The Groom

Altar-ed Destinies, Book 2

By: Elise Marion

Narrated by: Logan McAllister

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

When Lyle Cummings is left standing at the altar on his wedding day, all of his carefully composed plans for the future come crashing down around him. The pragmatic surgeon is left questioning his well-ordered existence and wondering if there might be more to life than the achievements of wealth and career. When he meets fiery lounge singer Katrina Giordano, his mundane life is turned upside down. In her, he finds everything his life has been lacking. With her, he will learn that what he thought was love really wasn't at all. But will Katrina's dark past and ties to organized crime threaten the happiness they have found after so much heartache?

With her life, and now his, hanging in the balance, Lyle will find himself tested when it comes to how far he will go for love.

©2018 Elise Marion (P)2019 Elise Marion

Intriguing sweet story

I really enjoyed these characters. Lyle and Katrina were both wounded and looking to escape something. I love how they came together and the progression of their relationship.

The storyline was original and well written. I enjoyed the light mafia backdrop. Overall it’s a really cute story and I really recommend the audio.

Logan McAllister was absolutely fantastic at narrating, I really enjoyed listening to him give life to these characters.

A great story!

It has romance, intrigue, adventure, love and lost. I was hook from the start of the book. Lyle is left standing at the altar on his wedding day and decided to stop at the first bar he he came to.
I think the author developed the characters in this story with deeply complexed life’s. A Mafia Princess and World class surgeon has a little different twist on the story but very well developed. She has left her family making it on her own. A surgeon who saves lives everyday but don’t know how to really live. This story has plenty of entertainment and some lost.
The narrator does a fabulous job with the characters. I loved listening to this book.
I definitely recommend this book!

Kat & Lyle :)

When Lyle Cummings is left standing at the altar on his wedding day, all of his carefully composed plans for the future come crashing down around him. The pragmatic surgeon is left questioning his well-ordered existence and wondering if there might be more to life than the achievements of wealth and career.
When he meets fiery lounge singer Katrina Giordano, his mundane life is turned upside down. In her, he finds everything his life has been lacking. With her, he will learn that what he thought was love really wasn't at all. But will Katrina's dark past and ties to organized crime threaten the happiness they have found after so much heartache?
With her life, and now his, hanging in the balance, Lyle will find himself tested when it comes to how far he will go for love.

This is my first book by Elise Marion and what an introduction it was. Elise did an excellent job of drawing me in. This book was well written and the characters are well developed and very relatable, This book is engaging and sweet, I really loved this book and can't wait to read something else by this author! Logan McAllister did an excellent job of bringing this story to life for me! I recommend you give it a try!

#AudiobookObsessionReview

Very Awesome Read. But long

This was a great story. The characters were well written. The storyline and plot was great. I think if I would have read it on my Kindle instead of listening to it, the book wouldn't have seemed so long. I did thoroughly enjoy Lyle and Katrina's story. I can't wait to read the next one.
This book was given to me by request for my unbiased and voluntary review.

Excellent romance

I loved this audible. The narration is perfect with Logan McAllister.
The story was engaging and fraught with anxiety and great story line.
The two protagonists are seemingly diametrically opposites but the chemistry between them really works
@audiobookobsession

Loved it!

Other than the fact that the cover image does not depict how Lyle was described in the book, this was an excellent listen! (Kudos to Elise Maron for not making this book too angtsy and "woe is me-ish.")

Both Lyle and Katrina are the walking wounded. They find each other and the progression of their relationship was incredibly sweet. (Thanks again to the author for no insta-love.) I must admit that I was hoping for the runaway bride to get hers but that quickly moved to the back of my mind as the Kyle/Katrina show took front and center. Loved it!

Logan McAllister can do no wrong! His silky tones just danced in my ears.

I'm not interested in going back and listening to book one. I am chomping at the bit to get to book three though!!!

I absolutely loved this book!💞

I love this story and especially the characters!! I’m so excited to read/listen to the next book in this series. The narration was wonderful!! Logan really has a way of feeling each character and bringing them to life.
I would recommend this book!

Audiobook Obsession

Interesting contemporary romance

You don't need to listen to any other books in this series to enjoy this book. I haven't read or listened to the first book, though I am interested in hearing more by this author and/or performer.

The story does stand alone and wrap up at the end, but I liked the supporting characters so much that I'm interested in hearing their stories. I have mixed feelings about the ex-fiance's story, but I think it's a creative twist so I will probably check it out.

I would recommend The Groom to contemporary romance fans. There's a little bit of danger thrown it, but the majority of the focus is on the relationship between Lyle and Katrina and how their opposite personalities complement each other and bring each of them outside their comfort zones. I like that the relationship develops over time and that the author incorporates a lot of different supporting characters and environments (hospital patients, bar patrons, fancy parties, a housekeeper, etc.).

#AudiobookObsession

Exceptional book

I loved the characters and that they had conflicts but overcame them in the end.

Kat and Lyle

This book is my first by this author, I purchased a copy of the ebook and started to read it and became totally drawn into the story. When I learned that it was available in audio I decided to listen to it instead! I became immersed in this tale about Lyle a brilliant surgeon who has never really received love, not even from the woman he was hoping to marry. On the day of their wedding, her ex-husband turned up and asked for another chance and she left Lyle standing alone to face all their guests. Lyle being a surgeon should be careful of his hands but when faced with the loss of the woman he loved he beat the ex and had to be dragged off him.

Later he goes to the first bar that looks inviting to drown his sorrows away from anyone who knows what has happened. The bar is Parsons and whilst sitting at the bar downing too much scotch the singer starts to perform and his attention is captured by her voice and the songs she's singing.

The singer is Katina, she is so very different from Lyle, but she too has known loss. Her father is head of the Italian Mafia running part of Manhatten. When she was younger her mother, a black woman from the Bronx, left her father and took Kat and her brother Carmine away telling her father to give up the Mafia or give up his family. Unfortunately for all concerned her mother was killed by a random shooter and both Kat and Carmine went to live with their father.

Carmine became involved in the family business whilst Kat lived the high life of too much partying where drugs were freely available and she became an addict. Then Carmine too was shot and killed, for Kat that was the final straw, she broke off her relationship with one of her father's soldiers and got herself into rehab where she went cold turkey to become clean.

Now she teaches guitar during the day and on some evenings sings at Parsons. She has cut all ties to her father and has no intention of ever being back under his influence/rule. Unfortunately for her, her father's enemies don't care about that and to hurt her father have put a hit out on her!

As she is leaving Parsons, she is attacked and about to be killed when Lyle comes along, he takes her attacker down and saves Kat. But Kat's been cut and needs stitches but refuses to go to the hospital so Lyle takes her home to stitch her up.

I can't say anymore without totally spoiling the story for you but what I can say is that what follows is a love story which drew me in and kept me engrossed. It's not all smooth sailing for these two there are lots of ups and downs and some twists I didn't see coming but I'm happy to say that all's well that ends well, and this one ends really well.
The narration of this book by Logan McAllister was really well done, I love the way he brought all the characters to life and the way he managed to convey so much feeling into the story.

I was given the audiobook as a gift and am voluntarily writing this review.