The Lovely Return

De: Carian Cole

Narrado por: Brandon Francis, Dani California, Shiloh James

What if love can transcend time and death?

When I was three years old, I started drawing a house with a red door. Next to the house I drew a happy family—a husband, a wife, a baby, and their dog. For years I cried every night, clutching the drawings, begging my mother to take me home to my real family.

I was labeled odd—a talented child with an overactive imagination.

But one day I wandered straight to that house with the red door, and I found the man and the dog I had been drawing.

Alex Fox was quiet. A sexy, brooding artist. A recluse hiding behind an eye patch and shaggy hair. A grieving widower, suspended in time, never moving forward. Waiting for his love to return.

As I grew up we developed an unlikely but easy friendship, bonding over our mutual love of art. He felt familiar, his home felt like home. But as the years passed I found it harder and harder to ignore not only my growing feelings for him, but the odd visions that played through my mind every time I got too close to him, or spent time in his house.

Or more accurately, when I touched his late wife's things. Like her wedding gown. And her husband's lips.

Dreams, reality, and sanity began to blur until I came to a startling revelation. I wasn’t having visions, and I wasn't delusional. I was having memories. Alex's late wife's memories, to be exact.

Alex fights our undeniable connection, believing I'm off limits and too young for him. He tries desperately to do what's right—pushing away the one and only thing he's been wishing for since that tragic day when he lost everything. Or so he thinks.

He was mine, once upon a time, in a prior life.

And I’m going to make him mine again.

©2023 Carian Cole (P)2025 Tantor Media

It's Beautiful

Carian Cole delivers another emotionally charged story in The Lovely Return. This book is full of angst, heartbreak, and beautifully raw emotions that pull you in from the very first chapter. The push and pull between the characters is intense and keeps the pages turning, and I found myself completely hooked, unable to put it down.

That said, I do wish the romance had come together a little sooner. The buildup takes almost the entire book, which at times felt frustrating because you’re rooting for them so hard. Still, the slow burn is part of what makes the payoff so satisfying once it happens.

If you’re a fan of deeply emotional, angsty romances that make you feel every high and low along the way, this is definitely a book worth picking up. Even with my small gripe about the pacing, I’d recommend it without hesitation because once you start, you’ll want to see it through to the very end.

amazing read!!!

loved the whole story. it kept me completely captivated. never a dull moment! highly recommended to all book lovers!

Absolutely amazing!

My goodness… this was a whirlwind of a ride. I loved every. damn. second. The angst, the tension, the thrill, the slow burn, and the damn twist in this that I felt was the whole vibe based on how it was going but still hit me come the end. Can you love someone so deeply, so powerfully, that something so tragic can end in something so beautiful? How about a miracle? Not the typical kind either. Bc this story to me is so beautifully written that made a tragic love story become so damn beautiful in such a miraculous way. You will have to read it to find out. This was nothing like I’ve ever read before.

Perfection

This is my second review in over 1000 books.- And that says it all: I loved every second of it and as there were only 2 hours left I dreaded the end of the story as I've fallen in love with the characters and didn't want to loos them. Carian has this uncanny ability to bring characters to life and no matter their flaws or situations - you will have nothing but understanding for their actions and you can't help but falling in love with them and their unique storys. This is perfection, Carian. Congratulations!

Same goes for the narrators: Perfection. Thank you for bringing this book to life.

The narrators were excellent story tellers!

This was an amazing book. Every time I stopped listening, I couldn’t wait to get back to it. This book had me from the first chapter all the way to the last. I need to find another audible book that holds my attention like this one did.