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The Substitute cover art

The Substitute

By: Denise Grover Swank
Narrated by: Shannon McManus
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Summary

Megan Vandemeer meant to tell her parents about her broken engagement, but a month and a half later she finds herself boarding a plane home to her wedding. Having stretched avoidance to its limits, it's time to come clean - a terrifying prospect since her mother is sure to blame her rather than her cheating, emotionally frigid ex. A couple of drinks and two Dramamine later, Megan finds herself spilling her sob story to the tall, dark, and handsome stranger in the seat next to her. With only one week left to save his business, Josh McMillan boards a plane to Kansas City in a last-ditch effort, leaving the details to chance. An unexpected answer is delivered in the form of the beautiful brunette beside him. Though she's completely loopy, her honesty, openness, and humor charm him. So when she passes out before landing, he helps her off the plane - a good deed that leads to a colossal misunderstanding. Her parents assume that he's her fiancé. In a twist of fate, the mix-up might help Josh save his business, so he plays along, figuring that he can help Megan too. All he has to do is stage a public break-up convincing enough to appease her mother. Josh is only supposed to be a substitute groom, but the more time he and Megan spend together, the more their pretend engagement starts to feel real, and the less they want to break it off. Can a relationship that began as a farce turn into happily ever after?

©2015 Denise Grover Swank (P)2015 Tantor

What listeners say about The Substitute

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really fun

Light story with a few surprises, interesting and fun characters… the narrator is sooooo like Callie Dalton, which is great as I love her voice. Just about to read book 2… what a treat!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Light hearted and very romantic

Great story line, paced really well.
much more romantic than I was expecting it to be. Josh is a honey. Grams is shockingly fabulous.
Such a sweet story if you enjoy light comedy which I do if I have listened to something heavy.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Sweet story

Predictable but still kept me going. Likeable characters and good storyline. The narration was perfect!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great audible

Loved the book and was pleased the voices matched what I thought they would be like

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gramps is so funny

Enjoyable book. Was looking for some light listening over several days and got hooked,laughing out loud at 'gramps' antics.Thorougly enjoyable...off to see author's other titles.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Easy listen

Really enjoyed this easy listen. Highly recommend and I will definitely listen to another story by this author.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable nonsense!

A reasonably good (if unbelievable) plot line, and interesting side characters. I definitely wanted to hear it through to the end. Some very funny and farcical scenes.
Two things detracted and made it a 4 star rating - the repetitive use of the nickname Nickers or Knickers was very irritating, especially when the story narration used it, and, the voice narrator wasn’t as good as she might have been. Just shows what a skill it is to perform in this way. Her male voices were good, mind you.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly good really enjoyed

I’ve listened to some mediocre stories recently but this was a very pleasant surprise even the narrator was excellent but I’ve listened to her before and her delivery is well acted out the story engaging and somewhat believable and the characters intriguing well done and I will be looking out for other books from this author

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Exactly what I needed and more!

I’m a girl who loves some dark and depraved romance, with morally grey love interests that would make me question my morals, but sometimes you crave that sweet, lighthearted filler book once in a while as a little reprieve from the darker side 😈

And this, ladies and gentlemen, had it all.

The banter was hilarious between the main protagonists, with just enough hilarity without being too silly. The romance was the most exquisite slow burn, and the pacing was seamless. I also loved the side characters and all their quirks too.

This is. a must listen!!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Another passive heroine

I wanted to like this and for a minute I thought that the author pulled it off, but no. Many romance stories feature things that would never, ever happen in real life but I can overlook or even enjoy that if the characters are good enough, the plot is intriguing or original and there are moments of insight or honesty about human behaviour. I didn't find that here.

I think this book was aiming for screwball comedy but ended up feeling a bit deranged and sad. The heroine's lack of agency felt lonely and insecure. Every other character was hell-bent on ignoring or removing her choices and that was frustrating and depressing. The emotional development was so rushed, it came across as unhealthy, worrying, even. The happy ending felt unearned. I read all the way to the end, increasingly pessimistic about whether the author could turn things around in a satisfactory way, but I was ultimately disappointed.

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