Sea of Love

Love in Bloom, Book 7

By: Melissa Foster

Narrated by: B.J. Harrison

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Lacy Snow wasn't looking for love when she met strikingly handsome and seductive Dane Braden. But how could she ignore the six-foot-three, darkly handsome god who tagged and researched sharks for a living - and made every nerve in her body tangle into an overly sensitive knot? Even her fear of sharks could not suppress their intense attraction.

As founder of the Brave Foundation, Dane Braden travels from port to port, educating and advocating on behalf of the mammals he adores - and spends his nights finding solace in the arms of strangers. The last thing Dane was looking for when he met Lacy Snow was a relationship, and the last thing he expected was to fall in love.

Fifteen months - and hundreds of flirty emails, steamy phone calls, and sensual video chats - later, they reunite and take passion to a whole new level. But as Lacy's phobia meets Dane's past love life, their steamy romance is upended, and when tragedy strikes, Dane and Lacy are forced to face their deepest fears head-on as they try to navigate their own sea of love.

©2014 Melissa Foster (P)2015 Melissa Foster

Critic Reviews

"...love, loss, lies, grief, finding happiness in the face of adversity, romance, humor, bravery, hot hot hot sex scenes, marriages, births, and totally awesome characters." (Supportive Business Moms, UK)

"Contemporary romance at its hottest. Each Braden sibling left me craving the next. Sensual, sexy, and satisfying, the Braden series is a captivating blend of the dance between lust, love, and life." (Best-selling author Keri Nola)

Braden men are solidly good guys –

AudioBook Review:
Stars: Overall: 4 Narration 4 Story: 4

Lacy and Dane first met 15 months ago at her sister’s wedding: but distance and careers kept them apart. They’ve managed to keep in touch via telephone, Skype and email: but each loves the job they have, and neither is particularly ready for a full-on relationship. Lacy is working in her dream job: marketing and promotion, and she’s completely comfortable doing just that. Sure, she’s attracted to Dane, and she does dream of him, not to mention being totally turned on, but his job (and his commitment to it) scare her to death. Dane makes his living tagging sharks and educating people about them. He’s obsessed with sharks and probably has more than a mild streak of adrenaline junkie. He doesn’t know of Lacy’s bone-deep fear of sharks, or her concerns about a relationship with a man who not only won’t put her first as he works all the time, but works around such danger.

These two are cute together – and Lacy’s certainly got plenty to decide on: is it worth her effort to get attached to a man who works with the thing that scares her most – especially when he’s ALWAYS working? And what about that – is he running away from potential commitments, finding it easier to hide out with the man eaters? Oh Dane does appear to truly enjoy Lacy, and he cares for her – but he’s got a streak of spoilt and isn’t willing to discuss compromise. But neither can forget the electric connection, the steam that rises between them in every interaction – and what steam it is. With plenty of moments from other characters, including plenty of sisterly advice, the two do manage to both open up and be honest, and just maybe Lacy can overcome some of her fear, just as Dane is willing to open up to the possibility of being hurt by love.

Narration for this story is provided by B.J. Harrison, and while his performance was adept and acceptable, my ears and heart yearn for some dual narrative performances for this series, adding that palpable touch of feminine energy that Lacy so required and deserved. His performance of Dane and the other males in the cast felt natural, but there was a clear element missing with the women: it wasn’t for a lack of tone / pitch /delivery changes but a sense of energy that was less male, more feminine and softer, more an iron fist in velvet glove feel than I got here.

Each of these stories works alone, and while previous characters appear and influence the story, the listener is provided with enough information to understand the relationship in the moment, and becomes a treat for listeners familiar with their stories as they are allowed a moment to continue their own stories. The Braden men are solidly good guys – even when they misstep, and are sure to be favorites of many.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title from the producer for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Flirty and fun

Sea of Love is the story of Lacy Snow (½ sister to Danica and Kailey aka Snow Sisters) and Dane Braden. Dane educates people around the world about the importance of sharks in our ecosystem. Lacy Snow is an account executive who was attacked by a shark as a young girl. The writing style of Melissa Foster is fun, loving, sexy, and a large family saga type of story. I enjoyed Dane and Lacy’s story more than I thought I would. These two are a hot mess. BJ Harrison narrates Sea of Love. I enjoy listening to BJ narrate for Melissa. BJ does a very fine job of narrating both the male and female characters. So far these early books have all been narrated by him. I have realized that the early books by Melissa are narrated pretty exclusively by BJ. Her more recent books have more variety in the narration department. I received an ALC in exchange for an honest review. ****

Captivating and Emotional Romance!

