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My Review:Title: Waylaid
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: True North #8
Published by: Indie
Release Date: July 20, 2021
Format: Audio ALC
Narrator: Zachary Webber, Callie Dalton
Length: 10 hours and 32 minutes
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: Heart Eyes Press
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Summer, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:
Blurb:It’s a tale as old as time: the bad boy meets the good girl. He makes a daring proposition. Then the boy gets a mysterious head injury and loses a year of his life…
The first time I meet Rickie, I don’t know what to make of him. The second time we meet, he doesn’t remember the six hours we spent together. Or standing me up afterward.
I’m not the same, either. I’ve got secrets. I’ve told lies. Bad boys aren’t my type, anyway. Even the ones with seductive gray eyes.
But now we’re roommates. Cue the awkward moments in the hallway when he’s wearing only a towel and a smile. He’s determined to win me over, and his talented hands weaken my resolve.
It’s all fun and games until my past rears its ugly head and his secrets come to light, shaking our fragile connection, maybe even breaking it…
Note: this is Daphne Shipley's story. Contents include Vermonty ice cream flavors, nerdy awkwardness, tattoos, and a playboy grandpa.
I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4.5 stars — I’m not sure what I think about this one. I love it as I’ve loved most books by Ms. Bowen, but I’m left feeling a bit bereft. I think I just went through a lot in this book, and that was hard. Both Rickie and Daphne go through some shit, but especially Rickie.
Rickie wasn’t quite what I had been expecting after Heartland, but that’s not disappointing…he’s just hard to get to know until you’re more in his head. I loved his blend of confidence and calmness…or something. I loved how singlemindedly he pursued the things that interested him. I loved how open and comfortable he was with who he was. Even though his pansexuality didn’t specifically come into play in this book, I appreciated that he knew who he was and wasn’t ashamed of it.
And God, I felt ALL of Rickie’s frustration, his desperation to know, his fear, his just general sense of unrest with all that had happened.
I loved Daphne’s good girlness, her overachievingness, her desire to follow through on her academic dreams, because she assumed that was the most important part of her. I loved her rule following too, b/c dude…yes…me… It’s funny, I genuinely connected with a LOT about her. Even her sense of guilt, and how she was sabotaging her relationships by not letting go of mistakes in the past. She was just this nice blend of awkward and fiery.
It was hard watching Daphne not realize how she already fit in and was loved by her family. Again, something I can vibe with. It’s always hard when you feel like the odd duck in your family…and you don’t realize that they love you even if you’re different.
Watching Rickie pursue Daphne was a pure delight. I loved how he saw all of who she was and loved her for those traits, when she’d spent so long assuming those traits made her somehow less desirable.
Both narrators were solid. They had pretty distinct voices, their emotions were unparalleled, solid pacing. Bonus points, I got to hear my name a gagillion times, which is super cool (as anyone with a truly unusual name can attest).
And Lenore truly was the bomb too, so there’s a teeny part of me that really wants her to get her own love story.
Related to that, I loved how beautifully the book portrayed therapy, and how it can help, and even the stigma against it (just a smidge from Rickie’s Dad).
And as with every book in this series, I LOVED all the family dynamics. It was like, we got lots of great Shipley family time, but they didn’t take over the story with Rickie and Daphne. It was a great balance.
So as you can see, a LOT of love. I think my heart just felt so much that it took some time for it to return to equilibrium once the book was done.
I didn’t remember Rickie and I think I’m glad. He was fresh for me.
Didn’t you love reading your name — especially since she was so cool? Maybe she needs to be the next love interest!