Absolution: A Novel

By: Ava Harrison

Narrated by: Sebastian York, Grace Grant

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

From USA Today best-selling author Ava Harrison comes a sexy new stand-alone romance novel.

I was done with love. When I opened my heart, it was for the men I couldn't have. The unattainable ones. The ones who would hurt me. A vicious cycle I couldn’t seem to stop. But I had a new resolve. Focus on my career. Stay single. And then I met him. 

Jace Montgomery. A wounded widower with two young kids. He was exactly everything I was avoiding. So I did my best to stay away.

But then he kissed me. And I fell. Hard. Hard for a man who would never be mine.... A man who was broken beyond repair. A man who would break me.

©2018 AH Publishing (P)2018 AH Publishing

Wow! Beautiful Story!

I absolutely love this story! I think this is my favorite book written by Ava Harrison. I haven't read Trans.fe.rence (Preston and Eve's story), but I will! This story is so beautifully written and realistic. The main characters, Sydney and Jace, are great together and we can feel their connection. They share a strong and really intense chemistry. The little ones, Avery and Logan are so cute! Jace's a broken and dysfunctional man and he's just so handsome! But I have to admit that I wanted to shake him sometimes! Sydney's a beautiful and strong character, so protective and supportive. My heart broke for her so many times! I didn't want this story to end and I loved their HEA. The narration was perfection. Both narrators did an amazing and believable interpretation. I TOTALLY recommend this audiobook. I have read/listen this story.

A HEARTFELT STORY FLOODED WITH FEELS

Ava has written a heartbreaking story about loss, tragedy, a broken family, compassion and the healing power of love. It’s tragic, beautiful, raw, compelling and is packed full of emotional feels.

Jace is a grieving widower lost in his world of regret, heartache, pain and denial.. he’s getting through his days by ignoring his children, burying his emotions, drinking away his anguish and drowning his thoughts in work. He’s wealthy, successful and his high-powered Asset Management business his father started is a good escape to numb his pain.. and, for a year, it worked.. but he’s a shell of a man, he’s bitter, tortured, anti-social and an absentee father, sibling, son and friend. Then it’s his brother’s wedding but numbing his heartache with drink isn’t working anymore.. because the happy couple’s touches, kisses and loving looks reminds him of what he once had.. memories haunt him.. and the regrets torment him.. then came Sydney. She offered a shoulder to cry on, a ear to listen to his grief, a loving heart to give all and she would also offer him a lifeline, a chance to change and an opportunity for absolution.. but would this broken man see it, grasp it, cherish it, nurture it and love it?. No, never, absolutely not, well maybe but, perhaps only if, no strings, no labels, no expectations and definitely no promises of any type of a future together ever!!

Now listen to this heartbreakingly beautiful dual POV story as solid lines become blurred, impenetrable walls begin to crumble, feelings fill fractures in a broken heart and love is the catalyst for forgiveness, for redemption, for healing and for a family to rise from the ashes reformed, meshed together by love and made whole again. Because Sydney’s compulsion to fix what’s broken comes from her good soul, her compassion is limitless, her patience is endless, her forgiveness is real and her capacity to love is beautiful.. but she’s going to need every one of these virtues to breathe life back into a broken man.

Worth a credit? Yes.. Ava Harrison, Grace Grant and Sebastian York.. their talents are endless and combined they made this a solid five star listen.

Absolutely perfect**********

I loved everything about this book. The characters, the narrators, the story. Everything. It deserves more than 5 stars for sure.

Exhausting

Grace Grant and her character are so annoying in this audio. Ugh. I couldn’t finish after chapter 20. Self righteous and judgemental are not attractive character traits.

The female narrator ruined it for me

Loved the story. Loved the male narrator (he's one of my faves) but absolutely could not listen to the female narrator. She messed up the story for me. I had to wait for the story to come out on Kindle in order to just read it.
Her felt that her voice was just all wrong for the part...and when she tried to do the male voices...just No. I couldn't finish the listen.
I feel bad leaving a less then favorable review as I really did enjoy the story and Sebastian York in this character.

5 Redemption Stars

Ava has floored me with this book. The perfect amount of angst, humor, heartache and love followed by a happy ending that will stay with me for a long time.

Loved the storyline

This was a great overall story but the narration...ugh. Love Sabation and Grace was fine in a female but when Jace is talking in Grace's "male voice" it's unbearable to listen to. It's like "he" grunts...very bad. I will read the book sometime and enjoy it much more.

narration

Personally do not care for this female narrator and do not see why she did part of the male narration when you had a male narrator.

A guilt ridden widower falls in love again

Jace is a self destructive functional alcoholic with two great kids. He is living a life of a never ending pity party fining solace in being a workaholic until he meets Sydney at his brothers wedding. She has her own secrets but is more than willing to try to help him and his kids. The kids are interesting and Sweet. There is also a stalker ex and some lust and chemistry. Jace is such a user it is hard to be sympathetic but they both are lonely and needy so they help each other. He needed to go to AA and to see a grief counsellor. Sydney seems to feed off Jace’s misery at first, then she seems to want to help all the time and eventually she begins to become less of a doormat. They eventually work out their issues- mostly his and fall in love. The narration is good - not great because Grace Grant’s male voices sound too similar and are grating. The plot drags some but holds interest. The romance becomes hot but is also a bit to melodramatic and predictable at times. These 3 siblings are depressing at times but at least this story was better than his brother’s. An ok, mediocre story with some interesting parts and some sad parts before the HEA. Ok as a sale book but not worth a full credit. It would have been better as an Escape Package Offering.

narrator

I usually skip reviews..but what an annoying woman voice that was and the she read it... make girl just dumb. good story though

Raw, emotional, and ultimately beautiful.

