Never Say Never

The Ladies Who Brunch, Book 1

De: Harlow James

Narrado por: Teddy Hamilton, Samantha Brentmoor

“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”

When those words left the lips of Damien Shaw, my childhood nemesis, I should have told him to kick rocks right then and there.

But sadly, his scheme to impress his boss left me with something to gain from it too—getting my meddling mother, who was obsessed with my love life, off my back just in time for my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary celebration in Hawaii.

You see, Damien and I grew up together, but we weren’t friends. No—we were rivals.

And when we both moved out to California to go to different colleges, we promised never to think of each other again.

It had been twelve years since we had been face to face, but when he kept popping up everywhere, I should have known that trouble would follow.

And sure enough, during a lunch with my parents he told them we were dating.

I was hellbent on exposing him, but then my mother’s reaction made it hard to say no. So, I ended up fake dating my enemy while trying desperately not to fall for him.

My gut told me to keep my distance. But my heart? That bastard was falling for the man with every sweet gesture he made and every orgasm he gave me.

But when the reason for our rivalry and our fake relationship comes to light, everyone and everything explodes, leaving one hell of a mess to clean up.

I never thought I’d fall for Damien Shaw. I never thought my enemy could force me to figure out my life. But you know what they say—never say never.

TW: Toxic parental relationships

©2022 Harlow James (P)2023 Harlow James

4.5 Stunning Story Stars!

Audiobook and Book Review

🩷 Rivals to lovers
💛 Fake dating
🩷 Swingers??
💛 Parental pressure
🩷 Dove chocolates

Story: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you HCB!

It took me a bit to get into this book, but the further I read, the more I found myself enjoying the story and falling for the characters. I loved the realness of the topics that were discussed. Being a woman is hard. There are so many expectations that we have to deal with, and this story covered pretty much all of them. Expectation to be married? Check. Women shouldn’t focus on their careers? Check. Male chauvinism? Check. Maternal pressure? Check. Zero knowledge of periods? Ha. Check.

The way that Harlow James wrote and discussed each of these issues, and more, made this story so extremely relatable. I love that. I connected with that. At times it was downright hilarious, given the gravity of what we as women face each day. The feminine products conversation between Damien and Jeffrey had me literally laughing out loud. Men are so freaking clueless when it comes to women’s health. I love that this book adds levity to this issue.

At the beginning of the story I thought that Damien was SUCH a jerk! Ugh, typical male. As the story goes on he became such a wonderful character that I found myself smiling over. His humor and thoughtfulness, plus his want to learn about females made him so endearing. Not to mention his bedroom antics were *chef’s kiss!* Gah. Could he actually be any sweeter AND shmexier?!

I really liked Charlotte. It took her a very long time to stick up for herself in someways, but I can understand why. As women we’re programmed to be people pleasers and to hold in what we actually feel. I’m glad that Charlotte ‘was too much’ and stood up for herself and women in general. I get why she waffled over Damien. They were freaking rivals for twelve years! I would feel that way too. I adored the two of them together and how they grew close over their fake relationship.

Samantha Brentmoor is awe-inspiring and can do anything. And if she ever thinks she can’t, whether because of being female or being human, I’d like to dispel those thoughts. And here’s how. I’d be her ‘Conscience Ninja’ and karate chop those thoughts straight out of her brilliantly skilled mind. Is that weird? Yeah. Do I take it back? Nope (I popped the P on that, in case you were wondering). S.B. Narration= Effing Awesomeness.

Teddy Hamilton is (hold while I look up several synonyms for amazing…) *ahem* astonishing, breathtaking, marvelous, thrilling, stupefying, phenomenal, stupendous, remarkable, and amazeballs. (Yes, that last one was listed too 😆). He really is all of those things and more. I love how he brought out all of Damien’s sides: cocky, funny, shmexy, serious, domineering, and loving sides. When he narrates any sentence with F*** in it? 🫠🫠 T.H. Narration= Pure Gold.

🍫 "If you can't get someone off your mind, maybe they're supposed to be there. Remember: the mind can recognize what the heart is trying to deny."
🍫 “Sorry, Charlotte. The only time I c*me second is after the woman I’m with c*mes first.”
🍫 “Don’t settle for a spark. Light a fire instead.”
🍫 “You trusting me is such a f***ing turn-on.”
🍫 “F***, Charlotte. You feel incredible.”

What you think you know, can always be proven wrong

Overall this was a good book and the narrators top notch. I was surprised to find myself actually getting a little sick of the open door sex scenes and I was wondering if that was ALL the book was going to be about. The author kept presenting the characters as having difficult childhood experiences with their parents yet nothing deeper was happening with that.

Then, as the title of my review says, what you think you know can always be proven wrong because...

Finally the book moved into some of the deeper issues, touching on Mysogeny, Domestic Violence and Body Shaming. One quote, toward the end will stick with me (I think I have it pretty close) "After trauma, there can be Love and Acceptance."

