For Real This Time

Written by Ada Stone

Narrated by Ashley Lauren Rogers

Candace’s parents have the kind of romance that could rival any great love story. They are so in love that they are planning a vow renewal, and they want nothing more than for Candace to find their one true love. Candace was growing tired of disappointing their parents so they decided to make up a partner, just to get their parents off their back. However, things start to go downhill when Candace’s lie comes back to bite her.

Lucy was tired of her family obsessing over her relationship status, especially her mom. Lucy’s family strongly believes in marriage and relationships, so the fact that Lucy has been single for so long worries them. With her family reunion coming up, Lucy is determined to not show up solo this time.

When Candace and Lucy matched with one another on a dating app, it felt almost fated. Both of them decided that they could help each other get their families off their backs. However, as feelings start to grow, the line between deception and reality starts to blur. Do Candace and Lucy truly have feelings for each other? Or are they both just really good at playing their part?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Jun 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094420585

Ada Stone

Ada Stone is a queer and trans book-obsessed human from the Pacific Northwest, where they live now. They love spending quiet time among trees and mountains, listening to their favorite albums on repeat, and receiving “your holds are ready for pickup” alerts from the library.

Reviews for For Real This Time

[jinkx27 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like the story but I can't says the same when it comes to the narrator

[Dawn Ray-Novak · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The writing was okay but the narrator was so bad that it was hard to even follow. I tried to be open minded, but the fumbling through sentences, repeating sentences, and burping, yes, burping, was too much! I counted two burps, one honk, one police siren and countless fumbles. So distracting!

[Natale Michaud · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The storyline wasn't bad, but the narration needs work. Lots of repeated sentences and on occasion there were background noises. Plus it is hard to keep up with the gender-neutral pro-nouns, Them, They and Theirs. It is like more than one person is being talked about. It gets confusing.

[Sierra Sharpe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story was decent and though it was narrated by a guy, he did a good job with the female characters. The use of they/them pronouns was thorough in the book, but never explained or acknowledged at all , which felt a little strange to me. As a person who uses those pronouns, I’ve never met so many new people without having to explain myself at least once. The biggest reason I didn’t give this a higher rating was that the editing on the audio recording was awful. There were dozens of repeat sentences, occasional background noise and there was even an obvious burp left in. It was super distracting, and just seemed unprofessional.