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Title: Hold Me Close

Subtitle: Paradise, Idaho, Book 2

Author: Rosalind James

Narrator: Phil Gigante, Natalie Ross

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-08-15

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 468 votes

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Kayla Chambers knows what love is - and what it isn't. When her boyfriend turns abusive, she and her son escape to a new life in a place where he'll never find them. The idyllic town of Paradise, Idaho, has everything she needs to get back on her feet. Survival is her only goal, and the last thing she wants is another man in her life.

But Kayla's new neighbor, high school principal Luke Jackson, is determined to change her mind. Luke usually takes the fast lane with women, but he can see that Kayla and her son need help, and he wants to earn her trust - even if that means taking things slow. He strikes up a friendship that soon simmers into something passionate and real. But when Kayla's past catches up with her, Luke knows he has to find a way to keep her safe...or risk losing her forever.

Members Reviews:

Love the narration

I listened to Carry Me Home, the first book in Rosalind James' Paradise, Idaho series a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. With this second book of the series, she has totally won me over. While I found Carry Me Home quite light-hearted with lots of witty banter and humor, the atmosphere of Hold Me Close was much more serious and highly emotional. I've read several books this year that focused on domestic abuse, but this one definitely affected me the most. The way the author portrayed the fear and insecurities of the abused, especially the effect it had on a young child, was really heartbreaking. The chapters from the abuser's point of view were totally creepy and disturbing.

That said, it wasn't all depressing and sad. There was plenty of fun stuff and romance, too. In fact, there were a lot more sex scenes in this one than in the previous one, so the emphasis was definitely on romance rather than suspense. My reason for giving this 4 instead of 5 stars: Luke was a bit too perfect to be real, and the shooting of the detective was a bit of a loose end. The suspense side of it just got resolved too easily and quickly for my taste.

Nevertheless, this series is now among my favorite romantic suspense series. Some of that may have to do with the absolutely awesome narration of the audio books by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross. Love the way the narrators stick to their gender for narrating the male and female parts and swap back and forth within the chapters. Great audio production!

Another hit from Rosalind James

I read and loved this book so much. The author puts a lot of emotion into her characters, and I had to wipe my eyes every time I read a chapter with the young boy, Eli, in it. That being said, the narrators were good but could have been more awesome at bringing out the emotion in the characters. I did like the male/female switcheroo; it's just the narrators seemed a bit too old for the characters.

That being said, this is a GREAT STORY. and I can't wait to read & listen to the next one in the series.

A beautiful love story, suspense and realism

If you could sum up Hold Me Close in three words, what would they be?

tender, protective, overcomer

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kayla - she was so strong, with so much courage and conviction.