Narration by Teddy Hamilton & CJ Bloom

Chestnut Springs, Book 3

From the author:

Two childhood friends. Two broken hearts. One impromptu road trip to get away from everything. That’s all this was supposed to be. After all, I’ve been living in the friend zone for years now.

But hockey heartthrob Jasper Gervais isn’t looking at me like a friend anymore. And he isn’t touching me like one either.

To his fans, he’s the handsome, talented athlete on TV. To me, he’s still the lost boy with sad eyes and a heart of gold.

The man I’ve loved in secret for years.

So when my life falls apart on my wedding day, it only makes sense that he’s the one to swoop in and save me. And when his world comes crashing down around him, I’m there to return the favor.

But the more time we spend alone, the more Jasper doesn’t feel like a friend at all. He feels like everything I’ve ever wanted and thought I could never have.

Our feelings aren’t straightforward though. They twist and turn around the pain of his past and the reality of my present.

Jasper Gervais acts like he wants me.

But after years of turning me away, he’s going to need to prove it.

https://amzn.to/41PotO1

Childhood best friends to lovers, mutual pining, unrequited love, damaged male main character — this book had all the right ingredients.

Sloane Winthrop is a prima ballerina who has spent her whole life doing what others expect of her, particularly her controlling father. On her wedding day, she receives an anonymous video exposing her fiancé’s infidelity and makes the split-second decision to run. Enter Jasper Gervais — her best friend of 18 years — who whisks her away to Chestnut Springs and eventually onto a road trip where everything between them begins to shift.

Sloane starts out a little hard to connect with, but she grows into herself as the story progresses. Her instinct to laugh at wildly inappropriate moments is genuinely endearing, and watching her finally stand up for herself and put her own needs first made her arc feel earned.

Jasper is the real heart of the book. Orphaned after a childhood tragedy, taken in by the Eaton family, and convinced for years that he isn’t good enough for Sloane, he’s a loveable, fiercely protective teddy bear carrying a lot of quiet pain. He completely worships her, which makes the slow-burn tension all the more satisfying once he finally stops holding back.

The angst and pining are well-executed. The family banter with the wider Eaton crew is warm and funny, and the author balances humor with emotional weight naturally. The audiobook narrators are also excellent — worth considering if that’s your format.

The hockey element is almost nonexistent, which may disappoint sports romance fans. Jasper’s backstory gets introduced and then largely dropped, which felt like a missed opportunity given how central his trauma is to his character. The slow burn also stretches a bit too long — it strains believability that two people so obviously in love somehow didn’t notice it for years when everyone around them did.

A sweet, angsty friends-to-lovers story with a genuinely wonderful hero and a satisfying emotional payoff. Imperfect, but completely easy to fall for — much like Jasper himself.

Now onto Reckless.

4/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

POWERLESS by Elsie Silver. Narrators: Teddy Hamilton & CJ Bloom. Self-published. (January 18, 2023). ASIN: B0BTZTFNVS. Listening Length: 10 hours and 25 minutes.

Kindle

Paperback

Narration by Stephen Dexter & Vanessa Edwin

Chestnut Springs, Book 2

From the author:

Working as a nanny for the world’s grumpiest single dad should have been simple. Except I can’t keep my eyes off him. And he can’t keep his hands off of me.

Cade Eaton is 13 years older than I am and barely looks my way. Until I get him into the hot tub one night for a game of truth or dare. Then all bets are off—and so are our clothes. He’s gruff, a little rough around the edges. But broad-shouldered ranchers with calloused hands and filthy mouths are this city girl’s kryptonite. So who am I to resist?

But it’s in our quiet moments together that he softens. It’s when he takes care of me that I realize his hardened exterior is just a façade. It’s when I watch him go all sweet with his little boy that I really fall for him.

Someone convinced him once that his best wasn’t good enough. But I’ve never felt more cherished than I do in his arms.

My contract may say this arrangement is only for two months.

