very fun Rom Com! A perfect london romance for all who love them! There is just something about a nice, light rom com that takes place in london that always catches my eye and this was no exception!

This book was very cute. Besides the premise that she is obsessed with an audiobook narrator based solely off his book and goes on a trip to meet him and see if they are destined to fall in love (I mean, I can see this logic making sense if you are a 13 year old girl, but as a grown adult?), the story ended up being sweet. If you’re looking for a lighthearted romance with lots of sweet character redemption (not just the main characters), then this is the book for you.

I specifically listened to the audiobook version of this book and enjoyed the narrator. She did a great job at creating different voices for different characters and she wasn’t distracting at all. That’s always important to me in an audiobook narrator.

Thank you to netgalley for the advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed it!

Gigi loves love stories and even runs a bookstore selling romance novels. There’s one romance novel in particular she finds herself listening to over and over because of the narrator, who Gigi is convinced is her soulmate. For her 30th birthday, Gigi’s friends give her the ultimate gift - a 10 day bus tour throughout England with Zane, the narrator, as the tour guide. However, when Gigi arrives, Zane is not on the tour - and she is stuck on this trip she’s not sure she wants to be on, waiting for him to show up.

I did a study abroad program in England in college, and one of my courses that was designed for those of us in the program, took us on trips throughout England to see different locations and learn the history. Many of the locations Gigi visited in this book were locations I also visited through this program, so it was very fun to relive those adventures from my college days. This helped me fully envision the story and relate to it in a way I’m not sure I would have without that experience.

For the book itself, I struggled at times because Gigi frustrated me so much - her actions often made me want to roll my eyes as she was being so negative about this adventure of a lifetime. However, the setting and the cast of side characters really made this book fun to read so I was able to get past my feelings about Gigi. The other travelers on the bus tour were an eclectic group with so much personality and they were the real stars of this story.

Another big selling point was the narrator - Natalie Naudus can do no wrong in my opinion and I always love listening to her.

Thank you to Kensington Books, RB Media and NetGallet for the advance copies.

I found Gigi to be really unlikable. Because of this, I didn't really care for her situation. I didn't want her to meet her "dream guy" and easily disconnected from this story. The whole premise of traveling across the world to meet someone who narrates an audio book seems very strange to me.

I received an advance audio copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an audio ARC of this book. Gigi is a Michigan romance bookstore owner and avid romance audio book listener. She is offered a bus tour in England led by the very swoonworthy Zane Wilkinson, her favorite audio book narrator. Naturally, things do not go as planned! This is a sweet romance with a happy, meant to be, ending. This is well written with multidimensional and relatable characters. The narrator has a pleasant voice and the narration flows smoothly. Definitely recommended for those who enjoy light romances, added bonus if you are also an Anglophile!

I think I would've preferred to read this instead of listen but it was still great! I liked the narrator.

This is Gigi's story, who is gifted a fun bus tour across Britain by her friends for her 30th birthday to meet Zane, the guy she has fallen in love with after hearing the only audiobook he has recorded.
On the tour she meets multiple tourists and tour guides and makes friends for life. Although her idea of having a meet cute with Zane and a similar love story as her parents might not come true.
I liked that the side characters also had their own stories and a purpose for coming on the tour.

Gigi, Listening
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: Romance
Author: Chantel Guertin
GR: 3.69

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, Kensington Books and RB Media and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This book was good and I enjoyed the story, however, I do wish some things were done differently. I did connect with the MC throughout the story. Gigi is constantly searching for a love that her parents had. She is convinced that Zane, an audiobook narrator, is her soulmate. Zane did the narration for the book that brought her parents together. Her friends surprise her for her birthday with a bus tour in London, that Zane runs. However, he is not there when she arrives and shows up towards the end. The eccentric passengers, grumpy tour guide Argus on this ten day bus tour through London with a surprising end.

The story is narrated solely by Gigi, in her POV. I would loved to have seen a male narration in there, especially for Zane. Gigi is passionate, caring, and just wants to find the love of her life. The supporting characters were eccentric, witty, and really added a layer to the story. The characters were well developed, had witty banter, chemistry, connection, and well done. Gigi has a long road of self-reflection and growth throughout the story. The author’s writing style was complex, some spice, some swoon, and overall flowed well and easy to read. The story has a wonderful ending.

The narrator was female and she did a fantastic job, had great voice variation, I just think the story could have used a male narration as well, it would have added another level to the book. She did a great job with the English accents and you could feel when emotions were expressed. Overall, I would recommend this book. It’s a quirky road map to a love story.

