The Theory of Second Best Audiobook By J. Bengtsson cover art

The Theory of Second Best

Cake Series, Book 2

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Theory of Second Best

By: J. Bengtsson
Narrated by: Zachary Webber, Andi Arndt
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Kyle McKallister has lived his life in the shadows. Younger brother to one of the world's most elusive and embattled celebrities, Kyle has carved out a comfortable existence touring with his famous brother and living in the lap of luxury with no commitments or plans of his own, only a deep, haunting loyalty to his brother. But his life is about to be shaken up when the opportunity comes to compete on a popular reality show.

Small town girl Kenzie Williams has come on the show for one thing only: to win. But when a disastrous start forces her to rely on an eclectic band of misfits, she finds herself immediately smitten with a handsome and mysterious cast mate. Life on the island is just a game. Can Kyle and Kenzie's fragile spark survive the pressures of the real world?

Warning! No alpha males were harmed in the making of this novel. While the laid-back, self-deprecating Kyle may someday discover his inner bad boy, he's clearly still in the baby stages of self-discovery. This is the story of an ordinary young man stumbling his way through life and the everyday girl who shows him a better way.

©2017 J. Bengtsson (P)2017 J. Bengtsson Contemporary Contemporary Romance Romance Feel-Good Funny Heartfelt Witty

Featured Article: The top 100 series of all time


The feeling of discovering that your favorite new listen is actually the start of a series is euphoric. That you can immediately hit play and re-enter a beloved new world, or love story, or era from history is a gift to the devoted listener. But how to pick just 100 of these unique and immersive listening journeys? We defined a series as having a minimum of three books, and—after some debate—we decided the titles had to be anchored in fiction. From YA to horror to historical fiction, from fresh voices to seminal tales, hours of discovery await.

Featured Article The top 100 series of all time
Witty Banter • Engaging Characters • Humorous Dialogue • Emotional Depth • Unique Premise • Perfect Voice Casting
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I enjoyed both books in the series, however this one made me chuckle more often

Cute and Funny

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this book far more than I should have. Kyle was a really fun character and it was really interesting to learn more about Jake and Casey from a different perspective than in Cake. In theory this should be able to stand on it's own from Cake since the majority takes place on an Island playing Survivor, but the first several chapters actually overlap with Cake and a lot of Kyle's inner angst comes from stuff in Cake, so I actually think it's important to read the first book first. I also strangely enjoyed the game dynamics and backstabbing of the Survivor game more than the romance for a good chunk of the book. Not that the romance wasn't good, I just really liked the Survivor aspect. It was also really nice to see the characters grow throughout the book. Definitely a worthy sequel.

Reality TV bliss

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I think I found a new favorite author. This book was filled with amazing characters. The author writes in such a relatable way it's like Kyle and Kenzie are yours friends.
Can't wait for book 3

Laugh out Loud! Then tears! It has it all

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I adored Cake. It was gut-wrenching and honest and avoided so many of the romance crutches employed by writers to "maintain interest" such as misunderstandings, self-doubt, etc. The Theory of Second Best was a more typical romance, and I didn't feel the instant rapport with Kyle or Kensie that I did with Casey and Jake. That said, it was still a good story, one that I never wanted to tear myself away from, and now that I'm done, I'm going to proceed immediately to the next volume.

Second Best is still good!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This story is totally laugh out loud funny, which I did many times while listening to this. So far, this book is my favorite in the series. The narrators are awesome.

This is the best!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
4 stars: The books / series were good, and based on my audience - i recommend rereading it = i would recommend it to others.
I only give 5 stars in my top 10% of books.

I tell others about the story and or book(s) in regular conversation to expose the author.

Enjoyed the whole series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
KYLE! Oh Kyle! He is the slightly younger brother of Jake and I was so happy to get his story. I didn't think anything could live up to book 1, but I was wrong. This was a complete joy to read! Kyle meets Kenzie on a survivor style reality show called Marooned. It was packed full of laughs! I was smiling pretty much the entire time. We also got to see more of the tragic background of Jakes, that Kyle shared in to some extent. Seeing Kyle and Kenzie fall for eachother and how it all plays out was unique and wonderful! Again, I loved this book and so far this series seems like its going to turn out to be an all time favorite. Narration was wonderful!

LOVE LOVE LOVE KYLE!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved Kyle, and I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe! So glad I listened!

Loved It

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really liked this book on audible. The characters were intriguing and easy to relate to. As usual Andi Arndt and Zachary Webber did a great job of the narration The only part I didn't like was the epilogue, which kinda blew the image of the characters which had been developed throughout the rest of the book.

One of my all time favorites in the genre.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read a few reviews that were less than 5 stars and complained that this wasn’t a love story. I listened anyways because I loved Cake and Zachary Webber and Andi Arndt are my favorites. It’s such an incredibly strong and endearing love story. I love how you get more insight into jake’s story and watching Kenzie and Kyle fall in love is beautiful.

So lovely

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews