Rating: 4 stars out of 5
This review is of the audio version, and I’m pleased to say John Solo’s narrations get better each time I hear him. For this one, the emotion, the pace, and the voices were spot-on. New-to-me author Elizabeth Noble brings a sweet tale of redemption as Colt Hale explores a distillery on the rest stop his bus makes as he’s heading for Charleston, SC, and he realizes he needn’t go any farther to find his place in the world.
Surviving on the streets of his hometown becomes impossible, so Cole heads south to wherever his funds will take him, but the stop to visit the distillery pays off when he learns of a job opening for a janitor, and he manages to convince them he’d be good at it. Not only is he good at that, but also at every other job he takes on his climb up the ladder. When he hears the company is looking for a spokesman, he even gets that job, and that’s when he meets the man behind the scenes: Malone Kensington. Mal is the driving force for the whiskey and moonshine-making business, but he’s not one to stand out and wants no part in being the spokesman. He’s more than happy to let Cole take over social media, photo ops, and other public appearances. And during the getting-to-know-you phase of their relationship, he realizes he likes Cole more than as an employee.
This is, after all, a Dreamspun Desires story, so it follows the old romance tropes but is executed very nicely. The two fall in love but have a spat over paperwork Cole is forced to sign by the Board of Directors, and then Cole’s past catches up to him. There’s lots of excitement mixed in here with the sweetness and romance. Let’s just say it was very enjoyable, and I didn’t want it to end, though at that point Mal and Cole were into their HEA and likely wanted me out of their private lives. LOL. I highly recommend audio format for this story. It’s not only a great way to spend leisure time, but it left me with a nice warm and fuzzy feeling.
The cover by Alexandria Corza features a handsome young man in front of whiskey barrels. It’s attractive and is obviously Colt, the young man who finds a new home at Kensington Distillery.
Audio Details:
(Listening Length: 6 hours and 52 minutes.)
Audible Audio, 7 pages
Published June 20th 2019 by Dreamspinner Press (first published January 15th 2019)
ASIN B07SF7YBRS
Edition Language English
In an unfortunate series of events, Drake meets Caleb. This is meeting the right person in the wrong circumstances–or maybe not! It starts with an enemies to lovers vibe. Frankly, I didn’t quite feel the attraction during the hate phase, but once it gets going I was really rooting for these two. This takes place in Auckland, so there is use of New Zealand vernacular. It alternates first person POV in different chapters. I am hoping this is a typo and will be removed before publication, but it breaks the fourth wall in Cal’s thoughts, “and yeah, you heard what I heard.” It is only one sentence, but I didn’t like it.
What
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Henry is homeless, rejected by his parents for being gay and HIV positive. When he arrives at Ryan’s Place, set up to help teens like him, he finds his potential, and eventually, with a lot of hard work under his belt, he begins classes at community college toward a degree that will ultimately help him pay back all he’s been given. There, teaching his class on Human Sexuality, is the silver fox professor he spent a one-night stand with on his 21
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 