Embrace the Fire

Through Hell and Back, Book 3

De: Felice Stevens

Narrado por: Kale Williams

Duración: 9 h y 42 m

Resumen del Editor

Brandon Gilbert has spent years in hiding, but he's finally accomplished his dream of working as a public school teacher. When offered the chance to help bullied children, there was no way he could say no. Not to mention that meeting Dr. Tash Weber, the psychiatrist who helps them, a sad yet sexy older man, ignited a spark inside Brandon he'd never had before.

Though five years have passed since the death of his lover, Dr. Sebastian "Tash" Weber has no interest in relationships or love. But young, enigmatic Brandon awakens his heart and his desire. Despite Tash's best efforts to push him away, Brandon unlocks the passion for life Tash thought he'd lost forever.

Falling in love wasn't part of the plan for either Brandon or Tash, but neither family disapproval nor self-doubts can stop them from embracing the fire that burns between them. And when Brandon returns home to fight for a future he never imagined possible, he and Tash discover that the one thing worth fighting for has been with them all along.

©2017 Felice Stevens (P)2017 Felice Stevens

A heartwrenching and heartwarming journey!!

Overall: 4.5 Stars
Narrator: 4.5 Stars
Story: 4.5 Stars
Listening Length: 9 hours 42 mins


Another great audiobook and Kale Williams is definitely one that I will not hesitate to listen to as a narrator. He does such a great job. I love the smoothness of his voice. He delivers the story with so much ease. He conveys the characters emotions and his voice is so seductive when it comes to the sexy times. ;)

My heart always feels so content after reading a book from this author. The journey she creates for her characters are always so heartwrenching and heartwarming. Brandon and Tash's journey is exactly that. Felice Stevens delivers such great story lines and amazing characters. I absolutely love this series and this story.

Brandon had me from the very beginning and I couldn't wait to see his HEA. His story is incredibly heartbreaking. The things he had to go through just tore me up inside. I love the chemistry between Brandon and Tash. Although Tash had his own issues and struggled to move forward from his loss, he was so sweet and caring. There were times yes, where I was rolling my eyes because of course men are stubborn, right? But, I was still so captivated by these men.

I love the whole family dynamic and the emotional reunions in this story. The ending was a delightful treat getting glimpses of each individual couple and it definitely gave me all the warm and fuzzy feels. Felice Stevens wraps up this series with a great bow full of love and happiness.

Embrace the Fire

Embrace the Fire is Book 3 in Felice Stevens' Through Hell and Back series. I highly recommend you read this series in the appropriate order, and not as a standalone.

I really liked Brandon and Tash in this story. Unlike the previous book, Brandon doesn't hold grudges against his brothers and understands they had reasons for disappearing from his life. Though he was young, he was mature beyond his years and worked hard to have the life he wanted. His total acceptance and love for Ash and Luke was just what I needed after the angst and drama between Luke and Ash in Book 2. Really, Brandon is caring, compassionate, empathetic, loving, nurturing, strong and an old soul. Though his actions throughout the book showed his character, his interaction, love, understanding and support of his mother showed just what kind of man he is. I thought Tash was an interesting character from his introduction in Book 2, honestly, at the time I thought Jordan should be with him instead, but the characters knew better! Tash had a lot of self-angst and drama to work through before he could accept his love for Brandon but he gets there.

Though this is a sad, angsty series, the story is not overwhelming. I didn't listen to the audio of the first book, but I can say that for the second book and this one, that there was plenty of sadness, a few tears but it was not too much or over the top for someone who doesn't like a lot of angst. This is not an easy series by any means, but it's so worth the sadness and heartbreak to see the happiness that these three men find.

The narrator of this story is Kale Williams and he does a fantastic job! I love that this series has the same narrator on all three books. The narrator has good diction, a good pace, and gives the characters individual voices. The narrator brought this story and the characters to life. His voice had the appropriate emotions for the story and really just allowed me to focus on the story and not him.

I thought this book did a great job of wrapping up the entire series, and showing the HEA's for all the characters in the book. This is one of the author's series that I've found myself reading over and over again, and I'll do the same with the audio!

Overall: 5 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars

Excellent way to conclude the series!

I can't think of a better story to complete this series than Embrace the Fire.  An age-gap romance, it delivered the drama and angst I expected for this series while still keeping things fresh with Brandon and Tash's own demons to overcome.

Brandon has had his own version of hell to live through, just as his foster brothers Ash and Luke before him did, and through his strength and determination comes through on the other side-but still with shadows in his past tormenting him and hanging over his head.  He's an intelligent, selfless young man who has seen more in his life than others twice his age.  Tash maintains that he is too old for Brandon, though his heart and body don't really care about that at all.  Having gone through his own turmoil previously, he's hesitant but at the same time wants to give Brandon help and support-while quickly falling for him.

Once again, Felice Stevens totally drew me in with all of the emotions and my desire to see the final piece of the brothers' puzzle resolved, as well as for Brandon and Tash to find peace and contentment with each other.  They fit so well together, and their chemistry is plainly evident from the moment they meet.  Their relationship may seem quick, but it also felt right, and not like insta-love.  

