Heart Untouched

By: Andrew Grey

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

An accident crushed Duncan’s Olympic dreams and landed him in a chair, but he knows it’s time to get his life back on track - and he has a plan in mind. Working with his friend Todd, an Olympic skeleton racer, on a promotional campaign will not only help Duncan regain some direction, but it’ll give Todd the financial boost he desperately needs. The sport Todd loves is draining his resources - so much so that he’s thinking of giving up racing just to make ends meet.

As the two men work together, their friendship blossoms into much more, and suddenly the future is looking brighter than it has in a long time. But just when love, happiness, and success seem within their grasp, the USOC steps in with plans to stop their campaign. That’ll mean an end not just to Duncan’s business, but to Todd’s dreams…and Duncan isn’t about to let that happen to the man who means everything to him.

©2019 Dreamspinner Press (P)2019 Dreamspinner Press

Good story but …

Listened to this because it was on the audible romance/escape package. It’s clearly not a standalone novel, but it was mostly enjoyable regardless, since I mostly enjoyed it without knowing the backstory. Decent disability representation.

While the very gay & disabled friendly environment seemed like there would have more detail in other installments, what didn’t work for me was that at the start, we *only* see moody/irritated Duncan. Todd told us he liked Duncan from before his accident, but I didn’t see enough of Duncan being anything but a pill to understand how he still saw that when every interaction with Duncan went to frustration and fear. Here’s the thing, a friend of mine was paralyzed from an accident so I saw how that played out. There were bad times. But there were also bright spots, and this book didn’t gave enough bright spots early on for me to see why Todd was so stuck on Duncan. I think the desire to arc Duncan from moody & feeling useless to feeling useful & upbeat was right, but having mire glimpses of fun Duncan would have improved the book for me a lot.

(Smallish spoiler?) The erectile disfunction issue was mostly handwaved away by Duncan healing more over time, so by the time they started dating, they really didn’t have to entertain the possibility that it might be off the table. Todd talked a good enough game that I believe his character would have been ok with any outcome and workaround but Duncan never really seemed to be ok enough with the idea which made the quick recovery feel like a dodge. (/end spoilerish bit)

Steam: med-low. Basic M/M sexytimes occurred on page but didn’t dominate the storyline. I liked that the setting had them safe being openly affectionate in public as a normal thing. Being gay is never a point of contention in this book which is great.

Narration: I love this narrator. Liking the audio got me through my frustration with Duncan.

Heartwarming

I give the story a solid 4.5 stars, only because all the steamy scenes were taken out. That's just a personal preference. This is a new to me author, though one I would read again. The narration was great.

A great rainy day read

I have seen some reviews criticizing this book because “nothing happens”. It’s true there is no big drama or suspense. But it’s a great love story between two people trying to overcome adversity in their lives. I found it very satisfying, and I’ll read it again. And Greg Tremblay did a great job narrating.

An okay listen

For some books it’s almost impossible to write a review, for various reasons. The book could have been so good that it left you unable to form words, let alone coherent sentences. Then there are the books on the opposite side of the spectrum, the ones you regret reading/listening to, the ones, where you can’t seem to find a single nice thing to say. You can lack words for a myriad of reasons. This time and for this book I have that problem, not because the book was good or bad, but because it was neither. It didn’t make me feel anything, good or bad. It was a middle road kind of book, a story we’ve all seen and heard before. No real conflict or drama, and no real emotions evoked in the listener. I felt uninspired and wanted something more.

I should have loved this book, or at the very least really enjoyed it. I mean a main character in a wheelchair and narration by Greg Tremblay? It’s has my name in it, I could hear it calling a mile away. That feeling of eagerness and anticipation left me as soon as I started listening and I have no real explanation of why. Listening to stories with survivors or disadvantaged characters usually inspire me. I’m drawn to their strength, they humble me. That never happened with this book. There wasn’t much going on plot-wise and the blurb is a pretty good summary of it. It was low-key and mostly drama free. There was some attempt at creating some drama at the end of the book, but it felt lacklustre at best and only as a plot device. Because once we get to the happily ever after, or for now as the case might be, that part is still left unresolved.

Greg Tremblay is a wonderful performer and narrator, we all know that. But even his talent couldn’t bring this book beyond mediocre. It lacked passion and feeling and sadly failed to connect the listener to the story and the main characters. I have no clue if that was all on my part or the book in general. I do love Tremblay’s voice so that’s always a reason to keep listening to his narrations.

This was, supposedly, a feel-good and fluffy romance, nothing wrong with that I like fluff as much as the next girl. But when I do read these kinds of stories, I want to feel the warmth, the love, the fluff, and I just didn’t. Didn’t feel much of anything if I’m being honest – which I guess is the point of an honest review. However I did enjoy the first two books in this series, so I’m sticking with it and hope the next one will make more of an impression.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

Great Book

I am so glad I got this book I read it once a long time ago and believe it or not I was just thinking about it but couldn't remember the title. The book is sad but sweet. The narrator is one of my favorites which I think makes the book even better. LOVE THE STORY!

what did I just read

I'm not sure if this book was about? how Olympic athletes are treated, crazy ex-friends or maybe a man who is trying to deal with being in a wheelchair. It was not a steamy romantic m/m book. There were too many subplots and not one good solid plot. I got sick of hearing the guy in the wheelchair whine 80% of the book. I do not recommend the story.