Love, Rebooted, Katy Summers' debut romance audiobook narrated by Emily Atack and Stuart Martin, arrived carrying more industry recognition than most debut fiction titles see in a career: winner of the Romantic Novels of the Year Awards 2025, shortlisted for the Speakies 2025 Romance Audiobook of the Year, praised by established authors including Sue Moorcroft, who noted it was difficult to believe this was a debut. At 9 hours and 41 minutes, it is a slow-burn second-chance romance set in the tech industry, and the combination of those elements with an autistic female protagonist and dual-narrator casting that includes two recognizable television performers gives it a texture that distinguishes it from the contemporary romance field.
Our Take on Love, Rebooted
Liv and Finn are former university best friends turned sort-of-exes turned colleagues at a newly merged software company, competing for a single senior position neither can afford to lose. Summers builds the central obstacle with rare honesty: Finn knows from early in the story that if he wins the job, Liv gets laid off, and he hates that he cannot find a way around it. He is falling first and he knows it, and the text does not pretend that his position gives him a convenient moral out. He is a single dad with a daughter to support and he cannot afford to lose, which is a real conflict rather than a manufactured one. Liv, for her part, has told herself she has not thought about Finn since their one night in university, and the gap between that official version of events and the actual truth is where much of the story's comedy lives.
The autistic representation in Liv's characterization has been specifically praised. She loves her not-for-profit software company partly because it allows her to "be her authentically autistic self," and the novel treats her neurodivergence as part of how she processes the world rather than as a dramatic reveal or a source of comedy at her expense. Summers writes Liv's social calibration, her relationship with rules and fairness, and her specific brand of directness with evident care and specificity. Emily Atack's narration of Liv's chapters honors that: she finds the warmth and precision in the character without softening the edges that make Liv distinctly herself. The Tolkien references that connect Liv and Finn's university friendship are not cosmetic nerd signaling; they are the actual texture of a specific friendship, and the audiobook handles them with the affection they deserve.
Stuart Martin's performance as Finn is the balancing act the audiobook requires. A man who is more emotionally available than he lets on, who loves his daughter, who is aware of the professional-ethical knot he is in, and who deploys self-deprecating humor as both shield and genuine personality trait needs a narrator who can hold all of that without being coy. Martin has the screen experience from Miss Scarlet and the Duke to bring character credibility to audio, and his Finn is genuinely funny in the way the synopsis promises. The tagline "Have you tried turning it off and off again?" only works if the character it describes is worth laughing with, and Martin earns it.
The audio format is doing specific work here that print cannot replicate in the same way. The dual narration by Atack and Martin gives the friends-rivals-lovers dynamic a physical presence that alternating chapters on the page cannot fully achieve. When Liv's chapter ends on one note and Finn's opens on a different register, the gap between their perceptions of the same moment becomes audible rather than just readable, and both performers are experienced enough to find that gap without milking it. One reviewer who was initially uncertain about the English accent found themselves increasingly invested as the audio continued, which is the specific kind of conversion that well-performed romantic audiobooks create when casting and material are well-matched.
Tanera Simmons specifically praises the chemistry between the two love interests as jumping "off the page," and Stuart Martin's own blurb calling the book "truly wonderful, and so beautifully observed" comes with the credibility of someone who spent the full runtime performing it. Multiple reviewer voices confirm that the tech industry setting works harder than most contemporary romance settings: the merger, the job competition, and the zero-sum professional opposition all generate real narrative tension rather than serving as backdrop for a romance that could have been set anywhere.
What to Watch For in Love, Rebooted
The slow-burn designation is accurate and worth taking seriously as a listener. Summers keeps the romantic tension in controlled escalation for most of the runtime, which is part of what makes the emotional payoff land, but requires patience from listeners accustomed to faster romantic progression. This is not a romance that accelerates to the central couple acknowledging their feelings in the first half; the professional obstacle is structural and Summers works it for its full value across nearly ten hours. Listeners who need the romantic dynamic to resolve or escalate quickly will find the middle section asks a lot of them.
The "steamy" descriptor in the synopsis is present but the book's dominant register is emotional intelligence rather than heat. The heat level is moderate and earned by the relationship's groundwork. This is a romance where the emotional connection does most of the lifting and the physical expression comes as consequence rather than catalyst.
Who Should Listen to Love, Rebooted
Readers who want second-chance romance with genuine emotional intelligence, an autistic female protagonist written with specificity and respect, and dual narrators who bring television-actor performance craft to the material will find this among the more satisfying contemporary romance audiobooks to come from a debut author. The award recognition is a reliable signal here, not marketing language. Listeners who want faster-burning romance, higher heat levels, or simpler emotional stakes may want to set expectations accordingly for the first half of the runtime. This is a debut worth starting from the beginning and giving the unhurried time it takes to build into something worth finishing.
How does Emily Atack's narration handle Liv's autistic characterization in this audiobook?
Atack finds the specific quality of Liv's directness and warmth without exaggerating or softening the neurodivergent characterization. Reviewers have noted that the characters feel like people they would want to know in real life, which is partly a credit to both Summers' writing and Atack's performance.
Is this audiobook appropriate for listeners who do not typically enjoy second-chance romance tropes?
One reviewer specifically noted they usually skip second-chance romance but made an exception here and loved it, citing the tech industry setting and well-developed characters. The trope is present but handled freshly enough that trope-skeptical listeners have found it works.
Does Stuart Martin's narration add anything specific to Finn's chapters that a different narrator would not?
Martin brings screen experience from Miss Scarlet and the Duke to a character who requires genuine comedic timing and self-aware charm. His Finn chapters are notably warm and funny, and the audiobook shortlist recognition is in part a reflection of both narrator performances working together.
Is Love, Rebooted the first audiobook in a series, or is it a standalone romance?
It is a complete standalone. Liv and Finn's story is told within these 9 hours and 41 minutes, and no prior reading or listening is required. The debut label applies to both the novel and the author, not to a series continuation.
