Almost

Near Miss, Book 1

By: Amy Booker

Narrated by: Ryan Lee Dunlap, Addison Barnes

Sarah Lawrence and Ryan Crawford are two musicians with a complicated relationship history, to say the least. They are former best friends who always wanted to be more, but never took that leap of faith. Three years ago, Ryan left for LA to chase his musical dreams while Sarah stayed home. She had good reasons, but put the possibility of a romantic relationship on the shelf. Fast forward—his band’s star is rising, and Ryan’s becoming a famous rock star, while Sarah’s still sacrificing everything for her loved ones.

Now Ryan’s back in town with his band to record a new album, but they need Sarah’s help. Will they finally take their relationship to the next level like they’ve always wanted? Or will the music business and family tragedy get in the way of their dreams?

Can Almost become Absolutely?

©2022 Amy Booker (P)2023 Amy Booker

Rock Star Romance.

What an amazing book! Love second chance rock star romance! Fabulous narration!
Ready for next book! Highly recommend!

Second chance friends to lovers

Fantastic story and emotional roller coaster. This second chance love comes with plenty of angst, drama and heartfelt emotions

Amazing Rockstar Romance

Ryan and Sarah have one of the most amazing second chance / best friends to lovers romance. Their love is strong but the complications in live are stronger at some point… They manage to fight for each other, mostly Ryan. He knows how to do a good groveling. Their HEA was amazing. I love their chemistry and everything they have to endure in the name of love. Amazing audiobook performance for both narrators.

Intriguing Storyline A Good Listen!

Ryan Crawford, a rockstar returns to his hometown with his band to record new songs. Sarah, his former love, crosses paths with Ryan and together they want to make more than just music together, but first they must overcome their past fears, losses, and trust issues.

The author, Amy Booker blends the love of music, passion, loss, and trust into a romantic story. The characters and their dialogue surrounding specific situations are authentic, flowing easily. Each character is well defined and essential to the story. Her attempt to communicate the depth of emotions is successful.

The narrators, Ryan Lee Dunlap and Addison Barnes share the narration alternating between chapters. Their alternate performances of chapters allow the listener to keep the characters straight and hear the story from each perspective clearly. The combined performance by chapter is well-done. Both gave good performances and projected the characters precisely.
This romance book was well written as it had plot twists and character evolution essential to the storyline. The only downside was neither of the narrators sang, they simply recited the words to the songs. While I am not a fan of theatrics, I was hoping they would sing a cappella.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook, it was well done. This Audiobook was provided free of charge in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.

Almost!

This is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story about Sarah and Ryan. Both were musicians that were best friends. They had very strong feelings for each other with the possibility of becoming more. He left to live his dream and she stayed because of her family and responsibilities. Now his career has sky rocketed and she is still home. He and the band return home to record and album. Do these two get a second chance and admit their feelings? I really enjoyed this story and thought the narrator did an exceptional job.

Second Chance

This is my first book by the author, this story pulls at your heartstrings. Ryan and Sarah were the best of friends, with feelings leaning toward more, when he left to pursue his dream and she stayed behind due to her mother being ill.

Ryan and his band Indigo King are quickly becoming a known name. They return to record an album, when he sees Sarah for the first time since she broke his heart. When he finds out why she did, he is determined to get another chance with her.

The road to success and happily ever after is not easy, will this new relationship be able weather the long distance?

I enjoyed the dual narrators, they seems to suit the characters they portrayed.

I received an Advance Readers Copy of this book with no obligation to write a review.

Fantastic Story & Narration🎧 Gripping & Heartfelt!

I enjoyed this book immensely, the story not only grabbed my attention it tugged on my heartstrings the entire time. I loved the whole premise of “Almost” and how the author takes you on a journey of a couples second chance at romance and because of obstacles and misunderstandings, a second chance that “almost” never happened. This is my first book written by Amy Booker and I enjoyed her writing style, the story she created is interesting and original and her characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with. Sarah Lawrence sacrificed a lot when her Mother became ill, she changed her plans to take care of her and her younger brother Benji but she did not give up on her dreams or her love of music. Despite busting her butt working two jobs to pay for living expenses and help pay his brothers way threw college she still found time to write her music and to hopefully record an EP album. But she not only loses one of her jobs but the time to record in the studio when a band books it for two months. Sarah did not know that band was “Indigo King” and that Ryan Crawford was back in town. Ryan left Ohio to pursue his music career three years ago and Sarah broke his heart just before he left and he has not spoken to her since. He was not expecting to see her or have their worlds to collide again and he knew instantly there were unresolved feelings between them. When he learns why she did what she did he knew he had to have her again and this time for good. But life is not always easy, trying to lay tracks for a new album and then going on tour brings in challenges, can a relationship already fragile grow stronger while they are apart. This is a wonderfully plotted rock star, second chance romance, there is plenty of drama, angst, heartfelt emotions and a slow burn but meant to be romance. In addition to the lead characters there are some great secondary and support characters including Ryan’s band mates and Benji’s boyfriend Joe. The character development and world building is fantastic and I loved the dynamics between the bandmates and am looking forward to what comes next for them Amy Booker, thank you for this fantastic story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, Ryan Lee Dunlap and Addison Barnes are talented narrators and versatile voice artists. They had a complete understanding of the characters they portrayed, gave each a voice that suited their character’s persona to a tee, sounding believable and just as I pictured the characters to sound. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all the characters’ emotions and projected them into their performance and had you feeling every single one. These entertaining storytellers are a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for rocking this fantastic listen.

Multiple Chances at a HEA

Almost, is the first book in Amy Booker’s Near Miss series and is the first book I’ve listened to by this author. It’s a pseudo second chance rock star romance.

Almost is Ryan and Sarah’s story, Two musicians who were once best friends that developed feelings for one another along the way. Timing didn’t work out for them as he left for LA to pursue his music career while she stayed home to care for her family. They’re reunited years later and take the chance for something more. Can their relationship survive the differences in lifestyle and communication issues that plague them from the start?

Sarah was a great character. She did so so much for everyone else but never gave up on her own dreams. She was so strong even when facing the unimaginable. I felt that Ryan was the prototypical young rock star at the start but grew throughout the book. When he realized he was heading down the wrong path with the excessive partying, he made changes for the better. And I was so happy to see him rush to be there for Sarah in her time of need.

I really enjoyed this book. Both mc we’re multidimensional and as a reader, I felt their emotions as I listened to the story. There was a wide range of emotions from anger and anguish to hope and happiness. I think a lot of that had to do with the narrators. Both were easy to listen to and their pacing and flow was perfect.

I highly recommend this second chance rock star romance. I received a copy of this audiobook from the author for my honest review.