I wish it had been a single narrator.

Any additional comments?

*Whispersync*

This is a romance about two young men who have been raised in a religious cult striking out on their own after one is thrown out (Josh) and one runs away (Caleb).

I've owned this book since it was published as "In Front of God and Everyone", when I bought it after actually reading "It's Never Over" first. But I put it off because....the whole cult thing made me skittish.

The story is actually far less angsty than I thought it would be. It's low angst, sweet, sexy as hell, and, with the exception of one boneheaded moment from Caleb towards the end, a pretty smooth sail to a lovely HEA.

As for the narration...for half of it I wasn't a fan. Allow me to explain. I was hoping because there are two narrators that this would be a "duet" narration. Where each narrator takes certain characters and only voices those characters throughout.

Alas, no. Though this was less muddled than some of the dual narrations I've listened to where the narrators trade off by chapter POV, this was different because there are four Parts or "Gospels" according to Josh or Caleb and each narrator voices the entire Part, with all its chapters, of the book.

(So, I could be wrong but I think) Teddy Hamilton voices the parts of the book from Josh's perspective, and Dake Bliss voices the parts from Caleb's perspective.

I LOVED Teddy's narration. It was smooth, he does great character voices, has great pacing, and is a genuine pleasure to listen to.

I was not so much a fan of Dake's performance. He was stilted, his pacing was off, and his character voices sounded stiff, and sometimes even robotic.

I'm not going to lie, it was jarring for me to go through 38% of the story with Teddy's smooth tones in my ear, to suddenly be listening to different actor playing *the same* parts, and not nearly as well.

Frankly, it lessened my enjoyment of the audiobook.

I just wish if an author, or publisher, cannot afford true "duet" narration that they would just stick to a single narrator.

If Teddy Hamilton had been the single narrator for this - I would be giving 4, possibly 4.5 stars...but having to consider in Dake's performance and this goes down to 2.5 to 3 stars.

37 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Sweet, sweet love

This story was so sweet and so refreshing. It's fairly low on the angst scale but at the same time, so emotional that I cried through most of it. Polygamist colonies are something I know a lot about and that could be the reason for such emotion. I literally could not push pause and ended up cancelling some plans today because I just had to listen to the whole thing.

Teddy Hamilton is a staple in the narration world and I mostly enjoyed his performance, but there was audible swallows that should have been edited out. Dake Bliss is where the wheels fell off for me. Not only was his age and voice sound not appropriate but I didn't enjoy his performance either. There were constant long pauses that didn't make sense to me and it felt like he was telling a story, not narrating. It was completely opposite of Teddy's narration style and I didn't enjoy it at all. If you only listen to audiobooks, then don't skip it because of this... this story is worth hearing! But if you read as well, might be a good one to read.

19 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

5 Goodbye Paradise Stars

Wow….

This book is amazing it made me feel so many wonderful things, hope being the biggest.
Josh and Caleb’s story isn’t easy but I loved how easily the story was told. If you read any of Sarina’s other books then you know about the religious cult in one of the books. Well Josh and Caleb come from that place.

I loved that both of them used to look out for each other. And Josh having feelings for his best friend in secret I thought oh dear this is going to be predictable but it really wasn’t at all.

It’s just a great story of how these two trusted in one another and then in friends along the way.

I just had this feeling after about the 3rd chapter that this book was going to make my heart happy and it did that and so much more.

Teddy and Drake do a fantastic job with this narration. The tone and inflection they both put in to their performances made it so much more. Great Audiobook, Fantastic Story.

*You don't have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*

10 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Hello World

I have come to love the writing of Sarina Bowen. Her words have a magic that takes me to another place and time. Her words can also be difficult as she deals with subjects that are often not discussed in "polite company". This series tackles human rights in the form of gay rights, the abuse of women and the hypocrisy of religion. She does not preach in dealing with these subjects she simply tells the story in all it's beauty and it's ugliness. Josh and Caleb may be my favorite characters though it is hard to choose because I fall for every single one she writes. They are gentle spirits who become men in a sheltered backwards community of religious who abuse the word of God in their every action, once again just the facts. They have clung to each other all their lives and due to a crisis they find themselves on the run. It is wonderful to watch them come alive together in a world that is so foreign to them yet so much more welcome than the compound of their youth. They are surrounded by loving friends and an adopted family of their choosing who help to smooth their way along a bumpy road. Without giving away the story let me say I got my HEA. I listened to this on audiobook narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Dake Bliss. Both are excellent voice actors and I try to listen to all their work. But, let me just tell you that Teddy Hamilton takes it one step beyond excellent. He embodies a gentleness of spirit in so many of his characters and Josh is no exception. Hamilton finds every nuance of confusion, vulnerability, innocence, love and light in this young man. I am eagerly looking forward to more of this series by this author and these narrators and the characters they bring to life. A hearty thank you to them all.

