The Forever Rule

The Cage Family, Book 1

De: Carrie Ann Ryan

Narrado por: Jason Clarke, Emma Wilder

What happens when the man you’d thought could be the one turns out to be your new boss?

Blakely

The moment I met Aston Cage, I knew my life had changed. A single dance later, we’re both all in. Until he ghosted me.

Then my boss fires me for dancing with the enemy.

Three months later, working for the Cages is my last resort. Now I’ll work beside him day by day, trying not to let my feelings take control. It’s heaven and hell. Except I’m starting to think there’s a part of this story I’m missing…

Aston

I made myself walk away from Blakely after my family’s dirty laundry hit the news. My father’s secret family complicates everything. In order to keep our inheritance intact, we’re forced to do monthly dinners with both sides of the family—the brothers I grew up with and the new set of siblings we never knew about.

An additional obstacle: Blakely is my new sister’s best friend.

Meaning the moment I give into temptation, I not only risk the woman I’m falling for, but the family legacy just starting to reveal itself.

But Blakley is worth it. I just have to prove I am as well.

**The Forever Rule is a missed connection, workplace, big city meets small town romance featuring Aston and Blakely. Each book can be enjoyed as a complete standalone. An HEA is guaranteed!**

©2024 Carrie Ann Ryan (P)2024 Carrie Ann Ryan

Just the Beginning

The Cage Family, Book one by Carrie Ann Ryan.

Narrators Jason Clarke and Emma Wilder do a great job on these 2 characters! They both pull you into the story and are not just a voice you are listening to.

Absolutely amazing beginning for a new series! The Cage Family promises to bring us lots of entertainment. Aston and Blakely are our first book and we met them briefly in the prequel, “before I knew,” when Blakely accidentally got caught up in a family text chat and their relationship just grew from there.

Blakely shared a dance with Aston at an event they both were attending, not knowing just how big of a mistake she had just made. She didn’t expect to lose her job over a simple dance but she did, according to her boss she was dancing with the enemy. Now, here she is without a job over something so far-fetched!

Aston and his siblings didn’t realize just how messed up their lives could be until they find out their parent’s have been hiding a life changing secret. This secret had a major complication for not only Aston but Blakely as well.

I can’t really say much more here without taking away from the book so let me just say that, this is just the first book, I can’t wait to see what is next!!!

Amazing

I received this as an arc/alc from the author and I’m voluntarily leaving my honest review.

This was an amazing way to start a series. The story had absolutely everything I wanted it to have. There was a lot of family drama, and I’m already in love with all the Cages and their very special family dynamic. The story also had a really wonderful love story with characters that seemed so real. I just couldn’t get enough of Aston and Blakely’s story.

Audiobook review: This was one of the best audiobooks I’ve heard in a long time. I loved the way the narrators made the characters come alive and I was just able to completely get lost in the story.

Great new series

The Cage Family promises to be a great series. It's about two large families who find out at the reading of their father's will that he fathered all of them. The will stipulates that a majority of the siblings from each family have to have dinner monthly or every 3 weeks (it was confusing to me which) and document it to the lawyer. Astin Cage and Blakely meet at a work dinner and have an attraction to each other but because of misunderstandings, she's fired for meeting with the rival company and can't get another job because of that. Astin doesn't call as he said he would. Now she has an interview with his company. He's shocked to find out what's happened with her. They talk things out but still have other things thrown in their path. I thought the narration by Jason Clarke and Emma Wilder was wonderful. I'm looking forward to the rest of the siblings' stories.

Unexpectedly good

I like how the story started. Clever. I loved the closeness of the brothers and the dialogue Jason Clarke wonderful narrator. Unfortunately Emma Wilder is not my favorite narrator, her annunciating at the end of sentences not a style I like.

A Beautiful, Angsty Romance with All the Feels

Jason Clarke and Emma Wilder deliver an amazing performance to kick off the Cage Family series!

Carrie Ann Ryan never misses—and The Forever Rule proves it once again. As someone who devoured The Wilder Brothers series, I was beyond excited to dive into the Cage family. And this new series opener exceeded all expectations. It's emotional, angsty, swoony, and everything I love in a small-world romance that centers on big family dynamics, complicated emotions, and deeply relatable characters.

The story starts with a spark—Blakely and Aston meet at a gala and share an instant connection. Their chemistry is undeniable, and for a moment, it feels like something real is about to start. But just as quickly, reality crashes in. Aston’s father dies that very night, and his life is thrown into chaos as shocking family secrets are revealed—including surprise half-siblings from a mistress no one knew about. As the new head of Cage Enterprises, Aston is suddenly responsible for a fractured legacy—and reaching out to the woman he can’t stop thinking about falls to the wayside.

Blakely, meanwhile, is blindsided. Not only does Aston ghost her, but her job is ripped out from under her for “fraternizing with the enemy” after her company loses a major account to the Cages. With no job prospects left, her only option is applying to Cage Enterprises—awkward, right? Things get even messier when she’s hired (by Aston’s brother, no less) and finds herself right back in the orbit of the man who once promised to call.

