Audiobook Review: Femme by Marshall Thornton, Narrated by Joel Leslie

Femme by Marshall Thornton

Narrated by Joel Leslie

Queeny cocktail waiter Lionel wakes up to find himself in bed with Dog, a straight-acting softball player, and the two embark on a rocky road to romance. A journey that requires coming out of the closet, going into the closet, a pair of red high heels, many pairs of red high heels, a failed intervention, a couple of aborted dates, and homemade pom-poms. Mostly, Lionel and Dog learn what it means to be a man.

Finalist for the 2016 Lambda Award in Gay Romance

Starred review at Publisher's Weekly

Runner-up 2016 Rainbow Awards Gay Romantic Comedy
©2016 Marshall Thornton (P)2017 Marshall Thornton





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The last thing straight-acting Dog expects when he wakes up after a long night drinking is to find himself in femme's waiter Lionel's bed, and even if he has little to no recollection of how he got there, they decide to give it a try. However, Dog is not out to his parents and despite his charming personality, not everyone loves Lionel, so the road to HEA might be a rocky one.

I loved Lionel, he was so much fun to listen to and Joel Leslie just captured him perfectly! He was sassy and sweet and not about to bow down for anyone, he was just amazing. Even when he was sort of pushed back into the closet to find a new job, he came out triumphant in the end and didn't let the crappy things that happened to him to bring him down. Now, I liked Dog, but really, there were more than a few instances in which I wanted to slap him silly or throat punch him, or maybe both at the same time, especially during the movie date. However, he really made up for it in the end in a big way (complete with red high heels) and won me over. 

I really liked Lionel's best friend and Dog's sister and mother, it took me a bit to like Dog's dad, but the scenes with both his parents were hilarious, so it didn't take me long to warm us to Dog's dad, too. 

Overall, the story is really fun, engaging and with characters I really liked, especially Lionel. But what made the book a hit for me was Joel Leslie's narration, he elevated the story (and Lionel) into a whole other plane and gave it, not only more depth and emotion, but nailed the comedic part of the book and gave each character a distinctive voice. Definitely recommendable! 

Story 4.5 Stars

Narration 5 Stars

Overall: 4.75 Stars