Love it!

What a hot & sweet story! Complimented by Nick Russo’s narration. Nick’s voice in the sex scenes are just WOW! So hot!

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4.5-starred installment in a fun series!

H.J. Welch is a new-to-me author and her contribution to the multi-authored fourth season of Men of Hidden Creek is my first book from her. On the other hand, Nick J. Russo is a familiar narrator to my ears, having listened to numerous audiobooks where he brought stories to life. He's been the narrator throughout this audiobook series, but while this is already the fourth season, this is my first go-around with the series as a whole and it's been a rather fun-filled listening experience four audiobooks in. So far, I've enjoyed how each story is a standalone but is tied with all the others because of the Texas town. Reveal is the story of Jason Miller and Channing Forster, with the former being a NASA engineer and the latter a firefighter. Jason and Channing were childhood friends and neighbors, and Channing comes to Jason's rescue after he overhears Jason's homophobic co-worker bullying him. The two guys engage in a fake relationship during a NASA work getaway. Channing's always been straight, but spending time with the openly gay Jason has him wondering if he's actually bisexual and if their fake relationship can turn into the real thing. The question is: will Jason allow himself to see that Channing truly loves him? I quite adored Channing! The guy was the poster child for good guys everywhere. He had a heart of gold and there was no doubting how sincere his feelings were for Jason. Interestingly enough, it wasn't his realization that he was bi that became the stumbling block for what he and Jason were building together--it was Jason's own insecurities. As sweet as the guy was, there were moments where I wanted to pull him aside and shake him so he'd realize that he was worth more than how others saw him. H.J. Welch wrote an endearing story, one that Nick J. Russo brought admirably to life. 4.5 stars for Reveal. ♥

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Touching romance

This book hit me in all the feel-good places. Fake boyfriend and gay (or in this case bi) for you are two of my favorite tropes. Add in a geek, a sexy firefighter, a sweet kitten, and a dog and it’s the perfect Hidden Creek book. I’ve listened to several books from this season and am enjoying them. I love to catch the little ways the books are interconnected. Tiberius the ‘Beast’ from Rescue makes an appearance in this book, as do the rescued dogs. Makes me want another one but one is all I can handle. Still… The Summer Fair is going on and along with the Ferris Wheel and baking contests there are fireworks and wine slushies. Before the main characters get to the summer fair, though, they have some other shenanigans to get up to. Jason is part of a team of engineers at NASA. He’s smart and innovative but also shy and gay. Two of those stand him in good stead at work while, unfortunately, the other two do not. He belongs to a varied group of men but they are dominated by Leroy, a true bully. In fact Channing compares him to a high school bully and that felt really apt. We’ve all had to deal with a Leroy (mine was a teenage girl, but the bullying is the same). Jason makes up a boyfriend to try to get Leroy to leave him alone. Of course feeding the bully never calms him and only Channing showing up brings Leroy down a notch. Channing and Jason were friends when they were kids and even though they grew apart, there is a fondness there. What starts out as a fake boyfriend scenario becomes more real. Jason has to decide, though, if his feelings for Channing are mere hero worship and Channing has to decide if what he feels for Jason is real. Is he, in fact, a bisexual? There are many people in Channing’s life to help him sort through his feelings including a cousin and bisexual best friend. There are also townspeople who live their lives in the LGBTQ spectrum, mostly from previous books, I assume. Channing has watched Hidden Creek become an open and welcoming place to live and he’s thrilled for that. Perhaps that’s why he’s able to embrace this side of himself that he’d never noticed before. There are some sexy times in this book, but it’s also a very sweet and heart-felt romance. I fell in love with Jason and Channing and was thrilled to see them finally put aside their ‘rules’ and admit how they really felt about each other. Nick J. Russo narrates the series and I think he was a great choice. He differentiates each character nicely and I enjoy his, uh, sexy noises. Just sayin’. There are more books in the series and I can’t wait to listen to those as well. I am definitely enjoying my time in Hidden Creek.

