The Househusband's Guide to Domestic Bliss

Bountiful Beaus, Book 1

By: Lance Lansdale

Narrated by: Nate Raven

At Ms. Broussard's Home for Bountiful Beaus, even the unlovable can find a love story for the ages. The custom-made automatons she offers are fully trained in the art of keeping their homes tidy and their future husbands happy.

Arthur Price is not looking for love. The lonely librarian clings to his work and routine to keep himself functioning. When his brother, Jared, arrives in the middle of the night with an i-Series automaton meant to lift his spirits, Arthur realizes his routine life is about to be upended. Cheerful to a fault, Periwinkle is not someone Arthur would normally choose to befriend, much less enter into a romantic entanglement with, but he somehow programs himself perfectly into his life.

Miraculously, Arthur finds himself growing almost fond of the robot. Periwinkle may not possess much experience other than cleaning, but he can’t help noticing the loneliness in his librarian’s eyes. If it means giving Arthur Price a fresh start, Periwinkle is more than happy to stitch together all the pieces of Arthur’s broken heart. Whether Arthur likes it or not, Periwinkle's mechanical heart beats only for him.

The Househusband's Guide to Domestic Bliss is a cozy, dual POV, slow-burn romance about a lonely librarian and his made-to-order boyfriend.

©2024, 2025 Lance L Lansdale (P)2026 Lance Lansdale

Pure Delight!

I read this book a year ago and was so excited it was coming to audio. Arthur and Periwinkle’s love story is so genuinely sweet and their connection to each other just the best. As always Lance’s aide characters will leaving you smiling!

This is the first time hearing Nate as a narrator and I genuinely appreciate his ability to make each character sound unique and exactly what I perceived while reading. His female characters didn’t sound ridiculous like most me trying to do woman and I appreciated so much how voiced Periwinkle! Literally exactly how I heard him!

So sweet and heartwarming.

I was given an ALC in exchange for my fair review. This is my second time readings, I had previously read this book on kindle and loved the story. I think I have fallen even deeper in love with it after this listen.

I love the found family in this book very much. It makes me think of my own found family and gets me so weepy.

Arthur is kinda a grump in the beginning but he so quickly warms up to Periwinkle and I love how smitten he is. They are so adorable together like instantly giving married couple vibes. They are kind caring and having open communication between them.

I hate mother, oh I am so ready for her to get hers haha. But really appreciated the journey Peri goes through in his relationship with her. He idolized her in the beginning but by the end of the book he sees how she is complicit in the abuse and mistreatment of him and his brothers and lets her know just how he feels about that.

I loved this story and these characters so much and this was a perfect sweet cozy good time read !

Simply Adorable

This love story is unique and so sweet. Periwinkle is an absolute delight. I love this book even more on audio. The narrator brought the story to life.

So Dang Cute!!

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this story, but wow, I fell in love with Periwinkle and Arthur. This was the sweetest slowburn! The narrator did a phenomenal job with all the voices, I could listen to him all day.

It's good

For the most part this is a light, low angst and sweet book. There are some hard topics and scenes, so it isn’t entirely light and fluffy. Also, there are some people who need to see some consequences and don’t in this book but there is another book after this one so maybe...?

I did like this book, I found it a good read, but there were a few things that felt a bit off with pacing and unresolved issues.

I did listen to the audiobook as well as read the eBook and the audiobook is good. Nate Raven is a new-to-me narrator and performed this book well. The voices used were distinct and interesting. I only left like the speed was a bit slow so I did end up increasing the playback speed.

I received a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.