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Best of Me

Savannah's Best, Book 1

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Best of Me

By: Maya Alden
Narrated by: Scott Rose, Greyson Ash
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About this listen

Gabriel Rhodes

My family's roots run deep, and my responsibilities are clear. My family and Rhodes Hotels, my family business. As a father first, I've always put my daughter above everything, living in a carefully maintained world close to my ex-wife, ensuring peace.

I never expected to fall in love again and find the kind of passion I had with Aurora. I thought it would be easy, but when I introduced her to my daughter, it shattered the delicate balance of my life, forcing me to make regrettable choices that hurt the only woman I ever loved.

Aurora Turner

I have lived my whole life not being important to anyone. Not my parents, not the aunt who I was the caretaker of, and definitely not my first boyfriend who didn't deliver on his promise of commitment. Meeting Gabriel was unexpected, a whirlwind that promised a sense of belonging I've always craved.

As an architect, I'm used to creating spaces where people feel at home, yet finding my own place in Gabriel's world proves to be my biggest challenge. His dedication to his daughter is admirable and I love that about him, but when it becomes clear that I will end up coming between his daughter, who wants her parents to get back together, and Gabriel, I'm forced to walk away and break my heart.

I have not even started to heal from the wound he delivered when Gabriel comes back. He says he still loves me and knows that I feel the same way. But how can I believe that we won't end up exactly where we did the last time?

Best of Me is a billionaire single-father, second chance, found-family romance with a meddling ex-wife, enough angst to require a box of tissues, and plenty of steam that may make a fan necessary. It is a complete standalone.

©2024 Maya Alden (P)2024 Podium Audio
Contemporary Multicultural United States World Literature Heartfelt Marriage
All stars
Most relevant
All this people needed therapy, not only the child hahaha.
What a complete idiot, what a horrible excuse of a man! The only reason I don’t hate him more, it’s because he’s such a good parent, the way he handled his daughter’s situation, was amazing. Ah her ? Doormat is a good word to describe her. Didn’t hate it tho, I’m definitely going to continue.

Cute and fluffy, but…

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Relatively believable plot if you ignore the billions of dollars sloshing around. What made the novel so unsatisfactory for me was the unrealistic characterisation. I can just about understand Aurora, given her seriously messed up upbringing. Gabriel is an entirely different matter though. The guy is reckoned to be a sharp and ruthless business man who, prior to meeting Aurora, is prone to bite people's heads off if they make him mad. Despite that side to him, he conducts his personal relationship with his ex-wife as though he's a complete wuss. It didn't wash and brassed me off throughout the book.

Other characters are reasonably rounded but few show any signs of growth or development with the exception of Sophia, Gabe's daughter. She's drawn as an entirely relatable young adult (though she would probably have chafed at being regularly described as a child). Aurora is a doormat in her personal life and remains that way right through the book. I'd have liked to see her call out some of the taunts flung at her (as other women in the story do) but it never happens. I found that I repeatedly wanted to shout at her to grow a backbone and was left with the feeling that I don't think I'd like her as a friend, given that I didn't respect her.

The narration of the tale is OK but nothing out of the ordinary. Ms Ash has a warm and sultry voice and without the breathiness which can often mar the performance of the type of character she's performing. Mr Rose's voice, though pleasant enough, lacked the depth and creak I was hoping for. Both narrators performed fluently and with relatively good pacing, though this was hampered by the text on regular occasions. The tale is sold as steamy but isn't. If you like your intimacy relatively light, vanilla and sparse, you should be comfortable with this.

There are far too many points in the story when one of the MCs tell us again and in detail what's already been exhaustively explained. You will be left in no doubt at all that Gabe never loved Iris, only married her because she was pregnant and felt that she only wanted him for his money and social standing. You'll know this because he'll tell you every four or five of his chapters. Aurora will do the same thing in respect of her upbringing. It felt as though Ms Alden doesn't trust her readers to remember salient points. Thank goodness this wasn't a mystery novel or the audience would have solved it part way through the first chapter.

This was free in the Plus catalogue when I listened but I won't be purchasing it. It's unlikely that I'll invest credits on any of the others in the series as all to date have the same narration team (unnecessary and unrealistic I think). The novel most clearly set up to be next in line (Luna's) is actually currently the 7th and latest and since only 4 of the books have been recorded to audio to date, I'll have completely forgotten about the series by the time this one comes on the market. An OK listen but I'm being generous by my standards in giving it 3 stars.

I really hope this isn't the "Best Of" Ms Alden.

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