Monday, July 01, 2013

Review: Wallbanger by Alice Clayton



Wallbanger
Alice Clayton
Genre: Adult Romance
Publication date: May 7th 2013
by Simon & Schuster Audio


The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she’s gaining an—um—intimate knowledge of her new neighbor’s nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy’s athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed “dating hiatus,” and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly. . . .
-An audiobook was provided by Simon & Schuster Audio for review-

Within the first 5 minutes of this audiobook I was sure I'd made a very bad decision. The narrator was so extremely into conveying what she was hearing next door that I closed my window fearing the neighbors would hear what I'm sure sounded like crazy sexcapades. But then the meowing started, and I almost peed my pants! Yep - you have my heart if you can make me laugh!

Wallbanger is, well, about a wall banger <-- some genius deductions at work! Caroline who has just moved to this new apartment is quickly finding out that her neighbor is a little... this guy can make a girl meow, that's all I'm saying! This book is more a comedy than steamy romance, though. I mean we hear some craziness going on next door and we get some hot scenes eventually but the whole book is a serious case of comedic sexual tension. With Caroline's loud personality and Simon's sense of humor, there is a lot of entertainment stemming from their relationship, not to mention through the rough chemistry, but you have to have patience. A lot of patience. Which I don't really have. The characters are well fleshed out with definite striking personalities - even the side characters had me smirking. So it's a fun ride to see them meet, make fun of each others' business, flirt, tease - which is followed by more teasing, more flirting, more teasing, etc, etc. Eventually I realized I'd lost some interest. Now I will admit that adult romances are not my forte, so I'm not especially surprised that I enjoyed this less than those who drool on this genre, however it was still a good audiobook. Actually I think the audio made this book even funnier because the narrator was amazing with all of her hilarious sound effects. Not one I'd listen to without ear-buds, but I'm pretty sure I liked this more on audio than I would have otherwise.

To get back to the main character for a minute, Caroline has a little trouble with her O lately. Well - it's gone. She's come to think of this lost O as its own character. She talks to it, we see her plead and get pissed at it. This was pretty funny at the beginning because just realizing she was talking to her O like it was a person made me giggle. She even calls it a bitch at one point, but aside from those few funny bits I mostly found it cheesy. Like forced humor. Or maybe I've been desensitized from Sex and the City? I did, though, love Caroline's cat! This little fella is adorable and all kinds of crazy for Purina (the meowing sex lady- duh!)! I think this was a nice touch to the book - he even gets his own POV for a chapter at the end which is hilarious!

While I did enjoy this book for the most part - some I even loved - I simply was not the right genre reader for it. Wallbanger does have a lot of heart, a swoony guy, and a happy ending - all the makings of an instant hit for any adult romance fanatic!


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