Reckless Heart

Starlight Cove, Book 4

De: Brighton Walsh

Narrado por: Jason Clarke, Savannah Peachwood

Duración: 7 h y 31 m

Resumen del Editor

Turns out the gorgeous stranger I had a one-night stand with is not only my sister’s best friend but also my new employee.

Worse? I shared a whole lot more with Avery than one mind-blowing night. I told her my deepest, darkest secret. Despite my constant worry that she’ll let the truth slip to my family, I can’t stay away from her. And when we’re tossed together for an out of town trip and forced to share a room with only one bed, the chemistry between us finally explodes...again. I have no problem making her see stars—or breaking the bed.

The trouble is, the longer our secret relationship goes on, the more I want to keep her. But she’s eight years my junior, the sunshine to my grump, and I know her free spirit wants more than the small town of Starlight Cove can offer. I know no one could ever give her more pleasure than I will, but I refuse to hold her back. Even if that means letting her go when her three month contract is up.

©2023 Brighton Walsh (P)2023 Brighton Walsh

Absolutely amazing!

This was such a good book! The best kind of spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️ and don’t get me started with the narrators Jason has the sexiest voice I think I’ve EVER heard! And the back and forth narration is always a plus!

The secret life of Aiden

Reckless Heart- Brighton Walsh
Narrated by Jason Clarke and Savannah Peachwood

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Narration 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Another fantastic Starlight Cove book. I think the premise of this book was very unique with Aiden’s hidden identity of being a famous romance author, even amongst his family of smut readers. Aiden is the buttoned up brother, the rule follower, the one they can always count on…until they can’t, and things start slipping. His sister sends him away to get his shit together while she cleans up his mess so he heads out to the local bar and meets the fiery redhead who is wearing the “tell me to STFUATTDLAGG” shirt she didn’t expect anyone to be able to decode and choked on his drink when he saw it. I don’t think he was expecting her to really follow through with the demand on her shirt, but oh did she. He knew it was a one night thing, so he told her his secrets, knowing he’d never see her again. Then she ran the next morning without ever even exchanging names, until a couple hours later when his sister shows up with the same brat from the night before in tow, introducing her as the resort’s new hire, and Aiden’s new employee, and her best friend Avery. Now they both have secrets and he’s asking her to keep them from his family for him, but she hates secrets and lies.

Jason and Savannah did amaaaazing on this one! These are two of my absolute favorite narrators and they did such an incredible job. I could listen to Jason give all the praise in the deep sexy vice all day long. 🥵🥵🥵

The SPICE!

I’m so mad that I haven’t read Brighton Walsh before Possessive Heart, and now Reckless Heart. This book starts out HOT and ends the same way. I really enjoyed the story and the characters, both main and secondary. The duet narration was absolute perfection.

Loved Aiden and Avery!

Loved Aiden and Avery! So happy to return to Starlight Cove for more of these wonderful characters. I had the best of both worlds by being able to switch from audio and ebook. Jason Clarke and Savannah Peachwood did an amazing job bringing these characters to life!

Five-Alarm Pepper Warning!

Reckless Heart, book four in the Starlight Cove series by Brighton Walsh, is a Kindle melting journey of intense and seriously steamy interactions, brought together with some wonderful emotional discoveries, great banter, and a lot of fun. The typical angst inherent in a best-friend’s brother romance plays a big part in amping up the tension between main characters Aiden and Avery, while also being enhanced by an added boss-employee dynamic and a meddling family member. It all makes for a fast-paced read I couldn’t put down.

There is so much going on in this story, and it all works perfectly together. Aiden is growly and intense, but has a secret side that not only ratchets up the relationship and makes for a very memorable first encounter with Avery, but brings out some deep emotional roadblocks that he eventually overcomes. Watching those walls crumble for Avery, and his family, is truly beautiful. And Avery is so much more than the carefree drifter readers first meet. She’s introspective, and sensitive, but also so sassy, and she has some serious grit and determination. And yes they’re both flawed and often impulsive, but they’re also passionate, intelligent, and absolutely irresistible. Getting to know these characters was a wild ride—an emotional and fiery journey that made their HEA so much stronger and well-deserved.

The audiobook was absolutely fantastic. Narrators Jason Clarke and Savannah Peachwood brought Aiden and Avery to life in the duet narration with perfect tone, inflection, and tempo. This is definitely one to listen to, but probably not in the carpool line, or at work, or with kids around. When I say it’s seriously steamy, trust me, it is. But it all works perfectly within the storyline. There is so much character development written into those steamy scenes, it’s not gratuitous, but intentional and purposefully placed.

This is my first read by Brighton Walsh, and it definitely reads as a standalone story, but I am absolutely diving into the first three books in the series and anxiously awaiting book five to get more time with the characters. Just from this one book, Starlight Cove has full-on binge vibes. It’s also one of my favorite listens this year, so definitely grab that audiobook.

Holy hot damn! This book was so hot!

