Homeward Bound

Pine Cove, Book 3

By: H. J. Welch

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

After Micha Perkins finds himself wrongly implicated in a crime, the last person he wants coming to his rescue is his secret crush, Swift, his older brother’s best friend. But when Micha returns to the town that never felt like home, he discovers Swift’s young daughter is in trouble as well. If Micha can help them both in any way, he knows he will.

Self-defense coach Swift Coal never realized he was a father until he gets custody of five-year-old Imogen and her cranky cat. His neat and tidy life is about to come crashing down, but to his surprise, Micha Perkins is there to save the day. He’s so damn good with kids, and just as cute as Swift remembers. When Micha moves in to help look after Imogen, Swift struggles to repress the feelings he’s kept hidden.

Micha’s always been a misfit, and Swift’s life was always orderly. Micha may have taken the fall to protect those more vulnerable than him, but who will save him when his past comes back to haunt him? Was Swift a fool to risk the safety of his daughter around a bad element like Micha? When their chaotic worlds collide, perhaps love and family are the middle ground they both need to become stronger together.

Book three in Pine Cove. Homeward Bound is a steamy stand-alone MM romance novel with a guaranteed HEA and absolutely no cliffhanger.

©2019 H. J. Welch (P)2019 H. J. Welch

Great story and great narrator

Loved this story! It was engaging and the narrator had my attention from beginning to end. Smoothing you’re the ears and then some.

Swift & Micah

I absolutely love this story!! It gave me all the feels!! Micha and Swift are spectacular characters and I love them together. Micha has always felt undeserving of love and family and I love the patience and understanding that Swift has with him and how he helps Micha see just how deserving he really is. Imogen is a wonderful character. I love how this story fabulously portrays that blood does not a family make, a true family bond is so much more than blood, family is what you make of it and there is no right or wrong! An emotional story that really tugged at my heartstrings.
The narrator is spectacular. He really brought the characters to life and truly made the emotions hit home. I can't wait for the next one! I voluntarily reviewed a gifted copy of this audiobook.

Another great reading!!

HJ Welch is one of my favorite authors because you always can find in her books sweet stories, with some conflict and action to keep your heart bombing but with a guaranteed HEA. Now she presented us with the 3rd book in Pine Cove series and it is as good as the previous ones. The book is about Micha, who is seeking his place in the world, and finished felling in love and finding a family with Swift his older brother's BFF after confronting his past. The plot is interesting, the characters are charming and you can find a lot of familiar faces from previous books. You can read it as standalone but I strongly recommend read also books 1 and 2 to enjoy it better. After saying all this I just want to add a few words about the voice acting. Usually, when I love a book I didn’t put a lot of attention in the acting part, but hearing the wonderful book reading that Mr Russo made, helped me to go deeper in the story and found innuances I didn’t notice before. I heard him in previous books and the quality of his work it is as good as always. Loved both the book and the voice acting!!!

Brilliant

Story: This has got to be the cutest found family story I have encountered! The whole host of characters in it, including the MCs, are just a wonderful example of what an inclusive and loving family should be! The plot of the story and the complexity of the MCs was an icing on the cake, making it a really great book to read! Another good one, HJ Welch!

Narration: I mean, c'mon! As if Nick could do bad. Great as always and a pleasure to listen to!

Troubled Past, Promising Future

Homeward Bound is the third book in the Pine Cove series, a contemporary romance series set within a small town. Maybe this book could be read as a standalone, but I think it works best if it was read after the first two. There are a lot of secondary characters that are introduced in the first two books that make a presence in this book. Homeward Bound has one of my favorite tropes: found/made-family and unexpected-kid-acquisition. I really loved Swift – he was sweet, tender, and protective, but still had his flaws which he was open about. The development of the family dynamics and the delightful romance made this an enjoyable read.