Sea of Love is a captivating and emotional romance. Dane and Lacy finally meet in person again after over a year of getting to know each other thru flirty and sensual texts and calls. Who knew the extended foreplay could lead to not only such explosive passion but deep feelings as well. Dane and Lacy are complete opposites and never expected to fall in love. But how can they make a relationship work when Lacy is deathly afraid of sharks and Dane lives a dangerous life traveling and advocating for them? Dane and Lacy were fun to get to know and I connected and cared for them quickly. I loved how their relationship developed and grew, how they had so much fun together, and had great chemistry.
B.J. Harrison continues to narrate this heartfelt, and delightful series. His voice is soothing as he allows you to get swept away with all the fun, excitement and passion Foster creates in her stories and brings them to life.

Love conquers all

Sea of Love is the fourth installment in the Braden Brothers series. This book picks up 15 months after the Snow sister’s, Danica and Kaylie’s, destination wedding in the Bahamas. In Sisters in White, they meet their recently discovered half-sister, Lacy. Over the course of the wedding festivities, Lacy falls for shark researcher, Dane Braden. In the intervening 15 months, Dane and Lacy strike up a long distance friendship.

Sea of Love picks up when Dane and Lacy finally come together in person again. In true Melissa Foster fashion, she tackles the issue of traumatic phobias. Lacy has a history of being attacked by a shark when she was a child and must move past her fears to have the relationship with Dane that they want. Dane was incredibly understanding and set up experiences to help Lacy become desensitized to the sharks. The subplot with Dane’s second in command battling alcoholism was well handled. The connection between Dane and Lacy was clear and their falling in love and working through their relationship was inspiring. Lacy was the only one of the three Snow sisters that I really liked.

As usual, B.J. Harrison did a great job with the narration.

A great overall read! Looking forward to the next installment in the Braden series.

***I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my own, unbiased review.***

Can they make it work?

I liked this one. This wasn’t my favorite book by this author but it was an entertaining listen all the same. This book features Dane, one of the Braden siblings, and Lacy, one of the three Snow sisters. I was looking forward to watching them come together in this book. This story is a stand-alone but fans of the series will enjoy checking in with characters from previous stories.

I am learning that I can be quite the mood reader, especially lately. After a couple of hours of listening to this book, I set it aside to listen to a murder mystery since I just didn’t seem to be feeling this one. I came back to it a few days later and it worked much better for me. I tend to think of these romances as sweeter stories, even though there is a fair amount of heat. I like this kind of story but I have to be in the mood for it.

Dane and Lacy have been talking to each other on the phone and online for the past 15 months. They are more than ready to be together when they finally get the chance to see each other again. There is one big obstacle to any possible relationship. Dan spends his days researching sharks while Lacy is terrified of sharks after surviving an attack as a child. I have to say that this obstacle didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I have been married for over 20 years and have never felt the need to go with my husband to work. I just felt like he could go work with sharks while she goes to her job and the problem would disappear. I just kind of decided to go with it anyway. I did like Dane and Lacy. They had fantastic chemistry with each other and they were both incredibly kind. They both wanted to figure out how to make things work with each other deep down. It was fun watching their relationship grow over the course of the story.

B.J. Harrison once again did a great job with the narration of this story. He does a great job with both the male and female voices and he always speaks very clearly. He has a very pleasant voice and I think that he adds a lot of emotion to the story which added to my overall enjoyment.

I would recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance. I found this to be a nice easy listen and look forward to reading more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author/publicist.

Here's to a Good Run!

This story is Lacey Snow and Dane Braden. Really enjoyed the story itself from how it started, and we get to hear from a lot of the Braden’s and family friends. Then the story narrows towards Lacey and Dane. After a long time of texting, skype and calling – Lacey and Dane are finally in the same space and we’ll see if they can be more than friends. There was a lot that happened during their story – both good and bad and it was interesting to watch our couple to see how they would handle things. I always love when Hal is in the story because I know that he’s going to share his wisdom with Dane and of course us and we’ll see the situation differently and in turn fixing or correcting whatever the bump in the road is. Loved how after the conversation with Hal everything clicked for Dane and he knew what he wanted to do for him and Lacey. Great ending to the story. I listened to this story as an audiobook narrated once again by BJ Harrison. He continues to do a great job in his narration and considering from around chapter 26 through the end of the book a lot happened, and his narration didn’t falter, and he just drew you into the story more than you already were.

I hate sharks! But I love the Bradens!

