Stay

By: Ash Knight

Narrated by: Isaac Grisham

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

A quiet coffee shop gives two men who have lost too much a chance at love.

Joe Calloway has been on the run since he was 16, homeless and alone. He never lets anyone close. Between his traumatic past and his autism, he isn’t used to people taking the time to understand him.

Even so, when a stranger offers him a way to build a better life for himself, Joe finds the strength to go for it.

Madden Fields is fully devoted to his older sister, her autistic son, and his job as a nurse, but when he meets Joe, his carefully ordered life begins to pick up speed.

As their connection deepens, Madden realizes he’s going to have to hold on tight if he wants to be an anchor strong enough for Joe to stay.

Stay is a 88,000-word gay hurt/comfort romance novel.

©2020 Ash Knight (P)2021 Ash Knight

Lovely

Joe and Madden are wonderful characters and their story is just lovely. The way Madden uses uses what he knows as a nurse and from his nephew to make Joe feel comfortable but then throws away the generic knowledge and follows Joe's lead to give him exactly what he needs is so well written. It's also true that Madden gets just as much from Joe. Theirs is an equal, loving relationship. Isaac Grisham gives a superb performance that is true to both characters and beautifully subtle.

A rainbow at the end of violent storm

It’s always difficult to read characters with disabilities but I’m glad that I picked up this book because this gave me so much feels. Sometimes we have to go through hardships and heartaches to taste and sweet love and happiness they all deserve so much.

Madden has a great life, a great job as an ER nurse, a loving sister that he loves and her autistic son, his nephew, that he absolutely adore. Meanwhile, Joe’s had a hard life. He might be young but he’s been through a lot. After he escape from his very abusive home, he has been living on the streets for so long. His life is all about surving and living just for each day. And to make his life even harder, he’s on the spectrum and it brings a lot of issues to his everyday lives. However when a kindhearted coffee shop owner finally decided to give him a chance and offered him a job and a chance at normal life, he also met Madden, a man who truly understands what he’s going through and is willing to wait for him to accept for all he is.

This is really a good hurt/comfort read with lots of angst and at the same time a lot of heartwarming moments. I’m glad I picked up this book because this made me realize how we don’t value enough of what we have every day. This is different but I enjoyed it a lot.

4 a rainbow at the end of the violent storm stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Audio rating

Story - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Heart-Healing Hurt/Comfort Love Story

"Stay" is a deeper level of hurt/comfort than I've read in a long while - I lost count of the times my heart hurt for Joe - and it's also one of the more hopeful and heartwarming.

The kind and gentle young man has been through so much pain and trauma, and is still fighting for his survival let alone some understanding. That Madden not only sees Joe - really sees him - but is also so kind, caring, protective, and feels deeply for the man he befriends day after day in the coffee shop is so heartening, and their slow-build, full-circle HEA journey is as tender and thoughtful as it is romantic and loving.

Isaac Grisham is a new-to-me narrator, and with a youthful voice delivers an engaging performance here. I rode an emotional hurt/comfort rollercoaster with this story, and I credit that equally to the writing and the delivery. I'm also so impressed that this book is the author's debut novel, and I look forward to more to come. I received this free review copy audio book by request and have left this honest review voluntarily.

Lovely story

Gentle narration brought this story to life. Beautiful characters slowly came together to truly touch my heart. Madden wraps Joe in gentle acceptance allowing him to feel true love for the first time. Highly recommended.

WOW!

This is a new author and new narrator to me, and to say I’ve been missing out from both is an understatement.

The performance itself was spectacular.. the narration of a person on the spectrum can’t be easy, but it was spot on.

Joe and Madden are truly each other’s person, and their characters are extremely well written and loving.

And the surprise at the end... OMG!

A sweet hurt / comfort romance

I liked this adorably hurt / comfort romance.

The characters were likeable, simple and relatable.

The tone of the story was youthful and refreshing which appealed to me.

The storyline was interesting and the narration was apt.

3.5 stars for both the story and the narration

I was given a free audio copy from the author and the GRR arc team for review

Warning: depiction of past child sexual abuse. Though it does cut off before it gets too graphic. Also adult attempted rape, physical assault and attempted murder. All of which there is no warning about on the Audible book description.

There are some minor inconsistencies missed in editing that I noticed. I really could have done without the creepy flashback scene from Joes childhood involving his dads friend Devon. I think Joe just explaining that his reactions are from trauma from past child sexual abuse would have been sufficient. I don't really have any triggers but I don't know why anyone would want to read some predatory scene involving a child. Also, there are some things mentioned in renfrence to Joes Autism that didn't ring true for me and some comments made that came across as odd and untrue. Also, the scene with the sister is just mind boggling and very insulting.

With all that aside I thought this was a very sweet hurt/comfort read that had the potential to be a 5 star read. Both characters were loveable and complimented each other well. The general plot was interesting. It was fairly low angst IMO given the subject matter. There is some drama that is brief. This was low heat which I think suited the plot. There was more for us on building trust and intimacy. I enjoyed the gradual character and relationship development. It kept my interest from start to finish but I do think that there were some parts that felt slightly draggy and repetitive and it could have been shortened some.

The narrator did a decent job. Their voice was pleasant. I did have to speed it up quite a bit though. He expressed the emotions well. Unfortunately he didn't use different voices for the characters.

Slow burn

This is slow burn with triggers. Make sure if you have triggers to check warnings. The characters are soft spoken but strong. One if the characters has been to hell and back and the other is his strength.

Stay

Good, emotional listen. There are so many feels you experience listening to this story. It took me a minute to get into the narration, but I did. Overall, a worthwhile listen.

Heartwarming

This an absolutely fabulous story of someone who is on the spectrum. Near to my heart, I had all the feels while listening to it. Add in the added drama of Joe's life and you have a complicated story line that is told so well. I love Madden's character and just how patient he is with Joe. Isaac's narration was fantastic. He created difference between Joe and Madden that were realistic. This is one of those stories that I will listen to again when I need something heartwarming!