There was considerable humor, especially in the beginning and the Tampon scenario had me in stitches.

Teddy Hamilton/Andrew Eiden and Ms. Brentmoor were excellent as always.

I loved it.

What a great audiobook. Great writing and great narrating that’s the perfect combination. Thanks for the book

5 stars

I listened to an audio ALC of this one and it was amazing. Performed in dual narration by Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor. They were perfect as Damien and Charlotte. They both captured the characters voices so well. They killed it with this performance!

This book was compared to Sex in the City and How to Lose A Guy In 10 days, which I both love. I devoured the audiobook in 3 days. There's fake dating, flirty banter, spice and a wonderful group of friends, which are Charlotte's best friends. I loved Charlotte's best friends they were so relatable, funny and very supportive.

I loved Damien and Charlotte together. Even though their relationship started out fake it became more real and natural as if they were dating since the beginning. They had undeniable chemistry. Damien made me swoon so many times. The care and thoughtfulness he had towards Charlotte. Truly noteworthy. I've highlighted so many stuff that he did or said. I just adore them so much.

The story also deals with toxic parental relationships. I thought it was portrayed realistically and didn't overshadow the main conflict.

Love this series!

Never Say Never audio

5 star listen!!

Dual POV/ dual narrators
Enemies to lovers
Fake dating
Strong FMC


Narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor, both of whom I love as narrators.

Never Say Never was funny, steamy, full of hilarious banter, great characters and just overall a really entertaining read.

Charlotte and Damien were childhood rivals who vowed to not even think of eachother once they left for college, but a chance run-in 12 years later might be exactly what needed to happen to solve the current problems they’re both dealing with.

I love that Charlotte was a strong, driven, independent woman, who surrounded herself with the same type of women (and I can’t wait for all of their stories!) and didn’t let men push her around. Damien had me hardcore swooning from the very beginning. Those steamy scenes had me MELTING. I listened to a good portion of this in my car and I found myself driving with a smile on my face, tears down my cheeks and feeling very squirmy in my seat multiple times.

I have come to love Harlow James’ writing and am eager to read the next books from this series and anything else she writes!

Loved this audiobook!!

This audiobook was amazing!!! I read the ebook but the audio makes it soo much better!! Harlow James is one of my favorite authors and im so glad she’s making this series into audio!!! Can’t wait for the rest to come out!!

fantastic narrators, fantastic enemies to lovers!

The audiobook for Never Say Never is 🔥🔥

@narratedbyteddyhamilton and @ms_brentmoor were so amazing as Damien and Charlotte! Their performance was just great for this book- i couldn’t stop listening!

Damien and Charlotte were childhood competitors, always trying to one up each other. When they left to go to college in the same town they vowed never to cross paths… and they didn’t for 12 years.. until they both needed fake dates.

So classic.. so delicious.

🔥Yes, we have enemies to lovers.
🔥Yes, we have fake dating.
🔥Yes, we have “give me orgasms & food and we have a deal”
🔥Yes, we have one hotel room.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I think one of my favorite parts was that they really did hate each other.. It wasn’t a “It was you all along… i was always in love with you”… and the over all character growth was fantastic.

The books core is a group of women and i can’t wait to read the next books in the series!

Loved it!

This story was good and the narration was well done. Charlotte is a smart independent woman, who has a successful career. Even though with everything she has accomplished, she is yet to fall in love or fix her issues with her mother. Damien is a handsome man, who is working hard to get the promotion he deserves in a work space he's passionate about. Both characters have known each other since little and have competed as rivals to be the best in school but years later they meet again. The anger and rivalry submerges. The chemistry and tension between these two was juicy, I deeply enjoyed this audiobook. I definitely recommend this story in both options audiobook and physical/ebook. Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor did a fabulous job narrating this story. Both narrators have a beautiful voice and their voice fit perfectly with the characters.

Charlotte & Damien

Samantha Brentmoor and Teddy Hamilton did a brilliant job bringing Charlotte and Damien’s enemies to lovers tale to life. Who doesn’t dream of falling in love with their arch nemesis!? I loved all the girl’s interactions. They were brutally honest and relatable and I’d love to sip mimosas and gab over a weekly brunch. Damien turned me inside out. Every time he said Sweet Pea I think I swooned. This was a fun feel good listen and I can’t wait to indulge in the rest of this series.

Wonderful!

Charlotte and Damien's love story is heartwarming, funny, and super spicy. These enemies to lovers both deal with family trauma and tough decisions, making their eventual HEA even sweeter. The banter and connection between all the characters (especially the ladies who brunch) is written so well. Juggling so many personalities and relationships isn't easy and Harlow delivers!

Samantha and Teddy are the perfect Charlotte and Damien (along with all the supporting characters). They truly made the story come to life!

Overall rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 (4.5/5)
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (4/5)