The story wraps up just about everything surrounding all three brothers, with a small bit of an opening still left regarding Donovan, the bad guy street boss, though I think that part of the story was probably resolved enough to consider it done.  There is a nice epilogue that not only gives us final conclusions for all three couples from the series, but also for Mike and Rachel which was a nice touch.

Embrace the Fire could technically be read on its own, but I honestly believe most readers would get much more satisfaction from it by reading the other two stories in the series first to get the full background for Ash, Drew, Jordan and Luke.  This series was fantastic, and Embrace the Fire gets 4.5 stars from me.  This book and the entire series is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and M/M sexual content.

The narration: Once again Kale Williams does a great job at bringing this series to life, both from a technical standpoint and regarding the characters’ emotions. I do still feel there could be more differentiation between character voices with the series as a whole, for me it would just make it easier to identify who’s speaking without being prompted by the accompanying details in the story (“so-and-so said” type cues). That aside, I was still able to fully enjoy this story in its audio form, and again the narration garners 4 stars from me.

Tash and Brandon's story

Excellent story and great narration. Don't miss this one. Well worth a credit.

Absolutely breathtaking end to a series

It's no secret that I have so much love for this series. Book one was in my top reads of last year list. This series was so full of love and family. It also shows that family isnt only those related by blood. It goes way deeper. Seeing these 3 men who were adopted and all lost each other throughout the years come together and show that there is such a strength that can come from love, is one of the most incredible things. In a world filled with so much hate and evil, Felicie has shown us what ready unconditional love truly is and makes you desire more of it in your life.

The narration for the audio version is powerful and shows depth of emotions covered in this beautifully told story. The voice was soothing and easy to listen to. I love when I hit narrator gold! He truly brought beauty to another Felice Stevens masterpiece.

Not my favorite from this author, but good

I am a Felice Stevens fan, but I haven’t read the first two books in this series. From my experience with this story, I don’t think you have to read them in order to appreciate each one.

As the name of the series would suggest, this is about struggle and overcoming hardship – so you can expect a bit of angst. It’s certainly not overwhelming, but it does play heavily in the story.

Brandon is a bit hard to swallow at times – he comes across as both really brave but sometimes cowardly – and that wishy washy-ness can be frustrating. There are some really amazing “coincidences” that make this a romantic fiction – but are heartwarming in the way that Felice is so good at delivering.

I can’t say I was ever blown away by the chemistry between Brandon and Tash and I wanted them to explore the age gap more than they did. Each spends a lot of time in their own heads and it’s not always pretty there – as a result – though I was so happy for them – I was also a bit tired of their turmoil.

If I’d been in the series since the beginning I’m sure the entrance of the other two brothers into the story would have had more impact – even I could see how happy it was for all of them.

I think the writing was excellent and for fans of the author, the series and angst – this will be something to pick up!

3.5 of 5 stars

Audio

Kale Williams is the narrator for the entire series and he does a nice job of handling the emotion and the pacing. He doesn’t do much for differentiating the characters – of which there are many – but that was a minor issue.

I think this is a great way to experience the story and if you can’t read it – this is certainly a great way to go.

4.5 of 5 stars

Overall 4 of 5 stars

a great ending to the series

What a great ending to the series it was wonderful to see Brandon's story fantastic read I recommend all of the books in this series

A Good End to This Angsty Series

Embracing the Fire is the third and final book in Miss Stevens’s Through Hell and Back series. Though they can be read as standalones and each features a different couple, the long-running story of the three foster brothers and the man interconnected characters mean this is one that’s best read in order.

Like the others, Embracing the Fire is a hurt/comfort romance that’s fairly heavy on the angst. While I found Brandon and Tash’s story as compelling as the previous couples, I wasn’t pulled into the story until further along in the book and thought the relationship lacked as palpable an emotional and physical connection as the other couples. The slower build made sense given Brandon and Tash’s personalities, but in this case it made it harder to connect. I also found some of the angsty conflicts a bit overblown in Embracing the Fire, more so than in the previous stories. That said, I liked the characters overall. I also really enjoyed the brothers’ reunion. Since the first book, I’ve been looking forward to those moments and, for the most part, they were all that I imagined they would be. I appreciated that there were some surprises as the book wrapped and the epilogue was chock full of all the moments fans of the series will look forward to reading.

Narrator wise, I’m still a bit on the fence. Kale Williams does a very good job with intonation and changing his voice for characters, making it easy to follow along. However, there’s an odd, almost stilted pacing to his style that always gives me pause. So while he may not be my favorite narrator, I’d never be dissuaded to listen to an audiobook he narrates.

The Through Hell and Back series would be a good choice for readers who enjoy hurt/comfort romances and don’t mind a considerable amount of angst for the characters to wade through while chasing their happily-ever-after. I certainly think Embracing the Fire was a solid end to the series and was really happy the author tidied up any loose ends with the couples and secondary characters and plotlines.

*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*