Ebb and Flow

Love's Charter

By: Andrew Grey

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Sequel to Setting the Hook Love's Charter: Book Two

To achieve happiness, they’ll have to find the courage to be their own men.

As first mate on a charter fishing boat, Billy Ray meets a lot of people, but not one of them has made him as uncomfortable as Skippy—because he’s drawn to Skippy as surely as the moon pulls the tides, and he’s almost as powerless to resist. Billy Ray has spent his life denying who he is to avoid the wrath of his religious father, and he can’t allow anyone to see through his carefully built façade.

Skippy is only in town on business and will have to return to Boston once he’s through. After all, his father has certain expectations, and him staying in Florida is not one of them. But he doesn’t count on Billy Ray capturing his attention and touching his heart.

Billy Ray doesn’t realize just how much he and Skippy have in common, though. They’re both living to please their fathers instead of following their own dreams—a fact that becomes painfully obvious when they get to know each other and realize how much joy they’ve denied themselves. While they can’t change the past, they can begin a future together and make up for lost time—as long as they’re willing to face the consequences of charting their own course.

©2017 Andrew Grey (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press

Hard-won HEA

Note: I haven’t read book one, Setting the Hook, yet had no trouble following along, even with the inclusion of characters introduced there, so this works as a standalone.

Billy Ray hides his sexuality in order to avoid his uber-religious, abusive father. Skippy constantly tries to garner his father’s respect, without ever seeming to meet that goal. Their dual POV gives insight into the way both Skippy’s and Billy Ray’s fathers have both damaged the sons, with both trying desperately to please people who, frankly, can never be satisfied. The abusive nature of Billy Ray’s relationship with his father was especially hard for me to listen to at times.

This is one of those stories where I spent the majority of time internally screaming at the characters to leave their fathers behind and make new lives living however makes them truly happy. Greg Tremblay impresses again with great narration, but the characters taking so long to stand up for themselves and take control of their own lives was a bit maddening for me personally. That being said, I was really happy when the two finally came together to really make their relationship work and the HEA is hard-won and really sweet.

The story had more angst than I was expecting, a nice thread of hurt/comfort, and was an enjoyable listen overall. Greg Tremblay adds depth and emotion to the characters and the story and makes sure the multiple character voices are easy to keep straight and his pacing is terrific.

Recommended for fans of the Love’s Charter series, Andrew Grey, and Greg Tremblay.

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Would you consider the audio edition of Ebb and Flow to be better than the print version?

I'd consider it to be a companion, both are fantastic in their right.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ebb and Flow?

When Skippy goes off on mommy and daddy!

Which character – as performed by Greg Tremblay – was your favorite?

I really enjoyed Billy Ray, the struggles he endures while trying to figure out who he is and how to be his own man outside of his father's shadow.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Be true to yourself

Any additional comments?

Tams eBook Review...

Tams gives this one 5 Stars...
Skippy escapes his stuffy life, tedious job and over bearing parents and heads off to Florida to do research for a new client. It's not his first trip or the first charter with his friends, but on this particular trip, Skippy reels in so much more than just a fish or a sea turtle.
Billy Ray is naive when it comes to many things in life. The twenty something boat hand has been under his Father's thumb since the day his was born and the good Reverend is determined to save face, regardless the cost.
The spark is ignited with the first glance and when Billy Ray finally works up the courage to steal a kiss, it becomes a raging fire. It's far from smooth sailing, at any rate. Especially when their Fathers, who seem to be trying to one up each other in the game of who can be the biggest biggot, attempt to drive a wedge between them at every turn.
Ebb and Flow starts slow, gradually building while each man comes to terms with the negativity from the one man in their life that should love them unconditionally, their Father. I think that was what I enjoyed most about this story, the slow burn. Skippy has experience, both in life and with other men, Billy Ray does not. Skippy is there for him, helping to ease the aches and pains while Billy Ray figures out who he is, and more importantly, who he wants to be. In the process, Skippy realizes that he too needs to deal with some aspects of his life that he's ignored or brushed aside for far too long.
I devoured this book over breakfast, it was food for my soul. The story is heart breaking at times, what Billy Ray's father puts him through. But he takes that pain and suffering, the uncertainty of the entire situation, and perseveres, stronger in the end because of it. Skippy learns some things about his father as well that shake him to the core. What I loved was the way Grey spent the first half of the book allowing the characters to truly get to know one another, have conversations, come to realizations and learn to lean on one another before they took the relationship to the next level. And he seriously devoted an entire chapter to a kiss. Breaking it down, defining every emotion Billy Ray was feeling, both the want and need he was feeling as well as the struggle with what has been ingrained in him by his Religious Zealot father over the years.
So, definitely a must read folks, I highly recommend. And if you haven't read Setting the Hook yet (book 1) you won't be lost. You will have a better understanding of secondary characters if you do, but this book is beautiful and poignant all on its own.
Disclaimer: no sea turtles were injured in this story, though the fish sounded like it was awfully delicious.

Solid love story with great narration

I picked this up because I’d enjoyed the world building in book one and I thought it’d be great to see what was happening with our friend Billy Ray.

This story is pretty similar to Setting The Hook in that we have a “good ol Southern boy” meeting a “city slicker” and the two finding ways to mesh worlds once they fall in love.

There is a bit more drama and angst in this and I wasn’t as invested in these guys as a couple as I was in book one, but that could be due to reading this rather than listening.

It was enjoyable if not amazing and I’d recommend it to fans of the series and the author.

3.5 of 5 stars

Audio

Greg Tremblay astounds me with his voice capabilities. He managed to find just the right accent for the families as well as each of the main characters. There are some subtle traces of old Europe mixed in with the Southern gentility and it all works fabulously! He’s always great with the emotion, pacing and tone quality and when you add that to this very sweet story of finding one’s self and love you get the perfect mix! Highly Recommended!

5 of 5 stars

Overall
4 of 5 stars