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    Hold Me Close
    Hold Me Close
    Hold Me Close
    Audiobook10 hours

    Hold Me Close

    Written by Rosalind James

    Narrated by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Kayla Chambers knows what love is—and what it isn’t. When her boyfriend turns abusive, she and her son escape to a new life in a place where he’ll never find them. The idyllic town of Paradise, Idaho, has everything she needs to get back on her feet. Survival is her only goal, and the last thing she wants is another man in her life.

    But Kayla’s new neighbor, high school principal Luke Jackson, is determined to change her mind. Luke usually takes the fast lane with women, but he can see that Kayla and her son need help, and he wants to earn her trust—even if that means taking things slow. He strikes up a friendship that soon simmers into something passionate and real. But when Kayla’s past catches up with her, Luke knows he has to find a way to keep her safe…or risk losing her forever.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateDec 8, 2015
    ISBN9781511326223
    Hold Me Close
    Author

    Rosalind James

    Rosalind James, a publishing-industry veteran and former marketing executive, is the author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels published both independently and through Montlake Romance. She started writing down one of the stories in her head on a whim four years ago while living in Auckland, New Zealand. Within six weeks, she'd finished the book, thrown a lifetime of caution to the wind, and quit her day job. She and her husband live in Berkeley, California, with a Labrador retriever named Charlie.

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    Reviews for Hold Me Close

    4/5

    18 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Love this series! I really wasn't expecting Luke to be such a sweetheart. I knew he was sweet from the first book, but I really thought he was more of a smooth talker. He really had a big heart in this book and was so patient with Kayla through everything. She was in such a rough and terrifying situation, and got through it using her own strength and not just relying on others. Definitely worth the read or listen!
    • 4/5
      I read Carry Me Home, the first book in Rosalind James' Paradise, Idaho series a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. With this second book of the series, she has totally won me over. While I found Carry Me Home quite light-hearted with lots of witty banter and humor, the atmosphere of Hold Me Close was much more serious and highly emotional. I've read several books this year that focused on domestic abuse, but this one definitely affected me the most. The way the author portrayed the fear and insecurities of the abused, especially the effect it had on a young child, was really heartbreaking. The chapters from the abuser's point of view were totally creepy and disturbing. That said, it wasn't all depressing and sad. There was plenty of fun stuff and romance, too. In fact, there were a lot more sex scenes in this one than in the previous one, so the emphasis was definitely on romance rather than suspense. My reason for giving this 4 instead of 5 stars: Luke was a bit too perfect to be real, and the shooting of the detective was a bit of a loose end. The suspense side of it just got resolved too easily and quickly for my taste. Nevertheless, this series is now among my favorite romantic suspense series. Some of that may have to do with the absolutely awesome narration of the audio books by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross. Love the way the narrators stick to their gender for narrating the male and female parts and swap back and forth within the chapters. Great audio production! I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review, but ended up listening to the audio version, which I couldn't resist purchasing.