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.
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.
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