• Lovestrong Series Bundle: Volume One

  • By: Susan Hawke
  • Narrated by: Michael Dean
  • Length: 21 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (226 ratings)

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Lovestrong Series Bundle: Volume One  By  cover art

Lovestrong Series Bundle: Volume One

By: Susan Hawke
Narrated by: Michael Dean
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Publisher's summary

Lovestrong: A series about love, found family, and living one’s truth in a small town.

This bundle includes the first four audiobooks from this best-selling series and the prequel short that started it all.

How Not to Blend

One clueless single dad meets a sassy Southern drag queen in this fake-boyfriend story that will keep you in stitches.

How Not to Tuck

A drag queen’s daring invitation given to his nemesis of a boss backfires in a sexy, fabulous way.

How Not to Sin

An average man who happens to be a preacher gets trapped during a blizzard with an easygoing, New Age kinda guy in this heartwarming tale about love and facing down bullies while standing up for what’s right.

How Not to Wait

Series prequel short featuring a desperate new adult who can’t ignore how badly he needs just one night with his father’s best friend.

How Not to Break

A former SEAL with a healthy dose of regret gets a second chance with his best friend’s son. But when the younger man needs protection from a dangerous stalker, he’s not just looking for help from a SEAL...he wants his heart too.

©2019 Susan Hawke (P)2020 Susan Hawke
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+

What listeners say about Lovestrong Series Bundle: Volume One

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love this!

Susan Hawke's Lovestrong series is an amazing series about attraction, acceptance, love, and creating a found family when your blood family let's you down. The stories are a mix of humor, sweetness, heat and seriousness... capturing our hearts, making us laugh out loud, and pulling the emotional heart strings. The characters are fantastic - fun, entertaining and lovable. This bundle is a fantastic way to binge the first four books plus a prequel story - How Not to Blend, How Not to Tuck, How Not to Sin, How Not to Wait and How Not to Break. A definitely recommended bundle!

Michael Dean narrates this story with a clear and smooth voicework and recording. Personalities come through, feelings are felt and it's extremely enjoyable listen.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great set of stories

I love all the stories in this bundle but my absolute favorite is the short story How to Tuck and I thinks it’s all because of how Michael voiced Larry! Very over the top but it was the perfect voice!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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I'm glad I listened.

Instead of giving an overall review of the entire bundle, I've decided to review each book individually.

How Not to Blend - 3.5 stars:
This might be one of those things that just comes down to personal tastes. I didn't totally dislike How Not to Blend. I liked certain aspects of the characters and the story, particularly the more serious parts of the story. But some aspects just weren't my cup of tea.
Andy was a little too over the top for me much of the time - part of his schtick was that he was full of Southern sayings & drag queen camp, but I felt like I was drowning in cliches much of the time. When he was more serious & not repeatedly calling people Boo or Boo-Boo and so forth, I liked him a lot. I wouldn't even have minded some of his campiness, but it just seemed too much, at least for me.
I didn't immediately like Corbin - he was sooooo clueless about what was going on with his son at first. That being said, once he came around to have a lick of sense, I found him very likeable. I especially liked his relationship with Andy's grandmother's irascible dog.
Andy's grandmother is also a major character & definitely was portrayed as a good woman with a good heart, spunky, occasionally faux-crotchety, with a dose of common sense for Andy when he needed it. Another major supporting character is Corbin's son, Grayson or "Gray." I loved that kid & wanted to wrap him up in a big hug.
Although I probably focused on a lot of negatives here, I didn't dislike the book & I think the parts that I didn't love were my own personal preferences playing out.

How Not to Tuck - 3 stars:
As with my feelings for the first book, my feelings for this might be one of those things that just comes down to personal tastes. I liked Larry better in his daytime persona of a music teacher/glee club conductor than in his Honey Combover persona, especially when he was being more frank and down to Earth, (though that was not most of the time). But that's just me. I didn't mind some of his campiness; I just liked his serious side better. I liked the concept of Godric's character a lot - a cat-loving, semi-introvert, with a hidden dom side. I did feel that he and Larry moved WAY too quickly into the dom/sub dynamic for the sake of realism.
Obviously, this is a short read, so it's not going to have a ton of detail into their every interaction from the start of their relationship to their HEA. I think I might have enjoyed their story more if it had been slower. I think some people might really enjoy this book - I liked it enough to actually have wanted to get to know the characters more, to appreciate them more.