This book delivers all the emotional twists you could hope for: workplace tension, slow-burn longing, fear of repeating family mistakes, and the push-pull of two people afraid to open up but unable to stay away. Aston is reserved, weighed down by legacy and guilt, while Blakely is resilient and refreshingly open-hearted despite everything she’s lost. I adored her character from the very first scene—she’s witty, warm, and impossible not to root for.

The Cage family is another Carrie Ann Ryan masterpiece. The siblings are messy, loyal, and brimming with stories I can’t wait to read. Their banter, their pain, their love—it all feels so real. I already feel invested in each of them, and I’m counting the days until we get more from this series.

If you're a fan of emotional romances with complicated families, irresistible chemistry, and just the right amount of drama, The Forever Rule belongs at the top of your TBR. Carrie Ann Ryan brings the angst, the heart, and the hope, and I’m here for every single page of it.

Here are a few of my favorite things...
* An emotional, wrong-time-right-person romance
* Hidden family secrets and surprise siblings
* Strong, layered heroine you’ll absolutely love
* A loyal, dynamic, slightly chaotic family that feels like home
* That classic Carrie Ann Ryan tension and depth we’ve all come to crave

Great read! Loved it!

I really enjoyed this story! It pulled me in from beginning to end and held my attention the entire time. I loved getting to know the Cage's better and seeing more of their antics as they are a large family and have just had a major twist thrown at them with figuring out that they have 5 more siblings, 4 sisters and another brother. Aston is trying to hold things together and figure it out and so he has pulled back from Blakely a few months ago after their dance and kiss. Things were looking really good for both of them and then he got the call about his dad and then learned the news about the separate families and terms of the will so he doesn't call. Things take a turn for Blakely as well when her horrible boss finds a way to fire her over dancing with Aston, he's supposed rival, and then blackballs her out of being hired by someone else. Last resort she ends up with a job interview with the Cage's, one of Aston's brothers being her boss. It is doubly complicated as her best friend Isabel is one of the new Cage sisters. With the close proximity and being around each other again, it is hard for both of them to avoid and deny the connection that they have and so things start again. I enjoyed watching these two get to know each other amidst everything going on and thought that they handled their complicated connections very well. I really liked Blakely and Aston together. They balance each other out well. This story flowed well and had plenty going on though there wasn't really a big bad villain/terror in this one. It is more dealing with what life has thrown at them and finding a way forward together. I enjoyed getting to know both factions of the Cage's and can't wait for the next one!
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Love Aston

A truly addicting story that left me wanting so much more. Aston + Blakely's story was absolutely phenomenal! The dynamics and storyline along with the banter were so good.

A heartfelt romance made all the more better by perfect narration

What could be a fun meet cute turns complicated real fast. I love the openly twisty tale of two families, but the toll it took on Aston is the bad gift that keeps on giving. Poor Blakely wants to think the best but will she ultimately get her heart broken? Cage Lake is so cool, I can’t wait to see more of the neat shops, the people, and of course Hudson. This first book gives us a lot of information and a lot to look forward to, CANNOT WAIT!

dual narration, a lot of issues

this story was a good premise. however, there were a lot of issues that should have been flushed out in editing. for example: the siblings were to meet weekly for dinner for 3 years, then suddenly it's monthly. maybe i missed something. then there are the chapters being labeled the same thing, or the wrong character being named during a scene (i.e. Isabella instead of brinkley, or Diana instead of Meredith, or Isabel instead of isabella). some of the story was confusing but maybe it was due to these issues. this should have been duet narration. it didn't work in dual narration. andi arnt doesn't have the emotional range as a male character. Jason Clarke did a great job and I actually really enjoyed his chapters and preferred his performance. I usually really enjoy andi's but not in this production.

the story was a good premise. it could have been executed better but I liked the general story. there should have been more time spent on their relationship. it moved quickly and I just didn't get into their romance as deeply as I did with the sibling relationships.

Romantic, heartfelt and family twisted workplace romance

Ever since the novella, I have been counting down the days to start this new series. “The Forever Rule” is a romantic, heartfelt and family twisted workplace romance that was a great start to the new series.

An accidental group text is how Aston Cage and Blakely first meet and the connection they had was instant. But family circumstances stop the relationship before it has a chance to blossom. Blakely was ghosted by Aston after a night at a gala and lost her job because her boss thought she was telling the Cages all of their secrets. Three months later, Blakely is working for the Cages and Aston still wants to see where their connection can go. But there’s one little problem, Blakely is Aston’s new sister’s best friend.

The twisted way the two families were connected had me gasping and I loved that added twist. Carrie Ann Ryan has such a talent weaving families and their connections together. I loved Blakely from the novella and it only grew as the story went on. She’s caring, smart and is a great friend. Her boss treated her wrongly but she found her place working with the Cages. Aston had me swooning with his honesty and how he worked to get Blakely back. He was always honest with everything and would be the first to admit if he did something wrong. They had an instant connection and it only grew as the story went on. Their relationship was romantic and I loved them together. But Aston’s father… that man made me so mad. But all the Cages are strong and I can’t wait to read their stories.

Jason Clarke and Emma Wilder narrated this audiobook and they did an amazing job bringing this story to life. Jason’s narration was honest and swoony just like Aston. Emma was amazing as Blakely, her narration was genuine and sweet. I loved these two together and they were the perfect choice to bring this story to life.