The synopsis for Gigi, Listening was delightful and gave me high hopes for this book. Sadly, those high hopes weren’t met.

Here are some things I liked:
Gigi’s brother, Lars
Angus
Charlotte
Francis
Glimpses of England (I love England!)

The above mentioned side characters brought life to the story. Both Lars and Francis seemed to have stories of their own that I wanted to dig deeper into. Angus and Charlotte were so warm and sweet that I wanted to claim them as my own fill-in grandparents, or at least have Angus be my tour guide and Charlotte be my seat mate on my next trip to England. It’s unfortunate that these characters didn’t play a bigger roll in the story.

Here are some of the things I didn’t like:
Gigi.
The narration
Lack of chemistry between romantic interests

I found Gigi so unlikeable that she ruined the story for me. I found her obsession with Zane’s voice to be unhealthy and stalker-ish. I found she was very immature, self absorbed, ungrateful, and even a bit of a mean-girl. (However, I also thought she would make a terrific creepy character in a psychological thriller.)

The narration was problematic for me, as well. This is a story about falling in love with a voice, so I expected the narrator to be phenomenal. She did a good job narrating American accents, but her male British accents were identifiably fake. It was jarring, and even comical at times when she read with a British accent.

Another thing I missed was the powerful spark of chemistry that happens in a good romance. (That spark is essential if you’re going to have characters fall deeply in love after only a few short days.) Gigi’s laser-like focus on her obsession made any potential sparks in the story fizzle out. This made the ending of the story feel incredibly unrealistic and rushed.

Although this book didn’t resonate well with me, I will definitely recommend it to library patrons looking for a light, uncomplicated romance.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#GigiListening #NetGalley

Cute and escapist, just what your want in a romance. A recommended purchase for collections where the genre is particularly popular

I wish I enjoyed this more, because the synopsis was really really promising and I related to Gigi, because I, too, am an avid audiobook listener and gosh, I wish I could meet Jacob Morgan or Natalie Naudus or Julia Whelan. Also, Gigi is the proud owner of a romance-only bookstore, which sounds like my dream job.

I liked the plot, especially because the premise was a trip to a different country with the main goal of meeting the tour guide/audiobook narrator. Sounds exactly like 12-year-old me convinced my father to take an on-the-road trip to Tuscany just because I wanted to see the places where New Moon was shot.

All the characters are well described and, even though everyone was a stranger to each other at the beginning of the book, they form this kind of found family that was lovely to read about.

The romance was not it for me, it is definitely a slow (super slow) burn, and I wish Gigi came to her senses a little bit earlier and got with Raj a little bit faster. Also, this is a clean romance book, there are quite a few hot kisses, but no spice.

Gigi, Listening was a delightful read! I grew to adore this quirky band of characters! They became real people I wish I could be friends with in real life! The detail of the scenery had me wising I could take a bus tour of England! This will be a novel I will revisit time & time again!

Do you often find that you would rather be immersed in your book than dealing with real people? Do you often find that you have a preconceived idea of how things should go when dealing with people and aren't sure how to adapt sometimes when they obviously don't go how you expect them to? Then you will absolutely relate to Gigi, the main character of this story! It is a well written rom com that will have you going through all the feels! The decision becomes whether or not to stick to the ideal in your head or alter route and follow what is in front of you? Give up the ideal dream or live life messily? What would you choose? Better yet what did Gigi choose? To find that out you'll have to read the book and I promise that you won't be sorry! It was very well written and the characters are so relatable and realistic! FYI: The narrator of the audiobook did an outstanding job of bringing to life the characters, emotions, antics and plot of this story so I highly recommend choosing the audio version if given a choice!

This was an okay read for me. I did enjoy the audiobook, and the overall story is original/not something I’ve read before. I just found the main character kind of naive, why would she expect to fall in love with someone she doesn’t know? The whole tour part was also kind of boring, I didn’t find any of the other characters interesting enough to care.

Gigi is a romantic at heart! She owns a bookshop that her parents once owned and falls in love with the narrator of the book her parents fell in love over.

So when her friends gift her a trip to England to meet THE voice, she knows she must go and will definitely fall in love.

However, upon meeting Zane - the sparks don't don't seem to fly. But, Gigi hits it off with the rest of the passengers.

Very fun listen!

✨✨✨ARC REVIEW✨✨✨
Gig Listening
By: Chantel Guertin
Pages: 369
Release Date: March 28th, 2023
Thank you @netgalley for giving me this ARC

Sadly this book was not my favorite but there were also parts that I did like. The blurb said it was like Sophie Kinsella and Christina Lauren in comparison to the writing style and I would have to agree. Both of which are authors I love so this book should have been a big hit for me however it was not. There is a chance it wasn’t the right time for me to read this book. But also not every book will be for everyone.

