Trifles & Treasures

Hearts of Snow Lake, Book 4

By: Ashton Cade

Narrated by: Cam Walker

Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ben:

Despite never making a move of any kind on Adam and my absolute certainty that I'd never talk to him ever again, I’ve never let this flame go out. And now he's back here in Snow Lake. I don’t know what it is about this guy that sparks something in me - a need, a drive to be more. Whatever I have to do to make him notice me.

How pathetic is that?

But now that he has noticed me, I don't know if I can face losing what I've always wanted.

Adam:

My mom's really sick, and I'm back in Snow Lake to take care of her - whether she wants me to or not. It's bringing up all kinds of memories - but at the same time, I can see that things have really changed.

In Des Moines, I'm a recluse who doesn’t date. Here in Snow Lake, the place I couldn't wait to get away from as a teenager, I'm like a different guy. One who could have friends, family, maybe even a relationship. But that's not really me, is it? It's just a vacation version of me. It's not real, and when it’s time for me to leave, none of the connections "Snow Lake Adam" made here will be either, so what's the point of a relationship? Besides, Ben thinks I'm still that punk guitar player he had a crush on so many years ago. Little does he know I turned out to be kind of a dud. The way he looks at me with stars in his eyes makes me want to both puff up and hide at the same time, so he doesn't find out I'm just a regular guy. But he's so kind. And too hot for my own good.

What would have happened if I had met him back then? Is there still a chance now?

©2019 Ashton Cade (P)2021 Ashton Cade

A trifle for Adam

Plot: Enemies to lovers, HS crush, prodigal son, meddling mom
Feels: Bouts of frustration
Drama: Miscommunication and misunderstandings abound, Adam’s reaction to his mom’s collapse and her reaction to his return
Heat: 2/5
Characters: Ben is a sweetie, but he along with Adam and Margaret have their faults throughout the story
Pacing: Good flow
Length: Ok
Ending: It takes a while to get there, but Ben and Adam finally get their hard-won HEA.
Performance: Good, solid narration. You can hear the sound of inhalation at every pause as well.

Cute and fun loving

When Ben's high school crush moves back home, it's up to Ben to get noticed.
This is a fun, light-hearted story about a son trying to compromise with his mother after having a stroke while gaining the attention of his secret crush.

Another good addition

The story was good. Adam was a little over protective, but I get it. I wanted to slap his momma so many times though!

Love this series!

I love this series and love Snow Lake, however I was never completely sold on Adam. Usually I love the grumpy guy by mid book but Adam never really seemed to change ! Ben tho!! He is a sweetheart and I’m glad he got his HEA! Great series can’t wait for the next book to come to audio !

Great to Visit Snow Lake again! Fantastic Listen🎧

Aston Cade delivers another wonderful novel in her “Hearts of Snow Lake” series. I am enjoying her writing style she creates original stories with interesting storylines and characters that are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with. I love the small town charm and its charming residents and business owners. This book is Ben and Adam’s story, Margaret Stowe is Ben’s best customer and one of his closest friends who is a mother figure to him. She browsing new arrivals at his shop when she collapses and is rushed to the hospital. He knows her son Adam from school, he was a couple years ahead of him and he had the biggest crush on him, though Adam never noticed him. Adam left to become a rockstar and never looked back, never visited his mother either and Ben was not happy about that. He calls to tell him his mother is in the hospital not expecting much from him, surprisingly he comes right away. Adam does not know what Ben’s deal is so he was weary of him and a bit cold. He eventually warms up, his mothers intervening helped with that too. This is a great enemies to lovers second chance at love, the story is nicely plotted with plenty of drama, angst, heartfelt and emotional moments all leading to a wonderful romance.

🎧📚🎧 And for the wonderful narration, Cam Walker is a talented narrator and a versatile voice artist. He continues to bring these characters and their story to life. He performs the voices for all the characters, gives each their own distinct voice which makes it easy to follow along and tell who is who. He is awesome at portraying the characters, taking each role and making it her own, grasping their persona and playing the role with perfection, sounding believable and just as I picture them to sound He is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another great listen🎧

solid 4 stars

Ashton Cade is a new author for me and I enjoyed Trifles and Treasures.
📖 My first reaction to this story would be: 🤔 ... "complex" (lots of miscommunication, not good behavior and hurtful words and actions on everyone's part!)

I enjoyed the story and will look to further investigate the other titles in the series. Individually the characters are well written and likeable and the story has a good pace .. its a difficult road to a HEA, but it was worth it.

My heart breaks for the three main characters in this book. The broken relationship between Adam and his mother, the way Ben is put between Mrs Stowe (who has been the mother Ben wishes he had) and Adam (who is jealous of their relationship and Ben's high school crush), and the way Mrs Stowe wont look past her criticisms to see Adam is only trying to do what's best for her health.
- Personally, I wouldn't call this story light and fluffy, (but that could be influenced by my own experiences!), but I could probably go with sweet. 😊

🎧 Cam Walker is a new narrator for me, and I think he's done a good job on Trifles and Treasures. I had no problem distinguishing characters or feeling the emotions of the story, and the characters dialog had good inflections and intonations and their voices suited their personalities. I did find the content between dialog to be a tiny bit slow for my preferences, so nudging the speed up to 1.1 easily corrected this minor issue - overall though, I enjoyed his narration and will look for further tiles narrated by him in the future.

