I expected, sweet, charming and a little predictable. Certainly worth a read or a listen too as it will be a smile to your face.

My favourite heroines are the quirky adorable type that totally embrace their brand of crazy 😍 It’s the type I admire the most and want to be; so as you can imagine I totally and utterly adore Finley. Cute and sassy, Finley embraces life and positivity, her dream to make people smile via her writing. She has a situational comedy on a network that is her literary baby; only it is hanging on by a thread and Finley is struggling to find a new direction to take her characters. Enter Tom aka Kyler, who has come in search of his first love in order to feel the connection he had with her and hasn’t been able to replicate since. Having lost his mother at a young age, his romantic references come from 3 older brothers and cheesy ’80s rom-coms. His mindset on the grand gesture to win the girl only it doesn’t go quite to plan when he encounters Finley rather than his ex, Cassie. The events following their hilarious first encounter include a lot of cheesy movie quotes, hilarious female comedians and a fast fall for both of them. Unzipped played out like a sit-com in my head; imagine a Ross and Rachel scenario with the will they won’t they along the way. The only problem is Finley’s previous relationship ended due to the feelings her ex harboured for his ex. Top that off with her initial encounter with Tom being in pursuit of another woman and you can’t help but understand Finley’s incapability to comprehend Tom’s feelings for her. There is a wonderful cast of peripheral characters that in true Lauren Blakely style you want each and every individual story and there are a few plot threads open within Unzipped which would allow the possibility to become reality. From road trips to roller coasters, Unzipped is a thrill ride of swoon.

UNZIPPED by Lauren Blakely is a contemporary, adult, stand alone, romance story line focusing on roller coaster developer Kyler ‘Tom’ Sutcliffe, and television comedy writer Finley Barker. Told from dual first person perspectives (Tom and Finley) UNZIPPED follows the accidental meeting and slow building relationship between twenty-eight year old, roller coaster developer Kyler ‘Tom’ Sutcliffe, and twenty-nine year old, television comedy writer Finley Barker. Kyler Sutcliffe aka Tom, wants to rekindle a romance with his college sweetheart Cassie, the woman who broke his heart but also the woman he hasn’t seen for close to eight years. Arriving at Cassie’s last known residence, and in an effort to win her over ala Lloyd Dobler style from the movie ‘Say Anything’, Tom will come face to face with television writer Finley Barker, who sees Tom’s challenge in the seduction department. Finley agrees to ‘teach’ a bewildered and baffled Tom the subtle art of wooing and romance, as she struggles to keep from falling in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Finley and Tom, and the potential fall-out as Finley’s life begins to spiral out of control, and Tom continues to move towards the woman he thought he once loved. UNZIPPED is a story of friendship and fun with great back and forth banter between our leading couple. Finley battles between head and heart knowing Tom has only one goal in mind, and that goal will ultimately not include our story line heroine. Tom has always wondered what happened and why to make Cassie walk away without looking back. Little does our hero realize that there is more to the story than he could have ever imagined. The relationship between Finley and Tom begins accidentally when Tom arrives to woo his former love. Finley is a film buff who is the perfect foil to Tom’s witticisms and movie quotes; their cross country journey finds there is more in common than they had previously expected. The $ex scenes are passionate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. We are introduced to Tom’s brothers Ransom, Nash and Gannon who are a constant source of teasing and taunts; their cousin Gabe; Finley’s friend and book store owner Arden, as well as Bruce Fargo, the man ultimately in charge of Finley’s future. There is something developing between Gabe and Arden. UNZIPPED is a fast paced, energetic and humorous story line. The premise is fun and spirited; the characters are quirky, clueless and charismatic; the romance is passionate and entertaining. UNZIPPED is an enjoyable and entertaining story of one man’s attempts to woo, failing miserably, but in the end falling for his perfect match.