Free Me

By: Laurelin Paige

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Her story began long before she started working at The Sky Launch... Screw fairytales. The only reward Gwen Anders got from her rough childhood was a thick skin and hard heart. She's content with her daily grind managing a top NYC nightclub - Eighty-Eighth Floor. So hers isn't a happily ever after. She doesn't believe in those anyway. Then she meets JC.

The rich, smooth talking playboy is the sexiest thing that Gwen has ever encountered, but she's not interested in a night-in-shining latex. But when a family tragedy pushes her to the brink, it's JC who's there to teach her a new method of survival, one based on following primal urges and desires. His no-strings-attached lessons require her to abandon her constant need for control. Her carefully built walls are obliterated. Gwen discovers there's a beautiful world outside her prison. Freedom is exhilarating - and terrifying. When she starts to feel something for JC, she fears for her heart. Especially as she realizes that he has secrets of his own. Secrets that don't want to set him free.

©2014 Laurelin Paige (P)2014 Audible Inc.

JC and Gwen❤️

oh this story.. what can I say about it ?? good doesn't seem justified enough for it.. I don't like giving away the story in my reviews so let's just say , I recommend it to anyone that likes a good no strings attached kind of Romance with a interesting plot as well 😁❤️

I'm free at last

The narrators voice was terrible. The story was decent. The twist was stupid with JC. it seemed like an afterthought.

What a great book to listen to.

This was a well written book that made you feel like you were Gwen. The static between the characters was amazingly written and so powerful it made you have "feels". Bravo author.

Interesting beginning.

I really enjoyed book one in the Found duet. But I did find this audiobook lacking a bit. The narrator is very whiny to the point of irritating. But it's not entirely her to blame as the author , whom I really admire, gave the character too much indecision which most likely led to her whiny voice. Laurelin, this book could use an edit to reduce how the character rambles on and on incessantly. Overall it's a great story.

Free Me

I loved this audiobook but it is one in a series. I hate it when you have to buy the next book to learn what really happens in the end!

An Enticingly Steamy and Mysterious Story

When readers met Gwen Anders in Book 3 of the Fixed series, we knew there was a story behind the woman who kept herself closed off; her face encased in a façade that she didn’t want to allow anyone past. There was a definite air of mystery surrounding her, which only intrigued me more, wanting to understand her demeanor and the reasons for the calm and cool act that could easily be perceived as a smokescreen for what was really going on behind her eyes. But, to be honest, I couldn’t anticipate all that made up Gwen’s back story and current life and the chains of her past that held her captive and afraid, preventing her from truly living.

Gwen’s life is extremely regimented. Control is important to her, which makes sense due to everything she experienced growing up in such a volatile environment. Her job at the nightclub Eighty Eighth Floor keeps her busy and allows her to stay in a weekly routine that works for her, but all of that gets shaken to the core when she meets J.C., and even though she tries to deny her attraction to him and keep her emotions in check, J.C. makes Gwen want to let go and give into her desires for a man who’s a complete mystery to her and only offers her an opportunity to be spontaneous. Gwen needs that kind of release desperately after a series of events nearly unhinges her, and when things heat up between them, their sexual relationship sizzles, and as their relationship grows into something much more than just a way to let go, J.C.’s secrets and Gwen’s past prove to be major obstacles in giving each other what they both seem to want, leaving them at an impasse and leaving readers with one hell of a cliff hanger at the end of book 1.

Laurelin Paige is one hell of a storyteller. Every book that I read by her draws me in from the start and holds me captive until she’s wrenched every emotion out of me. Her characters are extremely complex, and readers witness their transformations as their stories continue. Like Alayna, Gwen works hard to maintain her control and not allow her emotions to take over, which works for some time until her feelings for J.C. take over. There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding who J.C. is and what he’s hiding, and even though I have speculations as to what’s going on with him, I don’t have it all figured out yet, so I need Find Me to get here, so J.C. can redeem himself and reclaim what’s been his from the beginning.

I listened to the audio version read by Tanya Eby for this review, and I have to say that she does a fantastic job expressing Gwen’s insecurities and internal freak outs. Eby narrates at a fairly quick pace, which works for who Gwen is and how her mind works. Externally, Gwen is put together and controlled, but internally, she’s a hot mess, and that’s easily ascertained through Eby’s voice inflections and the emotions she uses to express the events that occur in Free Me.

I can’t wait for Gwen and J.C.’s story to continue!

A complimentary audio copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 poison apples

Tough to stay with at times

At first a good story with a twist but then it gets harder to believe and the love interest part of the plot gets ridiculous.

Free Me

Great new start to a series. I can't wait for book 2! So many secrets left to learn. And, I need way more JC.

Good Story and a cliffhanger ending

Pros
Good story
Strong character building
Mostly likeable characters
Good supporting characters
Realistic Time lines

Cons
About 25 seconds of each minute of the story are devoted to self-doubt, a fat and/or defining an outcome just before finding out that the outcome was 180 degrees off of reality.

I skipped at least 3 hours of the story as it was driving me insane.

Captivating!!

I read this years ago and decided I wanted to try the audiobook. I can say that this book holds up to how I felt about it 7 years ago. I enjoyed it just as much the second time. I will say the beginning had me a bit iffy, only because I didn't like how the main characters were classified at first. If you're patient and let the full story start to flow, you understand why the characters were cast they way they were. You learn that there is a story behind everything and there is much more to learn that explains things. That's what makes this duet still stand at 5 stars for me so many years later. If you are fan of her Fixed series, this is a spinoff from that and I felt the author kept up that high level of writing in Gwen and JC's story as she did for Hudson and Alayna. Also, you get to see both of them in their story and I call that a win. Hudson and JC are nothing alike however my love for them both might be equal.