Relevant Heart

The Fearless Heart, Book 3

By: Janice Jarrell

Narrated by: Walker Williams

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Colin is excited to be prosecuting his first murder case. But his ability to remain detached is challenged as the circumstances surrounding the crime awaken his deep inner fear of losing someone he loves; a fear nearly realized when—only two short months ago—Joshua was kidnapped and violently assaulted.

While Colin and his team gather evidence, he and Joshua endeavor to create a program that will establish a bridge between veterans suffering a mental health crisis and local police. But this effort drains Joshua's already fragile health to a dangerous level, leaving Colin frantic with worry and frustration.

Meanwhile, Nate has a play opening off-Broadway and must live in New York City for six to eight weeks. It is clear from the onset that the director has the hots for Nate—or at least for his talent as a playwright—a fact which has David pacing the floor in anxiety. He is happy for Nate and proud of his husband but worried about the director's attention and unhappy about Nate's long absence.

By the time Nate celebrates his opening night, all four friends are exhausted both emotionally and physically and ready for the healing trip to Ireland they've been planning for months.

Colin’s breathtaking ancestral home provides many magical moments, but an unexpected and terrifying incident leaves them shaken and questioning the faith in each other that has always been their foundation. Will these shattering circumstances strengthen their bonds or break their hearts and tear their relationships apart?

©2023 Janice Jarrell (P)2024 Janice Jarrell

I love these two couples!

When I originally read this book with my eyes back in early December 2023, I said the only thing that could make me like (I should have said love!) this book more would be for Walker Williams to perform the audiobook – and now he has! Walker Williams' distinctly different voices for each of the characters makes it so easy to tell who is speaking. He is Colin and Josh, and Nate and David to me; I can't imagine any other voice actor performing Janice's stories about these men. I was hooked on his performance from the very first book I listened to (Love's Magic). There isn't anything more that I can say that I didn't already say in my original review which is shown below:

While most of Janice Jarrell's books have concentrated on Colin and Josh, David and Nate are also significant characters in most of her books. I'm so happy that we get to spend some quality time with Nate and David in Relevant Heart.

The story starts off with Nate having the honor of one of his plays being produced in New York; something that turns out to be a blessing and a curse. He hates being separated from his husband, David, and their friends Colin and Josh for over six weeks.

After Nate's play ends, he's in need of some serious down-time and Josh could use some as well because he's still recovering from a serious concussion he suffered a few months ago. A vacation for the two couples seems like the perfect solution so the four friends decide to take a trip to Ireland to visit with Colin's family

I loved all of this story but Janice Jarrell's writing really excelled once the gang got to Ireland. I don't know if she's ever been to the places she writes about – and I have no way of knowing how accurate her descriptions are – but the way she described the country and all of the places that her boys visited really makes me want to visit there one day for myself. The emotion she puts into her characters – especially when it comes to their visits with Colin's family – really radiated off of the pages.

A copy of this audiobook was provided to me at my request and my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author or narrator.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

Absolutely wonderful

I really love book series where we follow the same couple. And this one is even more special because we follow two couples. Reading their story is like coming home, so comforting. They are all so realistic and relatable. They are well developed and feel like real people. They have flaws but they love deeply and they try hard to grow.
I enjoyed this new story so very very much. And I loved seeing the close friendship between the two couples. Collin and Josh are still hurting from the events of the previous book and David and Nate are struggling too but it all works out in the end and I had a great time reading their journey.
The trip to Ireland was my favorite part of the book. I felt like I was traveling with them and it was magical.
The narrator was brilliant and brought the story to life.
I highly recommend this contemporary series!

It never gets old!

Story: I don't know how the author does it, but visiting with these characters never gets old! New trouble and challenges, all the same brilliantly captured emotions and thoughts. One of the very few same couple series I never get tired of!
Narration: Great performance as in previous books. Walker Williams' rendition of these characters is the only way I hear them, even when reading!

RELAX AND ENJOY

This is absolutely AMAZING!! This is about Love, Friendship, Family and caring for one another. Colin, Josh, Nate and David can always depend on each other. JANICE JARRELL has such a way with words that her words flow seemlessly. In this we get to go to New York and Ireland. If you close your eyes it plays like a movie. WALKER WILLIAMS voice gives each person thier own emotion and sound. His voice just lets you relax into the story. This is a truly beautiful experience and I loved every second of it. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS AUDIBLE AND THIS FEARLESS HEART SERIES!!!!!

Perfect blend of story and voice

Another wonderful look into the lives of Colin, Josh, Nate and David. In each book about these men, there are always a couple of lines and/or scenes that stick with me and become touchstones for these characters. In this book there are so many it's an embarrassment of riches. I won't give too many details because you should definitely read them for yourself and experience them as wonderful surprises throughout the story. In this book, we get to see Nate opening a play in New York and share in all the complicated feelings that causes in David, Colin and Josh as it calls up past memories of loss and abandonment. We get to see Colin and Josh develop a program to train law enforcement to handle confrontations with vets in crisis so they get help, not additional trauma and incarceration. This is described so vividly, I literally almost brought it up as a successful program in a meeting one day until I remembered it was fiction. We get several examples of "academic, philosopher" Josh as he talks about why Colin reminds him of Don Quixote and why when one talks of vengeance, one must talk of "won't" not "can't". I almost said there's nothing I love more than Josh in philosopher mode, but check out the beginning of Chapter 24. Like Colin, I just might have found a version of Josh I'd never considered before. There's information about healing from traumatic brain injury that I could have read a hundred more pages on, Jarrell's non-fiction writing is so clear and absorbing. After the four friends travel to Ireland, we see some of Josh and Colin's most romantic moments and one where it's demonstrated that no one can devastate you with a couple of sentences more than the one who loves you most. I guarantee you'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll swoon over some quotations you'll be socking away to remember and hope you get to use with someone you love someday. It's so lovely to see these four men openly and unhesitatingly express their love and concern for each other. As for the audio, every listener to this series immediately recognizes that Walker Williams is the perfect performer to bring all these characters to life. Every emotion is pitch perfect, here the accents in Ireland are amazing and everything from descriptions to the steamiest scenes comes alive brilliantly. Long may this series and these characters live and be performed by Walker Williams.