great!

I absolutely loved this book! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this second book was even better! The characters were relatable and I found myself rooting for them. The passion was great and the story in general was very enjoyable. I laughed, I got angry, and I got titillated. It had every thing a romance needs.

2 people found this helpful

AMAZING

Both books thus far have been amazing. I searched for any moment in my day to continue listening. The Mother in this book is awesome!

2 people found this helpful

Very engrossing story and well narrated

What made the experience of listening to Smitten the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed the narration and for a story with a lot of what could be considered cliche plot points they are carried off really well and smoothed into the story so you don't really notice it until the end but you're satisfied so why focus on it!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really did love Dan. He's naive but earnest and lovable.

Have you listened to any of Chris Patton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No this series was my introduction to Chris' line of work. I was rather impressed

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I enjoyed this book and the others in the series!

2 people found this helpful

I love her books

I will admit I was concerned but she did the damn thing . . kage serious was amazing. I bought every book . i hope she had more like that.

1 person found this helpful

GFY Theme

Julian Wakefield is smitten with Dan Fisher who is an SSU gay boy, problem is Julian is straight and Dan is dating his sister. Dan is only dating julian's sister to do her a favor since her boyfriend cut out on her just before an important coming out dance. One thing leads to another and Julian and Dan end up having sex with Julian feeling guilty and terrible for doing that to his sister. It turns out however that Julian's sister really had this plan in mind anyway to put the two guys together. There ends up being a lot of drama around this issue because Julian who is straight is also supposed to one day take over his father's company which he has no interest in doing. Dan is introduced to us in the first SSU book as a somewhat free and easy want to be dancer. The two must overcome the typical coming out issues in the context of high society because Julian's family is really rich. Both characters are very likable and the main social issue that the author deals with here is alcoholism. Julian likes to drink just a little bit too much which also interferes with his relationship to Dan. Not much time is devoted to this issue however, I feel there should've been a little more of Dan and Julian working on this problem together instead of Julian dealing with it on his own. The other heavy issue that comes up in the book is the suicide of a friend which kind of happens in the middle of everything else going on. I felt this issue would have been a little more difficult to deal with in reality then it was in the book but still it added some angst to the mix. Four stars out of five, The narrator also did a good job however his voice for the two main characters was pretty similar and sometimes made for confusion as to which one was speaking. The point of view switches back-and-forth between the two main characters which is a common technique used by this author.

1 person found this helpful

Very fairy tale-ish but sweet.

could have ramped up some sex a bit and little more "characters developed " but enjoyable,breezy read.

Love, love, love!!

Chris Patton makes Black's writing come to life in audio. Fantastic story! I have enjoyed all of the SSU books so far. On to book 3!

Smitten at First Glance

Smitten is the second book in the SSU series, a college, contemporary romance series revolving around a group of friends. This book can be read as a standalone, but it’s more fun reading the first book so you’re already introduced to all the characters.

So I have mixed feelings about this book. The first part of the book, where Dan and Julian fall in love and explore that romance, is wonderful and sexy. I was hooked on their romance, their banter, and all the drama. But then the plot takes a left turn and there are quite a few disjointed things that don’t make sense. It kind of straightens out by the end of the book, but I really wished Maris Black hadn’t thrown so many unnecessary plot twists. I will still recommend the book, because I did enjoy most of it. It’s like the last one-third that that had me scratching my head.

The narration was done by Chris Patton who does a fabulous job. I really enjoyed his performance and definitely will listen to more audiobooks by him.

Edit needs review

An important chapter from the middle of the book was misplaced to the end of the book in this version. It didn’t ruin the story, but it didn’t help it either.

Enjoyable

I really liked this but felt that there was something missing in the wrap up of the story.