The Beautiful Ache

I have come to admire and respect the literary talents of Felice Stevens and the beautiful men she breathes life into. Drew and Ash might now be among my favorites.

This beautiful tale is heartbreaking and hopeful all at once.

A broken and bitter man finds in himself the courage and strength to face the demons that have haunted him while a solitary man dreams of love. It's epic and grand and horrifying but in it all there is such strength.

I am not a spoilery reviewer so I will not divulge anything but rather let you discover those wonders for yourself but I will say that it is a rarity when the secondary characters are as beautifully developed as the MC'S and you get that here.

Esther, a holocaust survivor. Jordan a lifelong friend who's loyalty and angst are so compelling that you want more of his story (which you get in the 2nd book) and that love that only a sister can offer.

This is a story of finding love, of along that love to give you what you didn't dare dream to be yours. For a throw away kid to find a home and a family. It resonates with those of us who share aspects of commonality and yet informs those who have not of just how much darkness survivors have to overcome just to trust..to feel worthy..to find our place.

5 people found this helpful

The narration really made justice to the book...

***Audible code provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my listening pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***

There's just something about Asher that just draws me in. I have a thing for broken characters, perhaps because there's more room for growth and change and Asher is so broken it just tugged at my heartstrings. Yes, he could be ruthless and a bit (okay, okay, a lot) of a jerk, yet, he had gone through so much and he felt so much, even if he tried not to show it, that I just wanted to cuddle him and make it all better for him and somehow Kale Williams made me feel even more connected with him, so kudos to him for that.

I don't particularly care for Drew for the first half of the book. For as much as he was a good guy, the fact that he told Ash that he was worthless (even if it was in the heat of a fight and all) just didn't sit right with me and listening to it was even harder than reading it. Drew eventually won me over once he stood up for himself and for Ash, fighting for him and what he knew was right, but it took me a bit to warm up to him.

The chemistry between Drew and Ash was undeniable from the start and Kale Williams managed to translate that to his narration. The sex scenes were already hot, but listening to them in Kale's voice, made the room's temperature go up quite a bit.

I loved the secondary characters' voices, especially Esther, Drew's grandmother.

I've read this book twice and it's one of my all-time favorites, and it has to be one of the best audibles I've listened to, as well, making an already fantastic, heart-wrenching, emotional rollercoaster kind of book even better with Kale Williams' fantastic narrating skills.

Highly recommendable!!!

Rating: 5 Stars!!!

4 people found this helpful

3.5 stars- Hurt/comfort romance, heavy on the hurt

I went in blind to this audiobook, listening without even reading the blurb and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Both the narrator and author of A Walk Through Fire were new to me, but I’ll certainly look for more from each of them. The novel includes a few different tropes- hurt/comfort, gay-for-you, and the millionaire playboy. Although there is a heavy dose of angst, probably more hurt than comfort, and it even borders on the dramatic at times, I was drawn in. The story and the characters were fairly complex and fully captured my attention.

The story is told in the third person omniscient POV, and the audiobook features narrator Kale Williams. Mr. Williams has a great voice which fits well with the characters. His timing and delivery are good, especially his propensity for changing up his voice based on circumstances, such as when a character talks around food in his mouth. While, I wasn’t a huge fan of his southern accent randomly cropping up for Asher, it did fit with the character. Overall it was a great performance that made for a pleasurable listening experience.

