Enjoyed!

ise has all the ingredients needed to make a sweet, sexy, fun romance. Todd and Charlie's love story develops over the week of Hidden Creek's Summer Gair baking competition, where they both enter as contestants. The chemistry between them is wonderful. I loved their connection. Nick J Russo breathes life into these guys and gives such a wonderful performance!

1 person found this helpful

Another Winner for Hidden Creek

After leaving the military, Todd has avoided making a home in one place. Working as a military consultant for TV/Film, he travels for his work constantly. When he's not working, he crashes with his military friend in Hidden Creek and takes over his kitchen baking. Charlie has a lot of insecurities, and it doesn't help when he gets "stood up" by a hook-up in the bathroom at a club, or when his boss at the Hidden Creek grocery store, JJ's walks all over him. One thing he excels at though is baking. And when Todd and Charlie both enter the Hidden Creek Baking Contest, despite the rule of "no fraternization" the two grow closer. But can these two true opposites over come their pasts to find a happy ending?
Opposites attract are not always my favorite types of books and this one at times was a little rough, but overall was a good book, fitting well in with the Hidden Creek Series. My biggest problem with the book was Charlie's insecurities were a little strong sometimes. But Todd helped balance out the book leaving you with some sweet moments.
It is not a "slow burn" book - with the romance happening pretty quickly, but the two men are so wonderfully sweet together! And when Charlie had his moment when he was able to stand up for the other people around him - it was a great moment in the book!
Nick J Russo continues to do an outstanding job with the narration! The voices are unique and easy to follow! I absolutely love the inflection he brings into these books! It truly brings Hidden Creek to life!
Overall, it was a great addition to the Hidden Creek Series, and isn't one to skip!!

1 person found this helpful

Chivalry, Confections, and Chemical Connections!

💗🍞💗🍰💗🎂💗

Title: Rise: Men of Hidden Creek S.4 #5
Author: J. Hayden Bailey
Narrator: Nick Russo
Publisher: J.Hayden Bailey
Format: e-book (ARC)/ Audio book (purchase)
Release Date: 9/13/2019 - 9/05/2019🎧
Genre/ Trope(s): MM Romance;
Page Count: 260p.
Listening Length: 8hrs. 30min.
SteaMMy Swordplay: 4 out of 5⚔
Sharonica-Stars: 5 out of 5✨
GoodReads AVG: 4.16🌟


Rise was the perfect combination of charming and sweet. I fell in love with MC Todd right away. I struggled with Charlie in the beginning, but only because I worried about him putting himself in harmful situations. After one phone call he received however, it made perfect sense why his reactions to certain people and situations were the way they were.

Hidden Creek came even more alive to me in this book, and now I want to go back and start where it all began in season one. Each story is unique, but the authors have done a fantastic job keeping with the overall theme and even weaving past characters seamlessly in their own stories.

Yes, you can pick any book in Season four and read it without being lost. I have enjoyed each one so much! This has been my favorite though. It just struck some chords in my soul. This was also my first read by J. Hayden Bailey, but most definitely not my last.

Of course Nick Russo did an excellent job bringing the characters to life, as always. Nothing but Love love love!😍

If you are a fan of chivalry, confections, and chemical connections, you'll love Rise! 🎂💗🍰💗🍞

The Story: 5✨
The Narration: 5✨
5 sweeter-than-cup-cake-stars ✨✨✨✨✨

I received an ARC of the e-book from LesCourt in exchange for an honest review.💋

1 person found this helpful

Such a lovely story!

This is such a lovely story featuring two gorgeous MCs and a whole lot of scrummy baking! Charlie is an absolute sweetheart - he is giving and caring but he lacks self-confidence. He’s had a lifetime of being put down and being belittled to the point where he can no longer see just how amazing he is and how much he has to offer the world. Todd is a gentle giant and sees Charlie for who he truly is underneath the lack of confidence. I loved how gentle and persistent he was with Charlie in trying to get him to see the good in himself. He really was incredibly patient and loving. The two fall in love during the town’s baking contest and their love is such a sweet slow burn. These two are lovely together and I really recommend this audiobook.

Nick J Russo did an an incredible job as narrator and brought these two to life perfectly.

I received an arc of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving an honest and unbiased review

1 person found this helpful

Super Sweet Story

Rise is a super sweet story about two men who at first don't seem likely to make a good pair. I haven't read much from this author but they did a great job of showing how a common interest can bring two people together. Charlie and Todd are wonderful together whether they are baking or just hanging out. I absolutely loved the whole teddy bear idea and how it became such an important item in their relationship. The baking contest scenes will definitely leave you wanting the recipes for their dishes without overwhelming the story with unnecessary details which is a bonus for me. Sometimes in books the story line gets bogged down in details that don't really move the story forward but that wasn't the case with this. The narration was well done with distinctive voices making the story flow wonderfully.

1 person found this helpful

Not my favourite in this series, but a decent read

My main issue here was that I never got invested in the characters' romance. And neither in Charlie, particularly, whose insecurity was truly grating. I usually don't have problems with insecure characters, but something about him make me cringe any time he failed to stand by himself and apologize for... living? The fact that Todd found him attractive was baffling, to say the least.

I liked a lot of the secondary characters, and I loved the idea of setting the story in a baking contest. All that food! I finished the book really hungry. Seriously, I wouldn't have minded an Appendix with all the recipes :P

Nick J. Russo did, as always, a great job narrating.

1 person found this helpful

Sweet and fun story

Rise by J Hayden Bailey is the fifth book in the fourth season release of the multi-author series Men of Hidden Creek. This sweet story is a contemporary m/m romance that is sweet and fun. Charlie and Todd are great characters. I adore how sweet their connection is but they definitely can get sexy too. Their story fits perfectly in the Hidden Creek universe.

Nick J Russo narrates the story and does a fantastic job. The characters have their own voices and their personalities pop out through the voice work and clear, smooth recording.

1 person found this helpful

Very disappointed

The series has been great until this book. Charlie acted like a child the entire book. I had to stop listening at times because it was so bad. What a waste of money. The only good part was the narrator. Even he couldn’t redeem it though.

Just okay

Charlie Deacon and Todd Hudson meet serendipitously and their immediate attraction morphs into insta-love over the course of a week during a baking competition at the Summer Fair. However, I found there was too large a side of high-schoolish drama in the story. Between the homophobic judge, the bullying from Charlie's dad and their opponent in the competition, and Charlie's own fears and insecurities, I found myself rolling my eyes a lot.

Todd comes off as a bit too wishy-washy for my tastes. Not that he had to be the stereotypical tough-as-nails alpha male, but he could have stood to be much less tentative than he was.. I was also not a fan of Charlie's hot-and-cold behavior. The narrator did a good job but he had no control over how the characters were written.

Love this series

I received an ARC of this audio for my honest review. This is the story of Todd and Charlie. It is like a friends to lovers story. It really held your attention all throughout the story. Even though this is part of a long series you can read the books as a stand alone.