Not my favorite of the series so far, but good

I'd give this a solid 3. I liked it, it was entertaining, but I didn't love it.
It was funny at times, sweet at times, surprisingly sexy at times, (Bedroom Swift is HAWT), and suspenseful too.
Swift's a great guy, all around darn near perfect. Micha is quite flawed, the king of self doubt and questionable decisions. He has reasons - they're not always the best or most logical, but they're reasons. (At one point, if I'd been reading a paperback rather than listening to it, I would've thrown it across the room. At the risk of any kind of spoiler, Micha regained a bit of sense & I was able to refrain from more internal yelling at him.) Swift's ex, Amy, was also not a great decision maker either, so maybe that's his type.
The timeline was a tad confusing and unrealistic to me. Swift, Micha & Imogen just got way too close & accomplished too much over what felt like too short of a time. I think if the main part of the story prior to the epilogue had taken place over a longer period of time, I would've enjoyed it more. But again, it wasn't terrible, just a personal preference.
The narration was good & in keeping with the rest of the series. I've already begun the next book.

Favorite in the Series!!!

Out of all the books in this series, this has to be my favorite one- I can most definitely see myself listening to this one over and over.

I love Swift and Micha!!

This is my favourite in the series so far and was a perfect, beautiful read! I fell in love with both Swift and Micha as soon as their stories started and I just fell more in love with them as the book went on. Swift finds out he’s a father out of the blue when he receives a call asking him to take care of his 5 year old daughter Imogen as her mother isn’t able to look after her right now. Despite the shock, he agrees straight away and with only one look at his girl he’s smitten. The problem is he has no bed, clothes or toys for her at his house so an emergency trip to his best friend’s parents house is in order as they have a loft full of things for children. This is when he meets Micha for the first time in several years. Micha is his friend’s brother and has inadvertently got himself in trouble with the police and has come home to Pine Cove for a while. Micha is such a broken soul after spending years in the foster care system feeling unloved and unworthy. Despite being adopted by loving parents those scars still run deep.

Micha is amazing with children and gets Imogen talking straight away which leads to him moving in with Swift and Imogen to help Swift out. Micha has had a huge crush on Swift since he was a teenager and things haven’t changed since. Meanwhile Imogen and Swift are both falling for Micha too.

Alongside this beautiful slow burn relationship run Swift’s discovery and acceptance of his bisexuality, Imogen’s mother’s battle with alcoholism (which is treated so sensitively), and Micha’s past which is catching up with him and threatening to ruin his present and future. This book is so beautiful. The story and characters are well developed, and the love and support the two men and their families bring to each other is amazing. There were tears reading this book, but also perfect heartwarming moments. Loved it!

Nick J Russo was amazing as always as narrator - I love his voice!

I received an arc of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest and unbiased review

Amazing

This was....amazing. I loved it. From the start this story pulled me and held me in suspense.

We follow the story of Swift and Micha as they navigate their own feelings, trying to come out and raising a daughter while fighting outside forces trying to bring them down.

I absolutely loved the characters and the narrator did an amazing job bringing each character to life and bringing forth the whole story. When there is tension or anger or hurt you could literally feel it by the way it was narrated.

A great addition to a great series!

Micah and Swift ..they melted my heart ! I felt so much for poor Micah and Swift was just so perfect for him. They struggled to overcome their inner issues, add a few bad guys and this was a great story! Nick Russo was great as always!

Well read, but very annoying

I can't anymore. Time of death 25%. I find Imogen an unrealistic cliché and Micah very, very stupid. After tolerating some MM novels doing the same, I now have had it with the trope "Wow, nice guy. Must be straight. Let's whine for 75% of the book about me not having a shot."
And I don't remember the ending from the first listen but Micah being stupid already makes me annoyed by assuming he wil accept a criminal proposal from his previous friends.
Once I gave it 3 stars, but after years of reading MM I now give it 1 star

A weak and whittering story.

The reader deserves better material. I didn't find the book offensive, it was just pale beyond ordinary.

as great as the ebook

The story is always full stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. Nick J Russo is one of the top 5 narrators for me, I can listen without break and have no problems to follow.
I'm just not yet finish with the book, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Welch/Russo outdid themselves!

I was gifted my copy of this book, that I write a review was not required.

