The story started off slow and the protagonist seemed like he would be a psychopath. Turns out he was a sex addict but a sort of bumbling character wanting to help people at the cable company he works for, in his own pompous way. He is hapless, spends beyond his means, his credit card are maxed out and he has no friends. Through the course of the story he makes friends with people he helps in the office when they realize he genuinely wants to help them in their different situations. He hits on the co-workers sister and the suggest he go to therapy. He agrees and they even take him to therapy and pick him up. He meets other characters at the group therapy session and he continues to act like a blowhard. He ends up endearing his friends to him when they realize he is harmless. His heart is in the right spot, he just goes about doing things differently than normal people would. He inadvertently brings people together, romantically and is happy for them. The book ends abruptly and I realized there is a second book that continues the story. Look forward to reading the second book. Did not like the audiobook narrator.

I picked up this book not knowing anything about it, so the fact that it wasn't a book for me is ultimately probably a fault of myself and not the book. I love stories of great personal growth, and while this book may have included that, I missed that this was the second book in a series and that the main character was lewd towards woman (which is why he's entering therapy for sex addiction) which seriously detracted enjoyment from the book. I didn't especially the narrator, either, although I respect they were trying to portray a difficult character, he was a bit too grating for my taste.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Kevin Mallory appears to be a misogynistic, racist and delusional. However it doesn't take long to realise that he simply has no understanding of the world
Even if I ignore how horrible Mallory is, I have to note that the entire plot is based on an assumption that everyone in an entire company is too stupid to know how employee representation and labor laws work.

Really didn't enjoy and wanted to DNF many many many times. Don't actually know why I didn't. It's ok that Mallory wasn't the most pleasant character, but on top of him being unlikable, there was nothing else likeable about the story or characters.

Narrated by John Hampden ⭐
I hate this narrator. I hated him when he did Mallory's Manly Methods and his narrating has not improved since. Please stop using him.

Story by Thomas Keech ⭐⭐

I liked this one less than the first one. In book 1 Mallory seemed to learn some lessons and became a slightly better person.

In this book there is nothing redeemable about him.

This title was a bit hard to get into, primarily due to the audiobook narrator. The character, Mallory, or Kevin, is a gruff and unlikeable man who works in customer service and is a bit of a jerk overall. As is the usual case, he meets a girl who tries to change him, and the rest follows the escapades of the 'will they, won't they' dynamic.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this one. I received an audio copy of this and for some reason found the narrator's voice was very annoying and grated on me. The story itself is quite simple but unfortunately also gets annoying. The characters are just not relatable or enjoyable for me. It was a hard push to get through it and personally would not recommend this title to my followers.

As someone who has has many different therapy experiences, I found this quite humorous! Very no NONESENSE b and to the point it was very enjoyable. Will recommend to anyone who will listen and can not wait for others to consume!

I was excited to read this book, but as you continue reading it was very immature and not worth the time to read.

I’m sorry to say, but I did not enjoy this, but I can’t put my finger on it but it was just not something that I can continue reading. Unfortunately I will not recommend a book to others.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this one. The main character is not someone most of us would like so that made it hard for me to get invested in the story.

The narrator did a great job though so I did give points for narration.
Thanks to NetGalley for audio arc. This review is 100% my own thought and honest opinion.

Description
Kevin Mallory is a customer assistance representative for a cable company. He keeps his customers on hold, his supervisor on the run, and his female nemesis on ice, but a new friend just might change his perspective.

Lilly has supported herself since high school with just a little help from her only living relative, her alcoholic older brother. She runs a small non-profit housing agency while McFadden, her supervisor and director of the agency, travels around the country on work—and also on play.

Lilly decides, based on Mallory's boorish advances, that he is in need of sex addiction therapy. She wants to help him because he has led her to believe, falsely, that he has saved her brother's job. He goes in the wrong door in the church basement and accidentally joins the Healing Hearts Therapy Group instead.

Zach, Lilly's charming, gregarious, self-satisfied boyfriend, outrages her by sharing their private conversations with all their friends and egging them on to put pressure on her to marry him. She meets Selby, a humble policeman, through Mallory, and is immediately attracted to him. They meet at first at the shooting range, where she impresses him with her maturity and spirit. When she finds out McFadden has been embezzling funds, Zack implores her not to report it. Their love life begins to suffer from their disagreement, as well as from her growing attraction to Selby. She takes Selby's advice and tells her boss she must report him, endangering her own career as well as her relationship with Zach.

