Let Me Be the One

Family Ties, Book 1

De: Lori Foster

Narrado por: Marni Penning

She’s more than the girl next door. She’s the one who got away.

When Callie McCallahan left Hoker, Kentucky, she thought it was for good. Her parents moved the family away to pursue financial success. Since then, she’s had some bumps in the road, most recently the humiliation of a failed engagement. When she inherits her uncle’s farm in her old neighborhood, it’s the perfect do-over. With her social media skills, she’ll attract a whole new following and restart her career. The only thing is…she knows nothing about farming.

For Tanner Patrick, Callie was the one who got away. He crushed on her in high school, but she barely knew he existed. Ten years later, she’s back—and now she lives next door. Tanner keeps his head down and focuses on his family’s tree farm. But when he sees that Callie is in way over her head and looking pretty down-to-earth and happy—Tanner finds her impossible to ignore.

When Callie stumbles through the woods and encounters her sexy chain-saw-wielding neighbor, Callie definitely notices Tanner. Could this be the do-over each of them didn’t know they needed?

Family Ties

Book 1: Let Me Be the One

©2025 Lori Foster (P)2025 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Fantastic narrator, and Lori Foster never disappoints!

I’ve been a Lori Foster reader for something like 20 years now. I always know she’s going to deliver. Her books are never poorly written, don’t try to force any agendas on anyone, allowing you to just enjoy a good story, and are always thoroughly edited and proofread before release.

This particular story is very sweet. There are lovemaking scenes, but they are not super explicit or excessively drawn out. The intimate scenes are purposeful and drive the story forward. The story and character development is the major focus of the book, as is typical of a Lori Foster book. There is emotional and physical tension between the main characters, though. There are no major conflicts between the two main characters that make you question their emotional maturity.

It is very easy to see why these two characters love each other beyond physical attraction. Tanner is strong, caring, masculine, helpful, kind, and generous. Callie is strong and kind, and wants to know she’s able to take care of herself, but is also happy to accept Tanner’s help when she really needs it. Their relationship feels realistic and normal in the best way. When you’ve been reading a lot of niche romance (dark romance, sci-if romance, etc) sometimes it is really nice to go back to something cozy and realistic to cleanse the literary palette.

The side characters in the town are very enjoyable, good people you’d love to know. They even experience personal growth, though there are times you might not enjoy them so much at first. They are so very human - flawed but still worthy of love.

The narrator does a truly fantastic job switching between the voices and speaking cadences of all of characters in each scene - whether male and female, or whether young or old, or somewhere in between. She’s truly talented. I generally prefer when there’s a male narrator for male POV and a female for female POV - or duet narration - but this one does a great job on her own. She’s definitely a narrator worth taking note of.

I absolutely do recommend this book for the person who is looking for something sweet and story-driven.