Hot Not to Sin - 4 stars:
I enjoyed Gabe and Seth's relationship, their banter, general conversations and getting to know one another. They had a sort of whirlwind relationship, but even though they still probably had a lot more to learn about one another, their love and respect for each other felt totally believable. I was also totally sucked into the portion of the plot involving a bigoted church member and his family.
Some might find this book a bit preachy, not just because one of the characters is literally a preacher, but because there's a LOT said about this character's feelings about religion, interpretation of the Bible & Christianity in general, along with multiple discussions between characters. However, although I can appreciate that the sermonizing might be a turnoff for some, I feel that it was important for the story, to understand Gabe & other characters in the book, (not to mention that part of what was being said was the idea that we need more love and less hate, less using religion as a weapon). One way that I think helps to deal with mentions of religion in books & characters, if you're not into real life religions like Christianity, is to imagine that the characters are living in a paranormal world & that this is that world's religion. (As a side note, I did find it relatively unrealistic that so many side characters, who were past or future main characters of the series, were also associated with Gabe's church. It does take place in a fictional small town though, so there's that).

How Not to Wait - 3.5 stars:
This is the prologue to book 4, How Not to Break. It does not stand on its own at all. In this short, we get to see exactly what happened to shape the relationship and conflict that begins the romance between Nick and Shaw. It's hot, angst-y and bittersweet. I'm not totally on board with how the characters behaved; I'm sure I could say more, but anything else would be a spoiler. I still enjoyed it.

How Not to Break - 4 stars:
This was an enjoyable listen for me, quite light, but not totally fluffy. I liked the main and the side characters. I'm sure that one could point out various flaws based on one's own preferences, so far as realism or even just what various readers' pet peeves might be, but I enjoyed the time spent getting to know them and their story. The stalker aspect of the story provided a lot of suspense and made the story darker than the others in the series to an extent. I didn't necessarily always agree with decisions characters made along the way, but who doesn't want to smack a character on occasion?

Now, for the narration. The emotion and pacing was good and, considering the rather large amount of characters involved in this bundle, the voices were pretty consistent and varied enough. Sure, some characters technically had the same voices as others, but because they weren't often in one another's company from one book to another, it didn't bother me. I liked the voices chosen for all of the many characters except Andy's grandmother, (simply because Michael's voice for older women is not my thing), and for Larry/Honey Combover. (To me, he sounded like David's friend in Independence Day, like he'd smoked about 2 packs a day for 40 years, with a sort of New England accent, (as if he'd pahk the cah) - not sexy). But all that said, I'm glad that I listened to this bundle.

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Can’t get past the 2nd chapter

The narrators for this book are absolutely terrible. I listen to A LOT of books on Audible because I drive about 3 hours a day and enjoy spacing out to an easy love story. This one seems like a great one since it’s 4 books in 1. I truly can’t listen to this one anymore because the narrators voices grate on my nerves so much. I tried putting it down for a day to see if I was just not in the mood. Nope. Still can’t make myself keep listening to this.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Bundle - Wonderful Performance by M. Pauley

How Not To Blend:
This is a rather complex story and I enjoyed the way everything unfolded. Great characters, with a lot of depth. Funny and poignant and nicely done.

How Not To Tuck:
So Funny! If I wasn't laughing out loud I was smiling. Susan Hawke does an amazing job with this shortie, and you don't have to read any of the other books in the series to enjoy it.

How Not To Sin:
I really enjoyed this one. Nora Phoenix's comments about religion are very well done. Her references, and how they apply to the storyline, are very impressive.

How Not To Break:
Even though I’ve never read any of the preceding books in the Lovestrong series, I didn’t have any trouble enjoying every bit of How Not to Break. Susan Hawke explains all the relationships and fills in all the background information, and it never feels like she’s playing catch-up. The story unfolds naturally and this one stands on its own.

I enjoyed the audio version of How Not to Break which is beautifully narrated by Michael Pauley. We fans of erotic audiobooks already know how amazing Mr. Pauley is when he performs the bedrooms scenes (there’s no one better!) and he gives his all with this one. There’s some fantastic unresolved tension between the main characters, and when these two guys finally get together every nuance of their longing and passion comes through.

Also impressive is how Mr. Pauley handles the extensive variety of characters in this episode of the series. His ability to infuse each of them with a distinct personality brings them all to life for me and makes listening to a story even better than reading it.

