Dedicated: A Rhythm of Love Novel

By: Neve Wilder

Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

“Our greatest hit is a love song I wrote for my bandmate. And he has no idea.”

Messy-haired, soulful-eyed, off-kilter lyricist Les Graves holds tight to the hedonist’s credo of consumption in every avenue of life. He has trouble staying still, trouble staying sober, trouble turning down a good time - but put a pen in his hand, and he’ll set a page on fire.

Music was Evan Porter’s ticket out of the backwater mud puddle he was born in, the passion keeping him warm as he busked on street corners. Every chord, every song, every ounce of sweat has been devoted to making Porter & Graves a success. He’s the level-head, the quiet maestro, the seatbelt that keeps Les from flying too far out of control. And he’s getting pretty tired of playing savior.

Their onstage chemistry is electric, offstage it's… complicated.

After Porter & Graves’s third album bombs, the pressure is on for the duo to redeem themselves with their fourth. While sequestered in an East Tennessee cabin to compose, things take a turn for the worse when an event from their past comes back to haunt them in an embarrassingly public fashion and forces them into an unusual position that tests a partnership already hanging by its bloody roots.

Can Evan and Les find harmony or will they - and their music career - go down in flames?

Dedicated, the first standalone in the Rhythm of Love series, is a steamy, bisexual friends-to-lovers romance featuring semi-kinda forced proximity, a fake relationship, angst, snark, a cock-blocking greenhouse, really poor decisions involving social media, and a HEA guarantee.

©2018, 2019 Neve Wilder (P)2019 Neve Wilder

A rough but satisfying ride

I really loved Les, but I couldn't really connect with Evan. And I loved their story overall, but I thought Evan basically bailed on Les when he hit rock bottom. So while it was a satisfying read, I struggled with some of Evan's behavior, but my love and Les kept me going until the end. Greg Boudreaux did a fantastic job narrating as always.

Loved it!

I confess I was kinda excited about this one. I only read another book from Neve (Want me) and it was more than epic so I had high expectations with this one. I’m gonna say they got partially fulfilled. For one, the narration is stellar! Really. I loved it. Greg (I forgot his last name) dia an amazing job with putting the exact amount of emotion in the characters voices. What I liked about the characters was that, at one point or another, they both pissed me off and acted like assholes. I like flawed characters, it makes them seem more real to me.

I felt connected to their story, and Les’ struggles and I felt so sorry for him by the end of the book that I seriously just cried. Manly because Greg did an amazing job and I could hear the sadness in Les’ voice. I felt for Evan too, trying so hard to come to senses to his feelings and accept them. It’s no easy matter to fall in love with your best friend, specially when said best friend is another dude.

All in all, I loved this one tho it lacks the lightness of “Want me”. This one is more angst than sex. Which is fine too. I am an angst whore.

Love is in the music

Ah, this one was a slow burn of sorts, angsty, and so worth it. Les is very flawed, a party boy, a bit wild. But he's been in love with Evan, the solid homebody and his band mate forever.
Through some unfortunate PR blunders, they are thrust together in a 'are they or aren't they relationship' that they play up for the press. But their real feelings can't stay down. They must learn to heal and grow and be honest if not only their band will survive, but if they will also.
The narration was really well done. I usually prefer two narrators for this kind of dual perspective, but Greg we very good. When Les was breaking down, his voicemails, man you heard the heartbreak in his voice, kudos, I felt that!

OMG...the best!!

I would give 10s if I could. Loved loved this book! I want more from Neve Wilder. Looking now lol.

4 Stars

Dedicated is a character-driven book, told in dual POV, and is sometimes soft and sometimes filled with banter with a little bit of emotional angst. The book focuses solely on Evan and Les as they navigate their professional relationship, as well as their personal one.

The two men are close friends and having two hit albums behind them showed what they could do in the music world. It was one of those things that when they met, it was a given they would work together as their styles complement each other so well.Evan is more routine focused and stable and Les is wild and free. Evan has been holding the two of them together, but it’s getting too much for even him. Les has been attracted to Evan from the start and is now fully in love with him, only Evan has no idea. Evan has never dealt with hard core attraction and has no idea how to process what he’s starting to feel for Les and every part of their relationship is suffering.

