Clean Lines

Cedar Tree Series

By: Freya Barker

Narrated by: Tanya Eby, Noel Harrison

Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

When her surly teenage son moves back to live with ER physician Naomi Waters unexpectedly, her motherly instincts go on high alert. Nothing could've prepared her for the wave of trouble that follows him back into her life.

Sheriff Joe Morris blew his chance with Naomi a few years back when he'd moved faster than his own past allowed. At the first opportunity to get his foot back in the door, he takes it and risks everything to keep her and her son safe.

But working for a future isn't easy when you're fighting to survive your past.

©2015 Margreet Asselbergs as Freya Barker (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

do love these kind of stories

do love these kind of stories that even when you're older or broke inside there is still hope to be loved and taken care of

Loved Joe!!

Clean Lines is my favorite in the series so far. I'm a sucker for a single parent trope, and I loved everything about Joe. The way he never gave up on Naomi, even though it was his mis-communication that had her running. He was great with her son. I also enjoyed his few moments of jealousy behavior he displayed. And last but not least, his protectiveness.

Naomi was that strong heroine this author is known to give her audience. She had a few issues she had to get over to really accept Joe, but I never felt like it was too much. Fox, her son, wasn't the most lovable kid but he had his own issues that stemmed from a not-so-great father. You do get to see him soften with Naomi's mothering touch.

Loved seeing all the gang from previous books. On to the next in the series.

Miscommunication and secrets

It’s always fun catching up with characters from earlier books...and Naomi and Joe finally get their story. Bad guys, vicious exes, lots of drama, steamy times...all make for another gripping romantic suspense.

Loved this couple!

Audiobook: Narrators - Tanya Eby and Noel Harrison

Wonderful job by both narrators. I felt completely pulled into the story and loved how they both performed both the hero and heroine.

I listened to this one out of order but it didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the story and other than knowing the happy ever after of the previous couple, I didn’t feel as if I were missing anything. I loved both Naomi and Joe as well as Naomi’s son Fox. Their relationship started with some ups and downs but when Joe was able to get his foot in Naomi’s door, he pushed it wide and wasn’t going to let her close him out again.

This is layered with plot after plot, twist after twist, all wrapped up in so much deliciousness that is Joe and Naomi together. He was so protective of her and when he wanted to block her out completely, he recognized that she would never stand for it. The chemistry between them was amazing and holy heck...if only my mid-life life was like that! Well, minus the bad guys.

lines

Amazing dual narration from Tanya Eby and Noel Harrison

You will find brilliant strong, feisty females, alongside strong protective, alpha males, with twist after twist. Sheriff Joe Morris blew his chance with Naomi a few years back but when her surly teenage son moves back to live with ER physician Naomi Waters unexpectedly, and inadvertently places his mother in danger, Joe needs to win her back and protect Naomi.

Sooooooo Many Problems

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is the fourth book in a series of connected standalone novels. You don’t need to read the other books in the series but if you do it helps to understand the characters and their shared history.

Naomi is an ER doctor. She moved to Cortez a few years ago to get away from Phoenix and her horrendous ex-husband. She also wanted to get her teenaged son away from the big city and all it’s influences. After a couple of years her son, Fox, decided he was fed up of his mother’s strictures about computer games and insisted he go and live with his father. When a year later his father calls Naomi and tells her that Fox is returning to Cortez immediately she’s delighted but worried for her son.

Joe is the local sheriff. He fell for Naomi when she first moved to Cortez and when he asked her out on a date it went horribly wrong. Whenever he tried to explain she refused to listen because the date triggered reminders of her awful marriage. Joe had his own history of a dreadful marriage, and the dreadful date helped motivate his to truly sort his life out. When Fox returns to Cortez and gets into trouble Joe takes the opportunity to reconnect with Naomi and set the record straight. It’s just as well he gets involved because Fox is in big trouble and needs all the help he can get.

This story is very plot heavy. There are lots of moving parts because there are several sources of problems. It means the characters never know where the next punch is coming from and it leaves the reader reeling as much as the characters. At the same time, there is lots of character development as the author doesn’t solely focus on the suspense aspect of the book. The author delves deeply into the characters and their motivations, telling the story from two points of view, both Naomi and Joe. We see each character from both the inside and the outside which is revealing. Both characters are flawed but decent people who care about each other greatly.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the story was the way in which Joe bonded with 16-year-old Fox, and started to care for him quite quickly. They had a relationship with each other separate from the one through Naomi. There was quite a lot of development for Fox as well, as he eventually showed his true colours underneath the bratty teen exterior.

I enjoyed the narrators but they weren’t the best I’ve heard. Some of this delivery was a little lacklustre in places which sometimes kept me distant from the characters the actors were supposed to be connecting me to. I felt a little let down because the book was great, however the performances were good enough to warrant me listening to books future books with them narrating because they were ok.

Aside from being a little let down by the narrators, this was a really enjoyable romantic suspense novel with passion, affection, friendship and family at it’s heart. Freya Barker writes such good stories and this is no exception.