Fool Me Once

Written by Ashley Winstead

Narrated by Ann Marie Gideon

In this fierce and funny battle of the exes, Ashley Winstead’s Fool Me Once explores the chaos of wanting something you used to have.

Lee Stone is a twenty-first-century woman: she kicks butt at her job as a communications director at a women-run electric car company (that’s better than Tesla, thank you), and after work she is ‘Stoner,’ drinking guys under the table and never letting any of them get too comfortable in her bed...

That’s because Lee’s learned one big lesson: never trust love. Four major heartbreaks set her straight, from her father cheating on her mom all the way to Ben Laderman in grad school — who wasn’t actually cheating, but she could have sworn he was, so she reciprocated in kind.

Then Ben shows up five years later, working as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history, just as Lee is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Things get complicated — and competitive — as Lee and Ben are forced to work together. Tension builds just as old sparks reignite, fanning the flames for a romantic dustup the size of Texas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Oct 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781867298427

Ashley Winstead

ASHLEY WINSTEAD is an academic turned novelist with a PhD in contemporary American literature. She lives in Houston with her husband, two cats, and beloved wine fridge. You can find her at www.ashleywinstead.com.

Reviews for Fool Me Once

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lee Stone is the PR manager for a woman owned electric car company. She writes a bill for climate change and the adoption of green energy. Her ex-boyfriend, Ben, is working for the governor. Lee broke Ben's heart 5 years earlier when she didn't trust herself enough to love completely. Now, they are back working together to get the bill passed in Texas. However, their past and their attraction threaten to get in the way. As they navigate the political world and the fallout of their actions, and of those around them, they work to find what makes them happy.Romance book - before Winstead began writing thrillers.

[samnreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I know some of you all were like "this in Texas? Never!!" I had an easier time with that than imagining two full grown adults in the driver's seat of a Prius.Overall, though, this was such a zippy, yet weighty narrative. A lot of grief. I'm not sure if I feel like Ben was fullyp rounded, but it didn't really matter. The mess of a heroine and her secondary relationships (friendships/parents etc) make it work as much as the romance and politics. (Which I love).

[narshkite · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Well, this was not very good.I love many books where main characters are very unlikable, actually many of my favorite characters are absolute jerks. But that rule does not hold up when it comes to romance. Few things are less appealing than reading about people you dislike experiencing great love, or even simply having great sex. The only thing worse than bad people having great love and great sex is one vile person having all that with someone who is wonderful. That is what is going on in Fool Me Once. The male love interest, Ben, is a perfect 21st century feminist progressive lawyer prince with great hair and biological and learned sexual prowess. That's the dream and he is dreamy. Lee, the female love interest is stunted and awful in every way. And she treats the male lead like dirt. Worse yet, she does so while acting like no person has ever acted. She is just such a poorly drawn character. Vile really. All this is explained by the fact she never got over her parent's divorce like 15 years ago. Lord, who knows what would happen if she ever faced any real adversity.The only other character we even get to know is Lee's sister Alex, and she is just terrible. (She reminded me of a cross between Amy Adams' character in The Wedding Date and Malin Akerman's character in 27 Dresses -- which is to say the worst character in the worst rom-coms.) Every other side character was a parody of a southern politician or oilman or was like those CGI backgrounds were there are people-like shapes to indicate a crowd but you can't make out any physical details of any of the computer generated people. (This includes friends, family and co-workers of both leads.)The story was ludicrous and revolved around turning Texas into the most progressive state on moving toward elimination of the use of fossil fuels (I am all for fantasy in my romance, but come the hell on!) People are shocked when oilmen buy off politicians and also just when people are mean. The whole is so silly and stupid and badly crafted. It escapes the one-star only because the author wrote Ben, and Ben was ridiculous in a good way. Just no.

[flowerchildreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lee Stone was leading a double life. By day she was a professional, accomplished, communications director at an all women, clean energy, automotive company in Texas. Her personal life was an unapologetic no romantic entanglements, party hard, don’t look back. She learned the hard way that love will break you every time, is not to be trusted, and was her life philosophy. When Ben Laderman shows up as the liaison for her signature legislative bill at the governor’s office her two worlds come to a crash collision. She can’t possibly work with her smoking hot ex grad school boyfriend. I was immediately taken in by this second chance romance. The writing smart, sharp, and incredibly funny I was engaged and laughing out loud from the first page. Winstead does a great job shifting from current time to backstory so we understand Lee and Ben’s relationship, their parallel history of loss, and how they each moved forward differently. I appreciated the subtle dialogue I recognized as uniquely regional helping to ground the story without trying too hard. While the slow burn romance between Lee and Ben is undeniable this delivers much more. I loved seeing how Lee and Ben worked together, challenging each other personally and professionally. I recommend to lovers of contemporary romance, and fans of Christina Lauren’s The Honey Don’t List. Trust me on this for parallel themes of forced proximity, bosses behaving badly, and encouraging each other to dream big! This is going to make an excellent pool/beach read this year. I received a gifted copy from Goodreads Giveaways, BookClubbish, and Graydon House Books.