Driftwood

By: Harper Fox

Narrated by: Chris Clog

Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

This is the FoxTales edition of the book previously published by Samhain Publishing. Other than the cover art and description, the book is the same.

Thomas Penrose is a village doctor in rural Cornwall. Popular with patients and friends alike, and handsome into the bargain, he lives in a romantic clifftop tower by the sea. It's a wonderful life - if only Dr. Tom could enjoy it. He's a veteran of the conflict in Afghanistan, fighting a lonely battle against alcoholism and PTSD.

Determined not to inflict his troubles on anyone else, Tom keeps himself to himself. But fate has other ideas, and brings a handsome surfer crashing to his feet after a dreadful wipe-out on Porth Beach. Just another crazy surf bunny? Not a bit of it - Flynn Summers is one of Cornwall's heroes, a fearless search-and-rescue helicopter man. Why is he risking his beautiful neck in the stormy off-season waves?

Despite the rocky beginning, Tom and Flynn become friends. Both are concealing sorrows behind a tough façade, and for once in his life Tom thinks he's met someone who can handle him, shadow-side and all. But Flynn isn't a free man. He's unhappily locked into a bond of obligations and bad memories with formidable pilot Rob Tremaine - and Rob has no intention of letting Flynn go.

As Tom and Flynn begin their high-risk, high-reward romance, will the tides of the past sweep in to destroy their new love?

©2017 Harper Fox (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Very disappointing

It was almost impossible to suspend disbelief throughout the story — especially for the final action sequence.

The narrator was okay, even though there was no differentiation among the characters’ voices. It was difficult to finish the book, and I had to listen at 1.5x speed to get through it.

Beautifully written

Harper Fox may be the highest quality M/M writer out there, currently. Her books have a true sense of place; whether they're set in modern day, as this one is, or in post-WWII Britain, or the Dark Ages, you feel like you're immersed in the setting. Her characters are complex, the plots exciting, and the romance lovely but always subservient to the plot.

One feature of Fox's characters is that they are all somewhat broken, to varying degrees. Thomas has PTSD, OCD, is an alcoholic, and probably has some form of social anxiety disorder. But he is never defined by his issues, and they don't get in the way of the plot. Typical, overdone romance novel tropes are absent, as they are from most Fox novels; no big misunderstandings, no alternating point of view, no "I thought I was straight but then I met my roommate's brother and I'm smitten" sexual identity crises. It's just a solid love story framed against an exciting plot in a beautiful setting.

Fox's books do occasionally have some drawbacks, but none of them are present here. There's no surprise supernatural element, no twist 80% of the way through the novel that negates much of what was written before, and no politics clumsily jammed down the reader's throat.

Chris Clog narrates a lot of Fox's books, and always does an admirable job. The only issue I had with the audiobook--and it's not only minor but I'm not sure whose feet at which to lay the blame--is that occasionally the scene will change and there will be no indication, either in the vocal inflection or the text itself, that it has. More than once I was listening and realized that it was the next day, and I had to rewind to see exactly when the time jump happened.

Overall though, just a spectacular book, and it revived my interest in this author after a couple disappointing efforts.

Great story. Great narration.

I enjoy every single one of Harper Fox's books, and the narration is always well done. This book was no exception. The words flow beautifully and the characters are vibrant.

I loved it

I loved the whole book and the narrators voices, it kept me entertained the whole time. Highly recommend!

romance 1. an attraction or appeal to the emotion

the Romance of the sea, a love story, a love affair an old tale of Knights and noble ladies (laddies?) , an adventure all bases are hit with this tale of a heroic relationship. I loved it.

Another Epic Love Story!

Every Harper Fox story is unique and this one is now in my top5! The narrator brought every character to life!

Eh.

There were parts of this that were somewhat interesting and enjoyable, but overall I just found it boring. I can see what the author was going for - having a romance novel with danger mixed in, but to me, it just fell flat. Also, I felt that there were parts (such as the end) that were rushed, and forced, making for an even odder story. Overall, not great.

flowery

well written as always, full of angst and love and sex. the pacing was off for me, but I got through it alright. love Fox's writing.

An incredible experience

Wow. I loved this audio book so so much, it was better than I ever could’ve expected. The characters were so likable and flawed and I fell so in love with them. It was such a beautiful story, it honestly brought me to tears a few times. The resolution and ending were believable and satisfying. The sex scenes were scorching hot as well!

The narrator did a fantastic job! There were a couple times when it was a little hard to tell which character was speaking, but other than that it sounded perfect. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance with good plot, as long as they’re not triggered by the characters’ past trauma.

Enjoyed tremendously

Chris Clog is an awesome narrator! I greatly enjoyed his work on Harper Foxes book!

gripping

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, in the car, on the bus and just while doing household chores. I felt an immediate connection with the lead characters and would like to know how.life progressed for them a few years down the line...

Wildly romantic tale

Plot is wildly improbable. Very romantic. Well performed, well put together as a story. Pacey.

Beautifully written

Really loved this book.
Beautiful, poetic writing and a great storyline.
Loved the two characters.
Can’t wait to read more of hers.

Another amazing romance from Fox.

Love lust m/m romance. Some danger and abuse but ultimately a brilliant story. I was transported to the cliffs of Cornwall and felt I was reliving the experience with the characters.

Beautiful

Amazing and beautiful. What a beautiful talent to tell a story and keep you transfixed. The right amount of love anx and romance, simply beautiful.

Sucker for a good mm romance

Love Thomas and Flynn , loathe Robert. Good storyline that kept me wanting to listen morel
Great novel from Harper Fox if you are a fan you may enjoy this one

Wonderful story

As always with Harper Fox, this story is lyrical and romantic. Full of atmosphere, you can almost taste the sea air and hear the roar of the helicopters.