Flashed by Zoey Castile

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Title: Flashed
Author: Zoey Castile
Series: Happy Endings #3
Published by: Tantor Audio
Release Date: August 27, 2019
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Teddy Hamilton, Carmen Vine
Length: 9 hours and 37 minutes
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Source: Hoopla, NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2020 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Book Depository ✩ Libro.FM
My rating:

Blurb:

When a man makes his living by his looks, he can forget that love—and lust—are more than skin deep. But the right woman can remind him …

A former soccer player, stripper, and model, legendary party boy Patrick Halloran finally gets his big break starring in the summer blockbuster. But when an accident leaves him changed forever, he hides away in his secluded Montana ranch. Only his new housekeeper is allowed inside—with one rule: she’s not allowed to see him. But Pat sees her, and she’s the most stunning woman he’s ever laid eyes on. Even her voice is beautiful. Still, Pat can’t allow himself to get close to anyone. Not without a fight at least …

Magdalena “Lena” Martel is a long way from Queens, New York. After a rough patch, the aspiring artist is working her way through college—even if it means keeping house for a man whose gruff voice she can only hear through a closed door. Still, Lena senses Pat’s got a good heart, maybe even a lovable one. She’s intrigued—until his anger sends her running into the freezing woods. Now Pat will have to find her—and when he does he may have found the one woman who can thaw his heart—not to mention the rest of him. But can their new bond survive the paparazzi—and their personal demons? …

My Review:

4 stars — I loved the first half of this book, it just hit all of my reading buttons, you know?  There’s something about a damaged man and a strange friendship that develops without seeing one another that just…it’s a guilty pleasure.  I will admit that it got a bit slow for a bit, but it picked up in the end.

Even though I had an old NetGalley ARC of this one, I decided to listen to the audio.  I enjoy both Mr. Hamilton and Ms. Vine, and they made this book both fun and emotional.  I enjoyed Ms. Vine’s accent especially.  Though, maybe it’s just me, but neither of them nailed Ricky’s Australian accent…*cringe*

I’m not sure how much I have to say honestly.  Pat was damaged and gruff and scared and all of the things that I was expecting.  I honestly don’t think I expected how much damage he had, and we got to see a bit of him struggling with his anxiety and trying to overcome it.  I really appreciated that he eventually talked to someone.  His journey and growth and setbacks were believable for the most part, though sometimes it felt I wanted something a bit more than just Lena as his touchstone…but then when I really think about it, he truly did have a lot more going on, he just didn’t emphasize it in his own growth.

I loved the way Lena gave him crap and brought him out of his shell — how she knew when to push and when to pull back.  I kinda wanted her to figure her own shit out a bit faster than she did, but she got there eventually.  I appreciated getting to see her struggle with her art, and even if the ending was a bit too good to be true, it made my romance reading heart happy for her.

They were pretty great together, though I honestly loved the parts before they were face to face the most.  It was when we were able to see them really make a connection with one another.  After they “met”, I loved their first steamy scene…but after awhile it kind of took over the story for a bit there and I got bored.  But things got more balanced again near the end.

The star of this story for me was the large and varied secondary cast.  I get the impression that some of them are from other books (and not just the Mayhem City boys, which I already knew about), but it didn’t take over and leave me floundering — just would be great fan service for those who have read a lot of Ms. Castile’s books.  I LOVED Scarlett and Kaylee, and how they both supported Pat.  I enjoyed seeing Ricky and the boys again (though, was Ricky Australian before?  I don’t remember that from Stripped).  I loved that Lena developed some great girl friendships, with Scarlett and Kaylee, but also with River and Marie.  I loved her relationship with her little sister too.

All in all it was a solid satisfying romance.  I can definitely see this author being a goto for #ownvoices books.