My Review:
Overall.... 4.5
Performance... 4.25
Story.... 4.5

This is the first in a trio of books, each featuring a different hero. I love the premise behind the friendship between these three guys. When they were eighteen, a girl they all loved (one of the guys was her boyfriend, the other two considered her as a sister) was raped at a party. They beat up the guy that did it and that beating killed him. One of the men, Jase, took the fall for all three. The other two had promising futu...

My Review:
Overall.... 4.5
Performance... 4.25
Story.... 4.5

This is the first in a trio of books, each featuring a different hero. I love the premise behind the friendship between these three guys. When they were eighteen, a girl they all loved (one of the guys was her boyfriend, the other two considered her as a sister) was raped at a party. They beat up the guy that did it and that beating killed him. One of the men, Jase, took the fall for all three. The other two had promising futures. He didn't. There was no reason for them all to lose their future. So Jase went to prison for 9 years at the age of 18. He was young and scrawny and the things that you would expect to happen to a kid like that in prison happened to him, until he bulked up and learned how to protect himself. His is a heartbreaking story....but none of these guys came out of this unscathed. The other two are so guilt-ridden over it all, they are more than a little broken, too. But the three are the best of friends and decided with Jase's release that it was time for a new start in Strawberry Valley, Oklahoma.

Jase is a big, muscled, tattooed, scary dude that looks like someone who spent the last decade in prison. He has a cold, harsh edge to him that's more than a little intimidating to most people. But Brook Lynn is not anyone's pushover. She stands up to him, challenging him at every turn and he soon finds himself enamored.

They meet when Brook Lynn shows up to drag her sister out of his bed. Yep, you read that right. The two of them first meet just after he had sex with her sister. Can we say conflict? Yeah, there's that. And as the two of them get closer (something they both fight hard), every time she thinks about him with her sister, I want to just cry for her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I love how big and tough Jase is, but how gentle he is with Brook Lynn and even eventually with her sister, Jessie Kay. This was a fabulous start to this series. All of the characters within it are so broken. All of them are introduced in this first book, but with that being said...any one of these books can EASILY be read as a stand alone. It's a great series. (As I'm writing this review, I already listened to book #2 and am starting with book #3...nice thing about reading them late is that I can devour the series in back to back readings...well, listens in this case.)

I highly recommend this first book and the entire series.

Note: Overall, I really enjoy this narrator, but she doesn't have much differences between her men's voices. It's okay though because of Gena Showalter's writing...she's always good about identifying who is speaking when the guys are all together. So, although it's a detractor against the narrator overall, the books are definitely good enough that it's not a detractor against the audiobook at all.

First, let me say that I'm happy that Gena Showalter is now writing contemporary, non-paranormal romances again. I enjoyed those she wrote in the past. I'm not totally against paranormal themes, but it's not really my genre. I loved Jase. He maintains a strong, stoic exterior that may even seem cold, but he is a sensitive, tortured soul internally who desperately needs love, acceptance, and support from the heroine Brook Lynn. He is trying so hard to put his past behind him and move forward. ...

First, let me say that I'm happy that Gena Showalter is now writing contemporary, non-paranormal romances again. I enjoyed those she wrote in the past. I'm not totally against paranormal themes, but it's not really my genre. I loved Jase. He maintains a strong, stoic exterior that may even seem cold, but he is a sensitive, tortured soul internally who desperately needs love, acceptance, and support from the heroine Brook Lynn. He is trying so hard to put his past behind him and move forward. At times I was very annoyed with Brook Lynn for doubting him and pulling back from him.
SPOILERS: The flaws I found in the plot are that when Jase's ex shows up, it turns out that she has a daughter by him. I think that's an unnecessary complication. Is GS planning to make the ex a heroine in a future book? As another reviewer mentioned, I think that the path from animosity between Brook Lynn and the ex was too rushed. Either there shouldn't have been any animosity or more time should have been devoted to them moving toward a friendship. The other issue is the fact that Jase slept with Brook Lynn's sister before meeting Brook Lynn. Yuke! It would've been better if it'd been a friend or something. The sister Jessie Kay seems to have very few redeeming qualities and I don't know how GS is going to make her likeable as a heroine in (it seems) a future sequel where Jessie Kay's the love interest for West (whom I like already).

I have long been a fan of Gena's and her writing, of course we all know how fantastic her paranormal romance novels are, I adore her Lords Of The Underworld series, so when I got the chance to join up to the blog tour for The Closer You Come to read and write a review I jumped at the chance. I was extremely intrigued to see how well she could pull of writing a contemporary romance and let me just say she aced it!

I made sure to read the prequel novella first The One You Want which helped t...

I have long been a fan of Gena's and her writing, of course we all know how fantastic her paranormal romance novels are, I adore her Lords Of The Underworld series, so when I got the chance to join up to the blog tour for The Closer You Come to read and write a review I jumped at the chance. I was extremely intrigued to see how well she could pull of writing a contemporary romance and let me just say she aced it!

I made sure to read the prequel novella first The One You Want which helped to familiarise myself with the couple Kenna and Dane who appeared in this book a few times, Kenna was Brooke Lynn's best-friend and I really enjoyed their story, Jase also appeared towards the end of the novella so I had already been introduced to his character and because of this I was really interested to discover why he'd spent the last nine years in prison.

I picked up The Closer You Come with a sense of excitement and anticipation for the story, characters and the wonder that is Gena's writing, I knew I was going to enjoy this, she has a way of writing in any genre it seems and just nailing it, the story of Brooke Lynn and Jase's romance made for an intense and thrilling read, the devastating history of Jase's childhood and incarceration was so sad and heartbreaking, knowing that because of all he'd been through he thought that he wasn't worthy of anything good in his life, not even the chance to find happiness and someone to love and have them love him in return, believing that no one would ever be able to see beyond the fact that he was an ex-con, that was before Brooke Lynn entered his life, as much as he tried to fight it Jace found himself falling for her hard, and she for him.

But of course their way to a happily ever after was never going to be smooth sailing, with misunderstandings, disagreements and self preservation aplenty throughout, Jace and Brooke Lynn sure do have their work cut out for them, add in a cast of fun and interesting supporting characters and you have yourself a delightfully, entertaining read that will leave you wanting more.

I'm anxiously awaiting the next couple of books which will focus on Jase's two best-friends West and Brent and also Brooke Lynn's sister Jessie Kay, I'm pretty sure their stories will be as captivating as this one was.

I would recommend this book to everyone who likes their contemporary romances hot and steamy, hard to put down and with a plot that will be sure to keep you on your toes.

A great read with romance, hardships, love, humour and suspense. Love this series. A must read!!! Gena Showalter is an amazing writer!

A great read with romance, hardships, love, humour and suspense. Love this series. A must read!!! Gena Showalter is an amazing writer!