There are those that work incredibly well in either format and Garret Leigh seems to consistently achieve this with her stories.

I read Micah's story back in April of this year when it was first released and I knew back then that if there was an audio release that I wouldn't hesitate to revisit it in audio format. 

"Falling For My Roommate" is a story of starting over, second chances, finding love, comfort and healing.

Of course it goes without saying that I've already reviewed this story and I admit I'm not above borrowing from that review in my efforts to once again explain why and how much I've enjoyed this audio book. 

As I said in my original review "Falling For My Roommate" may not be my favorite Garrett Leigh book but given that I happily gave it 4 stars, I'd hardly call it anything less than enjoyable.

Micah's story is one that we've all seen to one degree or another in today's headlines...a well known athlete who looses his focus on his sport to the glitter and gloss of fame and all that it brings...sex, drugs, booze, parties, faceless and meaningless sex all combining in career ending tragedy. 

Ready to restart his life as just another regular guy Micah finds himself sharing an apartment with Sam...a well packaged, gay, book-nerdish, bartending, English Lit student who doesn't see Micah the sports star. He sees Micah the man and he falls and falls hard. But Sam also recognizes that Micah's still fragile so he's determined to be the friend that Micah needs. While Micah sees himself as unworthy of someone as wonderful as Sam and is determined to keep his feelings to himself and just be Sam's roommate and hopefully a good friend.

Dan Calley was the narrator for this story and while he's not entirely a new to me narrator. I've also listened to 3 previous books of Ms Leigh's that he's narrated and I've found everyone of them to be well done and extremely enjoyable. Mr. Calley gives these characters depth and personality adding yet another layer to an already rich and evocative story.

"Falling For My Roommate" was neither a sweet nor fluffy story but it was a story with the best kind of HEA...one that could happen. Micah had to slay his own dragons and for as much as I appreciated Sam it wasn't because he was someone's white knight charging to the rescue. It was because he was strong enough to be there for someone he cared about, not just the man he loved but the man he considered to be his friend and he knew that he couldn't be Micah's salvation but rather a loving and supportive friend. 

For me this story felt real...it's out there and one has only to look for it and some have already lived it.

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An audiobook of "Falling For My Roommate" was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A few months ago I stumbled across a word for what turns out to be one of my favorite anime genres, although I didn't realize it had a name: iyashikei. It's a term for anime and manga specifically created to have a "healing" or soothing effect, and often crosses over with another favorite of mine, "slice of life." I came across this series after learning about that word - I'm watching it on Blu-ray, but it's also streaming for free on Crunchyroll.

(Content warning for the series:

My Roommate is a Cat stars Subaru, a 23-year old introverted mystery writer who's dealing with both grief over his parents' death and social anxiety. Being around people and noise exhausts him, and all he wants to do is read books and be alone. However, he's also terrible at taking care of himself - he doesn't properly stock his kitchen, he forgets to eat when he's on a deadline, and his social anxiety is so great that even talking to store employees is hard for him.

While visiting his parents' grave, he encounters a stray cat, is struck with an idea for his next novel, and ends up taking the cat in, the first living being he has purposely allowed into his life since his parents' death. Each episode is generally structured to first show viewers Subaru's POV and then all or most of the same events from the cat's POV. There's often a mismatch between how they interpret events, but they gradually come to understand each other and form a little family, which also leads to Subaru allowing more people into his life.

I have about three episodes left, and I'll be sad when it's over. It's a sweet series with occasional sad moments - I recommend keeping tissues on hand for the flashback scenes. Haru, the cat, views Subaru like one of her siblings, someone who needs to be taken care of and watched over, but she also occasionally gets a little irked by him. And I can definitely relate to Subaru's introversion. Although he often finds that his interactions with others go better than he expected and open up his world in enjoyable ways, it still exhausts him all the same. The episode where his friend brought his younger siblings over was pretty much how things went when my sister brought all the kids to my apartment a few years back.

When it comes to writing stories about people that have been battered and left broken by life Garrett Leigh is one of the best.

I loved ‘Kiss Me Again’ it was one of the most endearing books that I’ve read/listened to and reviewed in a very long time and while ‘Falling For My Roommate’ didn’t engender quite the feels that ‘Kiss Me Again’ did from me, it still proved to be a story that was not only worth reading but has me once again looking forward to an audio version.

Micah is an ex-football player whose career and life tanked in a blaze of paparazzi glory and now he’s trying to put himself back together. But it’s not an easy thing to do and having a roommate that’s got him wanting more than the friendship that’s so readily happening between them when he’s sure that he doesn’t even deserve that is making things even harder but damned if he’s going to find somewhere else to live and give up a friendship that he’s come to treasure.

Micah’s story is one that we see all too often in today’s headlines…a well known athlete who looses his focus on his sport to the glitter and gloss of the fame and all that it brings and not of the good variety… drugs, booze, parties, faceless and meaningless sex and all of it ending in career ending tragedy.

Micah’s struggles were heartbreaking and then if you add in the pressure of the public scrutiny that he was forced to endure during some of the most challenging times of his life and it’s not hard to imagine that even the most well adjusted and mentally stable of people would feel overwhelmed by everything.

Sam’s a gay book-nerd that’s nicely packaged in the sexy body of a bartender/English lit student and he’s determined to be the friend that Micah so obviously needs. He’ll just keep the fact that he’s head-over-heels in love with his new roommate his little secret. No matter how much he wants to shake Micah until he sees himself the way that Sam does, because Sam’s not convinced that Micah is the undeserving person that he claims to be.

While this one doesn’t belong to Ms Leigh’s ‘Lucky Series’ it didn’t escape my notice that we got a peek at Dom and yes, I might have squeed a bit about this. It’s just one of those things that’s a perk of the story for me.

‘Falling For My Roommate’ is a story about finding love it’s also a stark and realistic look at what being with someone who deals with a mental health issue means. It’s not a sunshine, lollipops and all things sparkly and bright life. It’s good days and bad days, it’s having faith and hope when it doesn’t seem like you should. It’s about loving that person when even they don’t think they’re loveable and that’s just for the average person…add in the fame and notoriety of being someone who’s famous and things become even more complicated especially in today’s society.

The fact that Garrett Leigh creates stories that share not just in the telling, but in that they allow the reader to connect with things on an emotional level is one of the things that I appreciate the most about her stories.

‘Falling For My Roommate’ isn’t a sweet and fluffy story but it is a story that has what for me is the best kind of HEA…one that could really happen. Micah has to slay his own dragons and for as much as I came to appreciate Sam it wasn’t because he was anyone’s white knight it was because he was someone who was strong enough to be there for the person he cared about…not just the person he loved but someone who he considered to be a friend. But even Sam knew he couldn’t be Micah’s salvation just his support when he needed it. For me this was a story that felt real, it’s out there and one has only to look for it…who knows maybe it’s a story some have already lived.

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An ARC of ‘Falling For My Roommate’ was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Complicated has gotten even more intense. Fox does a bit of role reversal. The hero becomes the one in need of rescuing this time around. How far will love take two wounded hearts in need of some happiness? Always Yours is the ultimate showdown between the shadows of the past and the hope for the future. A haunting tale of just how powerful love can be.

Heart first and head first collide to create complicated. Always Mine pulls emotions into chaotic romance. With a not too distant past that didn't end well and a chance reunion that could lead to ultimate disaster, Fox sets hearts up for a humdinger of a ride. Liam is the boy that walked away. Madelyn is the girl he can't forget. When past regrets lead to a dangerous present, odds are more than their hearts are at stake. From heartbreaker to page turner, Always Mine doesn't hold back when it comes to bringing on the burn.