Wedding Favors

Bluewater Bay, Book 7

By: Anne Tenino

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

A Bluewater Bay Novel

Lucas Wilder's best friend is a traitor. First, Audrey moved back to their hick-infested hometown, Bluewater Bay, and now she's marrying a local. His own brother, in fact. And as her man of honor, Lucas gets coerced into returning for an extended stay. Although, between his unfaithful ex-boyfriend and his artist's block, going home isn't the worst thing that could happen. Even if the best man is Gabriel Savage, Lucas's first crush, first hookup, and first heartbreak.

The only reason Gabe hasn't been waiting for Lucas to return to Bluewater Bay is because he never thought it'd happen. Not that it matters now that Lucas is back - Gabe's still a logger who's never been anywhere (Canada doesn't count), and Lucas is now a famous sculptor who's been everywhere twice. Plus, there's that shared past.

When Audrey asks Lucas to make her wedding favors, the only place to set up a kiln is at Gabe's tree farm. Soon, they pick up where they left off 12 years before, then blow past it, discovering why neither of them forgot the other. Now they have to choose how much of their history they'll repeat, and what future they'll make together.

©2015 Anne Tenino (P)2017 Riptide Publishing

You Can Go Home Again

This is a sweet story of what happens when when you return home and have to deal with your past. Lucas and Gabe have had different ideas about what happened then and what is happening now. Sometimes you just need to learn to communicate. Once the air is cleared you can get a whole different perspective.

Great story, fantastic narrator

Really great story but once again Nick J Russo made it even better. I highly recommend it.

loved it!

I really enjoy when a story involves friends and family. This one did it so well I felt like I was listening to a true story. Thank you Anne! Well done.

Slow to Engage, But Then I Got Into the Story

This was a must have follow-up story to the prequel short, Helping Hands' that appeared in the anthology, Lights, Camera, Cupid! which was the book before this one in the series. A farmer and an artist take a stab at a second chance set against a wedding in a small town. Yep, gimme!

As I said, this one is a follow-up number and I was really glad to get it. Helping Hand introduced a very young pair and left things really wide open. In fact, that one only worked because I was pretty sure this one was coming along eventually in the series. Wedding Favors picks up twelve years from the ending of Helping Hand. Let's just say a lot of water has gone under the bridge, the prodigal has returned and Sleeping Beauty is awakened. Sorry, couldn't resist stringing all those together.

But really, that is kind of how this story hit me. I spent a lot of time not really vested in this story and just sort of distantly enjoying it. I liked it, but didn't love it for some time. It was a story that had to grow on me. But, I do like this author's writing, and I enjoy the series so I gave things some time and I'm glad I did. The second chance and these two guys, the way they were with each other when the dust settled, worked for me even if it felt long.

Early on, I couldn't stand Lucas. I thought he was a self-absorbed jerk who really got hung up on pretty much everything, but especially that one encounter with Gabe in the past. I understand why a teenager would get worked up over someone starting something and then just backing away, but a man twelve years later who couldn't see the truth from the distance of time and maturity was a tough one for me. He was also so dead set against his home town and anyone who might actually like the place including his family. But, as Lucas began to settle in, see what he'd missed and appreciate the people and Gabe, I got past my issues with Lucas. Now his best friend and some others, they had me snarly over their interference after a while.

The situation with Gabe's farm and Lucas' art careers was one of my favorite parts of this story. I liked this is who and what they were, but also that they really liked and appreciated this side of each other and supported each other. Oh, and this pair got up to some pretty hot and sizzling times.

I experienced this story in audio format with Nick J. Russo doing the narration. I do enjoy his work a great deal. I had a moment when I laughed when I encountered Gabe's voice for the first time. I had this mental picture of flannel-clad Paul Bunyan lumberjack that just would not leave. But it was all good. I'm at the point that I'd probably snag an audio book just because he's narrating.

So, early on it was wobbly for me, but then Wedding Favors found its stride and I enjoyed it as much as many others in this delightful series. I would recommend this book/series for those who enjoy gently-paced character driven stories in a small town setting.

Cute addition to the series

If you read the anthology from Valentines day 2015 there was a prequel to this story included. That little bit of a story was ever so sweet – featuring Lucas after prom getting his first kiss from Gabe- the older boy he’s been crushing on. It ends, however, HORRIBLY – with Lucas leaving Gabe for school and it isn’t until this book came out that we get to see these guys get a HEA.
What I loved about this book: Gabe. He is sweet, sexy, loyal, funny and determined to do the right thing. The setting – a tree farm in the PNW with a horse drawn carriage in the background! Bruce – what a great horse with a clever name. Gabe’s family – understanding, kind, caring. The romantic times – Super. Hot. All the hipster jokes: if you lived here- you’d understand!


What I didn’t like about this book: Lucas. He was kind of an air-head. Not appreciative of Gabe much at all. Oblivious most of the time to Gabe’s pain and not even that appreciative of his BFF Audrey nor his brother, Zach. The amount of time it took Gabe and Lucas to figure it all out : too long! The short story really worked because it got all the important things out there in a few pages – the reconciliation didn’t need to be this long.

For the story I’d give this 3.75 of 5 stars – not quite 4 stars but really – pretty good.

Audio

Nick J Russo is what convinced me to delve into this. I wasn’t too keen on even reading this story – the Bluewater Bay series has not been my favorite to read, but in audio form I’ve been really pleased. Nick has done several of the books and he does another great job here. He gives Lucas the right tone – light, fanciful, snarky and Gabe a solid, deep voice. He’s good with Audrey and Zach – sorta clueless – too. He’s also very, very good with the romantic times - ;)

Highly enjoyable in audio format and the way to go as far as I’m concerned.

5 of 5 stars

Overall 3.5 of 5 stars

Great story

I liked the characters and how the story progressed. The narration was nice and the author did a great job pulling me into the story.

Good story

The blurb sounds interesting, I am an avid fan of Nick J. Russo. This story was good but forgettable.