In an attempt to save Lilly's job, Mallory reverts to his old habit of impersonating an attorney in order to blackmail McFadden.

Thank you to NetGalley for this audiobook.

While the narrator is great, I could not get over how despicable the main character, Mallory, is (despite how well it’s written). I quit after the second chapter. He is a racist, misogynist, miserable man that I would avoid at all costs.

I will definitely try another book by this author, but not another Mallory story.

The title and premise of this story was intriguing. However, the plot fell flat. Rather than an obstacle it seemed like mini, serial short stories construed together. The first half of the book is told from Mallory's perspective then suddenly shifts to include others who have crossed his path. This structure felt odd and I feel the other perspectives through the book would have created a better flow.

My desire for other characters could also be due to extreme dislike of Mallory. He is over the top controversial and disgusting and flat.I kept listening in hopes the therapy would inspire change and improve his personality.

Based on the summary I expected this book to highlight mental health and encourage therapy. Instead it made almost a parody of it. Typecast members of the group and an uninformed and uninvolved group leader were both unrealistic and discouraging for those who may be considering therapy.

Aside from the ease of listening to this audiobook, I really did not enjoy it. The circumstances were a stretch, the characters unrealistically unlikeable and unintelligent, and the story line had so many plot holes that it was difficult to get past it's shortsightedness.

Overall: 1 stars

I would not recommend to my students.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Real Nice Books for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

This is an audio book that is well written and recorded for the listener. This is not the most comfortable listen/read I have ever had. The main character has a very warped understanding of the world and relationships, is extremely misogynistic, no understanding of how to have a normal relationship with anyone and totally self-centred. And he is also the ultimate waster, fibber and fake truth teller. Into his life come a number of people, and he is encouraged to take sex-ed therapy. Maybe even he can be change for the better; maybe. Thank you to Real Nice Books publisher and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

couldn’t finish this as i just found mallory unbearable! of course, i get that the novel doesn’t condone his misogyny, racism and all-around questionable behaviour, but i still found it intolerable to listen to if i‘m honest. really not my cup of tea unfortunately!

I DNF’d this book at 13%. It felt too gross to keep reading. I love horror novels where you get to experience this murderer’s thoughts and stream of conscious, but for some reason this one was just too gross for me. Between all the racist and sexist thoughts and actions, it just felt too slimy to keep reading.

Having requested this from Netgalley I then read the only review with horror. When I started listening, my dismay got worse. But that didn't last long. In fact I'm sorry to say that I wish I'd read the first book in the series first then this one would have made a lot more sense.

Kevin Mallory appears to be a misogynistic, racist, delusional nutcase. However it doesn't take long to realise that he simply has no understanding of the world. His father, who ignored him, has died and his mother, who he no longer speaks to, had an extremely skewed view of relationships. Mallory is overweight, has a dead end job and seems to believe ever conspiracy theory website is telling the truth. However he sees himself as a lady killer, successful, powerful and supremely intelligent.

This book (once you get over the shock of Mallory's crazy ideas - which, I hasten to add are not that much different to those spouted by a recent US President) is funny, sad, very well written and, perhaps, a cautionary tale.

Mallory does seem to improve, thanks to his friends, over the course of the book but there's still some exceptionally cringeworthy parts that have you rolling your eyes even in the last few chapters. The narration by John Hampden is excellent. I'd certainly like to read the previous book since the references to it in this book hint at even more insane occurrences in Mallory's life. I'd definitely read more.

I guess I am supposed to feel something for Mallory other than disgust. Hate? He’s horrible. Then I find this is not the first book with this guy as the main character. This is him after some growth. I cannot read enough books for this guy to just not be gross. I don’t need to hear the inner thoughts of a racist, misogynistic man. They aren’t as mysterious as they think. Was I supposed to find it funny? Even if I ignore how horrible Mallory is, I have to note that the entire plot is based on an assumption that everyone in an entire company is too stupid to know how employee representation and labor laws work. I just can’t.

this is one book I probably should not have gone in blind 🥴 lots of TW. still not sure how or what I feel about this one. will take a bit to digest.