🎧 Audiobook Review: Code for Love by Anne Marsh
⭐️⭐️⭐️ // 3 stars

This one was a solid listen—smooth narration and an easy plot to follow—but nothing really stood out or stuck with me after it ended. A good pick if you’re looking for a quick romance without too much drama or depth. I want to be clear that I am meaning this as a positive thing.
Have you read this one? What did you think?👇
#BookReview #AudiobookLove

Pandora trying to fit in with a bunch of younger coworkers and getting annoyed that they didn’t have the same work ethic annoyed me. Plus her blaming Ozzy for landing her in that position also made me not like her. This was a miss for me

Thank you Netgalley for the free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 ⭐️'s rounded up to 3⭐️

First off, the narrator did a very good job. There were a few words that were mispronounced, but she put as much heart into the story as she could.

I really liked the premise of this book, and some aspects were good, but it lacked character depth, consistency, and had too much redundancy. It also could have worked out some of these issues with good editing.

This is the story of Pandora who is a coder or software engineer who works all the time, including helping her coworkers, but is somehow completely overlooked by everyone else. Her boss fires her with the wrong name. She meets Ozzy, who models for her company, and they make out but then part ways for quite a while. Then Ozzy climbs the walls onto her balcony.

The transitions are far-fetched and need work. I really wanted to like it, and I do see potential in it.

2.5 stars rounded up!

Ugh, I hate to do this because the cover is so cute and the premise of the book enticing, but the good lord knows I struggled to finish this one. I mean the first chapter was so random and weird.

Overall, this is a quick summer read. Pandora is a software app developer and Ozzy is the cool, handsome, surfer. They are partnered together to travel to test a singles buddy app. I am still not quite sure why Pandora disliked Ozzy so much, he gives all the Golden Retriever vibes.
I think the biggest issue for me is that I could not connect with the book narrator. Most of the time it made it seem like Pandora’s grumpiness came off as whiny and insecure. The plot being all over the place was another issue for me, the chapters did not feel cohesive. The road to the road trip was a long one as well.

The plot idea was great, the execution missed the mark.

Thank you to the publisher for my gifted alc. Opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book… but I didn’t. Pandora was a great character! Ozzy was kind of one dimensional. We got a bit more on him towards the very end but it was hard to get invested.
I felt like there were good plot points, but they weren’t strung together well and we didn’t get enough of Pandora’s thoughts as they happened.
Her space game was really fun though!

The audiobook narration was excellent and sassy.

I really wanted to like these two, but I never connected to them. Their first meet cute was good but everything after was just not it for me unfortunately.

I listened at 1.75 and that was a reasonable pace. I always prefer a male voice actor for male dialogue.

Well, I really liked this book! There were a few blips, but overall, I had a good time. I thought the characters were adorable. it was somewhat of a slow start, but once it got going, it was so good! 4 stars

Many thanks to Net Galley and Harlequin Audio for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is giving me the biggest ick ever. It may get better but I have zero interest in finding out. I have to DNF this at 35%

Here are my rough notes as to why I am not feeling this book at all. Of course this is just me and your results may vary.
4% they randomly kiss after meeting
5% he doesn’t even know her name?
12% he doesn’t remember her
14% no boundaries, insistent on re-introducing himself, he shows her his drivers license and the super friendly neighbor attitude is annoying
17% he tells her it’s her turn to apologize
18% he says “you don’t want to kiss and make up?”
20% FMC says how annoying he is and I completely agree
22% she internally states his banana is “supersized”
22% he says- “You look like a little brown bear, I’m going to call you Panda”
26% they share their cell phone locations with each other despite only being annoying neighbors with one another? No.
28% their pranks are childish
32% he talks his way into her apartment
33% he’s playing with her hair despite them not being in any kind of relationship
FMC states (internally) “I really need to get on that AI conversation app
34% they kiss again with no chemistry (imo)

Just not the storyline for me. I could not get into the characters or the story. Too much 🍆 talk for me.

I really wanted to love The Code for Love - the premise had potential, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. The characters felt flat, and I struggled to connect with them. The main male character especially came off as immature, which made it hard to stay invested in the romance. While the story had its moments, overall it just didn’t click. I know every reader experiences books differently, so if the blurb interests you, it may still be worth checking out!