Swift finds out he is a father, 5 years after Imogen’s birth. But Imogen’s mum is struggling and Swift takes custody of his daughter while mum sorts herself out. Micha is home, after some time in custody, and is struggling being at home. He loves his family, he really does, but they don’t know who he is, deep down, he can’t tell them, not after what he did before he left. Swift comes to Micha’s aid and vice versa. The things start to spiral out of control with Micha being in such close proximity to Imogen, when his past finds and threatens those he has come to love, and Micha makes a dreadful decision. Can Swift get to him in time?

Ms Welch has out done herself, AGAIN!

I mean, the whole previously undiscovered bisexuality genre is growing on me, big time, and it is almost entirely due to Ms Welch’s skill at writing these characters!

Swift is Robin’s (from book 1, Safe Harbor) older brother, and Swift is Micha’s older brother’s best friend. Micha makes no bones about his attraction to Swift, from when they all hung out together when he was a teenager. But Micha is a grown man now, and surely can’t still be crushing on Swift, right? Clearly, he is. And he struggles so much with that attraction with Swift’s little, entirely innocent, touches, because Micha doesn’t want them to be innocent. But Swift is straight, cos he has a child. And Micha just suffers in silence.

Swift, however, is questioning everything. His daughter just landed on his doorstep, and he has no idea what to do! Having Micha help is a godsend. Having Micha in his space is . .nice. Having Micha OUT his space, is not so nice and it’s not till Swift thinks he might lose Micha that he questions why he feels like that. And Swift is just like, Okay then! Micha is MINE and I want him back. And he goes all out!

When Micha tells Swift about why he can’t tell his family he is gay, I cried, I really did. It breaks your heart, the pain he has been carrying around all this time.

It’s a well told tale, of getting what and WHO you want, it really is!

But PULEEEEEZE, Ms Welch, write Ava and Peyton a full story!!

5 full and shiny stars!

Nick J Russo narrates this series.

And just as Ms Welch outdid herself WRITING this book, Russo outdid himself NARRATING it.

I mean, I rarely react out loud (verbally, shouitng, crying at what I'm reading) when I am READING. When I am LISTENING, however, its a totally different ball game and I don't think I was ever more verbal with this book than maybe one other, in years of being an audio book listener!

Right from the start, Russo broke my heart for Micha. Well Welch did of course, but HEARING how broken Micha feels he is? I think I was crying right at the first chapter!

But when Micha is telling Swift why they can't be together?? Oh dear Lord. I had to stop what I was doing and just listen to poor Micha pour his heart out to Swift and I sobbed my bloody socks off! So much so, my daughter came in to ask if I was okay!

But equally, Russo gets over Swift's emotions too. Not quite as dramatically and gut wrenching as Micha's but Swift goes through a lot here, and Russo gets all of that across.

The voices for the other characters are carried across the series perfectly, and most of them pop uo here are some point.

While I was listening, I made a connection to book 4 that I hadn't made when I was reading. Elias and Ben pop up here and it was great to figure out where they fit in into the Pine Cove bigger picture. I have their book to read next.

5 stars for the book
5 stars for the narration!

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**

Great

This was such a great audiobook.
I really enjoyed the story.
The narration was excellent.
This audiobook was a great addition to this series.
I can’t wait to listen to more.

Gorgeous

My favourite of the Pine Cove books so far. I adored Swift and Micah, both separately and as a couple. The plot was excellent, their chemistry was palpable, and the relationship evolved organically.
The performance was excellent and made me cry more than once.
Highly recommended

Lovely story wonderfully narrated

I loved the story of Swift and Micah when I read it, and I loved it even more when narrated by Nick Russo.

It is an heartwarming and heartbreaking story of friends to lovers. You feel so many things for Micah and you just fall in love with Swift and how they both evolve as the story progresses.

Nick Russo brought all the emotions to the surface, especially towards the end and it was even better.

