Fish Stick Fridays is the first book in the Half Moon Bay series by Rhys Ford. The audiobook is narrated by Spencer Goss. For my part, this is my favourite book by Ford. By and large, I don’t like her writing and haven’t finished many of her books, despite the fact that her audiobooks tend to have my favourite narrators (eg. Greg Tremblay and Tristan Ford). Hell, she’s ended up on my blacklist of authors to spend money on after the travesty that was There’s This Guy. This book though? It was good. I mean, who doesn’t want a sexy bad boy who’s gentle and sweet with not only his kid, but in general? Like. A bad boy who applies that ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude to all areas, up to and including wearing a tutu on his motorcycle to make a little girl happy? I’d definitely take him.

The book, being by Ford, is also a mystery/thriller. Some of which is derived by the other MC’s past experience with intimate partner violence (IPV)1. The romance in this book hits hard and fast but feels genuine because Deacon just seems like the sort of guy to fall hard and not give two fucks about it. If memory serves, very little angst/drama/suspense is derived from the relationship itself. It isn’t entirely smooth given Lang’s history with IPV and other concerns, but when shit hits the fan they pull in rather than push away. This is something I always appreciate seeing, since I always love romances where the romantic tension is about how the couple will triumph together rather than whether or not they’ll get/stay together.

Regarding the narration, I think this was the first book I heard with Spencer Goss and I really enjoyed it. Enough so that I wish he had more than three books on audible. His voice has a great rasp to it and I enjoy the cadence/rhythm of his narration. It makes for a pleasurable experience. It’s been a while since I listened to the book but I can’t remember any negatives to his performance…

All in all, Fish Stick Fridays is my ‘if you read one book by Rhys Ford…’. But seriously. If you do read one, this should be it.

  1. Trigger warning on this account for stalking and IPV violence. Regarding the IPV, I do believe the violence is fairly extreme and graphically detailed enough to pose a problem for some (as in, it isn’t just something mentioned but described). ↩︎