I absolutely loved Aiden & Avery, the chemistry they have is off the chart’s combustible. The spice will have your thighs clenching and panties wet. The way Aiden cherishes her and also gives her exactly what she needs is perfect. I love her sass and snark.
Mabel is always a hoot!

Aiden & Avery

Aiden is somewhat lost doing what he's doing now - scheduling and the like for the family resort. He's also moonlighting as a successful romance author, but no one knows. He is struggling somewhat and he goes to a bar one night where he meets Avery who just might be the female version of him. To start with, she's wearing a shirt that says STFUATTDLAGG and he knows EXACTLY what that means! They have a steamy night together (he's a pleasure Dom and let's just say she has A LOT of pleasure!).
So the next day Avery is supposed to be leaving town for some training and her mother calls to tell her it's postponed. So she has no job and no money. She gets lucky because she is friends with Addison and Addison can give her a temporary job at the family's resort. Addison introduces Avery to her siblings, which includes Aiden. Avery gives him a cold shoulder and tells them they should just remain professional. Naturally, Addison senses the spark between them so she uses every opportunity she can to push them together. She even sets up a "test run" of the resort and makes them pretend to be a couple who comes to visit the resort (think the one bed scenario, only HOTTER!)
The only thing that made this story angsty is that you knew that there was an expiration date on their relationship. It was just a little bit of fun before Avery left town for good. I really thought that because they had such a connection where they really got each other that she would decide not to leave and there wouldn't be a breakup, but she left. Thankfully she got her head on straight and they were able to work everything out. I think she had to go in the end to know what she was giving up on both sides and decide which was more important to her.

Dirty Talk is supreme

Jason Clarke will get you going every time! cute story and good amount of spice!

Oh my lanta!!!

I did not think I’d love another McKinsey brother more then came along Aiden. Oh my goodness I loved this man and I so loved their story. The banter, the family text chains, and the spice oh my. Then on top of all that Jason freaking growly Clarke, um yes please. He and Savannah Peachwood were perfect together. Can’t wait for the next book. I actually want yo visit this little town and attend book club.

Great narration

Yeah, I definitely underestimated how spicy this was going to be, lol! I've been meaning to check out this new-to-me author, so a duet narration audiobook felt like the perfect way to try. And it was! The sparks started flying between this couple within a few pages, and it wasn't long after that before I was feeling the heat. Walsh calls this hero a "pleasure dom," and I wasn't quite sure what that entailed until suddenly I did... wow, okay, I get it now! He's all buttoned-up professional in the streets and O-obsessed predator in the sheets. That first spicy scene makes a statement, and I was excited for a tension-filled, sexy read. It's a great combination of small town/workplace romance and high heat treat, with a little bit of best friend's brother/secret romance added to the mix. I actually wouldn't have minded less focus on the spice and more on the emotional connection, but it made for a quick, blush-inducing binge.

The story follows Aiden, an overworked guy with a secret. He's been helping run the family business for a long time, but his new secret side gig as a spicy romantasy author has been eating up a lot of his time. So when Aiden meets a fiery woman in a bar and the two quickly bond over darkly delicious romance books, he does something out of character - spend one filthy, entirely pleasurable night with her. The only problem? Turns out Avery isn't a stranger passing through town, she's his little sister's college friend and apparently his new temporary employee. Aiden most certainly wouldn't have said or done the things he did if he had known who Avery was, but that's the danger in hooking up with a nameless stranger. As the two develop a working relationship and share close quarters, they find it difficult to forget how well they worked together in entirely different ways.

I've been wanting to try Walsh's work, and this ended up being the perfect first book to try. It's part of a series for sure, but the nature of Aiden and Avery's first meeting makes it easy to jump right in, and everything essential about Aiden's family is explained without issue. I was expecting a sexy small town romance, so I was a little taken aback by the level of heat. Not in a bad way, really, because it makes the book absolutely fly by. It's not all that long to begin with, so the plentiful spicy scenes make up a decent portion of the pages. I enjoyed the first half at a low 5/high 4-star level, but I needed the emotional connection to delve deeper in the back half for this to earn a full 5 stars. I loved the way Avery pushed Aiden and their chemistry was off-the-charts, but I had minimal investment in the relationship itself. I really enjoyed Aiden though; he has characteristics of other heroes I've read about, but he truly felt fresh and different in other ways. And he's pretty intense in the bedroom, focused so intently on Avery's pleasure. It ended up being a fast, sexy read, and I can see myself returning to Walsh's work when I want an easy, super spicy romance.

Audio note: With Jason Clarke and Savannah Peachwood performing in duet-style narration, you can't go wrong! That's what convinced me to give this a try, and they did not disappoint. The runtime (under 8 hours) was also perfect for bingeing, and I had no trouble finishing this in one sitting. It starts out SUPER spicy and stays that way throughout, so I really don't recommend this as a workday listen. You might find that you're fanning yourself in front of your coworkers if you do, just saying. But this was light and relatively low angst, so it worked well in the format. And I'm certainly not complaining about Clarke narrating all that spice! So I highly recommend the format.