Ache

By: S.M. Soto

Narrated by: Ava Erickson, Joe Arden

Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A second chance romance....

What happens when you fall for the boy next door?

Bea Norwood had the market on normal.

Drama free life? Check.

A single-mother who doubled as her confidant and partner in crime? Check.

A neighbor and best friend she trusted more than anyone? Check.

But that was until the day her mother remarried. The day that changed everything.

When her best friend's cousin, Liam Falcon, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle to clean up his act, Bea finds herself falling for the boy next door. With their hearts so infinitely entwined, Bea turns to Liam as her only escape from her new step-brother's daily torment at home. Bea thought their love could conquer anything. But she was wrong. Love was for fools, and she was the biggest fool of them all.

When Liam left Lakeport, he took her heart with him, shattering the organ to pieces. Six years later, Liam takes a trip back to Lakeport to visit his family, and to see her.

His first love.

The girl who holds his heart.

The same girl who shattered it six years ago without looking back.

Liam is hell-bent on seeing Bea again after six years, but what he finds tears his heart in half. Bea Norwood is a shell of the girl he fell in love with. Underneath the baggy clothes, and pale skin, he knows she's still in there somewhere, he just needs to find her. Liam will stop at nothing to win his girl back, but sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and Liam isn't prepared for Bea's truth.

Some aspects of this story may be difficult for listeners.

©2019 S.M. Soto (P)2019 S.M. Soto

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️CRUSHING⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!!!!
Wow, this story is really H E A V Y but incredibly beautiful.
If you ever wondered what makes the heart of Heros beat, look no further, this is the book!
Soto has a unique ability to put real human emotions into writing and the always five star performance of Joe Arden and Ava Erickson , make this one for the keeper section💋

A roller coaster of emotions that you can't miss!!

Just when I didn't think my soul could take any more, S.M. Soto throws another punch to the gut that left my heart irrevocably broken. Ache has all the feels, I mean ALL of them.I was on such an emotional high with devastating lows. The perfect recipe for an outstanding story that you will tell all your friends and even complete strangers to read.

I went in completely blind to this story, not reading the blurb, reviews or any other book by Soto and never once was I disappointed. Bea & Liam are the kind of characters that will stay with you for a long, long time.

Soto did an amazing job at making me understand Bea, the why and how of her actions. Often times it is so easy to judge a person's decisions from the outside. Soto gives us such a raw, gritty look that elicits strong emotions, leaving me devastated at times. I didn't see Bea as a victim but as a survivor.

I listened to the audio version of Ache. Ava Erickson did a PHENOMENAL job of bringing Bea to life. I think having the words brought to life brings a whole new dimension to the story. Joe Arden is one of my favorites and always does an outstanding job. The narrators are engaging, keep you listening and always wanting more.

Sweet Bea

This was a tough one! I did finish it and so happy I did. A very difficult subject to write about but S. M. Soto you did it. Although this book was tough for me to get through I did enjoy the journey. Bea & Liam are stronger together!

Missed the mark

I normally enjoy this authors books but this one just missed the mark for me. Love Joe Arden but not a big fan of Eva.

Heartbreaking story

This one kept me interested from the beginning. It was heartbreaking at times and hard to hear sometimes. But stuff like this happens. And to have a story where one goes through so much and still comes out with a beautiful ending........beautiful.

Such a great story!

Ava Erickson and Joe Arden did a spectacular job narrating this beautifully heartbreaking story. I knew it was going to be emotional going in but I was not prepared for this book.

Ache is a story about young love that takes a dark and devastating turn. Bea and Liam find each other young in life and both knew each other was it. Life happens though and dreams still need to be reached and when a break is taken the unthinkable begins. I don't want to give anything away but what happens to Bea in her life is not something I can put into words. It's horrifying, however as you continue to read her story you see her struggling to come back to herself. To shine brighter than her tormentor and it is so uplifting to see her fight. Liam does what he thinks is best with only knowing half a story but thru it all he is such a stand up guy you can't help but love him.

It really was a great story and one that I couldn't put down once I began.

beautiful story

my heart brook for the heroine in this book i felt her pain and cried out of her.

my heart! 💔💔💔

Beautiful love story. very hard to read but it doesn't feel like it drags on and on. very beautiful and emotional and romantic.

A heartbreaker

This was an emotional story. It was filled with sorrow, difficult topics and rebuilding.
After Liam moves away, Bea is left with a hollow existence, unthinkable acts and no will TI go on.
It takes Liam coming back to help Bea put her life back together and find the strength to fight!

Explosive Listen!

Audio review:
Ache (A Second Chance Romance) is scripted in very explicit vivid details, told in two parts; past and present with flashbacks. I personally would not categorize this as a second chance romance as it is more like women's literature with a dabble of romance. The romance is not the spotlight and plays a secondary role. The cover is beautiful and a bit misleading, but the title fits. The writing style is eloquent. A very dark listen/read with lucid scenes of rape/sexual abuse, not for the faint at heart. I struggled with the character's decisions and ways of thinking. I was hoping to see more of a survivor finding her courage but it was more about letting someone ride to the rescue. I wanted to love Liam, but couldn't as there was zero character development for him. His character felt two dimensional and extremely disappointing as part of the book is told in his pov. I didn't find the chemistry between Bea and Liam to be very exciting. The ending is the reward with a sweet epilogue.

