Beautiful Crazy

A Small Town Single Mom Romance (Blossom Beach, Book 1)

By: A. James

Narrated by: Connor Crais, Samantha Brentmoor

As a single mom with my hands and heart full, finding love is the last thing on my mind.

Then Everett Windward comes along. My new neighbor is charming, handsome, and sexy—and before I know it, I have a new friend…with benefits.

Fun and filthy benefits. There’s just one problem—He’s also my son’s teacher. That alone should have me pumping the brakes… except it doesn’t. I’m drawn to him and to the way he makes me feel. Everett has a filthy side that has reignited something inside of me that I haven’t felt in years.

Something I thought I lost. But there are rules…My son can’t know.

No sleeping over.

And absolutely no feelings involved. But as time goes on, it becomes impossible to ignore the butterflies in my stomach when I catch him looking at me, or when I watch him play ball with my son day after day. Before I know it, he’s so intertwined in our lives, and I can no longer deny the desire to break the very rules that I put into place to begin with. But it’s not just my feelings I have to consider.

I can see how quickly my son is becoming attached to him. See the way he yearns for that father figure in his life. We have experienced enough hurt and loss to last a lifetime. Can I really open up our hearts, knowing the risk I’m taking?

©2024 A. James (P)2024 A. James

Sweet and steamy - incredible narration!

Connor Crais and Samantha Brentmoor's rent was due because my god, they were absolutely incredible in this audiobook?? Their narration was truly a performance and it's one of the best audiobooks I've heard from each of them. They had me straight up blushing and squealing while listening to this lmaooo. I just about died every. single. time. Connor Crais said "mama" - and I really never thought I'd be into that.

The story was also so cute!! This is only my second book by this author, but she does such a great job at writing strong relationships. I loved getting to witness the progression of Everett and Gemma's relationship. Everett was the definition of "if he wanted to, he would" - that man was so gone for Gemma and would have moved mountains for her. It was really sweet how dedicated he was to her from the start.

Gemma was so relatable in the sense that I also have a hard time accepting help, but I was really glad to see her grow throughout the book and eventually be more open to accepting help. I admired everything that she did on her own, but it made me happy to see her get to share that load.

This book had no business being as hot as it was. When I tell you I had to physically fan myself - it was no joke. Ashley James knows how to write some incredible smut. I was taken aback in all of the best ways lol.

Anyway, highly, highly recommend this audiobook! It's duet style and it is perfect.

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!

This book was soo good. It was heartwarming, emotional, spicy, and soo much more. This is my first review and I’m glad I waited to find a book great to post my first review. LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT!!

In love with Gemma and Everett

I absolutely LOVE Ashley and her writing. This story was beautiful and so different from what she normally writes. Samatha is Queen and could narrate a physics paper and it would sound amazing. This was my first Connor narration but it will not be my last.

4.5 stars

This was such a cute, fun and spicy romance between two neighbors. Gemma is a single mother that wasn't looking for love just yet. Enter Everett, who moves to Blossom Beach after inheriting his grandmother's house. He's Gemma's new neighbor, her son's new teacher and eventually becomes her new friend with benefits.

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed her writing style. The pacing of the story was good. The story jumps right into the main plot. There was never a dull moment and the story didn't drag. When Everett and Gemma meet for the first time there is an instant attraction. I felt their undeniable chemistry. I loved Everett. He was a straight laced guy and took a leap of faith in this new chapter in his life. I loved Gemma. She had a great relationship with her son. After all the hurt and loss Gemma and her son endured, Gemma was resilient, stronger and brave. I also loved Everett's relationship with Sutton.

Most recently I listened to the audiobook and it's amazing! Performed in duet by Connor Crais and Samantha Brentmoor. You seriously can't go wrong with this pairing. Connor and Samantha embodied Everett and Gemma. Connor conveyed Everett with a hopeful tone. Connor captured Everett's pining for Gemma. I loved Samantha's Southern accent! It was exactly how I imagined Gemma to sound like. As their relationship started to grow and they started to act on their romantic feelings. I loved the effort they made to get to know eachother. I felt even more connected to them because of Connor and Samantha's narration. Their expressive tones elevated the story for me. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

Conor and Samantha was perfect!

