Shelter the Sea

The Roosevelt, Book 2

De: Cullinan Heidi

Narrado por: Iggy Toma

Some heroes wear capes. Some prefer sensory sacks.

Emmet Washington has never let the world define him, even though he, his boyfriend, Jeremey, and his friends aren't considered "real" adults because of their disabilities. When the State of Iowa restructures its mental health system and puts the independent living facility where they live in jeopardy, Emmet refuses to be forced into substandard, privatized corporate care. With the help of Jeremey and their friends, he starts a local grassroots organization and fights every step of the way.

In addition to navigating his boyfriend's increased depression and anxiety, Emmet has to make his autistic tics acceptable to politicians and donors, and he wonders if they're raising awareness or putting their disabilities on display. When their campaign attracts the attention of the opposition's powerful corporate lobbyist, Emmet relies on his skill with calculations and predictions and trusts he can save the day--for himself, his friends, and everyone with disabilities.

He only hopes there isn't a variable in his formula he's failed to foresee.

©2017 Heidi Cullinan (P)2017 Heidi Cullinan

An unforgettable sequel!

This story is about love and the determination to fight for those who are most vulnerable. It is so well crafted that I teared up several times from the beautiful words. I loved this book just as much as Carry the Ocean. Thank you Heidi Cullinan and Iggy Toma for bringing this continuation of Emmet and Jeremey's story to life. As I stated in my review of Carry the Ocean, this series and its characters will always hold a special place in my heart. I highly recommend it!

I'm not crying, you're crying!

Iggy absolutely nails it again in this follow-up to Carry the Ocean. The intonations and mannerisms he captures brings these wonderful characters to life in a way that compels you to keep listening.

I just loved this, so much.

Everybody needs somebody to love.

𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘯𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯
𝘛𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯

As with Carry the Ocean, Shelter the Sea is filled with so much eye-opening information, so many emotions and even more tears she’d throughout. Hearing the hardships and trials suffered by these two men, then hearing how they stuck together through them all, brought tears to my heart and a smile to my face.

The accuracy of the hills involved with depression and anxiety was astounding. The research involved with the facts of money having power over people. And, the willingness of the public to stand behind what’s right leaves me hopeful for the future of America. Even with the political involvement, this was such a beautiful ending for these Roosevelt Blues Brothers.

Have I ever told anyone how much I loved Iggy Toma’s performance?! I’m sure I have but I just can’t praise his presentation enough!! He nailed every characters perfectly, displayed every emotion with perfection, and brought so much joy to the audience with his voice. I will forever be thankful for his voice reaching out to the world to spread awareness!

FANTASTIC

Iggy Toma rocks this! He is fantastic, the narration is damn near perfect, and such an absolute joy to listen to.

Dual POV from Jeremey and Emmet, no messing with the established HEA, just more feels and more love.

I do not disguise the fact the Carry the Ocean is one of my favorite books of all time. Emmet and Jeremey are two of the most special characters that I hold close to my heart.

Shelter the Sea is everything I could have hoped for in the continuation of Emmet and Jeremey's story and I'm more in love with the Roosevelt Blues Brothers than ever!

My emotions were all over the place reading this, and I'm not ashamed to admit I cried a few times, sometimes happy tears (Mai, the rooftop scene), sometimes angry (RJ, the Bill)...but through it all Heidi Cullinan stayed true to the characters I fell in love with in Carry The Ocean.

“We aren’t carrying the oceans. We’re helping them find places to be to carry them themselves more easily.”
“We’re trying to shelter the sea, then.”

I thought it was all pretty brilliantly executed and I loved it!

The is a new adult contemporary story with themes of hurt/comfort, romance, family, friendship, and love.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! ❤️❤️❤️

loved this so much, and Iggy was perfect!

I dare anyone to listen to this and not tear up a little and feel the heart in Emmet.. a beautiful series with much to think about as we look at those that so often seem invisible.. thank you Heidi and Iggy.

I love these characters

🔊 Roosevelt Blues Brothers to the rescue

After reading this book I was honestly a bit disappointed. I had been looking forward to this book ever since I finished Carry the Ocean, but I feel like this was a bit of a let-down. Maybe that’s just me having too high hopes – who knows?

When reading Carry the Ocean I fell in love with Emmet, Jeremey and eventually I came around to liking David as well and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next in their lives. I was absolutely giddy when I started reading Shelter the Sea.

So obviously I have some mixed feelings towards this book. On one hand we have these wonderful and amazing characters, inspiring friendships and a love that can change lives. Overcome anything. It tells you to be brave, to have hope and fight for what you believe. And I just adored the first half of the book. One of my absolute favourite moments in this book was when Jeremey first met Mai. It just melted my heart and you just knew they were meant to be together.

🔊 she’d been waiting my whole life for me to show up, and now I was here and she was too.

