Only Ever You

By: CD Reiss

Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Brian Pallino

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times bestselling author CD Reiss comes a story of friendship, romance, and growing into a love that was always there.

Rachel knew exactly what turning thirty would be like. She had a plan, after all. First college, then a climb up the professional ladder. Love, marriage, children. All of it was on the schedule.

The cheap Hollywood apartment wasn’t on the list. Neither was the string of heartbreaks. Or the effect her mother’s cancer had on her career.

It’s hard to stay practical and on point when everything takes a left turn.

Enter Sebastian, the nerd across the street. The boy she defended when he couldn’t defend himself. The best friend she promised she’d marry if life didn’t go according to plan.

Not only is he successful, confident, and gorgeous, but he also still has their handwritten marriage contract.

No one goes through with childhood wedding pacts.

That’s crazy.

But their families might just be crazy enough to rent a hall and set a date. All Rachel and Sebastian have to do is fall in love.

©2019 by Flip City Media Inc. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

loved it

I really enjoyed reading this author.  I look forward to reading more books by this author in the near future.

Meh

I really wanted to like this book as I had some of the others by the author but I didn’t. Sebastien was too much of a push over. Rachel’s self esteem was not high. I can’t stand a weak female.

At the heart of it all is love

This was perfect for my mood. The sweet, uncomplicated romance. Well, not so uncomplicated but sweet and romantic nonetheless. He’s adored her from afar in his “dweeb”like manner whiles been his champion against the bullies. Friends. Adulthood has reversed the roles and added layers of confusion. At the heart of it all is love. Love of family. Love of career. And love for the one that makes you complete, that makes you a better you.

I thoroughly enjoyed the narrators and Brian Pallino has a very nice voice.

Sweet with a Bit of Hotness

I love CD Reiss stories! This story is a bit different from some of her past work. It’s a friends to lovers and fake engagement story. There is a twist that makes this slow burn spicy in all the right ways. Andi Arndt is great as the screen writer, Rachel. It’s my first audio by Brian Pallino, and I love his deep silky voice as Sebastian.

Sweet and Touching

Loved the sweet struggle of how two long time friends find each other again, and find love where they didn't expect it!

Childhood friends turn into more

The narrators hit just the right tone with this sorry. I loved listening to this one.
Rachel and Sebastian made me smile through out this story. They were both people and they were loved by their respective families.

The pace of their love story was great. It wasn’t rushed, rather layer after layer peeled away until they were forced to lay it all bare to each other.

It was interesting how life beat Rachel’s independence and self trust out of her while Sebastian found his strength as he grew. Through it all, I’m glad they had each other’s back.

Fake marriage between friends

Rachel had these grand plans to become a writer, marry, and start a family. Instead she put her life on hold to take care of her mother who had breast cancer. Fourteen years later, Rachel feels like a failure in comparison to Sebastian who started out as the nerdy neighborhood boy. Sebastian found success and muscles. Rachel feels like she lost her chance to become successful.
With time and distance between them neither gave much thought to each other until Christmas rolled around and both were in town.
Meanwhile, as she struggles with her failures she’s reminded of a pact her and Sebastian made about marrying each other if both were still single at the age of thirty. Then there’s the possibility that her mother might be sick again. In the back of her mind she believes her mother is waiting to see Rachel marry before it’s too late.
What is love?

Overall:
Rachel thought she would be settled by thirty.
Sebastian wants Rachel to love the real him.
Marriage pact out of obligation.
Fake engagement to fulfill family expectations.
Friends to lovers.
Being a writer but with strings attached.
All these elements make up for a great storyline, however when Ms. Reiss puts them all together something doesn’t fit. Rachel’s hesitations hold back my connection. Her self doubts had me questioning her abilities to progress. Sebastian seemed all to eager to please Rachel despite his own reservations.
My biggest hang up was the amount of time these characters spent living separate lives. I wouldn’t say either stopped living life, yet it seemed too coincidental how Sebastian ditched his girlfriend just before seeing Rachel. I wasn’t getting a good vibe from reading Rachel’s feelings.
The scenes to look forward to are those delicious sex scenes. That’s what I recognize about Ms. Reiss. Then there’s the grand gesture.

Narrators:
Andi Arndt is the narrator of hundreds of audiobooks in romance, bio/memoir, YA and literary fiction, and is a member of the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame. She is the Executive Producer of Lyric Audiobooks, which produces award winning audiobooks for best selling authors. Andi Arndt’s voice has been described as "welcoming," "calm," "clear," and "sublime"—which is exactly what you want from one of the most popular and beloved romance narrators working today. Andi delivers another great performance.
Brian Pallino is a highly sought-after narrator of contemporary adult and romance books. He has voiced series for multiple award-winning authors, including CD Reiss and Meredith Wild. With a versatile range, Brian is a storyteller who strives to bring books to life and move his listeners. This was my first listening experience by Brian and I must say he did an excellent job.
Together Andi and Brian brought these characters to life.

10stars

Everything h about this book was awesome. Little kids make a wedding pact. LOVE IT. !!!
Fantastic epilogue. One of my favorite authors does it again.

Unlike other CD Reissbooks not particularly sexy

This is a sweet, tame story about 2 old childhood friends who get together as adults. The guy is wimpy as a preteen who adores his pretty neighbor and the she stands up for him against the bullies. She is less sure of herself as an adult but becomes steady and more confident when she falls in love with her old best friend. He develops into a buff, sexy millionaire and a thoughtful kind, loving guy. They eventually work through some minor drams as their relationship develops. Solid narration and a nice HEA.

Really Good!

I really enjoyed this one. This was super sweet and romantic and great! Especially for anyone who had a childhood best friend of the opposite sex! The characters were likable and the story entertaining.