Sweet Talk by Cara Bastone
Series: Love Lines #2
Also in this series: Call Me Maybe
Narrator: Lidia Dornet, Chris Brinkley
Published by Audible Originals on April 22, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Length: 5 hours 42 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible
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It’s officially booty o’clock, I’m alone again in my kitchen choking down a slice of terrible chocolate cake…and I’m pretty sure I just got drunk texted by the man I have a ginormous crush on.

I’ve been daydreaming about Eliot Hoffman’s dimples for two months, and even though I’m sure this was a mistake on his end, it doesn’t mean it’s not an opportunity on mine. It’s the middle of the night, and I just wanna talk to him. So I text him back.

And then somehow we keep talking…ALL NIGHT. We’re both insomniacs, so talking all night soon turns into talking EVERY night.

And talking about nothing soon turns into talking about something.

And here we go from in-depth analysis of reality TV to my relationship with my family to his amazing artwork. There’s no topic we don’t cover…

Except for who I really am. It’s the only question of his I won’t answer.

As my crush turns into an avalanche of Eliot, I think of him all the time now. But if he knew who I was, the entire house of cards we’ve built this relationship on would come toppling down. I want him to be mine, but we might never be more than just a sweet dream….

I absolutely adored Call Me Maybe, so I was extremely excited when I saw that a second book was out! I didn’t even know this was going to be a series! I immediately dropped what I was reading and started listening to Sweet Talk. Spoiler alert: I loved it!

This book is about Eliot and a mystery woman that he accidentally voice texts late one night. The pair met once upon a time for some reason, exchanged numbers for some reason, and that was that. Eliot has no idea who she is. He entered her name into his phone as a jumble of letters that he can’t decipher, and she enjoys talking to her crush anonymously so much that she refuses to tell him who she is. This accidental text leads to a very sweet, flirty friendship that eventually turns into a deeper connection. She calls him by his last name, Hoffman, so he decides to call her by the last two letters of the name he entered for her, J.D. Their voice texting quickly transitions into nightly phone calls during insomnia hour. They watch TV together and help each other fall asleep. It’s pretty adorable. Eliot is falling for her and so badly wants to know who she is (so do readers!) but she feels like he would be disappointed if he knew her identity, so she never plans to reveal herself. This is such a unique premise, right? I loved the mystery and the cuteness of it all.

Eliot is very, very good. You’ll remember him as Vera’s brother if you listened to Call Me Maybe. He’s so sweet and caring and adorable. He promises J.D. that he will not to not try and find out who she is… and then he doesn’t try to find out who she is. They decide to go to the same club one night and not see each other, but just dance and have fun talking on the phone. J.D. arrives first and watches him show up. When he does, he won’t look around. His eyes are on the ground, and that just melted me. He’s so trustworthy, not wanting to push her or make her feel uncomfortable. That’s a constant trend throughout the whole book. He wants to be there for her and know her, but he cares even more that she’s ok. He’s a graphic designer, who secretly writes the most popular webcomic ever and I just loved his slightly nerdy personality. His insomnia is caused by past trauma, and I felt like the author handled it with sensitivity and compassion. Eliot is just great, and the narrator who voiced him was perfect. Chris Brinkley has a very soft, sweet voice and speaks with a sensitive and caring tone. He brings Eliot to life, and without him I don’t know that I would have loved Eliot as much.

J.D. is great, too! She wears combat boots and goes to a boxing gym, and is so tough and strong. At the same time, she’s a soft daddy’s girl and has a tender and caring side. Eliot has his struggles and she does, too. She’s grappling with the fact that her dad is terminally ill with cancer and in an assisted living facility. She uproots her own life to move into his apartment and take over his job because he loved it so much. Her mom left them, and her brother is constantly in and out of trouble, so the two of them have clung to one another for love and support. They talk on the phone all the time, and he’s just the best dad ever. She’s also dealing with some insecurities about whether or not she is Eliot’s type and is scared to ever let him find out who she is for multiple reasons, and I found her to be very relatable. Lidia Dornet did such a great job playing J.D. She has that tough voice with a little New York swag to it, and it embodies J.D.’s character perfectly.

I loved the chemistry between Eliot and J.D. Their banter had me grinning from ear to ear. I love that they bond on the phone and allow the connection to grow without the distraction that a physical relationship can sometimes create. They talk about deep, important things and connect quickly. Cara Bastone did a great job balancing the deeper, sadder topics with humor and lightness. I never felt depressed, even though I easily could have. She also did a great job keeping J.D.’s identity a secret from her readers (or at least this reader). I had no idea who she was until just moments before the reveal. It was so much fun to try and figure out the mystery.

There are maaaaaajor spoilers for Call Me Maybe in Sweet Talk, so if you have any interest in listening to the first book you absolutely must before you listen to this one. This story happens at the same time as Call Me Maybe, and this book spoils the ending of that one. I found it really fun to get a bit of a third perspective on Vera’s love story through Eliot’s point of view and enjoyed reliving her story for a little while. As with Call Me Maybe, I loved all the sound effects. You can hear computer keys clicking, New York buzzing by when the characters are outside, water running when they brush their teeth, etc. It felt like I was listening to a movie. Audible is doing such great things with their Originals line! I am enjoying so many of them.

All in all, Sweet Talk was adorable. I’m becoming more and more convinced that I need to read Cara Bastone’s Forever Yours series. I’ve been a little scared of this series because the synopses sound like they tackle heavier issues than the romances I typically grab for, but Sweet Talk did too and I loved it. Maybe she will balance those heavier issues out with the kind of humor she has written into this audiobook series. If so, I know I’ll love it. She writes such amazing romantic relationships and characters, and I’m excited to read more of them from her!