Tropes:
One POV
Bookshop owner
Road Trip
Slow burn
Rom Com
Sweet feel good

Synopsis:
Fans of Sophie Kinsella and Christina Lauren will adore this touching and witty novel about a woman who takes an impulsive trip to England to meet the man behind the audiobook narrator she’s fallen for.

Gigi Rutherford loves love stories. She reads them, she sells them at her romance bookstore, and she could spend hours imagining the meet-cutes of every couple she encounters. But when it comes to her own love interests, Gigi is out of stock. Instead of enduring bad date after bad date, these days she’d rather curl up with her favorite audiobook and the only man who makes her heart skip a beat: Zane Wilkenson, the smooth-voiced narrator Gigi is convinced is her soulmate.

Then, she’s presented with the chance of a lifetime: a ten-day bus tour through the English countryside, an ocean away from her bookstore—all in the presence of Zane, in person, as he leads the tour.

But when Gigi arrives at the bus terminal in London, Zane is nowhere to be found. Until he shows up, she’s stuck with an eclectic group of fellow travelers: recently widowed and chatty Charlotte;
trivia-obsessed Francis; Jenny, a true-crime-makeup YouTuber documenting every detail for her subscribers; and Sindhi and Roshi, a long-married couple who can’t stop bickering. Then there’s the brooding bus driver, Taj, who Gigi finds infuriating yet also incredibly alluring . . .

With heart and charm, warmth and humor, Chantel Guertin explores the meaning of love and family—and how, sometimes, the journey to yourself is where you’ll find everything you’ve been searching for.

I loved this book. I am an AVID audio book listener. So to listen to a book about a woman who loves audio books and appreciates them as much as I do.... PERFECTION! honestly. so good! I don't think i've fallen in love with one. but I have looked up a male narrator and been shocked when my mental vision of their voice doesn't match their actual person.

3.5 stars

“𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜.”

Gigi’s a hopeless romantic who runs a romance-only bookstore her parents used to own. For her birthday her bookclub pitches in to send her on a trip to London to go on a bus tour that’s guided by Zane, a guy or rather, a voice she’s been obsessed with for a while. He narrates one of her favorite books, and has fallen in love with him through countless repeated listens. Gigi believes they’re soulmates. There’s also a tie in to her parents’ meet-cute. When she gets to London, Zane’s not there, so she endures the bus tour without him until he arrives. She befriends the bus driver, Taj who manages to ruffle her feathers and challenge her.

While the narrator’s good, I think they mark was missed on following through on the premise. Gigi fell in love and built this fantasy in her head based on Zane’s voice. Had the parts of the audiobook voiced by Zane been voiced by a male actor, I would’ve felt the full impact of Gigi‘s fascination with him, and also felt her devastation to full effect when she learns that he won’t be the tour guide. It also would’ve nicely contrasted the fantasy with the reality.

As for the story, I was troubled by so much of it. Gigi’s obsession and the fantasy that she clings to almost borders on stalkerish. Taj is a dose of reality that she isn’t ready for. I liked him, but I hated the elitism she’d hide behind when she knows she‘s catching feelings for him. There’s also so much tension on the bus between some of the characters. I could feel it, and the narrator excelled at expressing that. When Gigi gets over herself is when I feel the story flips for the better. I cared about her facing the trauma of losing her parents, and her attaining her HEA.

I liked the story and the narration in parts, and ultimately I think reading it and listening to it are two different experiences.

Thanks to @netgalley & @recordedbooks for my ALC. This is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for this ARC.


This story shows us how Gigi is very set in her ways and beyond independent. She takes a surprise trip with a plan but things rarely go according to plan though. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun romance who doesn't mind a book getting a little deep along the way.

Audiobook through Netgalley, 1st person POV Gigi. She's a BIG fan of audiobooks too- but, she's obsessed by a male narrator named Zane. Gigi is gifted a trip to the UK and a tour around the countryside.
The humor is very tongue in cheek, with quite a few inside jokes.
Very light steam.
Gigi and the other people on the tour have great interactions.
I loved this narrator Natalie Naudus. She's one of my new recent favorites. Her voice reminds me a little bit like Julia Whelan. There's no male narrator. I wish that there was, but it might work better for the twists. I would put this more Women's fiction. I love the road trip trope.
I would like to read more from this author. Very well written. Gigi is very likable.