This is so so good!
The way the characters just grabbed at your heart strings and then put you back together again!

🎡 Tropes 🎡

🌊 Small Town
🌊 Single Mom x Teacher
🌊 He Falls First
🌊 Neighbors to Lovers
🌊 Friends with Benefits
🌊 Public Play
🌊 Breeding Kink

Beautiful Crazy was crazy good

This single mom, Gemma, is living her best life juggling motherhood and healing from loss—until Everett Windward strolls in. He’s her new neighbor, super hot, and... plot twist... her son’s teacher.

The chemistry between these two is electric—you’ve got that small-town charm with all the spice, and I was here for it.
And let me tell you about the narrators, Connor Crais & Samantha Brentmoor.

First off, Connor reading anything is just... chef’s kiss. I could listen to him read a grocery list, but hearing him get into that dirty talk? WILD. Everett’s “mama” made me swoon. They really brought this story to life, and it was the perfect balance of laughs, heart, and heat.

If you love a sweet yet spicy small-town romance with lots of feels, this one’s for you.
4.5⭐️

Connor Crais calling her Mama haunts my dreams

OMG, this book is so far the best book I've read this year! If you didn't listen to the audio, you NEED TO! Trust me when I say the "hey mama's" are 1000x more devastating hearing it come out of Connor Crais' mouth. Also, this was my first dual narrative audio book, where He plays the male parts, and she plays the female parts, and I will never go back. The audio was top freaking shelf. Conner Crais and Samantha Brentmoor were pure magic together! I will be relistening to this book promptly. This is my first read from this author, now that we are acquainted, I need to go back and read all the others!

Being a Washington State Native, I love that a lot of her male character names are towns in my home state, it just made my heart happy! This was such a sweet story. Lots of heart and love from all angles.
Gemma and Everett were meant to be together. The character development with these two was so well conceived. The pacing was steady and never let my mind wander, keeping me fully engaged for the entire ride...

I LOVED Gemma's entire family and Everett's relationship with her son.

The spicy scenes were incredibly well written and when he calls her mama, let's just say I didn't even think that was a thing. But I assure you, it is a THING. Connor Crais calling her Mama haunts my dreams in the best freaking way.
"Uh-uh, eyes on me, mama. I want you to drench my face, you hear me?" See what I mean?

Tropes:
Single mom
Widow
Neighbors to lovers
Son's teacher
Small Town
Found Family
FWB
Breeding Kink
Public Play

Triggers:
Mentions of death of a spouse

Sweet as candy!

This was a really heartwarming single mom story. He moves in next door, he ends up being her son’s teacher and they start a friends w/benefits but they end up catching feelings of course. And you cannot go wrong with Connor Crais & Samantha Brentmoor narrating. Super cute listen.

Perfection Narration!

Oh Mama. OH MAMA!

This is my first book by A. James and it was amazing! If you're into small town, single mom, teacher next door, he falls first, friends with benefits, flaming hot spice, public play and a super growly MMC, then you MUST listen to this book! As a bonus, there's no angst or 3rd act breakup!

Beautiful Crazy is a heartwarming story about Everett, the new guy in town, and Gemma, widowed and single mom to Sutton. Everett and Gemma run into each other a few times around town before they realize he's her new nextdoor neighbor. From there, they become fast and flirty friends and he enjoys helping her out, hanging out with Sutton, who is also one of his students, and just getting to know them.

I really enjoyed the the easiness of this story and how everything just fell into place for them. Sometimes it's nice to have a fun and relaxing and spicy story without the angst and this will always be one of my comfort listens because of that.

Samantha Brentmoor and Connor Crais narrated this in duet and it was perfection! Samantha had a southern twang for the role and it completely enhanced the emotional and playful character of Gemma. Connor nailed the nice guy/golden retriever vibe for Everett but where he really shines was his growliness during smexy times. Wow. Wow...

Thank you to TAA and the author for the ALC. All options are my own.

Spicy HEA!!

Loved the down to earth characters and the story. Narration was awesome too! Lots of spice🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️