Embracing Her Heart

The Montgomerys, Book 1

By: Melissa Foster

Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Sebastian York

Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

"Melissa Foster is synonymous with sexy, swoony, heartfelt romance!" (New York Times best seller Lauren Blakely)

Welcome to Oak Falls, Virginia, home to horse farms, midnight rodeos, bookstores, coffee shops, and quaint restaurants where you’re greeted like family and treated like treasured guests. Buckle up for a wild ride. Like any Southern girls worth their salt, the sweet-talking, sharp-tongued Montgomery sisters can take men to their knees with one seductive glance or a single sugarcoated sentence.

In Embracing Her Heart....
Leaving New York City and returning to her hometown to teach a screenplay writing class seems like just the break Grace Montgomery needs. Until her sisters wake her at 4:30 in the morning to watch the hottest guys in town train wild horses and she realizes that escaping her sisters’ drama-filled lives was a lot easier from hundreds of miles away. To make matters worse, she spots the one man she never wanted to see again - ruggedly handsome Reed Cross.

Reed was one of Michigan’s leading historical preservation experts, but on the heels of catching his girlfriend in bed with his business partner, his uncle suffers a heart attack. Reed cuts all ties and returns home to Oak Falls to run his uncle’s business. A chance encounter with Grace, his first love, brings back memories he’s spent years trying to escape.

Grace is bound and determined not to fall under Reed’s spell again - and Reed wants more than another taste of the woman he’s never forgotten. When a midnight party brings them together, passion ignites and old wounds are opened. Grace sets down the ground rules for the next three weeks. No touching, no kissing, and if she has it her way, no breathing, because every breath he takes steals her ability to think. But Reed has other ideas....

©2018 Melissa Foster (P)2018 Melissa Foster

Reed and Grace

I read and reviewed the book first, then had the chance to listen to the audio. The audio is SO good! Narrated by both Andi Arndt and Sebastian York, the audio storytelling just went up a notch! It was so nice having a male voice for Reed and a female voice for Grace! If you get the chance, you should definitely listen to this one.

This is my book review: Do you remember high school? The rivalries? Such an intense time, those teenage years. That’s when Reed and Grace first got together, and with their schools being such heated rivals, they kept their relationship secret (well, mostly). Now, years later, Grace is home for a three week visit, and Reed is home for good. Life took them in different directions, but now they are back, and better than ever. But can they make it last this time? Will long distance really work? Will life get in the way, again?!

Melissa Foster writes good characters and interesting families. There is heat, sibling shenanigans, secrets, and fun. I am looking forward to what comes next! In the mean time, Grace and Reed have a story to tell, so get to reading it!

Love This book

***Review Edit***
I read this book back in April. I just now listened to the audio version. I loved, loved, loved, the narration Andi Arndt & Sebastian York. Having a male and female do the narration is wonderful. I love audio books, they make driving back and forth to work tolerable.
Reed and Grace were sweethearts back in school. However, they kept their relationship secret due to rival schools. Grace leaves her small town to become something. Reed return to help out an ailing family. Who says you can't have a 2nd chance with your first love. This time around Reed will have no sneaking around. What a fantastic story. Melissa is great making me escape from my daily life.

Great Story

Embracing Her Heart was such an amazing story. The narrator's for this book were Andi Arndt and Sebastian York. They did a great job. This is the first time i heard 2 narrators in one book and i was not disappointed. We get to meet Grace Montgomery and Reed Cross. They have old history that goes back to their senior year in high school. Reed was a quarterback for a rival school and Grace was head cheerleader. They saw each other by sneaking around. They were each others first love, first everything. Then when Grace wanted to go away for college, she wanted Reed to go with her and he said he could never leave their hometown. Grace broke his heart and ended it with him. Fast forward now, the both have never found a love like they experienced with each other. Now their tensions are high and all their feelings are coming to a head. Grace is staying for 3 weeks and she intends to make the most of them with Reed. This audiobook had everything and more. It is a great listen.

Romantic, Sweet and Sexy

What a wonderful audiobook! I really enjoyed this book and I feel that the narrators really brought Reed and Grace to life! I loved the history between Reed and Grace and the nostalgia between these two was so sweet. You're immediately sent back to high school to relive the romance between these two characters. Melissa Foster knows how to write a steamy scene and the narrators were doing a wonderful job of bringing the scenes to life.


The story between Reed and his father added dimension to the plot and I like the twist that was thrown in that ultimately increased the bond between Reed and his family. I would love to be a part of the Montgomery sisters - what fun they must have together. If you're looking for a sweet, romantic and sexy audiobook - this is it!!!


