Don't Let Go

By: Andrew Grey

Narrated by: Jeff Gelder

Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

Avery Rivers is a country music sensation, selling records by the millions and playing to sold-out crowds. But behind that persona is Robert, a burned-out musician cracking under the pressure. He’s unable to write any new songs, and he wants out of the business - at least for a while. He changes his appearance and finds honest hard work in Jackson, Wyoming. Maybe getting to be a regular guy for a while will get him past his block.

Hy Whitely was a championship bull rider until he watched his best friend thrown in the arena and decided the rodeo circuit was no longer the place for him. He wants to be plain old Zeke for a while, and when he returns to his family ranch, he bumps right into Robert - a one-night stand from his last rodeo appearance - who is now working there as a ranch hand.

The heat between the men could sear the grass off the range, but each one is hiding a secret. Robert and Zeke, the men behind the public images, fall in love, but can they hold on when Avery and Hy are pulled back into the spotlight?

©2018 Dreamspinner Press (P)2018 Dreamspinner Press

3 Stars

I was hooked by the premise of this story, where both main characters are hiding their celebrity personas and end up falling hard for each other. It’s not a plot device I see often, but when I do I grab it up.

I love that Zeke and Robert fall for one another without knowing who the other one is in their public lives. But all good things must come to an end and when reporters and fans find out where “Avery Rivers” is staying, they flood in forcing Robert to come clean and decide if he’s going to return to his old life.

There’s not a lot of tension in the book, most of it comes from Robert and Zeke having a secret they’re withholding, and later from whether the two can work out a way to be with one another even with a huge spotlight on them, but there’s very little angst here.

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, seeing their feelings bloom, and working out just how they would be able to be together.

I enjoy listening to Jeff Gelder’s voice, I like the difference character voices, and the emotion Gelder infuses throughout the script. However, his pacing was off here and I found myself hyper-aware of it by the end.

There were a couple of scenes that had me tearing up, one in particular centering around Zeke’s best friend Carson, and in all I enjoyed Don’t Let Go, but the story doesn’t flow seamlessly, there are some things that are dropped with no further explanation, which I would have liked to get, but the epilogue made up for a lot and had my heart light by the time this finished.

Contemporary romance with a dual POV, some heat, some feels, and a happy ending.

1 person found this helpful

Loved It!

I took a chance on this one even though some of the narration reviews weren’t very good. I have to agree that Robert’s voice was too feminine and not what I would have pictured, but, I suggest you give it a chance. The story was good and I really liked the main characters. I finished it in a day!

country music vs. PBR

Andrew Grey really wowed me with this one. I don't always like 'musician' stories but this one really touched me. I liked Zeke and Robert. They felt like real people as I read them.

just ok

The story may have been more enjoyable if I had read it or with a different narrator. The voice for Robert/Avery was too feminine, too much like the voice used for the friends wife. I just couldn't get past it.

Great story Okay Narration

I really enjoyed the story but struggled with the voice of Robert. He is a country singer that everyone assumes is straight, but the narrator gives him a fairly feminine voice. I think the overall performance would have been amazing if it used dual narration like so many of them are doing nowadays. That being said, the story itself was good enough that I was willing to overlook the feminine voice. I also listened to the entire book in one sitting!

.

The narrator made it difficult at times to distinguish between characters. The voice for Robert was too soft at times, there were 3 different voices used for his character.
The story over all is a favorite of mine and I'm glad I got to listen to it.

OMG

O M G - What a love story... Thank you, Andrew Grey for writing this for us.