Really recommend

Micha and Swift

Micha had a tough childhood and was framed by his friend. Swift gives him an opportunity and opens his home to him. Taking care of Imogen and her cat is not easy but Micha has a golden touch with kids. I enjoyed Swift’s story of coming out, his family and his close group of friends. So opposite to Micha, but they are made for each other. It’s quite the sweet romance, even better when they take care of themselves and little bit. Cute name btw. :-)

Redemption Story

I’m enjoying my time in Pine Cove. Micha Perkins has had a run of bad luck. He clocked out of town as soon as he’d finished high school, afraid of revealing his truth. He went to Seattle and began exploring his sexuality. His fathers are gay, so there had to be compelling reasons why he didn’t feel comfortable sharing his sexuality. There are and they are later revealed. Man, did my heart ache for this kid. In Seattle he fell in with a bad crowd, and after barely escaping serious prison time, he’s come back to Pine Cove to try to start over. He’s working at his fathers’ diner and trying to keep his head down. To stay out of trouble.

Swift Coal has been living a good life. He’s a self-defence coach working at the local gym. He lives a very orderly life with everything in its place. Until his previously unknown five-year-old daughter and her very cranky cat come to live with him. Imogen’s mother withheld her existence from Swift for reasons that seem pretty flimsy, but sometimes we don’t know what’s in someone else’s heart. Imogen has had a rough go of it and being transplanted from her chaotic home to her father’s pristine one is a tough move for her. Her mother is ‘sick’, in rehab after a DUI arrest. Imogen only understands that her life is something over which she has little control.

Seeking out advice from those around him, Swift heads to the Perkins’ home, trying to create a list of everything he’ll need in order to care for a young girl. Imogen, meanwhile, meets Micha and they connect. Soon she’s calling him Uncle Micha and forming an attachment. When Swift needs help, he chooses to reach out to Micha. An interesting choice given that the young man is newly released from jail and has no children. Swift also has family in great numbers, but he turns to Micha. Micha sees this as an opportunity for redemption and a chance to spend more time with the man he’s crushed on since he was a young man. Swift was his brother’s best friend and despite the age gap, the two older boys often included Micha in their adventures. Whether it was hero worship or true attraction back then, those feelings have now developed into a full-fledge crush.

Parenting is never easy, but Micha’s ability to anticipate Imogen’s needs helps smooth the way for Swift. He asks Micha to hang out and help, which Micha is only happy to do. Sleeping on a couch down the hall from Swift is better than being in his old bedroom. Of course, it becomes an exercise in frustration because Swift is straight and Micha is in the closet gay.

Several conversations with family and friends have Swift on the verge of speaking aloud his truth – that he’s pretty sure he’s bi. Yes, he enjoys women, but he’s been fantasizing about men. Watching gay porn. (That seems pretty common in books I read these days.) His feelings for Micha solidify but he’s terrified of scaring away the younger man. Imogen’s needs have to take precedence and her attachment to Uncle Micha is strong. Eventually Swift decides to make a move. The gesture is not only welcomed, it’s reciprocated. Things quickly progress and although the physical is slower, the emotional is all-in from the beginning.

All would go well except Micha hasn’t quite escaped his past. When trouble comes knocking, his instinct is to protect those he loves by keeping silent and trying to deal with things himself. Almost too late he discovers that one of the best things about being in a relationship is having someone to share your burdens. Swift has broad shoulders and a heart with room for not only Imogen and the cranky cat, but also a friend’s younger brother who has captured his heart.

This was a great book. Heart-wrenching in its reality. How many times have I hidden a part of myself for fear of misunderstanding? Of not being accepted. Micha’s struggle was real for me. And I can only imagine what Swift went through, discovering he has a daughter. He also had to deal with the fact that Imogen’s mother was eventually going to be back in the picture and had to live with that uncertainty.

Nick J. Russo narrates this series and he’s such a great choice. He has distinctive voices for each character, bringing them to life. He makes it easy to revisit old friends and make new ones. There is at least one more book in this series and I can’t wait for it to come to audio. Loving these books.

Heartbreaking

Micha reconnections with his best friend’s brother Swift after he moves back home. He helps Swift who just found out about a daughter but when Swift wants more Micha thinks he shouldn’t be able to be happy and has a lot insecurities to work through just when he least expects his past comes back to haunt him. I find this story really heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.