Great story however:

Great story however Lucy Rivers totally ruined it for me. I went into this story because of Jacob morgan but I have to say Lucy Rivers who did 3/4 of the narration was horrible. If they had used another GOOD female narrator this would have been a total 5 Star book. I don’t usually leave typed reviews but I just had to say something. All the reviews I read were giving her so much credit. After the second chapter I thought “you people have no idea what a good female narrator is.” Jacob morgan is the best actor I’ve ever heard on Audible and pray he doesn’t give up this job to other things. This man makes me feel every character he portrays, HE IS. So maybe listen to other samples of Lucy rivers before purchasing this book. I could hardly make it to the end. Don’t always listen to reviews. Do some homework before spending your hard earned money on a good book done bad by horrible narrators. Ok I’m done ranting. But oh!! Jacob morgan!!!!!!!

21 people found this helpful

OK, but not my favorite.

Stay is the second book in the WAGs series by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. While this is a spinoff from the Him series – Matt is only superficially mentioned in those books (mostly the fact that he’s getting a divorce) and you could listen to this without having enjoyed those first. He’s in Good Boy (WAGs book 1) slightly more but still not impacting on this book. Bowen & Kennedy individually are two of my favorite authors and together, they are usually phenomenal. That said, this is my least favorite collaboration of theirs.

Matt Ericksson is a hockey player who has been divorced for 18 months or two years or something that we’re not exactly sure because the number keeps changing. Hailey Taylor Emory is the owner of an online “personal assistant” service called “Fetch” and is also divorced.

Hailey becomes Matt’s assistant and they flirt online for a bit. When an emergency job requires a personal delivery to Matt and they meet in person, sparks fly.

It’s a cute story and overall enjoyable. Unfortunately, there’s some issues that really detract from the overall experience.
*there isn’t a consistent timeline. Matt’s twin daughters are 4 when he gets a divorce, they’re 4 throughout the book, and they’re 4 in the epilogue. Ummm…
*Hailey’s chat name is “HTE” which Matt mentally turns in to “hottie” in his mind. But even after they meet and spend time together ~ 90% of the time he continues to call her “hottie” instead of her name. It’s sort of cute occasionally, but it felt somewhat impersonal or dehumanizing or something “less than”.
*Hailey’s character is inconsistent. She’s a professional who owns her own business. Yet she’s a blubbering mess around Matt for 50% of their interactions. Like beyond a few goofy interactions to “why on earth does he find that appealing?” There’s even a chapter titled “Loss of IQ” and then she proceeds to lose her IQ. I’m not sure whether 100% of this is due to how she was written or how Lucy Rivers narrated her.

I do like how Matt & Hailey navigate life after divorce. There’s some angst – but it doesn’t feel too OTT. Matt’s interactions with his daughters are adorable. It’s definitely an HEA and the epilogue is precious.

Note: I’m a little disappointed that the book obviously set up for Will O’Connor to get his own story, but years later Stay remains the last book of this series. (update: there’s now a note in goodreads that there are no more books planned.)

Narration:
Jacob Morgan was good here. I have mixed feelings about Lucy Rivers in this book. I struggled to connect with her narration and portrayal of Hailey.

10 people found this helpful

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

Another good book by this dynamic duo! I have to save I love the idea of Hailey's business and it made for a fun story line too! Matt & Hailey's story was sweet and playful and very sexy. I have a serious love for single dad's in books so I knew I'd love Matt from the beginning. I love that he is trying to be the best dad he can even if his ex doesn't always make it easy. This book left me feeling happy :)

The narration was 100X better than book 1 for me. They were perfect!

9 people found this helpful

Male narrator is Awsome

5 stars to Jacob Morgan. Sorry to give zero stars to Lucy Rivers. I tried hard but could not listen to her. I skipped all her chapters.

8 people found this helpful

Thumbs down for female narrator.

The story is good, the male narrator is great. The female narrator does not work at all. Not only is her male voice absolutely terrible, but she reads very stiff and stilted. It takes you right out of the story. Super disappointing.

6 people found this helpful

So Disappointed

Story 4.5-stars ***** Jacob Morgan as Matt 5-stars ***** Lucy Rivers as Hailey 1-star *

I really, really like this story. I'd 1-click any future books in this series. And I LOVE Jacob Morgan's narration. But I almost dnf 3-4 times because of Lucy Rivers as Hailey. My goodness she's awful. I skimmed through and/or read the most of the chapters she narrated. I will read anything Sarina and Elle write. I will listen to anything Jacob Morgan narrates. In the future, however, I'll avoid anything with Ms. Rivers.

5 people found this helpful

5 stars for Jacob 1 For Lucy 3 stars for over all story

Ok because Jacobs name is first on the “narrated by” line I gave this book a 5 star hoping it doesn’t count against him personally. I listened to this book because he was the narrator. Lucy needs a lot of work on her performance. She always makes the males sound awful. And I’m not talking about her vocal range which I understand she will never sound masculine, I mean she makes them sound slow and dumb/dorky. I don’t know why they pair her with amazing male narrators I always cringe. Jacob could and probably should have narrated this entire book by himself. It just got to the point I had to skip a few of her chapters. Which makes me sad because the book was actually very heartwarming 💗.

3 people found this helpful

Why I gave the performance 3 stars

First off, I have enjoyed reading WAGs series so far. This is another audiobook that I have listened to that Jacob Morgan narrated. Jacob Morgan is a phenomenal narrator and I have enjoyed every one of his performances. However, Lucy Rivers was bad. Her male voice was a joke. It was like if I narrated the book and put on the VERY fake male voice. If you are to be a narrator, your male voice should not be comical and actually very close to a decent one.

I will admit that the female narrators the publisher has chosen for the first 2 WAGs books have overall disappointed me. Their male voices have carried the performance completely. Thankfully, I also own the books so when I get frustrated with the female voice, I'll switch to reading so I can move back to listening to the male POV

3 people found this helpful

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!! HOTTIE AND SNIPES!! XOX

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I Totally would..it was awesome!!!! great story, excellent narration...loved it!!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hailey!!! She was just so cool....kind, and fun..I loved her!!

What does Jacob Morgan and Lucy Rivers bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They nailed it...100%...super great!!!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end...OMG my heart is so happy now!!!!

Any additional comments?

This was better than book 1....better story line, better narration.....I loved it...I hope we get another book in this series...Matt and Hailey were great together...they were just what each other needed...sometimes you have to be with the wrong person, to find the right one....I cant wait for them to have babies!!! This was a perfect story....I totally recommend 100%!!!

DESERVES 10 STARS!!!! MY HEART IS SO HAPPY NOW!!!!

2 people found this helpful

Great story, poorly narration

The story itself is really fun to read. However, the narration was so disappointing. The characters never really came to life and it felt forced at times. I'm a huge fan of both authors books, but the narrators missed the mark on this one.

2 people found this helpful