Do you like A-hole characters? Do you like books that hit you in the gut? Do you like having your heart ripped from your chest and then pieced back together again? Yes? Then this is the book for you. The book deals with some very difficult situations and ultimately it’s a book about saving and forgiving yourself. It’s a book about realising that you have to do that in order to keep living and providing for the people in your life. Admitting to yourself about how you feel and letting the guilt go, allowing yourself to grieve. I thought it was handled beautifully. It’s raw, and hard to read at times. But, ultimately it’s uplifting and healing.

These characters are amazing, not necessarily amazing in the sense that I loved them the whole time, but in the sense that they made me react. Not always in a positive way, but that’s okay. I’m intrigued by Preston, and I shall be diving into his story next, I’m on the fence about Evie - so we’ll see how that goes.
Jace is an a-hole. First class a-hole. The things he says and does are just ball-punch worthy, but, the guy is grieving and guilt-ridden, so although I don’t excuse his behaviour, I can understand it to an extent. He was so broken. As the book progresses he improves, you can see him falling for Sydney and in essence, his kids…it was like they were rediscovering themselves as a family and that was beautiful to experience. Of course, just when you think he’s getting to good guy territory he goes and says something that makes you gasp and consider throwing your kindle. He comes good, in the end, he seeks help from the people that matter to him…the people that had always wanted to help, but he never let. I can understand why some people would have issues with certain things he does and says, but, it’s so obvious that it’s the guilt talking that I was able to forgive him.
I struggled with Sydney to begin with. She was a little too much of a fixer, to the point where she was pushing herself onto Jace and his family, saying and doing things that she really didn’t have any right to. But, as time went on I did start to understand her more and become more attached to her. I did get a little frustrated that she didn’t tell Jace about her ex and what he was doing, especially when the opportunity arose. I also felt for her, she was always picking the wrong guys and that stemmed from her childhood, and knowing the type of guys she'd been with in the past, I just wanted her to be happy. I wanted to shake her a few times, but again, she came good when she stood up and made the decision to do the right thing for her and basically say, ‘you know what, I’m worth more than this, I deserve better.’
Logan and Avery are just the sweetest kids, they’ve experienced such a huge loss in their lives and it was almost like they’d lost both their parents because Jace was so withdrawn from them, I mean, he still ensured they had someone, but it wasn’t him, and they felt that, so getting to see them opening up to Sydney and doing fun things together was heartwarming.
I liked that Jace and Sydney’s relationship was built on friendship and it was that friendship that started to break through Jace’s grief and guilt to make him look at his life and his decisions and start making better ones. The connection they had was palpable and the sexy times were off the charts sexy. I need to check my Kindle for scorch marks. I loved that this was not just about Jace and Sydney, but also the children, they played a big part in their relationship and the healing process, for so long Jace had pushed them away because he didn’t think they needed him, that he felt he was the reason their mother was gone, and watching him slowly start to do more with them, and reconnect as a family, well, it was beautiful.

This is the first book I’ve read by Ava Harrison. It definitely won’t be my last. Ava’s writing is phenomenal - it is gut-wrenching, emotional, and raw. She destroyed my heart and slowly and surely mended it. It did take me a little while to get into the swing of it, there was a bit too much repetition for my liking at the beginning, (I think it was mentioned three times about Sydney’s ex and why he’s her ex,) but, once I got hooked, I was hooked hard and nothing could pull me away. I was captivated by these characters and this story. I had guessed one of the plot turns, and I knew the reactions to it were going to be bad…but, OMG, I never expected it to be that bad, I actually gasped. One of the best books I’ve read this year. Single parent is one of my favourite type of stories and this one has blown almost all of the others out of the water. The angst and feels just captured my heart and wouldn’t let go.

I thought this audiobook was perfectly cast, Sebastian York was Jace. I think it’s the best performance I’ve ever listened to him do - of course, I’ve not listened to them all. His voice was deep and rather gruff…not how I’d normally describe him. The emotion he conveyed was astounding, you felt the pain the character was experiencing bleeding through the earbuds. The character and the performance were the three S’s - sexy, sweet, and swoony. Don’t get me wrong, the character is an A-Hole, but, he has sweet moments. He really does nail the single father aspects and his child’s voice is never over-compensating. Grace Grant was fantastic as Sydney too, she really gave that character life. It’s amazing how each emotion Sydney felt was conveyed in the tone Grace used…you believed that she was hurt, or unsure, or happy. It’s amazing to have that come through, not in words, but in tone and for the listener to be immersed. Grace is always so skilled at that.
Grace and Sebastian’s voices blended really well together in this book. Their performances mixed with Ava Harrison’s words at times brought tears to my eyes. They really nailed this story and these broken characters…they breathed life into them. It was wonderful to listen to and one of the best audiobooks of 2018.
I enjoyed the production and didn’t notice any issues. I’m still getting used to not having the chapter PoV said at each chapter announcement…which is especially jarring when you’re switching between reading and listening, but that is just a personal thing and I’m sure the more I listen to books that are like it, and it appears that it’s being done that way more and more, the more I’ll get used to it.

Super listen

Absolutely loved this book , my word does it make you smile and then cry buckets the story of Jace and his two children is quite heart wrenching
The narration is superb but then anything that 🦄narrates seldom lets it down but Grace Grant is also a great narrator but they certainly had a really good story to narrate , five stares all the way
And thanks 👌😀

Beautiful story.

A strong, heartfelt story of dealing with loss, new love, friendship and the growth of joy, perfectly narrated by the talented Sebastian York and Grace Grant. This was an absorbing story amd the narration pulled me in and kept me completely engrossed. Excellent!