7 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

⭐️⭐️ 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️

*Edit to add I've listened to this book more times than I have counted ;)

WOW! What an awesome love story! Sarina Bowen is an amazing storyteller and she is especially great at MM romance! I loved everything about this book, the Cult background,the friendship they made with Washington, the turned around life of Maggie, the love between Caleb and Josh and the innocence they both have because of the way they were raised.

Josh and Caleb have a beautiful relationship, friends to lovers but in a way they always loved each other but didn't admit it until they were on their own. When they were tossed/left the compound they meet Washington and he helps them get to where they are headed and I think that friendship was a huge part of why I loved this book. It was just a bare bones friendship, nothing but a good person helping another with no underlying reasons. Then then arrive at Maggie's to find her happy and living a great life which made my heart smile! She was able to show them that even if it doesn't seem like it, it's possible to find a normal happy life after the cult.

They had such an "innocent" relationship which I found really refreshing and sweet. I loved that they had to learn so much about life from google at the age of 20. This was all around a beautiful love story!

Teddy Hamilton is an amazing narrator! I fall in love with all his characters and I have bought multiple audiobooks just because he was the narrator. His narration in this book was excellent! The only problem I had was that I didn't feel like Dake Bliss was the best casting choice opposite of Teddy, his narration was good but his voice was too old for a 20 year old. That doesn't mean I wouldn't totally recommend this audiobook because I really would!

6 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

These two will Rock your world!

Just when you think Sarina couldn't write any better..... She hits us with Josh and Caleb. This thing socked me in the heart and left me sliding down the wall a few times. Josh and Caleb are amazing people and so is Maggie and her family. I can't even imagine, as many tribulations as I've had in my life, to have been raised in a cult as these two had. These two are beautiful BUT BELIEVABLE and so is their extended family. I had to download the next book right away. The Audible as well. Nothing makes the commute better! I have both kindle and Audible of all of Sarina and Sarina and Elle's books together. The Audible versions are an amazing compliment to the written as these two authors know how to pick narrators as well - crucial. (I just listened to this for the 2nd time! Dake and Teddy Rock this! Keep them coming Sarina - I'm going to start the next book in the Series NOW!

5 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Young Love But A Forever Kind Of Love

What a poignant story. I didn't know how to feel about it during the earlier parts of the book. It was gut-wrenching and I was anxious for both of them. But it turned out to be one of the start of a new beginning for both Josh and Caleb. It was an adventure for them, braving the big new world, But what I love about them is they stuck together and hung on to each other until they find their new home. There were some testy moments and a crazy decision one of the MC made but I'm glad it all worked out okay.

It's an emotional story. It makes you pause and think of what is life for people who are in a cult and how scary starting over is.

Teddy Hamilton is such a great narrator. I enjoyed his performance as always. Not quite sure about Dake Bliss though. But the story is worth sticking to and listening on.

4 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Surprisingly great read

I am not usually into reading M/M romance books. Saying that, this is so not what I suspected at all. It was heart wrenchingly sad, funny, romantic, poignant. It just pulled at my heart and opened my eyes. The story line couldn't be any better. The characters were so real they just pulled you in. I loved every second of this book. Recommend highly.

4 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

I really tried to finish but could not.

I really tried to finish the audible version of this book. I truly liked the story but Dake as a narrator was horrible. He did not distinguish between characters voices and it just sounded like the same person for every character. His narration truly made me stop listening.
Teddy should have done the whole book alone. He was amazing and the distinction between each voice was prevalent. I hate that I could not finish because of one narrator.

3 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Loved this story so much!

This is a great heartfelt story. Such a different plot than anything I have read before so I really appreciated that.
I could feel the love that Caleb and Josh felt for each other, their fear for what others may think and their courage to overcome.
I loved Teddy Hamilton’s narration.
The other narrator sounded a little monotone or perhaps to much like he was just reading. He had good moments where he would come out of that but then went right back in.
I was ify about giving 5 stars bc of that but I loved the story so much that it still deserved an overall 5 stars!
I’d love for the author to write another book about this group of people. Perhaps Meriam? (Although I’d love it about Josh and Caleb as well) but they could go back to the compound and try to rescue some others! And then take down the bad guys who need to go to prison.

2 les gens ont trouvé cela utile