Everything He Couldn't

Newberry Springs, Book 2

De: Harlow James

Narrado por: Angelina Rocca, Dane Anderson

One of my favorite songs growing up was Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield.

Ironically enough, I never realized I’d be living out those lyrics in my own life when I fell for my best friend’s girl—and then my best friend, John Schmitt, died.

Add on the fact that she was pregnant with his child and that I’d been harboring feelings for Evelyn months before all of this happened, and well, now?

Now the lyrics to that song don’t sound so bad anymore.

The worst part is, I’m the one to blame for his death which made facing her an even harder pill to swallow, so what did I do? Pretend like she didn’t exist anymore, even though it was virtually impossible because she was everywhere in our small town of Newberry Springs.

Flashforward six months and suddenly Evelyn finds herself in a legal battle she never saw coming, and I can’t just stand by any longer and pretend like my heart isn’t in shambles.

So I suggest the unthinkable.

I offer to marry her, help her prove that she’s a fit mother and her daughter is being raised well despite John not being in the picture.

But Evelyn doesn’t know that being near her gets my blood pumping, even more so after avoiding her for months.

She doesn’t understand that doing this favor for her is a way for me to gain retribution for John’s death and take a chance to find out if she can reciprocate my feelings.

And she doesn’t get that by being there for her and loving her and her daughter that I’m doing everything that my best friend couldn’t.

©2023 Harlow James Publishing LLC (P)2024 Harlow James Publishing LLC

Amazing heartfelt story with fantastic narration

Harlow James brings us another beautiful love story with amazing characters, emotion and small town love.

I went through so many emotions reading this book - joy, sadness, hope and want for John and Evelyn.

Harlow gives us these characters that are a bit broken, full of love and who need a big hug!

Evelyn is trying to put one foot in front of the other as a single mom. She’s doing her best but is struggling with emotions, what could have been and some regret.

John is a sweet sweet man who has a big heart.
He is carrying some burdens and some hidden desires.

Evelyn and John are such an amazing couple who help one another find forgiveness, hope and love.


Angelina Rocca and Dane Anderson deliver a fantastic performance! Angela gives perfect voice, personality and emotion to the characters. She comes across as strong, yet vulnerable and also very caring. Dane has a delightful growly, deep and strong voice. The also gave the characters perfect voice, emotion and personality.

I love how narrators take authors words and give the reader/listener a whole new experience to enjoying the story.

FABULOUS read and listen!

This is book 2 in the Newberry Springs Series. Each story is a standalone that will follow one of the Gibson brothers and their true loves. This is Walker and Evelyn's story.

****I listened to this book on Audio. The Narrators are Dane Anderson and Angelina Rocca. The way these two tell this story brought tears to my eyes and love to my heart. Such an amazing duo that made this book even more amazing. If you love audio books and are looking for a fantastic series, pick up the Newberry Springs family saga and be prepared for greatness. Both Narrators perform on all 3 books which brings a consistency to the series.

-Single mom
-Fake Marriage
-Second chances
-He falls first
-Best friends ex
-Small town romance

So many times in this book I found myself swooning over Walker and his enormous heart. He loved Evelyn so much that every little detail and effort showed her his true feelings. Evelyn, the single mom and Walker, the man who has loved her forever is one of pure love and romance. Their story and their journey was hard, they persevered, and eventually admitted their feelings. Elements like funerals, cards with moons, baby jerseys, family photos on the wall, Owls, and pictures with 2 daddy's had the tears streaming down my face. I loved how Harlow told this story and it has become my favorite. That is saying something because Kelsea and Wyatt were amazing. I recommend this series to anyone who wants a true love story with a hard earned HEA. Great job Harlow and I cannot wait to see What happens in Forest's story.

Walker & Evelyn are so sweet!

Everything He Couldn't is a small town, single mom, marriage of convenience love story. Evelyn accidentally got pregnant by Schmitty, Walker's best friend. They weren't serious, just having a little fun. But then before Evelyn had the baby, Schmitty died in a tragic fire.

Six months later, Evelyn finds herself in the middle of a custody battle with Schmitty's parents so what does Walker do? He proposes that they get married to help her case.

Walker also had ulterior motives to marrying Evelyn. He's had a crush on her for a long time. Maybe this is his chance. Evelyn's walls were wayyyy up... with good reason. She just needed someone to show her she was worthy of love. Somehow Walker wormed his way into her heart and held on tight. The way this man went to battle for her... SWOON. He's literally the best husband in this fake marriage. He was also sooo sweet to Evelyn's daughter.

-Small town
-Single mom
-Fake marriage
-He falls first

I listened to the audiobook of this one. Angelina Rocca has the sweetest voice. She does such a great job showing the emotion these characters are feeling. Dane Anderson has that growly voice that ladies love. Some of his female voices could use a little work, but that didn't deter me. They were both so good!

Love this series

I absolutely loved Walker and Evelyn’s story.
Walker has known Evelyn for awhile but didn’t realize he had feelings for her until it was too late, she started dating his best friend. Unexpected pregnancy and an unexpected death brought them together.
Such a beautiful story of loss, love, and forgiveness.
This is in the Newberry Springs Series but can read as a standalone.

I was given this arc for my honest review.

Update Audio Review:

What a perfect pairing with Dane Anderson and Angelina Rocca.

I thought reading the book was good, you definitely need to listen to it.

It’s amazing how these two narrators made each character very distinct and unique.

Amazing narrators

So what’s better than one twin brother how about the other twin who is broody and a firefighter. Well meet Wyatt’s twin brother Walker sweet baby Walker is everything we didn't know we needed in a small town, single mom marriage of convenience romance. Evelyn and Walker’s path to one another is sad, tangled and full of speed bumps. However when Dane hits you with a "That's my wife..." you are done for. This book was just as amazing as book 1.