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Speak Now
Not yet published
Expected 31 Mar 26
The wunderkind chef of an acclaimed restaurant is reunited with “the one that got away” when she’s hired to cater her wedding in this charming, full-cast queer rom-com, perfect for fans of Alison Cochrun and Casey McQuiston, by TV writer and former BuzzFeed personality Ash Perez.
What would you do for a second chance at your first love?
Alex Perez is a culinary she’s on the verge of becoming the youngest ever head chef at the famed Sempervirens restaurant, a fine dining treasure tucked away in a boutique hotel in the majestic Big Sur mountains. Her demanding schedule and perfectionist tendencies leave little room to think about romance. That is, until her ex-best friend Genevieve shows up at her restaurant—and gets engaged.
Twelve years ago, Alex was just a quiet transfer student with no friends until she met Genevieve Jones, an effervescent extrovert who took Alex under her wing. They remained inseparable through the rest of high school, until a fateful road trip changed everything, and they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since.
Now Genevieve’s longtime boyfriend Derek, a real estate mogul in the making, has brought her here not only to propose, but to offer sizable investment in the hotel…if they can host and cater the perfect fairytale wedding. Leaving Alex in an impossible cater the wedding for the only woman she’s ever loved, or give up her dream job as a head chef.
Speak Now is a charming and laugh-out-loud funny story of self-discovery and second chances from an exciting new voice in queer fiction, performed by a full cast led by Jena Malone (The Hunger Games, Pride & Prejudice) and Arienne Mandi (The L Generation Q, Chicago PD).
What would you do for a second chance at your first love?
Alex Perez is a culinary she’s on the verge of becoming the youngest ever head chef at the famed Sempervirens restaurant, a fine dining treasure tucked away in a boutique hotel in the majestic Big Sur mountains. Her demanding schedule and perfectionist tendencies leave little room to think about romance. That is, until her ex-best friend Genevieve shows up at her restaurant—and gets engaged.
Twelve years ago, Alex was just a quiet transfer student with no friends until she met Genevieve Jones, an effervescent extrovert who took Alex under her wing. They remained inseparable through the rest of high school, until a fateful road trip changed everything, and they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since.
Now Genevieve’s longtime boyfriend Derek, a real estate mogul in the making, has brought her here not only to propose, but to offer sizable investment in the hotel…if they can host and cater the perfect fairytale wedding. Leaving Alex in an impossible cater the wedding for the only woman she’s ever loved, or give up her dream job as a head chef.
Speak Now is a charming and laugh-out-loud funny story of self-discovery and second chances from an exciting new voice in queer fiction, performed by a full cast led by Jena Malone (The Hunger Games, Pride & Prejudice) and Arienne Mandi (The L Generation Q, Chicago PD).
- GenresAudiobook
Audible Audio
Expected publication March 31, 2026
3 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 11, 2026
Thanks to libro.fm and Simon & Schuster for the ALC! This was a really cute romance novel about 2 childhood best friends who get a second chance at love as adults. The real star of the show is this full cast performance which was AMAZING production quality! The story itself was sort of flat and nothing happened that I didn’t expect, but I still had a great time listening to the performances across all the voice actors.
Review of advance copy
Thank you Simon and Schuster Audio for this ALC!
This book is performed by a FULL cast… and I mean FULL! (Jena Malone, AHH!)
It was such a great listening experience. The narrators were so great at bringing each character to life, even the side characters had so much personality and deep storylines! You could tell that each narrator put so much time and effort into the little details, which had such a huge impact on the story!
It’s a long list of narrators, but I think each of them should have their name recognized for this:
Jena Malone, Arienne Mandi, Benjamin Norris, Inés del Castillo, Charles Linshaw, Ali Andre Ali, J.S. Arquin, Jason Culp, Kevin R. Free, Kelly Krauter, Jane Oppenheimer, Bahni Turpin, and Jesse Villinsky.
I really enjoyed this story. I love a second chance romance, and even though this was a short read, the dual timeline gave enough history between the main characters for me to be invested in their relationship!
I was torn between rooting for Alex and Genevieve, and, wanting them to go their separate ways. Mostly because Gen just didn’t know what she wanted, and I wanted to scream at her sometimes, but I totally get it. I think I wanted more of her exploring her sexuality before she got into a relationship with Alex. It seems like she just jumped into a relationship with Derek because she was afraid to admit to herself that she liked women.
Speaking of Derek, he didn’t deserve that! UGH! I wish he would’ve gotten mad at Gen, maybe just a little bit. She didn’t have to stay engaged to him while she figured herself out. She knew that she wasn’t in love with him, and she knew she wasn’t happy, so she should’ve just broken up with him before it got to a weird point in their relationship.
I love Alex, and I want nothing but the best for her, always! At times, I feel like she out herself on the back burner, and did a lot of things that she didn’t want to do, just to please other people. That includes holding in her feelings about Gen… Honestly, Everything with Gen, she just shut her own feelings out. I’m glad this had a happy ending, though!
