Narration Dream Team

This book was a hard listen because of the subject matter. Story was well written and sensitively approached. The narrators were outstanding and emotions clearly expressed in their reading. Would love to hear these guys pair up on other projects.

4 people found this helpful

What a roller coaster of emotions!

Victor's and Ethan's crazy emotional very intense hate to love is absolutely beautiful! My heart hurt for Victor so much. An Ethan made me melt with him trying to give Victor everything he needed no matter what it may have been he gave it! I loved them both so very much!

I listened and read this and the narrators J.F. Harding and Stephen Dexter did an amazing job! Both really got into the story and drew me in right away and I connected so fast to each character because of the emotion the narrators put in while reading!

2 people found this helpful

Terrific Story & Narration🎧 Gripping & Intense!

Wow, this book takes you on an emotional rollercoaster ride, one that you can not pull yourself away from. It is my first book written by Riley Nash and she certainly grabbed my attention with her impressive writing style and ability to create such a detailed and complex story that moves you like no other. Her characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with, they are easy to care about too, even when they are at their lowest. And when we first meet Victor Lang, he seems to be at his lowest or spiraling towards his lowest, and his story is not an easy one and neither was his life. A former athlete, an Olympian swimmer, disgraced and scandalized after getting caught using performance-enhancing drugs. A scandal that ruined his career and possibly his life, he became a recluse, but his rich daddy enabled him over the years and now wants him to work. Ethan is a dutiful son, struggling to make ends meet with paying bills and making sure his mother gets the care she needs for her cognitive issues and care, since he can not leave her on her own. Working for a lawn company, he gets sent to the home of an athlete he and his cousin idolized when they were younger, that was before his career tanked because of the doping scandal. While working in his yard he gets a glimpse of Victor who catches him watching him, their first meeting was not a friendly one, but Victor’s father witnesses their interaction and since Ethan is the first person his son responded to, he wanted to hire Ethan to work with Victor. You would think his father was doing this out of the goodness of his heart, but their relationship is and has been a dysfunctional one. Ethan could use the money and hopefully get better care for his Mom. When he offered more money to accompany Victor for a modeling gig, his father set up, he jumps on it. These two could not be more different from each other, coming from completely different worlds, yet they worked and Ethan, who has a caring heart of gold is just what Victor needs, but Ethan also opens his eyes and reflects on his own life too. The author makes these two work to get thru their issues and to their happily ever after and their journey is not a smooth one, there are many obstacles and bumps along the way. There is never a dull moment in this book and there are scenes that wreck you, gut wrenching and heartrending scenes, but in the end you find out why, what and who and once the truth comes out, healing can begin. Riley Nash, thank you for this amazing story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the wonderful narration, J.F. Harding and Stephen Dexter are the perfect cast to bring these characters to life and do so with a complete understanding of the character they were portraying and were believable in every role they played. You could hear how much heart they put into their performance as they captured the character’s emotions and had you feeling every single one. These versatile voice artists are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another fantastic performance.

1 person found this helpful

J F Harding!!

This was a completely great listen !! Very story driven with compelling, real , raw characters with very sexy steam ! J F Harding will swoon you as always ! Stephen Dexter is very entertaining as well !

Excellent Start to a Series

Excellent start to a new series! This book will grab your attention right off the bat and hold it through to the end. One of the best duet narrations I've ever heard. Highly recommend!

Absolutely fabulous

Every aspect of this audio was perfection. First off we have a fantastic story with a terribly broken character Victor. Ethan is the yin to his yang. The way they go through major struggles to get to their HEA is heartbreaking. JF Harding, and Stephen Dexter are just perfect. What a great combination. I’d love to see them narrating together again. Highly recommended.