⚠ I received a complimentary copy of this book at my request - it has in no way influenced my review.

Ben and Adam - brillant narration

This was already my second book from Snow Lake and I liked this one too.
When Adam’s mom has to go to the hospital, Ben, who is very worried about Margaret, calls Adam. This one comes back to Snow Lake to take care of his mother. But the first encounters between Adam and Ben are under a bad light. They don’t like each other.
Ben was in love with Adam in high school. Adam, on the other hand, feels like a different person in Snow Lake, even though he wanted to get away from there at the time.

The story is told alternately from the point of view of Ben and Adam. Ben is a nice character, I had to get used to Adam’s seemingly rough way. But the more you learn about Adam, the better you understand him.
I really liked the dynamic that developed between the protagonists. But it’s not just the two that are in focus. Adam’s mother also plays a big part in the story, in which Ben feels he’s caught between two fronts, because the relationship between Adam and his mother is broken. Still, Adam is doing his best to help her.

I like the realistic characters and charm of Snow Lake with all its inhabitants.
This is a great enemies to lovers story with both dramatic and emotional moments.

Cam Walker is a brilliant narrator. He brings the story to life with his voice and gives each protagonist his own voice, so that you always know who is speaking. He also has a very good way of conveying emotions.
I like his voice and his way of narrating and could listen to him for many more hours. It was a great pleasure to listen to him again. I hope he will narrate many more audiobooks and I’m looking forward to more audiobooks with Cam Walker

Enjoyable

This is an enjoyable book as we follow Ben and Adam. Ben fancied Adam in high school and is friends with his mum who is hospitalised so Adam comes home to look after her but he does not remember Ben. There are some problems that Adam and Ben have to deal with. But Adam learns how to have a better relationship with his mum than he’s had in the past and that he doesn’t have to control everything.

Sweet story

I will be honest and say that I didn't know what to expect from this story as it's a new author and narrator to me but this was really good. It had everything I enjoy in a story, sweetness, quirkiness, heart and a story that flows well. I thought the narrator did a great job too. I enjoyed listening to his voice and he was great at getting the story and emotions out.

Going back home!

I enjoyed this book so much. A estranged son, a sick mom and the guy from the clothing store. It deals with coming back to hometown, mothering his mom and finding his happily ever after. Adam is not so receptive of Ben at the beginning, thinking he might be taking advantage of his mother. She is a customer but she is also his best friend. Ben is so sweet and nurturing, Adam doesn’t stand a chance. The narration is also a great job by Mr Walker.

Family!

This series is getting better with every new book on it, and of course the narrated version is simply as good. Now the story is about Ben and Adam and the importance of family. Full of wonderful characters, meddling family, cute romance and more, the story is sweet and endearing as the rest of the series. Of course adding some low angst misunderstandings and miscommunications, to make everything more interesting, helped to ensure that this tear-jerking, page-turner love story with this nice small town as background kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. About the narration Mr Walker again gifted us with an outstanding performance, with his smooth voice and great acting skills. I am slowly becoming a fan of his audiobooks and I can wait to hear another of his wonderful narrations. So good!

Nice story, but one majorly annoying character!

I love this series, I really do! But I won’t pretend that this is my favourite book so far, or that Adam and Ben are my favourite couple…
The story is nice and enjoyable and their romance goes more or less well, without major incidents, if not for Adam’s - frankly annoying - temper tantrums. He blows up at his mum (who’s not a saint, mind you, both of them need a good head-check), and at poor Ben, who, despite being caught between a rock and a hard place, does his best to keep everyone happy.
So yeah, not my favourite in the series, but I love Snow Lake all the same.

sweet story

New author for me. Enjoyable story with likable characters. Low angst. The narration was good. Overall, a good listen and I would pick up another from this series/author.

Trifles & Treasures

This is the fourth book in the Hearts of Snow Lake series. Each book can be read as a standalone. This is a MM enemies-to-lovers romance. When Ben's high school crush comes smashing back into his life unexpectedly, he takes a chance and asks out. Ben and Adam had a bumpy start but ended on a smooth note. Can't wait to listen to Aspen's book. Cam did a fantastic job narrating.

Sweet and thoughtful romance!

When Ben’s best customer, Margaret, has a turn, he rings her irascible son, Adam, to let him know. Mother and son don’t have the best relationship and Ben just seems to keep getting caught in the crossfire. I enjoyed this enemies-to-friends romance, most especially because it was a three-person play with Margaret playing a very substantial role. While the narration was told from Ben and Adam’s points of view, the hard lessons were entirely Adam’s to learn so I could easily forgive his surliness and anxiety. Ashton Cade neatly balanced light and fluffy with thoughtful, so that the plot was neither trite nor too angst-ridden. Cam Walker narrated well and I’ll definitely try other books by this author and audio narrator.