🧑🏼🍳Bi rep
🏳️🌈Second chance romance
🧑🏼🍳Queer Fiction
🏳️🌈Friends to enemies? to lovers
This book is performed by a FULL cast… and I mean FULL! (Jena Malone, AHH!)
It was such a great listening experience. The narrators were so great at bringing each character to life, even the side characters had so much personality and deep storylines! You could tell that each narrator put so much time and effort into the little details, which had such a huge impact on the story!
It’s a long list of narrators, but I think each of them should have their name recognized for this:
Jena Malone, Arienne Mandi, Benjamin Norris, Inés del Castillo, Charles Linshaw, Ali Andre Ali, J.S. Arquin, Jason Culp, Kevin R. Free, Kelly Krauter, Jane Oppenheimer, Bahni Turpin, and Jesse Villinsky.
I really enjoyed this story. I love a second chance romance, and even though this was a short read, the dual timeline gave enough history between the main characters for me to be invested in their relationship!
I was torn between rooting for Alex and Genevieve, and, wanting them to go their separate ways. Mostly because Gen just didn’t know what she wanted, and I wanted to scream at her sometimes, but I totally get it. I think I wanted more of her exploring her sexuality before she got into a relationship with Alex. It seems like she just jumped into a relationship with Derek because she was afraid to admit to herself that she liked women.
Speaking of Derek, he didn’t deserve that! UGH! I wish he would’ve gotten mad at Gen, maybe just a little bit. She didn’t have to stay engaged to him while she figured herself out. She knew that she wasn’t in love with him, and she knew she wasn’t happy, so she should’ve just broken up with him before it got to a weird point in their relationship.
I love Alex, and I want nothing but the best for her, always! At times, I feel like she out herself on the back burner, and did a lot of things that she didn’t want to do, just to please other people. That includes holding in her feelings about Gen… Honestly, Everything with Gen, she just shut her own feelings out. I’m glad this had a happy ending, though!
🧑🏼🍳Bi rep
🏳️🌈Second chance romance
🧑🏼🍳Queer Fiction
🏳️🌈Friends to enemies? to lovers
Review of advance copy
*I received an ALC from LibroFM. All opinions are my own.*
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Actual rating: 3.5 Stars
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An Audio Play! I was not expecting this to be so fun and fresh, with a great full cast performance - and sound effects to top it all off! It was exceptionally entertaining and filled with messy drama.
.
There is cheating and the heat is fade-to-black which I know will direct some folks towards and some folks away from this audio production.
.
The story is a bit too messy and stressful in the drama department for me to recommend it as a beach listen, but (and this is fitting to the plot) - I think it would make a great road trip listen with it being 5 hours long and giving you many situations to discuss.
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While the drama was messy, the performance kept it light enough not to get too worrisome, but also everyone treated and acted like adults around each other. Complicated and messy adults but adults all the same.
.
The only big negative note I have to say is that it is rather cringe to have the author be called A. Perez and the MC also having a name of A. Perez, but I can assume this part of the artistic expression. It doesn’t make it any less cringe though. If you ignore that though, it makes for a very fun weekend listen.
.
Hisses & Kisses 🐍
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Actual rating: 3.5 Stars
.
An Audio Play! I was not expecting this to be so fun and fresh, with a great full cast performance - and sound effects to top it all off! It was exceptionally entertaining and filled with messy drama.
.
There is cheating and the heat is fade-to-black which I know will direct some folks towards and some folks away from this audio production.
.
The story is a bit too messy and stressful in the drama department for me to recommend it as a beach listen, but (and this is fitting to the plot) - I think it would make a great road trip listen with it being 5 hours long and giving you many situations to discuss.
.
While the drama was messy, the performance kept it light enough not to get too worrisome, but also everyone treated and acted like adults around each other. Complicated and messy adults but adults all the same.
.
The only big negative note I have to say is that it is rather cringe to have the author be called A. Perez and the MC also having a name of A. Perez, but I can assume this part of the artistic expression. It doesn’t make it any less cringe though. If you ignore that though, it makes for a very fun weekend listen.
.
Hisses & Kisses 🐍
Review of advance copy
I got this advance listening copy and immediately started it on a good gut feeling, before realizing which Ash Perez was the author, before looking into the PHENOMENAL voice cast- blind. Within 2 minutes I was screaming and laughing in the shower, in love with every character and all their dynamics. This was a wickedly good time, so heartfelt and lovely and grounded, and everything from the writing, the performances, and even the sound design was hilarious and impactful.
I finished this in one day and I’m grieving the loss of my good friends Alex and Gen… genuinely will be screaming about this until March 31st.
I finished this in one day and I’m grieving the loss of my good friends Alex and Gen… genuinely will be screaming about this until March 31st.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews