Audiobook Sample
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- Title: Ugly Love
- Author: Colleen Hoover
- Narrator: Deacon Lee, Grace Grant
- Length: 0.384722222
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 05-Aug
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Genre: Romance, Fiction & Literature, Contemporary, New Adult, Contemporary Women, Romance, Fiction & Literature, Contemporary, New Adult, Contemporary Women
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
Picture this: I’m winding through the dusty roads of the Atacama Desert, the sun scorching the surreal salt flats outside my window, when I first pressed play on an audiobook that changed how I see love stories. That wasn’t *Ugly Love*—that was García Márquez spinning magic realism into my ears—but it set the stage for how I approach tales like Colleen Hoover’s *Ugly Love*, narrated by Deacon Lee and Grace Grant. There’s something about a good audiobook that feels like a campfire tale, and this one? It’s a slow burn that catches you off guard, much like a desert sunset that sneaks up with colors you didn’t expect.
*Ugly Love* drops you into the messy orbit of Tate Collins and Miles Archer, two souls who crash into each other with an attraction that’s undeniable but tangled from the start. Tate’s a nurse juggling life, and Miles, an airline pilot with a past he keeps locked tight, offers her a deal: no love, no future, just the heat of the moment. Two rules—don’t ask about yesterday, don’t dream of tomorrow—sound simple enough, right? But the story unfolds like a winding mountain trail, revealing how impossible it is to keep emotions at bay when bodies and hearts get too close. Hoover crafts a contemporary romance that’s raw, unpolished, and achingly real, and the audiobook experience amplifies every jagged edge.
It reminds me of a time when I was camped out in Oaxaca, listening to a grandmother weave tales under a starlit sky. Her voice had this rhythm—pauses that pulled you in, silences that spoke louder than words. That’s what I look for in narrators, and Deacon Lee and Grace Grant deliver something close. Grace brings Tate to life with a warmth that’s grounded yet vulnerable—you can almost hear the exhaustion in her voice after a long shift, the tentative hope when Miles brushes too close. Deacon, meanwhile, gives Miles this quiet intensity, a low timbre that hints at the storm beneath his calm. Together, they’re like two sides of a coin, flipping between passion and restraint, making the listening experience feel intimate, almost like you’re eavesdropping on something real.
The heart of *Ugly Love* is its unflinching look at love’s underbelly—how it can lift you up and gut you in the same breath. Tate and Miles think they’ve got it figured out, this no-strings dance, but Hoover peels back the layers to show how desire seeps into cracks you didn’t even know were there. It’s New Adult romance at its core, with all the reckless energy of youth, but it’s got a weight that lingers, like the ache of a memory you can’t shake. The dual timelines—Miles’ past unraveling alongside their present—add a bittersweet depth, and the narrators handle these shifts with finesse, letting you feel the pull of what’s been lost and what might still break.
The audio quality’s crisp, too—Simon & Schuster Audio knows how to polish a production without losing that human touch. At just over nine hours, it’s the perfect length for a road trip or a quiet weekend, though I’ll admit, I found myself pausing to sit with certain moments. There’s a scene where Miles’ voice cracks just so, and it hit me like a gust of wind off the Pacific—unexpected, sharp, alive. That’s the power of a good audiobook: it’s not just words, it’s a presence.
Now, I’ve got to be honest—*Ugly Love* isn’t flawless. The premise leans hard into that trope of the tortured guy and the girl who might save him, and if you’re not a sucker for romance’s rough edges, it might feel too predictable. Some of Tate’s choices grated on me, too—there’s a fine line between resilience and stubbornness, and she dances close to it. But Hoover’s strength is in the messiness; she doesn’t tidy up love’s loose ends, and that’s where the story finds its soul. The narration smooths over some of these bumps—Grace keeps Tate relatable, not just a pawn, and Deacon makes Miles’ walls feel less like a cliché and more like a man wrestling his ghosts.
Compared to other romances I’ve soaked in—like *The Fault in Our Stars* with its tear-jerking clarity or *November 9* (another Hoover hit) with its clever twists—*Ugly Love* stands out for its grit. It’s not as polished as some, but that’s the point. It’s contemporary women’s fiction with a pulse, perfect for anyone who’s ever loved too hard or walked away too late. If you’re new to New Adult or just crave a romance that doesn’t pull punches, this audiobook’s got your name on it. Bonus: you can snag it free through some platforms like Audiobooks.com—check the sample first, but trust me, it’s worth the dive.
Listening to *Ugly Love* pulled me back to a night in Portugal, sipping vinho verde on a cliffside, watching the ocean crash below. I’d just ended something messy myself—nothing epic, just a fleeting connection that left more questions than answers—and this story felt like a mirror. Not the pretty kind, but the cracked, honest one you can’t look away from. It’s not about grand adventures or far-off places; it’s about the quiet battles we fight inside, the ones that leave marks no one else sees. Hoover, Lee, and Grant turn that into something you can almost taste—the salt of tears, the heat of skin, the ache of what could’ve been.
So, grab your headphones, hit play, and let *Ugly Love* take you somewhere raw. It’s not a gentle ride, but it’s one hell of a story.
Until the next tale,
Marcus Rivera