There was a lot to like here. The friendship between the men is the focus and although both guys were exhausting at times, the author was able to sustain the feel of what these guys were going through and what they needed all the way through. There was a great push and pull between the men, and in some ways this was a slow burn romance, and in some other ways it wasn’t, as Evan and Les were inevitable and the connection between the two of them is what you read romance for.

Greg Boudreaux has been a favorite narrator of mine and while this was a solid performance, it was not my favorite from him. The overall quality of the performance was high, but most of the time the narration sounded the same and there wasn't the distinct voices for different characters I am used to from this narrator. It is still a pleasant way to enjoy this story and the narration helps elevate the story overall.

Story + Prose + Narration = Audio Nirvana

I really like Neve Wilder's writing and this story is lovely in its language and imagery -- even when you sense the inevitability of Les's eventual crash. Neve allows Evan and Les's story to grow while staying true to her characters. There is no easy way out. Each character has to arrive at their conclusions in their time. The happy ending is earned, not contrived. Also, as a musician myself, the descriptions of the musical aspects of the story enhanced it.

Greg Boudreaux's fantastic narration isn't simply reading text, he brings all of the nuances and emotions - from the deeply heavy parts to the clever, funny bits. I especially liked the fact that his Southernisms natural. I have two other books written under his other moniker, and he is definitely a narrator worth following.

Wow, great book!

You know when you read MM romance (like we do) ans you encounter a story that is the perfect balance of great story, characters, plot, tenderness/angst, hotness and narration? Well, this is one of those rare gems. I was enthralled from beginning to end and fell hard for these two. Highly recommend.

Such a Good Book

I loved this story. It felt real and raw. Made me tear up a few times. I also love Greg’s narration on everything he does, and he didn’t miss the mark on this one either. Perfect narration with all the emotion of the characters bleeding through his voice. Definitely worth a credit!

Greg Boudreaux + Neve Wilder=yummy

I have never experienced such a wonderful narrative experience as when Greg Boudreaux does narration. I have never loved more a love story than one written by Neve Wilder. the connection, both personal and sensual, that she creates between her characters is second to none. (The love never seems cheap, but very sweet.) So, you put Neve and Greg together and you are just blown away. There's nothing like it and there's nothing sexier! It's like melted sexual chocolate. I've heard this book three times already and the sexiness of Greg Boudreau reading lines still takes me there. You must check out this book and others written by her and read by him!

Excellent band/musician romance, loved narrator

I always love band/musician books, (been a while since I read a good one, really) and this one is quite the ride!

Les and Evan are bandmates, Les writes the lyrics and Evan writes the music, and they have had a great career over the last few years, at least until their most recent album. At the same time, emotions and feelings are changing and causing conflict between their friendship. Les's go-to is sex, drugs, and alcohol, and it makes for tense situations when Evan is trying to keep their music and working relationship together.

I really enjoyed the mix of what's going on in the present mixed in with the big event that happened six months ago and also with interviews between Les and Evan so you can really see how well they snark, joke, and banter with each other. I just loved their friendship and of course, my heart broke for how much Les wanted Evan.

Also, although it was never really stated I feel like Evan might fall into a demisexual spectrum, with how he viewed sex in his relationships, which I enjoyed. I also appreciated his outlook on keeping his private life private, and then seeing how attracted he was to Les, once he let himself actually go there and want that for himself.

I'll be honest, I'm not so sure I needed allllll the details about Les' sex-capades? Like, there was a threesome - and I get that being a catalyst for everything that's happening in the present, but there was definitely a disconnect for me as a reader/listener in the first half with how long it took them to get together - fake relationship and all.

Greg Tremblay, as always, kills it with his narration. I just love his voices, and his voices for women and how I can always tell who's talking. LOVE the books he narrates!

I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.