More than Exist

By: Bethany Lopez

Narrated by: Susan Soriano

Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Love can exit your life as quickly as it enters, shattering your heart in the process.

It's been a year since my husband was taken from me in a tragic accident. I thought it would kill me. Now, I think I'm ready to start healing.

My mother says my idea of taking a solo cross-country road trip is crazy, but I see it as my road to recovery. Along the way, I'll have to deal with the poor choices I've made since Ricky died. I'll have to overcome the terror that his death has caused me. I'll have to find my balance again.

And once I meet Luke and his young son, I'll have to decide if I can take the risk to do more than exist and learn to love again.

©2016 Bethany Lopez (P)2016 Bethany Lopez

Beautiful Story

This book packed a ton of emotion. The grief and loss that Belle feels is palpable.

I recently read the Night & Day novella and was delighted to see Ginger and Big Mike from that novella in this story. Finishing this makes me want to reread the novella now that I know Ginger better.

Belle and Luke are helping each other and the growth of their relationship was beautiful to listen to.

More than Exist

Such a heartbreaking story that shows the road to recovery. I love how this book is so realistic in how someone may truly react to such a devastating event. Bethany Lopez did an amazing job writing this book as well as Susan Soriano narrating this so beautifully.

Love helped along by serendipity

Take a young woman. Have her suffer tragedy and become addicted to alcohol when life proves too painful. Insert road trip and odd meetings, including to a nice young man. Have her struggle to rebuild her life. Have her succeed and find love again. The end. This review could have been written by a computer, but I had almost the same sense while listening to More Than Exist. There is nothing wrong with the story. It contains a nice, fulfilling romance, and lots to admire about the ability to start over. But I felt like it could have been written by a well-designed computer program. It left me totally unshaken and unstirred. Others have loved the book, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I am grateful to the author for providing me a copy of this audiobook at my request.

Peacefully beautiful

I really enjoyed hearing this story of finding love after loss. I enjoyed Belle's trip across the country and the craziness she got into along the way. This story was sweet and heart warming. I loved joust about the entire story. I can't explain why but I found a sense of peace while listening and enjoyed the entire story. Susan did a great job narrating and her voice was so soothing it made the story even more peaceful for me.

GREAT READ!

I really enjoyed it! This book was very emotional! The narration was great and kept me entertained! The author did a great job with the character builds and plot! I look forward to reading more of her books! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

4 star listen

Short and full of action.
I really enjoyed this book.
Triggers are alcoholism and death of a loved one.
Coming of age story for a lady deciding to live again hence the title.

Narration was good and voice actor for the story well.
Gifted audio in exchange for an honest review.
4 stars

Finding Yourself

I appreciate that this story didn’t focus just on the romance. This was more of a story about a young woman trying to find herself again after tragedy.

I liked the bond she found in a new friend and came to appreciate what she could offer of herself to other people.

First book for me from this author and I wouldn’t mind checking out more.

story of addiction and recovery

I didn't know what to expect when I started listening. This is more a story about addiction and recovery than a romance, but that is not a negative. For being as short as it is, it is still a solid story about grief turning into addiction and then recovery. While there were some over the top plot points, I appreciated the author's ability to use honest reactions to them.

This was good!!

When Belle looses her husband, she’s lost.. and she turns to alcohol for comfort... but it becomes a problem. She leaves their home in San Diego to drive to Florida, where her parents are. Along the way, she meets Ginger in Vegas after her purse is stolen and taken into a strip club. In the club, the owner tells her she can have her purse if she does one lap dance.. she does it but ends up in tears during it and the man comforts her.. his name is Luke and he covers for her.

After she arrives in Florida, she ends up going to rehab and completing it. Afterwards, she interviews at a ranch... and the owner.. is Luke.

I love Belles determination.. and completely understand some of her freak out moments. I enjoyed her story!!!

Good Read

More than Exist was a great read by Bethany Lopez. It has been a year since Belle's husband passed away in a tragic car accident. Belle started drinking hard and was ready to die with her husband. She believes that she's ready to take a cross country trip by herself. She takes the trip even though those around her thought it was crazy. Along her way she meets Luke and his young son. I really loved reading Belle and Luke's story and can't wait to read more by that author.