Hold Me Under

This is the first book in the Water, Air, Earth, Fire series. This book is about Victor and Ethan. Victor almost made it to the Olympics for swimming, until a huge scandal disqualified him. Ethan is at his whits ends trying to care for his mother. Ethan gets propositioned by Victor’s father to fake date Victor for a dating App add. This book is full of several trigger warnings. I just love how Victor and Ethan truly complete each other. J. F. Harding and Stephen Dexter did an amazing job narrating this book.

Hold Me Under

omg, this book was really good, at 1st I was like Victor was a freaking brat. but after chapters 3or4 I was like okay he's very lost, and the way his relationship with his dad was a bit off. but Ethan knew something was up, and he hated him but also wanted to help him. and at the same time, they both were falling in love with each other. and to be honest they both need one another. best love story ❤️ 💕 to be honest I want more.

Heartbreakingly Beautiful

This was one of my favorite books of 2022. Getting to experience Victor & Ethan's story again in audio was amazing. It brought back all of the feelings from the first time I read this plus more. The narrators really brought these characters to life. They really put emotion into the story. From the absolute heart-wrenching bits to the sexy scenes to the pure emotional depth - the narrators did amazing. I couldn't tell which I loved more but they both did such a great job bringing their characters to life.

As for the story - it's not an easy read by any means. At first glance it's enemies-to-lovers with a fake dating trope thrown in there (and ONLY ONE BED 😎). But it is also so, so, so much more. This is a story about two broken boys who find their way together despite the odds. Of overcoming trauma and finding that one person who makes you feel safe, and loved.

The animosity at the beginning of the book is no joke and these two REALLY don't like each other. But then there is this beautiful slow burn that happens. There are some of the absolute sweetest small moments between these two that absolutely killed me (the gelato scene!!).

Victor is so very broken (check the TWs as there are a lot) and this boy hurt my heart. Ethan, despite having a lot of his own personal grief, responsibilities, etc., really takes it on himself to figure out how he can care for Victor. How to "save" him since it appears no one else will. Ethan is simply amazing - he is boyfriend goals and Victor? He is the most lovable, sassy, broken boy I think I've ever read.

This is a beautiful story and I absolutely loved it. I fell hard for these two.

And the writing was just plain beautiful. I'll leave you with some quotes:

““It hurts too much,” he whispers. “I need to quit you slow, or it’s going to kill me.””

"If love can see us now, it must be ashamed that it has nothing to offer."

"No one ever comes back for me. Until you."

Passionate and great narration

Audio ARC provided by Riley Nash

🖤 MM romance
🖤 enemies to lovers
🖤 hurt/comfort
🖤 fake dating
🖤 forced proximity
🖤 slow burn
🖤 steamy scenes
🖤 high angst

The Story line

Victor Lang, once the greatest swimmer until he tested positive for doping. His fall from gracious has left him a reclusive and suffering from mental health.

Ethan is working several jobs caring for his mother who’s slowly fading as dementia has taken a hold of her body.
Working landscaping he ends up at Victors big house and realizing who he is (a childhood idol) has him take a step backwards into the pool, and he panics when he has flashbaks of when he almost drowned trying to save his cousin. Victor dives in to bring him up to the surface.

Weird behaviour from victor and a visit from his dad, offering Ethan money to pretend to be in a relationship with Victor. Money that he needs to fulfill a dream of taking his mom around the world.

They go to europe to promote Victors return to the world but Victor wants no part of that world, and struggles deeply to function. Ethan thinks maybe he can help him, but struggles himself with a troubled past and they both really end up helping each other.

Their mutual hatred towards each other from the beginning, makes this a dynamic ping pong relationship where they eventually end up having sex, just for fun, and just until they go back home. But somewhere along the line feeling develop and Ethan starts to see Victor’s true reasons for struggling with so many things in the world.

The Audiobook

J.F. Harding and Stephen Dexter do an amazing job narrating this book. Both are passionate and great actors. You feel each of the MCs struggles and they really has you listning to the storyline.

Please take note of the author's TWs - there are lots of confronting issues, although most of them are off-page.