Sea of Love is such a great love story! We get Lacy's story, which I have been looking forward to since we met her at the Snow Sisters wedding! She had met Dane there and now they have been having a virtual relationship of sorts for months. Finally when they get together, the sparks ignite, but it that enough to hold them together? After all, Lacy hates sharks, Has a real fear for a good reason, but Dane's work is with sharks. Can they be together and have this dichotomy? When I first started listening to this, I wanted to nudge Lacy. Get over yourself and be the person Dane needs. But then I really began to understand her and began to think a little about it. She is quite the woman, facing her fears. Dane is a Braden, so we know he is sweet and loving. But he does hold back a bit, and we need to know why. Melissa Foster once again has caught my attention and kept me engaged for another Braden love story. She is a master at weaving original themes, and adding in a realistic story line that is current and real. We get this with Rob and his wife, and it's a look at real love, consequences and adjustments. I love her books and look forward to her next adventure with this family!

BJ Harrison is the voice of the Braden boys and I love him. Each book a different voice for the main character and as we get to see others we know, he consistency keeps the voice from previous books. It's a fun, refreshing listen and I know when I start, I am in for a treat.

Love can be found in the Vast Ocean of Uncertainty

Sea of Love is one of my favorite love stories by Melissa Foster. In this book we meet Lacy and Dane again. In the sea of love we have to see if Lacy can handle the uncertainty that is associated with being in love with a man that is always out at sea. Lacy has to decide if she can handle this uncertainty and the fears that she has about being out at sea as well. During the book, if you can keep yourself from skipping to the end, you’ll fall in love with these two adorable characters and their love story too.

Love Dane and Lacy's sexy story!

Love Dane and Lacy's sexy story!

Dane and Lacy have been talking and texting daily for 15 months but have not seen each other since her sisters' wedding in Nassau when they met. Sparks fly when they finally meet again at Max and Treat's wedding. Emotions go back and forth as you follow their story. You get to see Lacy's fears and to see how she tries to see if she can get over them to fit in Dane's life. I loved their romance and how much they loved each other. I loved the other Bradens and other characters in the story. This was one of my favorite Braden stories! The narration was good in the book.

A perfect distraction with a wonderful story

Audiobook: Narrator – B.J. Harrison
I am beginning to expect this narrator for each book in this series and I’m more than okay with that. He does an exceptional job of bringing a deeper element of emotion to the story than reading the book alone would do. This particular performance hit me at the right time and I was more than ready for some B.J. Harrison as his smooth voice pulled me into this story.

Lacy and Dane have been texting, skyping and a few other naughty-ish things online for the last fifteen months. Now that they are finally face to face, they are more than ready to take things to the next level. But as they actually face each other, they must confront why they’ve allowed so many months to separate them as well as what issues might keep them apart.

This was a bit angsty as the story evolves from one place in their relationship to a place full of fear. My heart hurt for both Lacy and Dane. However, watching them face their problems and overcome them made me fall even deeper in love with them.

The background of a good portion of this book revolves around research in sharks and there are a lot of interesting tidbits shared throughout. I found it to increase my enjoyment. There are plenty of scenes with past favorite characters and a few new ones introduced. The steam is definitely on the high level and there are a few moments of humor. Overall, this was a very enjoyable audio that I refused to turn off when I normally would have done so.

Sea of Love

The Story:
Shark tagger an owner of the BRAVE foundation Dane Braden and Lacey Snow have been calling and texting each other for the better part of a year but never really meeting due to Dane always being at sea. Finally at Max & Treat's wedding they meet, and the sparks are electrifying from across the room.

They make the perfect couple, but Lacy is scared of the one thing that Dane works with - Sharks! Following a shark attack that happened to her when she was seven years old Lacy has been afraid of them ever since and feels that is a huge reason not to date Dane. Dane does everything he can to show her that he loves her no matter what, but being that tagging sharks is his living how can he help Lacy overcome her fear of them? With the help of Danica, Dean comes up with a way to help her face her fears head on.

Can Dane and Lacy make it work or will her fear ruin her chance at love? Well this is an Cole/Foster book so if you are long time reader you will be sure of the answer already! If not then definitely read it!

The Narration:
Once again B.J. Harrison has done a great job of bring Melissa's book to life with this production,

Not all sharks are bad.

What did you like most about Sea of Love?
This was a coming of the Snow sisters with the Braden Family. It was good to catch up with Danica and Kaylie.

Who was your favorite character and why?
So many to choose from, Dane because he loves his job and so wants to share that with Lacy. Kaylie for her sense of humour, Danica for her love of her sister and Lacy for overcoming her fears to be with Dane.

Which character – as performed by B.J. Harrison – was your favourite?
He did a good job with all the characters. When he is in female mode you forget he is male. I have re read the book and have just finished listening to it again, still as good a the first time.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
When Lacy has her light bulb moment that accidents can happen everyday.

Any additional comments?
Love listening to BJ Harrison