Narrators Ava Erickson, Joe Arden flawless performance brings the character's to reality. However, this one is all Ava as most of the narrative is told in Bea's pov. Her impeccable performance personifies her talent. Her inflection was smooth and changed when needed. Excellent choice for narrator who brings the character's and narrative to a whole new level.

Oh Bea and Liam 😫

What can I say about this story? Well there is a lot yet still so little. My heart broke reading about Bea and Liam. It broke so much that I couldn't get myself to write a review on it. So here I am a few weeks later writing it up.

The story follows Bea a sweet girl who loves watching the stars and learning about astronomy. When her best friends cousin moves in next door she can't help falling for the young boy at first sight.

Liam has only one thing on his mind, going pro in baseball. However when he sees Bea he can't help the way his heart yearns for her.

As young love is they begin to see each other a lot more but with both their love changing around them things get a little difficult.

Bea's mother remarries and she's thrown to live with not only a new dad but a step brother. A brother named Connor who is not anything like she imagined. He states at her constantly and makes her feel uncomfortable.

It's not until a few years later when Bea's love Liam decides to go to college out of town that her life changes. For the next ten odd years she's forced to isolate herself from the world. She's forced to live in fear as her step brother rapes her every night.

Her parents don't see anything different expect her distance. Her best friends hardly sees her anymore and knows something is wrong. The love of Bea's life isn't around to protect her and for that she has no one but herself.

It's heartbreaking to read and follows a topic that in most books is brushed over lightly. In this read you see the nitty gritty which makes it not only more painful but more real.

It's a wake up call of a read that despite falling down into an abyss you can pull yourself through.
When Bea is given a second chance not only with the love of her life but to regain the life she lost she takes it even if it is tentaively.

She shows that even having to go through something so traumatic there is a way out. A way to gain back the life you deserve.

As much pain as this read delivers it shows redemption and strength too. It's not a read for sensitive readers but it is a story that every person should hear becuase you never know who may be going through something similar.

A daring story and heartbreaking show of how second chances really can be worth everything.

Amazing emotional

Loved this book, I was rooting for bea throughout, a gripping and emotional storyline, brilliant

Absolutely fantastic

This is my first ever audible. I have tried listening to others before but gave up. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

I read this book earlier on in the year but as I loved it so much I couldn’t resist listening to it too.

ACHE is an all-new emotionally charged second chance romance by S.M. Soto.
‘What happens when you fall for the boy next door?'

Emotionally charged... yep that’s true.

After reading this story I still wanted more so I read the authors note to her readers. The author tells us of her struggle to release this. Of how difficult it was to write due to the subject matter. I’m so glad she found the strength to release this story as it needs to be read.

Bea believed she had everything she wanted in life. She was even happier when Liam entered her life. He gave her the happiness she didn’t know she was missing.

Then he left.

He took her heart with him.

She broke.

Liam has missed Bea so much. When he returns he sees a very different Bea.

He needs to find out what happened her.

Can they move forward or will Liam find closure.

This is certainly going to be one of my favourite stories this year. My heart broke for these characters over and over again. I knew what I wanted to happen but did I get it?

A heart wrenching but beautifully told story that will stay with me for a long time x

The narrators did a fantastic job. Let me say that if I didn’t like it straight away I’d have stopped like I’ve done previously but these narrators were awesome. They literally brought the story to life.

After listening to this I’ll certainly be trying Audible again.

Bea and Liam!

Bea was a happy and healthy teenager who had a great relationship with her mother and her best friend Myrah lived next door. When her mother remarries her life is forever changed and she will never be the same again.

Liam has been sent to live with his cousin Myrah and her family to correct his bad behavior. Bea spent as little time at home as she could so that meant spending a lot of time at her neighbors. Liam and Bea become close and he becomes her safe place but when he left Lakeport she was left alone once again with no help in sight.

Six years later Liam is back to see the only girl that he has ever loved but the Bea he finds is not the Bea he left. The atrocities that Bea has had to deal with for the last six years has changed her and uncovering the truth could break both of them.

This is an emotional story that will break your heart and put it back together. Bea has endured so much in her life and she doesn’t know where to turn so she takes it all upon herself. Liam is so determined and patient and he shows Bea that he is the one person she can trust and depend on. The narrators did a great job of bringing the emotion and angst of this story to life.

My Aching heart!!!

Oh my LANTA!!! this story is painful in every single way possible! Seriously when I say my heart is aching, it is. This is brutal. There was only one area where I wish we received more. I feel like Jenny should have revisited after the scene with her. I would have loved an apology. SM Soto is a pro in pulling out emotions. I was literally yelling at the characters throughout this story. I kept begging the friends to look... or the parents to see. Hindsight is always 20/20 and all that jazz.

The performers were brilliant. Ava Erickson sounded like a kicked puppy... I thn k that's what they were going for when the story is so traumatizing. Joe Arden is emotional and so strong. I can't even explain how they both spoke strait to my soul, hitting it!!