But on the other hand, in the second half it was just too much crusading and preaching. I feel like the core of the series was forgotten. And there were some things that were never really dealt with in a good way. I just wanted more Jeremey and Mai, more Darren and David, more Jeremey and Emmet together. More of their friendships and everyday lives. More fun Roosevelt Blues Brothers and a bit less saving the world. However noble cause that is, it's not what I was looking for.

Then we have the incredible Iggy Toma added to the mix. I love his narrations and NA/YA books fit him like a glove. He brings life to these characters, and he truly perfects them all in a way that not only lets them have different voices, but those voices reflects their personalities to perfection. I’m truly in awe.

All in all, I did end up enjoying this book and I am looking forward to both Unleash the Earth and Shatter the Sky, I just hope there will be more focus on the people and not so much on the cause.

I’d had it wrong all along. I didn’t have to shelter the sea. I had to find the way to let the sea shelter me.

🔊 I’d had it wrong all along. I didn’t have to shelter the sea. I had to find the way to let the sea shelter me.

A copy of this audiobook was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes

Terrific sequel!

If you have no knowledge of the mindset of the disabled and the nature of love, you need this book. A great sequel to Carry The Ocean.

✫✫ 5 Stars ✫✫

Oh I loved the second book in this series. I needed to know what came next for Jeremey and Emmet when I finished book 1 and this was everything I needed it to be. Listening to their relationship grow was beautiful. I loved that the author didn't just have the characters overcome their difficulties but she made them work with those issues and learn to live with them together. Jeremey is still struggling a lot but Emmet has grown so much in this book. My favorite part about this book is when Emmet realizes that even though he doesn't always like to be touched, Jeremey sometimes needs that so he pushes past his fears and gives Jeremey what he needs, only to learn that maybe it's what he needs too. I hope that isn't a spoiler, but I had to say it. Seriously I will be recommending these books to everyone I know.

Iggy Toma was incredible again in this book. I think he made these characters exactly what they were. So glad I listened instead of read these because I think my experience would have been quite different.

Absolute perfection!

Carry the Ocean is on my short list of favorite m/m books ever. So when I saw this sequel I was both crazy psyched and a little scared – because how can a book so awesome have a sequel without messing up my couple? Well – don’t worry. There is tiny bit of relationship angst – yes – but most of this is about our dear, dear boys working together against a common enemy and – for me at least – this is a story about Jeremey and his continued struggle with depression.

I cried several times while reading/listening to this – Jeremey’s struggle is still so very real and Emmet’s support is unwavering and so amazing. In addition we also have David and Darren and all the other people who come out to support our guys – it’s just so hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time!

Emmet’s solution for Jeremey’s depression was heaven sent and absolutely brightened my entire day. I was so pleased for them both – Heidi has made me invested in these guys – like family.

I also cried because the political struggle these guys face is our new reality and it hurts my heart so, so much. I HATE that we now live in a world where ignorance and hate and selfishness take precedence over love and compassion and understanding. I won’t point fingers – I think we all know what/who I’m talking about. I love that Emmet and Jeremey collaborated again to find another solution to the bigger problem of their funding and how – by overcoming some of their own issues – they are able to help others as well.

Heidi Cullinan is a gifted writer, who obviously spent time researching and understanding these characters. This is a wonderful book with both hopeful and painful messages that will surely inspire. For fans of the first book this is a must and if you haven’t read the first book you are seriously missing out – it is an amazing series and I can’t give it enough stars.


Audio

Iggy Toma does another amazing job with this. I think Emmet is spot on and I LOVED Darren’s computer voice! I was so pleased to see these books on audio with such a gifted narrator.

Though Emmet and Jeremey’s romance is solid, the nature of their situation means they’ll have to continually “work” at their relationship in ways that some might take for granted. I was pleased to see that the wedding itself wasn’t the main cause of angst. However, the scary health care system isn’t really fiction, is it?

What I liked most, is the sense of hope that Heidi’s story gives us and the idea that anyone can do anything if they put enough love and faith and support into it. I would love to see David’s story or Darren’s but I don't know if Heidi has other stories planned.

This is absolutely on the list of my top favorite books/audiobooks/series ever. Highly recommeneded.

6 of 5 stars

Jeremy and Emmet

I think that both of the books in this series deserve more than 5 stars. Heidi Cullinan does an amazing job of showing her readers what the world looks like through her character's eyes. Their struggles are so spot on it amazes me. Emmet and Jeremey are back along with the crew from The Roosevelt House plus a whole pack of newbies. I loved getting to know each and every one of them better. It was wonderful seeing Emmet and his buddies working together to fix the wrongs of their world. Emmet's effort to give Jeremey what he needed overwhelmed me at times; from finding Mai, to giving him soft gentle touches because it was important, to making sure that Jeremey knew how much he was loved and important. Jeremey grows so much in this book. He's so quiet that he's sometimes invisible but he's always the one supporting and giving to make it so the others can do what needs to be done. My favorite part is the rooftop scene, but the ending is beyond fantastic.
Take a bow, Heidi. BRAVO!
Highly recommended author and series

Audiobook: Iggy deserves his own standing ovation!