THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND

Listening to this audiobook is like hearing your teenage sister tell you all about her romantic escapades. Narrator Shannon McManus's characters are cheerfully young and energetic. When Gia's college-age boyfriend dumps her in the parking lot of prom, she convinces a nearby cute guy to be her fill-in boyfriend for the evening. But this brief white lie takes on a life of its own when Gia can't stop thinking about the boy. McManus performs the "mean girl" by speaking slowly, as though she's hatching a plot, while Gia's other friends sound bubbly, and the male characters have charmingly low-pitched tones. McManus has a sibilance to her voice that works well for this book. Her exuberance fits the romance genre perfectly. G.D. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2015]