But my heart says this is forever.

https://amzn.to/4dveWme

I borrowed this series from my library using the Hoopla app, and I have to say if they had the covers that Amazon is using, I probably would have skipped over it. I’m not sure how these things are determined, but I much prefer the one pictured at the top of this post to this:

At the center of this book is Cade Eaton — single dad to the adorable Luke and desperately in need of a summer nanny. Enter Willa Grant. With her show horse sidelined by an injury and her bartending gig at her brother’s place unexpectedly on hold while he renovates, Willa decides to visit her best friend Summer — who readers will remember from Book 1, Flawless — now living on the ranch.

Cade has already suffered through a parade of truly awful nanny candidates, so when Summer insists she knows the perfect person for the job, he trusts her judgment. But the moment Willa arrives, he knows he’s in trouble. The chemistry between them is instant and undeniable — which is exactly the problem. He’s not looking for a girlfriend, and she has zero childcare experience. Still, watching Willa and Luke hit it off immediately, he relents, telling himself he’ll simply keep things professional. Best laid plans…

The real heart of the story is the growing bond between Willa and Luke, which is both charming and genuinely moving — and not lost on Cade, even as he fights his feelings. There’s also an age gap that Cade seems to focus on, but eventually he moves past it. The romance itself is steamy, with an occasional moment that veers into ick territory, though I found it easy to look past thanks to the warmth of the father-son dynamic. I have a soft spot for devoted single dads — and I’ll admit that’s probably not unrelated to the fact that my own father remarried the same week he divorced my mother and largely checked out on his first family.

This is an enjoyable sequel to Flawless, elevated further by excellent narrators. Fair warning, though: if spice isn’t your thing, this series isn’t for you — these books sit squarely on the edge of erotic romance. Meanwhile, I’m moving on to Powerless.

4/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HEARTLESS by Elsie Silver. Narrators: Stephen Dexter & Vanessa Edwin. Self-published. (January 18, 2023). ASIN: B0BSK3GDJ7. Listening Length: 9 hours and 51 minutes.

Kindle

Paperback

Narration by Sebastian York & Emma Wilder

Chestnut Springs, Book 1

From the author:

The rules were simple. Keep my hands off his daughter and stay out of trouble.

But now I’m stuck with her. There’s only one bed. And well, rules are made to be broken.

I’m the face of professional bull riding—the golden boy. Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face. Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision.”

But I don’t need a goddamn babysitter, especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk, and a mouth she can’t stop running.

A mouth I can’t stop thinking about.

Because Summer isn’t just another conquest. She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn’t run—she pulls me closer, even when she shouldn’t.

She says this means nothing.

I say this means everything.

She says there are boundaries we shouldn’t cross. That my reputation can’t take any more hits—and neither can her damaged heart.

I say I’m going to steal it anyway.

https://amzn.to/4mdDFO0

This is a small town, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers (sort of) cowboy romance with lots of banter and sex. I really liked all the secondary characters as well, so I’m looking forward to the rest of this series.

Summer Hamilton has been assigned to basically babysit Rhett Eaton, a professional bull rider. Her father, Kip, is Rhett’s agent, and Rhett has pissed off a number of sponsors with his big mouth. Summer’s job is to help him keep his mouth shut and try to rehabilitate his reputation. An agent earns a percentage of their client’s earnings, so if the client isn’t earning, neither is the agent.

Summer and Rhett have instant chemistry, but she is firmly grounded in her job and takes it seriously. On the other hand, while Rhett knows he’s screwed up, he is wildly attracted to Summer, despite their forced relationship. Rhett is basically in lust with Summer from the get go, and it takes her a little while to catch up. Love soon follows, of course.

This was a fun read with a lot of sex, so if that isn’t fun for you, probably skip this series. For me, the character development more than made up for all the bedroom antics and did help propel the story forward. The narrators did a good job, as usual. To be honest, it always surprises me when a self-published author can offer such a professionally rendered audiobook. The quality of the production is as good as anything from the major publishers. Looking forward to book 2, Heartless.

4/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FLAWLESS by Elsie Silver. Narrators: Sebastian York & Emma Wilder. Self-published. (December 14, 2022). ASIN: B0BQ1FX4CC. Listening Length: 9 hours and 44 minutes.

Kindle

Paperback