Story Rating: 4.5 stars
Audio Rating: 4.75 stars
Narrator: Greg Boudreaux
Length: 5 hours, 37 minutes
Audiobook Buy Links: Audible | iBooks
Book Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks
Thorne Shipton and Riley Dashwood are as in love as ever and soon to be married. Riley wants a Christmas wedding, but Thorne wants to elope. Since Thorne would agree to anything Riley wants, he gives in, they set the date, and start planning. But things quickly go out of control. Planning consumes Riley’s life, and that, coupled with Riley working to get his bakery ready to open, causes strain in their relationship. They aren’t spending enough time together and Thorne starts to resent not only the wedding planning, but the decisions he’s being asked to make and those who are making the decisions with Riley.
When Thorne gets home from a sudden business trip, he catches Riley in what looks to be a compromising situation and promptly loses his mind. Fortunately for the men, they have people in their lives who won’t let them throw away everything they have worked so hard for. Once Thorne and Riley talk, really talk the way they both know they should have been doing all along, they find a middle ground that makes them both happy. And remember exactly what it is they want.
Thorne and Dash get married! I’ve listened to the rest of this series, so I was looking forward to the third in the trilogy. I was there at the beginning, and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended. These guys have had so many ups and downs, learning and growing, and becoming so crazy in love that they know they need forever. Though I think this probably could work on its own, I think it absolutely works better if you’ve read/listened to the other two. And if you have been following along, then you’re definitely going to want this book.
Characters are Violet’s forte and she does great things with Thorne and Riley. They continue to grow throughout the series, while also remaining wholly recognizable. I really enjoyed the majority of this book, and I was so happy to see them getting their true HEA. These guys deserve it. Yes, Thorne is still demanding and pushy and entitled. Yes, Riley is still unsure and questioning. But there’s no doubt that not only have they gotten to a good place, but they will stay there forever. The chemistry between them is explosive, the sex smoking hot, and the love a thing to be admired.
The plot of this story is a little bit predictable, but what’s so great is that it’s tailored to these characters. Their wants and desires, their screw ups and faults, every bit of it works for who Thorne and Riley are. It’s understandable that the stresses in their life would strain their relationship, that they’d argue and fight and make up. That they’d both crack and put each other back together again.
But I’ll be honest and say that I had one major issue. The big miscommunication. Again. This is a problem the characters have face in every book. And this one is a doozy. Like I had to pause the book and think “Really??” because I was a little shocked at the scene, that Thorne would think what he thinks, that Riley would act as he acts. The very good thing here is that it doesn’t last long, and within a few chapters things are cleared up and the characters are good again. But I was a bit disappointed that it happened to these guys again. By now, I wanted them to not fall into the same trap. So while it worked, I would have liked to see something different for them to overcome.
I’m a huge fan of this narrator (and everything he does) so I knew I would enjoy listening to this just as much as I have the rest of the series. Once again, Greg Boudreaux doesn’t disappoint. The narration was nearly flawless. Even better, it was consistent. With all the voices the narrator portrays in his work, I’m amazed he manages to get Thorne and Riley exactly the same as he has before. And not just the MCs, but all the secondary characters as well. Voices and accents were exactly the same. Because of that, I was transported immediately to this world again and right into the story. On top of that, Boudreaux portrays every emotion in every scene. Emotional, playful, scorching hot sex…whatever the scene, Boudreaux captures it perfectly. It was so good, I almost felt like I could see it, instead of just listening to it.
So I enjoyed this series, and really loved listening to it. If you haven’t yet, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
