Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Christian Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Nicole Deese
Publisher: Bethany House
Release Date: April 15th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sophie Wilder returns home to California with nothing more than a failed Broadway career and a geriatric cat. Stuck working at the family winery with her egotistical brother and desperate for a way to revive her acting dreams, she takes a side gig as an audiobook narrator with Fog Harbor Books. But getting mixed up in the life of her reluctant sound engineer was never a part of her plans.

August Tate is still reeling from taking guardianship of his teen sister. Determined to find a solution to her degenerative hearing loss and to prevent his private recording studio from going under, he agrees to produce audiobooks part-time. When Sophie breathes new life into his creativity and forms an unexpected bond with his sister, rooted in their common faith, he must confront the reasons he turned away from his own.

Bestselling and award-winning author Nicole Deese weaves an emotionally charged romance rich in the complexities of love and family.

Thank you to the author and Bethany House for the gifted copy.

A STRONG STORY.

First and foremost I loved the deaf/hard of hearing rep so much. I felt like I learned a lot and appreciated seeing this heavily present in the book. It’s a theme throughout and there was a copious amount of knowledge gained.

The relationship between Sophie and August was sweet. They went from strangers to lovers well and I liked the times the spent together and the little nudges of getting to know each other and feel seen within their own personal trials. I was highly frustrated by the third act because it involved one of my least favorite third act tropes, but I digress. These two had a tender and beautiful romance I loved seeing blossom.

The side plot with Sophie’s brother Jasper never felt complete or fully woven in. I don’t know how to put my finger on it that something was missing from this nefarious side quest and I needed something different from him.

All of the audiobook and ASL learning content was amazing though. I loved those aspects and they really carried the journey in this story. A bit preachy here and there for my usual preferences in reading a Christian romance but I think this will still resonate with a lot of people and hopefully bring some peace while reading this beautiful book.

Overall audience notes:

• Christian Contemporary Romance
• Language: none
• Romance: kisses
• Violence: moderate
• Content Warnings: loss of parents (recounted), mentions of spousal abuse (brief), grief depictions, panic attack on page

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