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The Stand In

Olde City, Book 1

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The Stand In

By: T.K. Rapp
Narrated by: CJ Bloom, Corvin King
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About this listen

Coming face to face with a vicious looking dog named Peggy, isn’t how Becca expected to meet her new landlord, who also happens to be her very sexy new neighbor.

Becca Patterson is a successful photographer with a string of happy clients, including her BFF who is about to get married. Realizing she can’t be both the maid of honor and the photographer, she enlists the help of her assistant to take the lead. She thinks it’s all figured out until her very pregnant assistant is put on bedrest and can’t help on the wedding day.

Evan Wallace has just taken over management of the building Becca lives in, and despite his initial hesitance over fulfilling family obligations, things start to look up when he meets the beautiful tenant from apartment 302.

After a rocky start, no thanks to Peggy, Evan and Becca end up forming an unlikely friendship in more ways than one.

When they do each other a favor and pretend to be dating in the presence of their exes and family, it’s clear not only are they lying to everyone, but they’re also lying to themselves. Now their friends and family think they’re together, and they’re playing along.

But this can only end one way…Right?

Portions of this story were previously published as the short story Opening Up in the One More Step Anthology by The Bookworm Box.

©2024 T.K. Rapp (P)2024 T.K. Rapp Contemporary Feel-Good
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Listener received this title free

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. I’m a sucker for a good fake dating story Evan and Becca’s meet cute was so funny. I love it when pets unwittingly play matchmaker.

I really liked how the author balanced the story between Evan and Becca’s point of view. We see the earlier part of the story mostly from Becca’s perspective and then we finally get an insight into Evan’s thoughts and feelings and it just amps up the swoon factor.

This is a closed door romance, and I really like how we can feel the tension and attraction between Evan and Becca, even without spicy scenes.

I really enjoyed the build up of the relationship. It felt very organic. Slow burn isn’t usually my preferred pacing, but the pacing of this story was really good. It had me engaged the whole time and disappointed to reach the end of the story. From the way the epilogue ended, I hope we get to see more of Evan and Becca in the next book. I also liked the epilogue. It was different from your typical romcom epilogue and left me desperate for the next book.

I really enjoyed the narration of this book. Corvin King is new to me, but I’ve listened to a few books narrated by CJ Bloom. I think they embodied the characters perfectly and they portrayed the emotions of the characters really well. They especially did a great job bringing out the humour is the story. The banter had me constantly grinning. This narration was done in dual style and both narrators did a great job voicing characters of the opposite sex.

I loved the side characters. It's a fun cast of different personalities that add depth to the story.

I generally don’t mind the miscommunication trope when it’s done well, and this one was. The characters are flawed the same way real people are flawed and sometimes we have trouble using our words, and jump to conclusions based on our personal hangups. I think the way the miscommunication trope was written in this story lends validity to the strength of the relationship.

If you like swoony romcoms, with relatable characters, a fun supporting cast, and a little bit of drama, you should read this book.

*I received an early copy from Homecooked Books. These opinions are entirely my own.

Swoony rom-com

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Listener received this title free

This was soo cute and so charming!

Becca Patterson is a successful photographer. She meets her new landlord/apartment manager, Evan Wallace, when she encounters his off-the-leash dog by accident in her building. They strike up a friendship and when Becca’s assistant goes on maternity leave during an important wedding, she needs someone new to replace her assistant as she herself cannot focus solely on photographing the wedding because she also happens to be the maid of honour and needs to focus on those duties. Evan steps up to help her photograph the wedding to make up for his dog’s encounter with Becca and to spend more time with her. Both have had heartbreaks in the past and are currently focusing on their careers. When some events occur at the wedding’s rehearsal dinner, they both decide to enter into a fake relationship to make their exes jealous. But soon enough, this turns into real feelings.

This was such a fun and sweet read. I really enjoyed watching Becca and Evan slowly getting to know each other and their relationship grow. Both characters were soo cute and likable. Evan and his family were soo lovely, and I loved how welcoming his family were to Becca. This book had the right mix of humorous moments, as well as the serious deep moments that occurred when dealing with the information about Evan’s father. Overall, such a fun read that had me engaged throughout!

