The Grump

The Leblanc Brothers

By: Layla Hagen

Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor, Teddy Hamilton

I love my job. So, when a grumpy grouch wants to shut us down, I’m ready for the fight of my life. I was heading for serious career burnout until my dream job came true. Making pralines for a living has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. So, it comes as quite a shock when I find out that the owner wants to shut down the LeBlanc-Broussard confectionery because it’s not profitable. My hope is that I can win him over. Once he realizes how integral the confectionery is to the city, to the very makeup of New Orleans he’s bound to agree, right?

Wrong.

Xander LeBlanc is a grump, and it’s questionable whether he has a heart at all! Though I’m ashamed to admit I was blindsided by how hot he is — definitely a 10+. Unfortunately, his personality is a zero. All he’s concerned about are profits and not the charitable work the business is known for.

But suddenly, Xander begins to show up at various events we sponsor. When he arrives at the children’s hospital where I hand out treats during the holiday season, I see an entirely new side to him when he starts playing The Grinch for the kids! When he takes me home later that evening things between us escalate. He confesses that he's been attracted to me from day one and let’s just say, the man has hot skills in bed.

But the inevitable closing of the confectionary still weighs heavy on my mind and I don’t know if I can separate the two. Can I love a man who wants to take away the only joy I have in life? But the bigger question is…

Can I melt the ice around his heart and find my way inside it for longer than a few nights?

©2024 Layla Hagen (P)2024 Layla Hagen

Great story

I loved listening to this audiobook with Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor narrating Zander and Bailey’s story. These two were wonderful as always.

Love the narrators!

Cute story with a hea. I will listen to anything with teddy hamilton and again he did not disappoint. Samantha Brentmor is now another one of my favorites I’m looking for more she has done.

Loved it

Having read the previous books in the latest series from Layla Hagen I could not wait to read Xander LeBlanc and Bailey’s story.

A well written, entertaining story that ticked all the boxes for me set in New Orleans.

This was a fabulous read that had me swooning and laughing and left me with a smile on my face.

There was so much more to grumpy Xander and I loved that Bailey was the one to peel his layers back.

Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor did a fabulous job with their narration. Bringing the story and character to life that Ms. Hagen created. Their voices are easy to listen to and they brought romance, passion and humour to their performances.

Another wonderful story

This is a wonderful story in this series about a grinch getting his heart. I like this series set in New Orleans. The family is close and take care of each other. I especially liked the grandmothers and their matchmaking. The narrators were perfect.

A repeat listen worthy holiday romance!

What did I like about this book? Tagged as original / easy-to-read (listen to) / page turner / romantic / steamy / wonderful characters / witty / entertaining / happily ever after

I've already read / listened to this charming end of the year holiday season contemporary romance 3 times in less than a week in the audiobook format. The premise is so well executed overall.

The 2 main questions that have to be answered are:

1. Once grumpy Xander, the current CFO of the family run LeBlanc-Broussard conglomerate, realizes how integral the non-profit confectionery is to the city, to the very makeup of New Orleans, he’s bound to agree to keep it open, right?

2. Can Bailey melt the ice around his Grinch-like heart and find her way inside it for longer than a few nights?

Of course, the answer to both questions is an emphatic YES. I really enjoyed discovering how the YES was achieved. Bailey and Xander are holiday opposites who come to discover they’re attracted to each other as they spend time together solo and also with Xander’s family members. Xander’s ten-year old niece Bella was a scene stealer and really added to the family feel good nature of this novel.

Ratings breakdown
Overall - 4.5 stars!
Story - 5 stars!
Combined Performance - 4.25 stars!

Samantha Brentmoor's performance - 3.5 stars!
I'm dinging her significantly because I didn't care much for her pseudo deep male voice acting style. Changing the pitch so dramatically can be very hit or miss, and her male voices were a miss for my ears because they sounded too slow-paced and exaggerated. I couldn't forget that she was a female pretending to sound like a man, so that kept momentarily pulling me out of the story. However, she was great at giving the female characters distinct vocal personalities, and she'd be great in duet style audiobook performances because her acting overall is very strong.

Teddy Hamilton's performance - 5 stars!
He's one of my top favorite narrators. He made great choices for all of the characters, and I especially loved his Bella and Xander dialogue moments. Chapters 12 (Xander's beignet date night with Bella), chapter 23 (Xander playing the Grinch and then Nutcracker), and chapter 24 (Xander and Bailey babysitting Bella) were 3 of my top favorite chapters where Teddy's vocal acting really shined.

Final verdict: I'm a self-professed Scrooge, and I thoroughly enjoyed this holiday romance. I highly recommend it to readers looking for a feel good romance featuring wonderful characters and a very believable opposites attract and fall in love quickly between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays storyline.