One of the reasons this story grabbed my attention is because it’s an age-gap romance. The added twist of the connection between the characters’ families is taboo enough to make it intriguing and I love the way Susan Hawke makes the most of it. Poor Nick, holding on to all that guilt!

Listening to How Not to Break was a true pleasure and I can’t wait to go back now and purchase the rest of the series.

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second reading

loved it more! always good to go back to hear details that may be have been missed. Great story Susan, and thank you Michael, great voice, love all your reads. Dan

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It's Complicated

I loved all four of these stories. Each couples story is unique from they way they interact to the problems they face. Each couple doesn't always seem obvious from the beginning but yet they are so perfectly suited to each other. I also love how the different characters reappear in later stories. I listened to the Audible version. It was well down and fun to listen too.

How Not to Blend - I love the way that Corbin and Andy compliment each other. They learned to fake until they made it.

How not to Tuck is a shorter story but I love how Larry and Godrich just seem to fit together so well. They seem so mismatched but it really works for them.

How Not to Sin - the back story of the leaving the PC USA is a little too close to home but it made it even a more interesting listen. I love how they remain strong in the love and with the community they were building. I also love some of the things that happened at the end of the story. This is a great story of a couple building a relationship but also a community coming together.

How Not to Wait and How Not to Break - It was amazing to see how these men had fight their own guilt and misunderstanding from the past to see each other in the here and now. On top of that they have to overcome Seth's crisis with a stalker

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Listener received this title free

MMy LOVE for this series is so STRONG!

Lovestrong Series Box Collection on Audio
MMy Thoughts, Confessions, and Review:

Hog Heaven! Yup, that's me. I'm in Hog Heaven!
Hours and hours of revisiting my favorite book series from 2019 by Susan Hawke told in the husky delicious voice that belongs to Michael Dean. **Sigh... While I thought I would enjoy walking down "memory lane," I NEVER thought my stroll would mean floating on a cloud of happiness instead.💕

Closing my eyes I got to experience sassy Andy and Corbin fall in love all over again over morning coffee, Brittney Spears DRAG Shows, and bigots in need of Jeebus! This opener to the series sets the tone for the rest of the books. While the reader enjoys a delightful romance in each story there are true everyday themes we each deal with to help keep us grounded.

As I continued to listen to Dean, and floated around the town of Rockford Bluff, like the Spirit of Christmas-Present, I fell in love with these couples all over again. I also couldn't think of a better narrator to bring all these uniquely different and amazing couples to life. There is no discounting the countless number secondary characters Dean brought to life in the small community of Rockford Bluff as they each played diverse and often pivotal roles in each story.

I love this world so much. It isn't an easy one as there are people you WANT to see Karma get a hold of and shake like a martini, but it is one filled with love too and that's what makes it so imperfectly perfect. There are quite a few themes that may bring up old ghosts for some (myself included) such as child and spousal abuse, homophobia, biphobia, bullying (a couple of scenes are post-physically intense, meaning you don't see/ hear them occur, but you know exactly what went down by follow-up scenes), bigotry, and stalking.

You will love this world as you belly laugh at great snake escapes, and little elderly seniors wanting crystal "adult toys" for coffee table centerpieces. One must never underestimate the power of a handsome man in PJs that have reindeer on them in compromising positions. Or the joy you will feel over two hearts joining themselves and their families together in front of their friends and community and vowing to be the best husbands they can be to one another. This series has it all! Every feels you could want and more! Don't miss it!


The Story: 5.00 🌟
The Narration: 5.00🌟
Overall: 5.00🌟
my-favorite-2019-series-narrated-by-Michael-Dean-equals-Sharonica-in-hog-heaven-stars✨✨✨✨✨

I received a complimentary audio copy of this book from GRR in exchange for my review.🌈

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Love this series

This is such a great series and having it in a bundle really shows how well each story flows into the next. Plus, you don’t have to remember which book is next up.

Gray and Corbin are probably my favorite couple but Nick and Shaw hold my heart because of everything they’ve been through to get their happy ending.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series (which I hear will be out later this summer), though I might wait for Michael Dean to get his voice on it because he did such a great job with these stories.

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Good listen

Enjoyed the weaving of serious, real life/spice of life themes with humor and creativity. Dean always a pleasant listen for getting pulled into a story.

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