again audioStory Rating: 4 stars
Audio Rating: 4.25 stars

Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Length: 2 hours, 3 minutes

Audiobook Buy Links: Audible | iBooks
Book Buy Links: 
 Amazon | iBooks


Six years ago, Noah Wheeler went to pick up his boyfriend, Dante Cerreto, at the airport, sonogram pictures in hand. There he found Dante kissing someone else and Dante told Noah it was over between them. Despite his attempts at reaching Dante after their meeting to tell him about their daughter, Dante was impossible to contact. So Noah pulled himself together emotionally and moved forward, raising their daughter Gracie on his own.

Now Noah and Gracie are in Las Vegas for a friend’s wedding, and they not only run into the Cerreto family, but to Dante himself. Noah is stunned to see the man again, but while his heart still belongs to Dante, he knows it is over. Dante is not sure so, however. He has learned that not only was Noah deceived about what was going on that day at the airport, Dante himself was deceived too. Now Dante is determined to get Noah back, sure that they are still meant to be together. But it has been six years and Noah isn’t sure that what they had can be saved. Now Dante must convince Noah that their love is still strong and that the two are meant to be together.

Again is a romantic story that will appeal to fans of the lovers reunited trope, as well as those who like hot, sexy men who don’t take no for an answer. The book nicely balances the backstory of what happened between Noah and Dante all those years ago, with present day Noah and Gracie, and then the reunion with Dante. It is a fairly short story, but Calmes gets the pacing right here, and the book has a nice flow. As with most of Calmes’ stories, there is a sweeping sense of romance to the book, grand gestures and an intense forever love that can transcend past complications. I could feel the connection between the men, even after their time apart, and I enjoyed seeing how they are able to rekindle their relationship.

While I enjoyed these men together, individually I found myself frustrated at times with their behavior. Noah pretty much refuses to hear Dante out when Dante tries to explain about the deception. I can get that Noah may not want to get back together after all this time. But I couldn’t understand the way he acts like he doesn’t even care what happened. This is a major event in his life and he seems to be completely indifferent as Dante explains that everything they both believed wasn’t true. So at first I was really feeling for Dante, but then as the guys start to move toward getting together, he gets very heavy handed and presumptious. He has decided they belong together and so Dante basically tells Noah he knows Noah still loves him and that he has decided they will now move in together immediately and never again be apart. Noah understandably needs some time to adjust, but Dante is incredibly pushy. What’s worse is this affects a five-year-old and it really annoyed me that Dante makes promises in front of her about their future, things he has not even resolved with Noah. He even tells her to call his father “grandpa” without Noah even being there. That was just so not ok to me. I get that Dante is devastated by losing Noah and wants to make up for lost time. But you don’t use a child to bully your way into getting what you want. Now honestly, for my alpha hero fans out there, you will probably love Dante anyway. Because there is definitely a sense that these guys are fated to be together and Dante is just claiming their lost love. So not everyone might be bugged by him, but I did think he went over the line.

I listened to this story in audio narrated by Nick J. Russo, one of my favorites. He does a great job with this one and it is a easy story to listen to. I think the voices all worked well, thought Dante is a touch on the overly raspy side. It is nothing really distracting though, and I think Noah’s narration and the side characters work great. The tone and pacing are nice and the narration definitely complements the story. It is a quick listen at just over two hours, so this is definitely one that is easy to jump into for a sweet, romantic story.

So if you like lovers reunited, and particularly if you like alpha heroes who are all growly and possessive about their men, Again is a great story to check out.

A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.

jay signature