The Decoy Girlfriend

Imani Jade Powers and Andrew Eiden’s pleasant narrations highlight Vale’s (The Shaadi Set-Up) latest. Writer and bookstore clerk Freya Lal, who is a dead ringer for movie star Mandi Roy, impersonates her for VIP access to nightclubs. Taft Bamber is a rising star and Mandi’s on-screen love interest. He’s also contractually bound to a fake real-life romance with the starlet until the premiere of their upcoming movie. After a mishap at a nightclub between Taft and Freya-as-Mandi goes viral, the real Mandi ropes Freya into moving in with Taft and continuing the facade for a month. Although the audiobook has both characters’ POVs, listeners hear Freya’s more. Powers performs her with a breathy, come-hither intonation, especially whenever Freya’s around Taft. Eiden gives Taft a confident anytown voice, adding a light Texan accent during his more vulnerable scenes. Although Taft has his own backstory about his friendship with his former TV castmates, most of his narration is restricted to how attracted he is to Freya. The story deepens once Freya and Taft become roommates and start to care for each other.