Featuring dual narration by CJ Bloom & Corvin King. Although mainly from Becca’s POV, they were both excellent with the narration. CJ Bloom did amazingly with bringing Becca’s fun and bright personality through. Corvin King portrays Evan very well. He was great at bringing forward his feelings; both his feelings when dealing with his relationship with Becca, but also his feelings of frustration, fear, and unpreparedness when dealing with the information about his dad. They both conveyed all the emotions and moods of both Becca and Evan fantastically. Their voices were perfect for the characters. Highly recommend!

4.5 Stars!

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Listener received this title free

Evan has recently moved into the Olde City Building as a favor to his parents so that he can manage it and keep an eye on one of their tenants who holds a special place in his family’s heart. He may not have made the best first impression on Becca however when he offers to help her out with her photography business a truce is formed.

Becca’s photography business is busy so when her assistant needs to start her maternity leave early, she is conflicted as Becca is part of the wedding and her assistant was going to take the pictures. She has her reservations however she is very grateful he is there when her ex shows up with his fiancé and Evan agrees to pretend, they are a couple.

What begins as a friendship turns into something much deeper as they support each other against their exes and regarding a difficult family situation. Even though they had some misunderstanding they had their friends and family to point them in the right direction before it is too late. The time listening to this book seemed to pass by as the narrators were entertaining both when it came to the characters and the story.

Evan and Becca!

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Listener received this title free

I listened to the audiobook and I’m sure that I liked the story more because of the audio format. Many of the chapters were from Becca’s perspective, performed by the fabulous CJ Bloom. Evan’s chapters were performed by new-to-me Corbin King. Both narrators kept me engaged in the story.

T.K. Rapp is a new-to-me author. I liked that the characters overcame an adverse meeting (just a hint of enemies to lovers) and moved into a fake relationship. I liked seeing things develop between them and the book got off to a really great start. It was a little repetitive with mistrust toward the end, but I’d give it 4.5 stars and I’m still interested in listening to more by T.K. Rapp. There was a bit of a cliffhanger lead in to what I hope is another book, but it doesn’t involve the main characters of this book.

I received a copy of the audiobook at my request and the opinions here are my own.

Great as an audiobook

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Listener received this title free

This was my first T.K. Rapp, and won't be my last. This is the first book in the Olde City Series. I loved this sweet and heartwarming fake relationship romance. I loved to follow Becca and Evan in this first installment in the series. The characters are well developed, and interesting. I liked the family bonds, and the friendship in the story. The cast of supporting characters is impressive. CJ Bloom and Corvin King did a great job bringing this story to life. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to listening to the next book in the series.

Sweet Romance!

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Listener received this title free

🎧🎧AUDIOBOOK REVIEW🎧🎧

My one-word review for this story is delightful :) However, the last minute *misunderstanding* was just …why? I can’t even call it a third-act break-up circumstance because it literally was a blip in time, but it happened, and why? *blink*

Okay, aside from all that, this is a pretty low drama/angst with a lot of sweetness and humor rolled in a slow-growing (not burn because the sexy-sexy really wasn’t on the page at all) journey. I enjoyed myself listening to it and I more than likely would have enjoyed myself reading it as well. So there’s that.

I adore CJ Bloom. She is just so perfect with her narrations and really sucks the listener into the story with her skills. I’ve always enjoyed her, and this was no different. The story is *told* mostly from Becca’s perspective which means CJ was the one in my ears for most of the story and that’s another point in her favor. There is nothing wrong with Corvin King, but his voice has a shake-like quality that I can only withstand in small dosages. LOL He totaled about 2 hours in my ears so all was good! :)

The Stand In: Olde City Book 1

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Listener received this title free

Can you date your landlord? Becca meets her new landlord when his dog comes to her. Evan is the new property manager, and while he does own that mean puppy the two strike up a friendship and end up being fake dates for each other. Problem is, they can't seem to get out of it. Different circumstances keep occurring, keeping them together. What happens next? This is a delightful story packed with romance. But it's not just about Becca and Evan. There is so much more. It's family and holidays. And neighbors! The relevance of aging, sage advice and love. It's fabulous and I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

CJ Bloom and Corvin King bring this alive. Mostly from Becca's point of view, CJ Bloom dives into being Becca. She is bright and full of all love and compassion. Corvin King is Evan, and his feelings with family are spot on! Unprepared, scared, frustrated, he brings out all the things we know and feel. These two give a fantastic dual narration and it was wonderful for the ears.

Evan & Becca!

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