The Boy Toy

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Samira returns home to work in Australia after avoiding her Indian mother's meddling with a long-term job in the USA. There she has a meet-cute with Rory, an Australian stuntman with a stutter. When Rory needs help with a speaking role, his dialect coach ends up being -- you guessed it -- Samira.

Samira and Rory have a steamy night together when they meet in a bar, then meet again when he unknowingly hires her to be his dialect coach. Rory's stutter has kept him in non-speaking stuntman roles, but he's up for the TV hosting opportunity of a lifetime. Samira is a professional, so she sends Rory to her cousin's adjacent practice so she can continue seeing him romantically.

Samira's mother is trying desperately to set her up with an Indian doctor, but she's not interested in being set up by her mom again. The last setup ended up in ruins after her husband cheated on her, blaming his infidelity on her inability to get pregnant. She keeps her relationship with Rory a secret from her mother to avoid her meddling.

Samira's relationship with Rory goes well until they hit a couple of snags, including Samira coaching Rory's rival for the TV role. You see each character dealing with their own issues separately and wonder if or when they will breach these issues together.

Shiloh Gray nails Samira's American/Aussie combination accent and the Australian and Indian accents used in the novel. Her voice is very expressive and engaging. Nathaniel Black has a more laid-back narration with a quieter tone used for Rory's chapters. Black's narration is louder than Gray's, so the reader may need to adjust the volume between chapters.

The author's note at the end of the novel explains that although Marsh is Anglo-Indian with fertility issues like Samira, she identifies the most with Rory because of her stutter. She includes all of these details in Rory's narrative and it seems more authentic coming from an author who has also dealt with these issues herself.

Recommended for romance fans, especially those looking for a cast of diverse characters. Readers of contemporary women's fiction will also enjoy this novel.

Nicola Marsh is a bestselling Australian romance author of Anglo-Indian descent.

Publisher: Berkley

Narrators: Shiloh Gray & Nathaniel Black

Running Time: 9 hours, 24 minutes

Length: 352 pages

Release Date: November 17, 2020

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I also received a digital audio recording of this title from the publisher through Libro.fm as a librarian review copy, and this is the copy I ended up reading/listening to. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.