Narrated by Savannah Peachwood and Brian
Pallino

Avery Flynn’s Tomboy is an engaging romantic comedy with a few darker edges that charts the development of the romance between a no-nonsense ER nurse and a seriously grumpy hockey player. It’s predictable fare, but I enjoyed the story and the characters, and also really appreciated the author’s insight into the harmful bitchery encouraged by the anonymity of social media.

Fallon Hartigan knows she’s going to regret
agreeing to help out her friend Lucy when the latter asks her for a huge
favour. Lucy’s biggest client, Zach Blackwood – defenceman for the Ice Knights
hockey team and a PR nightmare – is sick and Lucy is out of town with her
boyfriend, Fallon’s brother (whom Fallon knows plans to propose that weekend),
so she all but begs Fallon to look in on Zach and make sure he’s okay. Fresh
off a long shift in the ER, all Fallon wants to do is go home and sleep, but no
way is she going to ruin her brother’s plans and besides, Lucy is a good friend
whom Fallon knows would do anything for her – so she agrees.

Zach has more than earned his reputation as
the “Most Hated Man in Harbor City”. He can’t seem get his game back on track
and because of that, the Ice Knights are on a serious losing streak; and in
addition he’s bad-tempered, rude and stand-offish, has never made the attempt
to befriend his team-mates and certainly never makes an effort to be nice to
fans. Fallon, a die-hard hockey fan, is just as pissed off about Zach’s poor
performance on the ice as everyone else in town, but on seeing how ill he
really is, can’t help but go into “nurse mode” – even though she still thinks
he’s an irritating, selfish jerk.

Once she’s sure Zach is on the mend, Fallon
leaves his house, but not before she’s snapped by a photographer on the way to
her car; and when Zach suddenly returns to form on the ice, rumours start to
fly about their relationship, and Fallon is dubbed “Lady Luck” by the media. When
the Ice Knights loses the next game – at which Fallon is not present – Zach is
persuaded to ask her to attend the next one, and while she thinks that whole
“Lady Luck” thing is a load of baloney, she agrees to go if Zach will make a
personal appearance at an upcoming benefit to raise money for the neighbourhood
health clinic at which she volunteers. Zach never makes personal appearances,
but if it’s the only way Fallon will turn up at the games… he agrees. And to
his surprise, actually finds himself enjoying the day – and the company of the
tall, red-haired, unflappable, witty and passionate young woman who is rapidly
getting under his skin. And Fallon finds herself warming to Zach, recognising
in him something of a kindred spirit in the way he uses his automatic
defensiveness and layers of attitude to conceal the hurt and insecurities he
doesn’t want anyone else to see.

Both characters are well-rounded and
sympathetic. Fallon comes from a large, boisterous, loving family, who all
support and accept each other for what and who they are, but even so, she has
self-doubts that nag at her, and those are only amplified once the media
chatter starts about her and Zach. She’s seen the sorts of curvaceous, perfectly
made-up puck-bunnies he’s been with before and finds it hard to believe he
could genuinely be interested in a woman like her – tall, lean, small-breasted
, make-up eschewing and, according to some of the social media trolls,
completely unfeminine. Most of the time she has no fucks to give about what
anyone thinks or says about her; she’s confident in herself and knows who she
is… but it’s hard to see and hear stuff like that on a daily basis and remain
unaffected.

Zach has deep seated insecurities of his
own that are eating away at him and his ability to live his life. Since his
former managers – who were his parents
– screwed him over, he’s retreated from everyone and everything except his job.
He doesn’t trust anyone and doesn’t have any friends; he doesn’t want anyone to
find out what happened and doesn’t want to be seen as just another dumb jock
who trusted the wrong people. That those “wrong people” were his parents, the
people who should have had his back, just makes the situation – and his embarrassment
over it – even worse.

The author strikes a good balance between
the fun, flirty romance and the darker themes that lend depth to the story. The
fictional social media posts she invents are, sadly, the sort of thing that are
only too familiar in the real world, and Zach’s experiences, while not typical,
are not unheard of either. The romance that develops between the big-hearted,
take-no-prisoners Fallon and the grumpy-but-loveable Zach, is really well done
and their chemistry just sizzles. I tend to be a hero-centric reader and listener,
but I liked Fallon a whole lot; she’s spunky without being annoying, snarky
without being rude and tough/vulnerable in a way that’s incredibly easy to
relate to.

Savannah Peachwood and Brian Pallino are
both new-to-me narrators, although they’ve recorded extensively in the romance
genre. As a team, they worked really well together and I’m happy to be able to
say that I enjoyed listening to them equally. I’m really picky when it comes to
female narrators; I don’t like voices that are too girlish (which is why
performers like Andi Arndt and Carly Robins work well for me – they’re able to
portray young women without making them sound like airheads) and fortunately,
Ms. Peachwood’s voice falls into just the right register; Fallon sounds
suitably youthful (she’s late twenties) but not too young. She does a great job conveying Fallon’s toughness and
vulnerability, and brings the snark really well. Brian Pallino is equally good;
his performance is perfectly paced and effectively differentiated throughout,
and most importantly, he’s pitch perfect as Zach, whether it’s Grumpy Arsehole
Zach or Grouchy-but-Loveable Zach, Flirty Zach or Intensely Vulnerable Zach; it
all comes through. His female voices are really good; not over the top or
falsetto, just a slightly raised pitch and softened timbre, and both narrators
respond really well to the emotional cues in the story.

Engaging characters, a strong storyline, snarky
humour and excellent narration make Tomboy
a good bet if you’re looking for a low-drama, fun and sexy romance to listen to
this summer.