Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this audiobook.
I really enjoyed this book. I was pretty hooked from the beginning and ended up listening in one sitting. Excellent narration.

The Orc and the Innkeeper, is a cozy, second-chance monster romance that brings just the right blend of sweetness, spice, and small-town magic. Set in the enchanting world of Elderberry Falls, the story follows Thorak, a reformed orc who once bullied Mariah in high school, and Mariah, a savvy innkeeper who agrees to pose as his fake fiancée to solve both of their financial woes. As the pair navigate their faux engagement to impress a human investor, old feelings resurface and so does Thorak’s need to grovel for past wrongs. Their chemistry is undeniable, and the emotional depth is strengthened by the exploration of prejudice between humans and magicals, with a thoughtful lens on accountability and growth. The supporting cast, especially siren bestie Ecco and Thorak’s fae friend Finn, add charm and hint at future romances to come. Jack Calihan and Rose Dioro, the audiobook’s narrators, beautifully bring the story to life, capturing the emotional nuance and simmering chemistry between the characters with ease. With warm humor, swoony groveling, and a dash of heat, this feel-good fantasy sets the stage for a series readers will want to keep coming back to.

The world-building is minimal, but it’s a feel good short and easy monster romance, so I don’t think it’s really necessary. I love the fake engagement trope, but I would have loved more tension, especially if the FMC previously supposedly hated him.

I don’t like the “he was mean to her because he liked her” excuse, I would much rather our MMC have just been mean because he had been influenced by his parents beliefs and/or the war from the past, and then had his own growth over the years and realized he was wrong in his prejudices and now is sorry.

There is a lack of character development, we don’t really know who Mariah is besides a human who works at an inn, and Thorak is a rich orc who runs a brewery.

There wasn’t enough relationship building to emotionally invest in them or feel chemistry, they were both immediately in love with each other without any reason why. I wish Mariah wasn’t so quick to want him, some resolve would have been great to build up tension, the idea of Thorak winning her over would have been preferable.

But if you’re just wanting a cozy romance with spice that is low stakes and you can just shut off your brain then this does the trick.

The audio is dual narration and both do a really nice job and bring emotion to their voice. Delivery of the story was great, the tone of voice, timing, and pauses were all expertly executed.

I loved the characters in this book. The way they overcame assumptions about each other, helped themselves and others overcome prejudice, and how they set boundaries in their personal relationships. It was wonderful, add to that the romance and spice and you have a great story!
The narrators did a phenomenal job bringing the story and world to life while keeping the listener engaged and the story moving along.

The Orc and The Innkeeper is a cozy and enjoyable read or listen, but it treads a familiar path. I think as soon as the story started, I knew exactly where it was going, especially with the return of the MMC's ex to town. So it's a familiar yet comfortable and easy book to read.

I listened to the audiobook and I enjoyed both narrators. It was dual narration and both narrators did a good job with the voices of the opposite gender - they didn't annoy me like narrators sometimes can when the voices are forced or stereotypically high pitched and whiny or gruff and low to represent female and male voices. It was easy to listen to and I consumed it in one go.

So, it was a comforting, easy-read/listen but I wished that it had strayed from the Hallmark script a bit and offered something a little different plot-wise other than the addition of the orcs and other fantasy creatures.

3.5/5

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from Tantor Audio and NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.

The Orc and the Innkeeper follows Mariah, a human innkeeper trying to figure out how to pay for a huge extermination bill, and Thorak, an orc who is trying to expand his brewery business, as they decide to enter a fake engagement that will mutually benefit them. This book was a cute and fun listen, the narrator did a great job with the voices for the characters and making the story come to life. I can’t wait to see what other books are in this series. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this.

Ive been wanting to get into audiobooks and I struggle doing so because sometimes my mind tends to wander while the audio is playing and then I miss a lot of what I’m listening to. I figured to ease myself in that I would start with a book I’ve actually already read and that I enjoyed and I came across this one. I absolutely love the story, it’s a really good cozy romantasy, semi enemies to lovers (the main characters did not get along in high school and then kind of just avoided each other completely as adults), does have a bit of miscommunication/misunderstanding tossed in there which is fairly well done.
Really enjoyed the voice narrators that were chosen and even though my mind did still somewhat wander while listening along in some parts (again this is no fault of the story or the narrators, I just have a busy mind) I really enjoyed listening to this with low pressure to rewind whenever my mind spaced out.

I enjoyed this book overall, I think the story was simple and low stakes. The narration was good and it had a sort of cozy vibe to it. The story itself was predictable but still enjoyable. I liked Robert the most as a character and his growth as a person who came to town with a prejudice against magical beings.

I adored the cozy fantasy setting of The Orc and the Innkeeper. With warm vibes, a fun fake-relationship trope, and thoughtful commentary on racism and bias, it strikes a lovely balance between comfort and meaning.
However, the repeated focus on how small the human was in comparison to the Orc quickly went quirky to unsettling. I also felt the characters weren't fully developed, which made it hard to connect when I was clearly meant to care. Hopefully there's more growth in the next book.
To be fair, romance isn't my usual genre, so take my icks with a grain of salt. 2.5

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the chance to listen to this title in exchange for my opinion.

The Orc and the Innkeeper is a sweet, spicy, cozy romance fantasy story that is perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes with a Morning Glory Milking Farm-esque twist on the cozy plot.

Mariah is a woman with a plan and Thorak is a monster with a heart the size of Texas. Their love story is a journey past hurts and present forgiveness that made my heart ache in the best way.

Although this book was short (under 300 pages/just over 6 hours), I felt that we made a complete and fleshed out journey with our characters. I always love more details and would have loved to learn more about the town and inn and seen more about the pixie dust mite infestation, but I feel that overall the plot was concise without lacking enough detail to become immersed in the world.

I was given early access to the audiobook and thought the narration was wonderful. Rose Dioro and Jack Calihan are names I will be looking for when searching for future audiobook titles.

This was a cute small town romance- Overcoming prejudices from pent up generational resentment. Such an enchanting world, I’ve read Book 2 before, but reading this really adds to it 🤍 *Not a whole lot that you HAVE to read them in order, but it’s nice to recognize the characters that appear in both.
*I suppose I have to read Book 3 now 🤣

I love Echo & Mariah’s friendship, but Mariah fr clocked her in that one chapter lmfaoo. But are you really besties if you don’t 🌚

I love me some Thorak- I love a bully romance, so I don’t feel like that affected my view on him… Even though he’s done a total 180 from then lol. What starts off as fake dating, both w/ different agendas turn into something more… Or is it just that, fake dating 🧐 I always love those questionable moments.
*I really wanted to throw hands w/ some townsfolk though lmfao.

Overall, this was such a cute read!! I was always in love w/ Elderberry Falls, I need to move there like, yesterday. The perfect read for when you need a palate cleansing from those heavier Fantasy books-
Rose Dioro & Jack Calihan did amazing, I can’t place it… But Rose sounds so familiar!!
I expected Thorak to have a bit more bass in his voice, but I still enjoyed Jack’s narration.