**Thank you to Tasty Book PR and Melissa Foster for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for my honest review**

Love my 2 favorite narrators 😍

Great story and Sabastian York and Andi Arndt know how to bring this story to Life! Melissa Foster has made me a fan and can’t wait for the next book in this series! I really pray and hope she keeps the same narrators.. I buy all the books they narrate in lol huge fan

loved it

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Loved it

Having read several books by Melissa Foster I jumped at the chance to read and listen to this one and I was in no way disappointed.

Andi Arndt and Sebastian York did a great job with the narration.

When Grace Montgomery returns home she is suddenly made to realise just how easy it was for her to remove herself from her sisters drama filled lives when she was living in New York. Not only do they draw her in, but she comes face to face with the one man she hoped never to see again, Reed Cross.
Reed too has returned home and crosses paths with the woman he was once in love with, his first love Grace, a woman he has never truly forgotten.
What happens, when Reed wants to re connect and Grace is bound and determined not too? Who will win this battle? When circumstances finally bring these two together, their obvious chemistry and passion cannot be denied, however at what cost? Will Grace be prepared to give love with Reed another chance?
Grace is a strong and independent woman who certainly gave as good as she got, I really liked her. Her family was hilarious and I cannot wait to read more about them in coming releases.

This is a well written story that tugged at the heart strings and is a second chance at love story; full of hopes and dreams and one that I recommend.

Fantastic Book!

Story was great- narrators were fabulous! I enjoyed this book so much that I've recommended it to everyone I know. A must for everyone!!
Thank you, Melissa, for another fantastic book!!

A sweet and very passionate second chance romance.

This was my first Melissa Foster book. It’s also the first book pf her Braden and Montgomery’s Series.

This beautiful story is one of second chances. Gracie Montgomery is back in Oak Falls; her childhood town; for her sister baby shower and some family time. What she wasn’t expecting was seen again her first and only love, Reed Cross. After they have to part ways and not in the best of terms right before college they haven’t seen each other for 10 years.

Nobody new what once day had together of so they thought. There’s no many secrets in a small town. Once they spot each other it was like the time never pass and all feeling came flying back tenth time stronger. Now they aren’t kids anymore and don’t need to hide the love they once had.

Been back in Oak Falls made Gracie realize how much she actually love her family and all the people in the community. Her life as a theater producer and all her success hasn’t been as exciting and fulfilling as her home town. Reed is now a very successful historical preservation expert and a hunk of a man.

It was so sweet and very passionate re living all their love. All the passion and dreams they are now get to live.

The book is filled with fun family banter. Lots of cowboy boots, cut off and hey y’all !!! A small southern town romance where every one was in each other’s business. A huge family of seven grown children making havoc and been just that incorrigible siblings. Plus there’s some sexy as sin cowboy neighbors call The Jeriko Brothers that I feel I must definitely meet.

I laugh with all this people and I swoon ever Reed and his beautiful and passionate soul. Having Gracie back was a dream and all the beautiful things he get to do now for her made me want to melt at his feet.

I’m definitely listening to more of this series. I wish there was more of Gracie and Reed story.

Story is narrated by Andi Arndt and Sebastian York which are my favorite pair narrators. They do a magnificent job bringing all the emotions to the story. I got goosebumps listening to them and all the feel they brought to life. Let’s face it Sebastian has this sexy voice that make it so easy to fell in love with the leading male in the story. If you haven’t listen to this combo of narrators I guarantee you will absolutely love them.

Second chance at love!

Grace Montgomery and Reed Cross were secret high school sweethearts and each's one true love. After graduation, Grace heads to New York and becomes an off-Broadway producer and playwriter. Reed moves to Michigan and starts a business preserving old buildings. Ten years later, Grace is home in Oak Falls visiting her family and to help in her sister's bookstore, when she's blindsided to see her one true love is back in town. While Reed is repairing her parent's porch, Grace comes face to face with the one person she has never forgotten. Once they clear the air about past hurts, the love they've had for one another is even stronger. They decide to make the most out of the three weeks they have before she returns to New York. They visit their special places from when they were dating in high school and he even surprises her with a prom they never got to go to together. He is not letting her go this time and is determined to make it work long distance when she leaves.

Grace's true happiness is with Reed in Oak Falls, a town she couldn't leave fast enough after high school and realizes deep down, she's still a country girl at heart. A wonderful story of first loves and second chances. Sebastian York and Andi Arndt are amazing narrating Grace and Reed's story.