Lotus

A Love Story

By: Jennifer Hartmann

Narrated by: Marie Hawkins, TJ Clark

Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

"All these years, I've never given my heart to anyone . . . The truth is, I didn't have a heart to give. My heart was with a ghost."

To the rest of the world, he was the little boy who went missing on the Fourth of July. But to Sydney Neville, he was everything. Her heart hasn't been the same since her best friend disappeared, but she's learned to build her life around that missing piece.

Twenty-two years later, the last thing Sydney expects is for Oliver Lynch to return. Having been captive underground for decades, he's unfamiliar with the strange new world that awaits him—but he's alive. He's here. And no matter how he's changed, he and Sydney both still feel the connection that runs between them.

But as their reborn friendship begins to feel like something more, Sydney and Oliver realize there are still jagged, painful truths creating space between them. The walls Sydney's built don't want to come down, and as Oliver hunts for his missing memories and lost time, he realizes his nightmare is not yet over.

With nothing as it seems, is there space for love to bloom in this dark place?

Contains mature themes.

©2020, 2023 Jennifer Hartmann (P)2023 Tantor

Fantastic

I read ‘Still Beating’ several months ago and loved it. So happy I finally read Lotus! Mystery, romance, it’s fantastic

Tugged at my heart

I’ve had this in my library for months and kept passing it up…why?! I loved the story so much. I felt their bond so deeply. If this book had less sexual detail it still would’ve been an incredible story…I wouldn’t change a thing though.

"She is every wish."

1st person/dual pov (mostly)
Spice: 3/5

I have been saying I was going to read this book for a couple of years now and never got around to it... how stupid of me lol. I should have read this as soon as I finished Still Beating! Oliver is this kind and incredibly smart man who has no idea how the normal world operates after being kept in an underground room for over twenty years. With very little human interaction and nothing but time on his hands, he turned to reading anything and everything his abductor would bring him from fictional stories to textbooks. Once he is back home it is clear how intelligent he is when it comes to his education but his lack of social skills gives him this adorable almost childlike quality that you can't help but feel drawn to. The way he talks to people without using any shortcuts or slang makes him stand out and at times offers up some pretty funny moments during his interactions with other characters. I just wanted to hug him pretty much the entire book lol he is seriously the cutest thing ever!

As for Sydney, I liked her instantly due to her laid-back and fun personality. She's goofy and doesn't take herself too seriously which is something that I look for in the people I surround myself with. She's one of those characters that I could see fitting into my own circle of friends and it made me feel for her as I would someone I care about. I wanted her to find happiness, I wanted her to heal from missing Oliver all of these years, and I wanted her to allow herself to experience the love that so obviously existed between her and Oliver. Which brings me to another point - their connection. It is evident early on that they have been connected since childhood even when spending so many years apart but I had no idea just how deep that connection ran until the end of the book. I feel like this took 'childhood friends to lovers' and elevated it a notch. And once the answer to the question that has been haunting Oliver for years about the word that followed him into adulthood is revealed you will understand it as well. At that moment I think I cried more than I did the entire book because my heart just couldn't handle how perfect it was. What an amazing detail to write into a story like this! It's so touching and I never saw it coming.

The spice was not super heavy but what was there was very steamy and emotionally charged. In a story like this though I wouldn't want more spice because I feel like it could easily take away from the beauty of their journey to finding love. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have cared it there had been zero spice because their story was that good on its own. Ugh, I just can't get over how sweet and perfect they are together!!

As for the audiobook lovers out there do not hesitate on this one. I swapped back and forth between reading and listening and the narrators did a fantastic job on this performance. They brought the characters to life and it felt genuine instead of forced. I've never listened to either of these narrators before so at first I was worried if I would like them but they definitely surpassed my expectations and did such a good job on this book!

I truly believe Jennifer cannot write a bad book. At least I haven't found one yet and if one does exist I never want to find it lol!

*There is some potentially triggering content in this book so be mindful of the TW provided by the author before reading.*

I have a few opinions here

So this book was different for me. The MMC not being dominate. He was more child like and that’s obvious for his circumstance. Just not my cup of tea.

so the Male narrator , I’m not really not into his voice. It’s too high pitch for me. Also the female narrator must have a hard time pronouncing Ls. It was really strange.

Good story

This was a good story and the narrators did well apart from one minor thing that bugged me throughout the whole book. The female narrator doesn't pronounce the "L" sound in words. Shoulder, hold, old all pounced without the "L" which made me realize the word shoulder is in this book at least 35 times lol 😆 and hold is written in this book just as many times. Overal, it was a good story. I liked Still Beating a lot more though.

A treasured favorite

What a treat to revisit this book. I’ll always love the original narrators, but it was fun to listen to the update as well. Oliver Lynch has my whole heart. 🪷

Beautiful story!

Jennifer finds a way to make you laugh, cry and shock you in the best and worst ways throughout her books. Great job by her and the narrators.

Beautifully Written

I absolutely adored this book. I read “Still Beating” first, and there was a very brief mentioning of Oliver in it. So, I knew immediately that I HAD to read his story, and it did not disappoint. You don’t have to read “Still Beating” first, but I would recommend it. There are characters that you get introduced to in it that will help you have an even better understanding once you see them again in Lotus.

Stick With The Written Version

Story so good I own the kindle version too. Pretty much all of Jennifer’s books are fantastic enough to buy.
However the narrators for this story, especially the male, ruined the characters for me. Had I not read the written version first, I would not have finished this story.
I will make sure not to buy any audibles read by this man. So cringy!
Stick with the written version!

Amazing!

So good! Amazing story telling. I was hooked the whole way through. I literally could not put this one down. MMC was just the most precious of men. I swooned!