In Too Deep

Stewart Island Series, Book 1

By: Tracey Alvarez

Narrated by: Amy Soakes

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Two hearts. A second chance. Everything on the line…

Ryan "West" Westlake belongs on the island. It's in his blood and who he is. Nobody can deny that. When Piper Harland walked out of his life years ago, West let her go. He'd never stand in the way of a woman and her dreams. But now that she's back, their past smacks him right in the face. With tempers flared and desires heightened, West just might realize what he lost so long ago.

Piper would do anything for her brother - even if means going back to Stewart Island - the one place she swore she'd never go again. As a member of the elite New Zealand Police Dive Team, Piper is forced to return to her hometown. When she confronts the demons of her past, old feelings of grief and pain come flloding back, as well as lost love. Without drowning, can Piper wade through the pain of her past and find a future with the one who shattered her heart?

©2013 Tracey Alvarez (P)2018 Tracey Alvarez

Nice small town romance in beautiful New Zealand

Tracey Alvarez's books make me want to visit New Zealand.
The atmosphere of the town is typical small town. The characters are believable, but entertaining.

Piper needs to deal with demons from her past when she returns home to help her family.
One issue from her past that has plagued her the most is her brother's best friend West...
Conflict between them ensues soon after she gets back, but it all ends with a HEA.

The narrator does have a Kiwi accent, but it is not so strong that it is hard to follow the story. It just helps set the atmosphere.

Good story

Piper the choices she has made, returning to help her brothers now nine years later. She had become a police officer, and a diving expert, after the tragic death of her father before Now coming home when there was still the guilt, and accusations. Clearing the air so love could happen. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

sweet 2nd chance romance

Piper is forced to take leave from her job as a police diver and returns to her hometown to help her injured brother with the family's dive business. She did not plan on coming face to face with her ex so soon...but it was inevitable since he was also her brother's best friend. Of course, they had hidden their relationship from her brother, so now talk about awkward! It's even more awkward since she has to stay in his house...and also help out at his restaurant...yep, no escaping at all. Wes is still hurt and furious with the woman who broke his heart when she left town without a word all those years ago. Never mind that he knew that she was guilt ridden from the accidental drowning of her father during a dive, that she believed was her fault. Now she's back and burrowing under his skin again, but her time is limited since she has to return to work...many many miles away...so he can deal.
Neither Piper nor Wes counts on the resurgence of their feelings for each other. Can they see beyond the past hurts and guilt and have a second chance? Lots of emotions to flesh out in this book and it was well developed. Also enjoyed the sub characters. Great start to this series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great Story & Narration🎧 Sweet & Heartfelt!

This is a great second chance romance. I enjoyed Tracey Alvarez’s writing style and the interesting storylines she created, they were engrossing from start to end. I love how descriptive she is and where the story is set. The characters are complex and well developed, Piper returns back to her hometown to help her brother, she left home nine years earlier with a broken heart. Back home she has to face her heartbreaks, one of whom is West and not only does she have to face him she has to work with him. I enjoyed how their story played out, there is never a dull moment, there is plenty of emotions, angst, drama, past and present, some nice humor and a slow burn to a wonderful & sweet second chance romance. Thank you Tracey Alvarez for this great story.

I listened to the Audible edition, narrated by the talented Amy Soakes. She is an entertaining storyteller and terrific voice performer. She brings these characters to life, give each their own voice and personality, as well as heart and attitude. She does a great job projecting the emotions of the characters as well as the characters of the story into her performance. Thank you for another great listen🎧

Great audiobook!

This book was so much fun! An all-around great read with fantastic characters, a solid plot, and a delicious romance, I read the ebook version a while ago, but was more than happy to re-read the audio when I found out it had been released. You've got to love that Kiwi accent... :)

Lovers-with-a-past is one of my favorite troupes, and it's done very well here. Piper and West have explosive chemistry, but when they parted nine years ago all kinds of misunderstandings--some of them due to willful misdirection, while others are not--conspired to keep them apart. They both believe that there's an expiration date on this portion of their relationship as well, and it makes for some heartbreaking scenes.

Fortunately, to distract you from the angst, there's also plenty of fun and steamy scenes throughout... ;)

In Too Deep is a romance, so the HEA is a given, but it's definitely not an easy path for Piper and West. Their journey is believable, and at times, heart-wrenching. I needed to have everything work out for those two, and this kept me looking for mindless things to do so I could keep listening. (All the dishes in the house are spotless! The dog has never been on so many walks!)

Though I loved the hero and heroine, the secondary characters here are just as fun and really helped to showcase Tracey Alvarez's fun and witty writing style. Reading this book, it feels totally populated with fictional characters that would blend right in with my less-than-fictional friends. I love books like that--where the characters seem to jump off the page they're so real.

The New Zealand setting is absolutely beautiful, and reading about diving--from free-diving to cage diving (sharks!) to being a dive cop--was fascinating. None of it is something I'd be able to do, mind you--I'd be the one sitting on the beach or deck of the boat with my SPF 45 and a book--but it is really interesting to read about.

It all adds up to a book that I literally didn't want to stop listening to, even though I already knew how it was going to end up :)

4 1/2 stars, A rating

Good story poor narrator

The narrator’s voice just did not work for me. Too high pitched, made everyone sound winey or old.

Good book!

I enjoyed this first book in the Stewart Island Series. Piper & West’s second chance romance was a good read. I am excited to continue this series & see who else finds their HEAs.

Back In Time

As the first book in the “Stewart Island Series,” the author Tracy Alvarez masters the “Second Chance Romance” novel genre. Characters Piper Harland and Ryan Westlake find their lives back in the place (Stewart Island) where their original romance began. After Piper’s and Ryan’s return, both the attraction and the conflict of their previous relationship comes back into play. The setting for the story is in New Zealand and this audio is the first in a series of Stewart Island stories.
The audio edition narrated by Meghan Kelly gives full life to this story as the voice quality was excellent and well suited to the theme. Narration was emotionally expressive with appropriate tone to each given situation. Voice was properly paced with pauses injected where necessary to provide emphasis to the storyline. As the main characters were male and female, the only criticism I have is the the same voice delivery was provided essentially for both characters. At times I would have to listen carefully to determine whose thoughts were being performed as their was little difference in the voice presentation.
Overall the story was interesting and I would follow the sequel as the delivery was very good in quality and its presentation . I have listened to other narrations from Amy Soakes and found her performance to be a nature easy rhythm in its delivery. I have received access for purpose of review however, the insights and opinions were not solicited but of my own account.

Great Listen

I received this audiobook free for an honest review. It was a long book, but kept my attention. There were several times I thought it was ending, but it kept on going. It was fast paced and exciting. Some twists an turns that will keep your attention. The narrator did an excellent job with the characters and their personlities.

Love it

A wonderful romance I thoroughly enjoyed.
Very well narrated I’ll definitely check out more from this author.