Narrated by Pete Cross

Every so often, you come across a story that feels as though it shouldn’t really work – and yet it somehow just does. Maybe the premise requires too great a stretch or simply doesn’t make sense, or maybe there’s something that gets a big side-eye – but the overall story is so good, the characters so charming that you can just go with it and enjoy the ride. Kris Ripper’s Settle the Score is one such book. The narration is excellent and the antagonists-to-lovers/snowed-in romance is so cute that I didn’t really think too much about the holes in the storyline until I’d finished it and came to write this review!

Our protagonist is Des Cleary, a twenty-something former journalist who’s doing entry level/grunt work at a PR/Corporate Branding firm. His immediate boss is the only other queer person working there, and it’s she who tasks him with recruiting retired soccer player Orion Broderick to be the face of a new campaign designed to encourage LGBTQ+ kids to become involved in sports. It’s a great opportunity – or it would be, if Des hadn’t been the reason Orion is retired in the first place. Back in college, he’d written an article about the challenges faced by queer sportspersons that intentionally outed Orion and included a photograph of Orion kissing his then-boyfriend that was taken and published without consent. Des regretted it immediately after it was published but the damage was done; Orion lost both boyfriend and career and he disappeared from the public eye. Disgusted and horrified at his hubris and stupidity, and full of remorse for what he’d done, Des firmly shut the door on the idea of a journalistic career and hasn’t written anything since.

(Side-eyes #1&2 – 1. why would Des’s boss think sending the guy who’d tanked Orion’s career with the job offer was a good idea? 2. the reasons given later make no sense.)

Des isn’t thrilled at the idea of making a job offer to the man whose life he’d ruined, but his arm is twisted and he sets off, with only the vaguest idea of where Orion lives now, on the six hour drive from LA to the small town of Baker’s Mine. The townsfolk are very cagey when asked for directions to Cold Snap Cabin, but Des finally locates it, cautiously driving along the approach road in the deteriorating weather conditions. He finally pulls up outside the cabin as Orion steps onto the porch and offers him a friendly wave; Orion invites him inside and a cheerful – even flirty – conversation ensues until the point at which Des decides it’s time to do the job he’s there to do, tells him about the campaign and hands over a folder containing the details – which also has his name on it. Orion’s manner changes instantly and he (unsurprisingly) orders Des to get out. It’s only as he’s stumbling to his car that Des admits to himself that he’d hoped to explain, perhaps even to obtain forgiveness. But then he realises he’s got a bigger problem. The wind has picked up and the sleet has turned to snow – and as he tries to reverse and turn the car around, the wheels start spinning and he ends up slipping and sliding along the lane – and crashing into Orion’s garage door. It’s snowing really hard now; they try, but can’t move the car, and the phones are down so there’s no way of calling for help. They’re stuck with each other for the duration.

The early part of the story is as awkward and uncomfortable as you’d expect, with Des and Orion trying to avoid each other (not easy when they’re holed up in a one-bedroom cabin) and the elephant in the room that is their shared past. But the antagonism begins to fade over the next couple of days and a mutual attraction starts to blossom as Des and Orion let their guards down around one another. It’s true that they go from that initial antipathy to liking and possibly more than liking each other quite quickly but it works; Des and Orion are flawed, yet likeable, and the author does a really good job of balancing the deeper emotions of the story with humour and snappy dialogue. I particularly liked that ze shows that while Orion is attracted to Des, attraction is a separate thing from being ready to forgive him for upending his life. Orion can see that Des is a good person who did a shitty thing, but he’s not out to absolve Des for what he did or make it easy for him, even though he’s honest enough with himself to admit that the closeted life he felt he had to lead had made him miserable. Meeting Des also gives Orion the chance to see that what happened hasn’t worked for Des either, to understand the complexities that lay behind his decision to publish the article and that he’s living with the fallout too, albeit in a different way.

Of course, being snowbound can’t last forever, and with the thaw comes unwanted attention that damages the threads of affection and trust that have started to build between the pair  and which are, understandably, still a bit fragile on Orion’s part. The third-act break-up is not for nothing and makes sense – but it still hurts.

Given everything that still lies between these two, it’s probably necessary for them to spend some time apart working out things for themselves and deciding what they want to do with their lives. The thing is, this takes way too long – almost the entire final 40% of the story – and the book changes from romance to ‘Des Gets His Life Together’. He needed to do it and I liked him a lot, but I confess to getting a teeny bit bored. Not having Orion’s perspective means we have no sense of his emotional arc, and while I was pleased that he was finally able to take back control of his life, we never see him actually doing any of it, which was a bit disappointing.

(Side-eye #3. The article. No spoilers, but given the premise of this story, what happens here is really dumb.)

But despite the wobbly premise and the side-eyeing, Settle the Score worked pretty well for me in large part due to Des – who is smart, funny, likeable, and hapless in a city-slicker-in-the-wilderness kind of way. Being in his head is entertaining – he’s a mess of guilt and insecurities – and even though he genuinely wants to apologise, he knows he’s not entitled to forgiveness and that whatever happens, he needs to follow Orion’s lead. Another large part of my enjoyment was down to Pete Cross’s fantastic narration. He captures Des’s chatty, fast-talking and snarky personality really well and expertly contrasts it with Orion’s deeper tones and slightly more considered way of speaking. His performance is well-paced and he does a great job with the quieter, more introspective moments in the story as well as bringing out the humour and conveying a genuine warmth and real sense of connection between the leads. The secondary cast isn’t large, but the female characters are convincingly voiced and the differentiation is clear, so there’s never any problem working out who is speaking.

I understand why the overall premise of Settle the Score may be off-putting for some – forced outing is never something to be taken lightly – but the book worked for me. The forced proximity romance is delightful, Des has a terrific narrative voice and the underlying themes of forgiveness and acceptance, of understanding that it’s possible for good people to do bad things, are all really well done. I enjoyed the listen despite my reservations.

Breakdown of Grade:  Narration – A; Story – B+

Running time: 8 hrs 51 minutes