All the Things We Were

River Valley Lost & Found, Volume 3

By: Kayla Tirrell

Narrated by: Katie Brown

Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Nineteen-year-old Michelle doesn’t think her summer could get any worse. She’s missing out on the sandy beaches of Mexico to work in her father’s bookstore, her relationship with her mother is complicated, and to top it all off, her coworker is the captain of the nerd patrol.

As the replacement guitarist of River Valley’s most popular band, Rainier’s summer is shaping up to be a life-changing one. No longer the shy kid who barely leaves his house, he feels alive on stage. Everything would be amazing if only he wasn’t stuck working with his boss’ mean-girl daughter.

There's a thin line between love and hate. Will Rainier and Michelle take a chance to explore the connection they can't quite deny? Or will they discover some people are too different to make it work?

All the Things We Were is a young-adult contemporary romance great for both teens and adults.

©2017 Kayla Tirrell (P)2019 Kayla Tirrell

redeeming

I listened to the first book in the series, so I was familiar with Michelle already. I wasn't sure how her story was going to go, since she was basically the mean girl in book 1 (I didn't read or listen to book 2). Ranier was the perfect person for her to help her get herself together. This is a clean story, no sex at all, and I don't recall any swearing either. it's a younger audience than what I normally go for, but wasn't bad. the narrator was decent too, not making it sound awkward doing both male and female parts.

People Change

All the Things We Were by Kayla Tirrell is a sweet coming of age story featuring characters that can change for the better. Michelle starts out in this book as a "mean girl" and morphs into someone I liked. I think the author wrote this sweet romance with great insight and sensitivity. She gave the characters depth and feelings, and kept the book clean. I love it when one's imagination can fill in the details of a budding romance. Ranier came across as a clean cut young man that kept it together even when success came. Katie Brown performed this book wonderfully, giving the characters distinguished voices. I love it when I can hear exactly who is speaking. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. This book is both a standalone listen and part of a series. I had no trouble following the story, and this is my first listen by this author. I will listen to more books by this author and narrator.

A beautiful sweet story.

A beautiful sweet story. This entertaining standalone is better if you are upto date with the other series stories for character association but not neccesarily needed. It's a powerful story of redemption with lots of sarcasm and sass, includes a swoony nerdy guitarist, and undeniable attraction creating thick tension. The characters are interesting and relatable. I voluntarily listened and reviewed this ARC that was beautifully narrated really bring the characters and story to life

Can opposites attract?

This can be categorized as opposites attract/enemy to lovers. Michelle and Ranier don't have a lot in common and don't get along in the beginning. Ranier is a nice guy and Michelle is known as a mean girl. I enjoy seeing how things develop between the two and how everything falls into place.

My favorite in the series

I absolutely loved getting to know Michelle and Raineir . I especially loved how he didn't try to change himself to get the popular girl . The growth that Michelle made as a person is heart warming also . I usually never feel for the mean girl . This was also the funniest in my opinion .

Five Stars

Another sweet love story in the River Valley Lost & Found series. Even though I really enjoyed this story and this series, I went through most of the book not really liking Michelle and her mean girl personality and felt there was no real chemistry between her and Ranier. Somehow by the end, though, Kayla turned Michelle into a compassionate person and made the relationship between the two of them believable. Katie Brown has a nice voice and does a great job bringing the characters to life. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet YA coming of age story with a HEA.

Pure romance

The act of going from high school to grown up and finding your true love is what this amazing story is about. It is very well written and very well performed. A perfect third book in the series

Love the push and pull between these two!

I really love when we have two characters are vastly different and they kind of clash yet they have this attraction that they can’t ignore but really want too! That’s really what we have between Rainier and Michelle. They really didn’t like each other much in the beginning. Michelle came off as a bit of a snob. I was a bit worried I wasn’t going to like her to be honest but she gave a bit and really change a bit. Perhaps Rainier rubbed off on her. I really liked their chemistry and that kind of love/hate push pull they had going on.

The narrator Katie Brown did a seriously great job. She portrayed the different characters fairly well. They had different voices and really stood apart from each other. Miss Brown has really grown on me. I love this series that she gave to life. It’s been fun!

Glad I listened

This is the third book in this series. I hesitated on listening to it b/c it is about a character that I didn’t like from the last book. I’m glad I listened to it though. I enjoyed all three books and I think the narrator did a fantastic job.

🎧audiobook Obsession

Volume 3

After listening to all 3 audio books, I can definitely say that the story line and narration are excellent . I am definitely recommending this series.