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Enjoyed!

I love a fake boyfriend story and Reveal is such a good one. I found Jason and Channing to be very likeable characters. I was totally invested in seeing them get their HEA. I thought this story was a very sweet romance with lots of humor, a little bit of angst and just the right amount of heat. Nick J. Russo does an amazing job of giving voice to these guys!

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great book and listen

This was a wonderful story that will make you happy and warm inside. The main charters are well developed and absolutely amazing together. The story was engaging and kept you going thru out the story. Nick did a great job bringing this book to life for me. His voice is like velvet and it makes your heart melt when you listen to him

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The sweetest story

I loved this story. It’s about a big strong firefighter discovering his true feelings and accepting them. It’s also about a geek that’s out as gay but still not feeling like himself and his journey to self discovery is not easy, how will these two work things out? No unnecessary descriptions of surroundings Great dialogues I felt like I knew the characters in the end, they were so well described and developed in to distinct personalities, so different but so fitting together. The storyline progresses nicely to a happy ending. I’m absolutely in love with Hidden Creek 😍 and look forward to listening to the next book Narrator: Clear pronunciation and read with feelings 5 stars overall

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Very fun GFY firefighter/geek fake relationship!

Hot firefighter Channing is unexpectedly reunited with childhood geeky next door neighbor Jason years after high school and going their separate ways in life. A chance encounter in a grocery store and a spontaneous impulse of Channing’s to defend Jason to a coworker bully results in the two of them reconnecting for real as friends and deciding to pose as boyfriends at Jason’s NASA workgroup teambuilding retreat weekend. What could go possibly go wrong? Channing is straight, but almost immediately has feelings for Jason that he doesn’t completely understand. Jason is gay, and feels an instant attraction to Channing that he tries to suppress; in addition to his status as a virgin and insecure sense of self, he doesn’t think someone as hot as Channing could ever be interested in him, anyway. But this is Hidden Creek, perhaps the most LGBTQ+ positive locus on the planet… all of the elements are woven together to tell a story that is sweet with a touch of angst and hot as a four alarm fire! Lots of smiles and all of the ‘feels’ that you would expect from HJ Welch, delivered with a fantastic narration/vocal performance by the extremely talented Nick J Russo. Highly recommended!

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Lovely story and performance

I really enjoyed this story from HJ Welch. Both main characters had struggles to overcome to get to their HEA, but they made it. I'm always a fan of a character who has a late- bi awakening, and it was fun to ride along with Channing as he realized an aspect of himself he hadn't seen before. Likewise it was satisfying to see Jason's journey as he struggled with self confidence and how to be his true self. I loved that both MC's had to find the truth about and in themselves before they could give their relationship the chance it deserved. Nick J Russo's performance was excellent. His characterizations were steady throughout, and he really brought out the emotion in the dialogue.

Enjoyable!

I really liked Channing, he was very sweet, protective and supportive. Unfortunately, while I liked Jason, I never quite warmed up to him. His insecurities and the way he self-sabotaged himself just annoyed me to no end, Add to that, that I'm not quite a fan of getting past your insecurities through a makeover and that didn't work for me at all. Channing and Jason had chemistry and were adorable together, so there's that. Plus, I think Channing's awakening to his bisexuality was pretty well done. The bad guy was almost caricaturesque, a bit one-dimensional, and I hoped we'd seen more of his comeuppance, rather than just being told what happened to him. While not my favorite book, Nick's narration was very enjoyable and did add a lot to the story. His voices for all the characters were very distinctive and he always injects a lot of emotion to the story. Recommendable!

A cute, fun read with all the feels.

This story is super cute. The main characters are both fun and engaging to read about. The extensive cast of secondary characters all feel like real people you'd see out and about in this universe. This story has all the feels, sweet and romantic, an antagonist worth hating, and some great moments to make you laugh. The voice acting and narration are great. Russo does a fantastic job of bringing these characters and this story to life. If you're looking for something that's cute and sweet and not too long, this read will be perfect for you.