xo, Zach

When Zach helps a girl out at a party he's at the last thing he expects is for her to turn out to be one of the graduate students he's mentoring this year. But she is, and he can't help how he feels. Poppy has more at stake than just her schooling, but Zach is persistent, which isn't helped by the fact she can't stop thinking about him. And the mystery person that is sending her love poems. Can they overcome their differences and be together, or is their relationship to forbidden?

Kendall Ryan knows how to grab my attention, she is the mistress of the sweet, sexy alphas and Zach didn't disappoint, although, he is different to any of her other characters that I've met. He might be right up there as one of my favourite book boyfriends. I need more Kendall goodness in my life, her writing never fails to make me laugh, make me swoon, and make me sometimes curse. All the marks of a fantastic story, if you ask me.

This cover, swoon, I love it so much. It's Zach, for sure, just how I envisioned him, and the little note with the narrators' names on the audio edition is perfection and goes with the theme of the story.

I listened to this book in one sitting, once I started I just didn't want to stop. These characters were so likeable and a joy to spend time with. Even the supporting characters. Cody and Jodie were fun.
Zach, sigh, Zach, he was so lovely, I fell for him right along with Poppy. He was charming and sexy. Sweet, kind-hearted and swoon, that dirty talking man has it all. Poppy was such a sweetheart, she knew what she wanted and was determined to do it. I loved that about her, she had some extra issues that I wasn't expecting but that just made her even more amazing, I loved her. Girl crush alert.
Zach's mom is such a joy, I'd love for her to have a story, maybe a novella, that would be cool, she was such a hoot. I laughed at loud on more than one occasion.
I loved the progression of their relationship, they had to work at it and it all felt very organic and real to life. They had a couple of stumbles but no major meltdowns which is a nice change of pace, compared to my recent listens. The sexy times, holy, pass me a fan, talk about melting headphones. I knew that dirty talker Zach wasn't all talk, he couldn't have been and thankfully he walked the walk too. I liked that although there were aspects of the forbidden in their relationship it wasn't the primary focus and didn't really play that much of a deal breaker in their relationship. This is such a sweet, sexy story. I loved that it was more of a slow burn. There wasn't a lot of angst and it was really quite charming.

Andi Arndt and Sebastian York's voices blend really well together generally but on this production, it seems even more so. They really complement each other. The performances were stellar as always. I really enjoyed how they both portrayed Zach's mom who was such a fun character. The sexy scenes are performed brilliantly, and the emotional scenes were delivered with such conviction that as a listener you can't help but come engrossed and invested, it's really such a beautiful experience. Their voices sounded a little different in this book, maybe a lower register? Or maybe it's been a while since I've heard them together, I dunno, I'm weird, it sounded spot on though. The production was smooth and enjoyable with no noticeable issues.