A Walk Through Fire had an interesting spin on the gay-for-you angle. Asher is an out, playboy lawyer who represents Drew’s ex-wife during their divorce. Drew is represented by Asher’s longtime friend, who goes on to introduce the two men over a potential business relationship. I liked that the author used Drew’s community center for at risk youth to bring the two men together. It offered a unique scenario and connection, allowing them to grow close without rushing the relationship. While there is a believable initial draw between Ash and Drew, the romance is more drawn out because of their shrouded pasts. The secretive pasts made it difficult to get a read on both men initially. I liked their characters and found their backstories intriguing, but I wasn’t completely taken with either man. This was heavily influenced by the conflicts and the way Asher pursued Drew at first. It felt too aggressive and, combined with their back and forth drama, was a little off-putting. Although some of the conflicts and reactions, particularly between Ash and Drew were a bit juvenile, the push-pull and uncertainties expected in a GFY romance were well developed. I did think Ash and Drew’s personalities compared and contrasted well and it was clear how each would support the other and help him confront his demons. Despite having some hang-ups, I was drawn to their story.

A good deal of the conflict in the story focused on the center, including the men working together despite having unresolved issues and attraction and their work affecting their social lives. I think this aspect made the story incredibly interesting and added another layer to the plot. I also liked the way the author used the center to draw out their personalities, particularly Asher’s. With him being withdrawn from others, his work with the center was where the reader really gains insight into the depth of his character and painful past. It made it easier to have empathy despite some of his less appealing characteristics. The secondary characters, consisting of Drew’s friends and family and people involved with the center, really added to the story. The interrelationships created a quasi-community, and made for a good hook for the entire series. As with any first book in the series, there were some unresolved conflicts left to address in the remaining books, but the main conflicts regarding this couple reached a full resolution.

While I had a little trouble with bits and pieces of this book, my interest was certainly piqued and I enjoyed the complexity of the characters. There are significant events toward the end of the book that left me really intrigued as to what will happen next with this cast of characters. I definitely plan to continue the series and would recommend it to fans of stories that contain a good dose of emotional upheaval.

*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*

3 people found this helpful

beautiful amazing and so such a good book!

I loved this book so much, I can hardly describe it with words.... I don't want do make spoilers to any one so I will not speak about the content in the book I just can say it was lovely.
I cried some times I really felt the pain Asher endured ... the m&m moments are well described... the story is good and the narrator is amazing. I certainly know the I will read more book's of this writer and narrator in the near future.... I went to read the second book ❤❤❤❤

2 people found this helpful

Lovely, romantic and steamy.

There was a little bit of everything in the book. Very sweet love story with hot and steamy on the side.

2 people found this helpful

Omo!

first off the narrator and how he did Ash's voice, was so so good loved it. this was a good book I highly recommend.
*note*🚨🚨 DO NOT READ THE SUMMARY FOR THE SECOND BOOK, IT WILL SPOIL THE END TO THIS BOOK!!!🚨🚨

1 person found this helpful

Hot and emotional

There was a lot I respected about this book. For one, the characters were honest and didn't spend a lot of time doing the back and forth misunderstanding, no communication game. I loved that. When one would run, the other would call him on it and I love the honesty behind that behavior.

I also loved the progressive, forward thinking that I would hope will be common place someday because it was beautiful and natural and exactly how I raise my kids.

I did lose interest once or twice because it got a little long. I felt it could have been edited a bit. Even the prologue kinda felt too long for me. But it only loses one star for that because the story line and content was soooo good.

Kale Williams was genius. He did such a good job giving SO many male character their own voice. I have no idea how he did it. I always knew who was talking.

1 person found this helpful

what an amazing read

Wow this book was filled with so much emotion so much depth it was fantastic read the narrator amazing as usual this is my 3rd book by the author and she just keeps getting better I'm about to read the next book in the series

Sweet but Not Hot

I did enjoy this series but c’mon...the point of using certain language to describe a sex scene is to make it a hot one. This author starts the motor running and then it stalls out. Ms. Stevens’ men “finish” faster than a virgin on prom night.
If you’re looking for sweet love stories, you’re in for a treat. If it’s smoking hot action you’re looking for, you’re in for dry toast.
The narrator was OK. He’s no Joe Arden or Shane East but he was OK.

Another winner by Felice Stevens

Excellent book with great narration. MCs complimented one another and helped each other overcome inner demons. Highly recommended.