I Want It That Way

Heads up! Yes, you should read every single book Karen Grey has written or will ever write, but trust me on this: if you can get your hands – and ears – on an audio copy DO IT, DO IT NOW! These books are meant to be listened to. Always amazing narrators. Perfect pacing and tone. And the stories just sparkle when read to you. The humor, the corny sayings and quotes, the heat, the angst . . . listening is heaven.

Now on to the story, and what is there to say except that super-talented author Karen Grey has done it yet again: brought back all our favorites elements from her previous books and series, brought us up to speed on everybody we met and loved in the past, and then pointed her expert writerly laser focus on another member of the Carolina Classics gang? We met Violet, Sully, Ford, Whitney and Dani in 1991, when we were getting a delicious little peek at our favorite characters from Grey’s fabulous Boston Classics series. What a way to segue.

Book One in this Carolina Classics series, You Get What You Give, brought Violet and Nate hilariously and sweetly together. Book Two, Hold On To Me, saw Sully, recovering from a serious accident, surprisingly and perfectly paired with Helen. Whitney, tired of years of competition between Sully and Ford for her affections abruptly married someone more suited to her parents’ liking and faded into the background. Ford and Sully patched things up, so the gang is still mostly intact, just expanded a little.

Which brings us to this book, I Want It That Way, the third in the series. Dani’s turn to be in the spotlight. It’s the late 1990s and Wallington, North Carolina is still going strong as the Hollywood of the East Coast, and everybody is more or less involved in some aspect of movie and TV production. Dani still bartends, but now also drives for the actors, executives and crews working on the movies and TV shows being filmed locally. If anybody hasn’t changed over the years, it’s Dani. She’s not against (very, very short) relationships and men, but isn’t looking for anything long-term, marriage is a maybe-someday-but-not-on-my-current-to-do-list thing, and she is adamant that she does not want, and will never want, to bear children. Growing up saddled with much of the responsibility for her siblings by a mother who liked having babies but raising them not so much, and surrounded by extended family always with a hand held out for her time or money has convinced her that motherhood is not for her and never will be.

All Dani wants is a tubal ligation. Now. Not when she’s thirty, not when she’s married, not when she’s had time to “think it through.” No, not then. Now. But no doctor will agree to do it. So what’s the problem? Well, there are several problems: It’s the 90s, it’s North Carolina, it’s the culture, it’s just one giant roadblock after another. Come back when you’re 30 and maybe we’ll think about it. Come back when you’re married and you can prove to us you have your husband’s permission. Come back – wait, what’s wrong with you? What woman doesn’t want children? When (not if) you change your mind you won’t be able to reverse it. Dani is a clever, independent, self-supporting single woman but obviously she’s not “normal” if she doesn’t want to be a mother.

Enter Lukas Keith. Child star-turned-TV producer. Dani has driven him before. Not rude, but not a talker. Adorable as a child; more than adorable as a man, steamy thoughts whenever he floats into her mind (hey, she just doesn’t want a serious relationship – she’s not dead!). And when he gives her that thank you gift of sticky notes: well, wow, whoa. If Dani had a dream man Lukas would be it. And now he’s b-a-a-a-c-k. And of course there’s a lot more under the surface than she thought. So through a series of hilarious, sometimes sweet, sometimes sexy encounters while she’s driving him they come up with the perfect fair exchange: she’ll teach him to drive, he'll be her fake husband so she can finally get a doctor to perform the surgery. What could possibly go wrong with such a sound scheme? Well, it’s Karen Grey, it’s a Carolina Classic, and it's an outrageous premise, so I guess we’ll have to read on and see.

I Want It That Way is an amazing story. Author Grey takes a difficult, controversial topic and tackles it head on. Thoughtful. No flinching. Dani is a woman who knows her mind and Grey makes your mind step back and think about this. Amidst the always well-written, well-plotted humor, heat, romance and difficulties to be dealt with by well-formed, likeable, loveable characters, Grey inserts a very serious subject and deals with it very seriously. Excellent job with a little cliffhanger to make you eager for the next book. Narrators Amy McFadden and Alastair Haynesbridge make Dani and Lukas real. I was sent a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review; all opinions are my own. I recommend it and the other Carolina Classics and the Boston Classics without hesitation. Note: A bonus epilogue is available from the author’s website and is a fun little addition to Dani & Lukas’ story.

Thanks to Home Cooked Books for the ALC & chance to give my candid review.

I Want It That Way
by Karen Grey
(Book 3 in the Carolina Classics series)

Narrated by Amy McFadden & Alastair Haynesbridge

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.75/5
Audiobook Rating: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall Rating: 4.875/5 😜
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Retro 90s, small Carolina beach town setting.
🤩 Entertainment business/sitcom production world.
🤩 Great prologue—I love both MCs already, especially Luke because my love language is gifts/giving.
🤩 I love a let’s make a deal—you do this for me, I’ll do this for you.
🤩 Fake engagement/arranged marriage—two of my favorites.
🤩 One bed & forced proximity—thank you for these fantastic tropes. The Two Truths & A Lie is my absolute favorite part of the whole book. ❤️‍🔥
🤩 The way they so lovingly help each other.
🤩 Reproductive rights and women’s health care issues. Lukas Keith is total book boyfriend material for supporting Dani in this area!! And he’s a hottie!
🤩 The two narrators are so entertaining. They express feelings really well: excited, worried, teasing. . .
🤩 Slow burn that I could not stop listening to once I started.
🤩 The first (and second) kiss yumminess. 🥵
🤩 When Dani drinks too much wine without eating all day. 🤣
🤩 And then George & Tina show up. 😂 You can meet them in the series novella What Happens in Carolina and I highly recommend it.
🤩 These two MCs are so absolutely supportive and encouraging of each other—that is true love.
🤩 Secret pining and attraction at its BEST!
🤩 Laugh-out-loud funny.
🤩 Beautiful family/side character LGBTQ+ representation.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 Please tell me there’s a fourth book in the series. I’m crossing my fingers for Whitney & Ford.
💫 I believe in the HEA, but I just really love some physical connection (steam) after the drama/time apart. But, I still want to listen again, so I guess I’m just being a brat. 🌟

When I pick up a book by Karen Grey, I know I'm going to get a healthy dose of nostalgia for the 1990's, along with smart, likable characters working their way through their own personal challenges. In this book, we have Dani, age 29 and trying to find a doctor who will agree to perform a tubal ligation, but being thwarted at every turn thanks to the medical establishment's absolute conviction that she's too young to be sure she doesn't want kids, and "hey, you may get married some day and what will you do if your husband wants them but you've had your tubes tied?" She reconnects with Lukas, a former child actor, whom she chauffeured for 2 yrs previously, and who is back in town to direct a TV show, hoping to finally change gears and put his acting career behind him.

Somehow it comes up that Dani needs a fake fiance in order to get her medical procedure and almost before they know it, they are suddenly involved in a very real marriage. At the same time, sparks are flying all over the place between them making it hard for them to think straight. Although they both agree to keep the marriage quiet and to divorce as soon as Dani gets her tubes tied, these two have chemistry that is very obvious to everyone and are laughably bad at hiding what's going on from their friends and colleagues, so the complications from their real but fake marriage just keep piling up.

By focusing on Dani's inability to obtain a tubal ligation, Karen Grey came up with a brilliant way of illustrating our current bitter debate about a woman's right to control her own body, while not having the plot go near the subject of abortion. The plot also shows both Dani and Lukas finally facing the past traumas that are preventing them from fully living and enjoying their lives. I was totally rooting for them to work out their relationship as they were perfect for each other. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.