Everything He Couldn't

Newberry Springs, Book 2

De: Harlow James

Narrado por: Angelina Rocca, Dane Anderson

One of my favorite songs growing up was Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield.

Ironically enough, I never realized I’d be living out those lyrics in my own life when I fell for my best friend’s girl—and then my best friend, John Schmitt, died.

Add on the fact that she was pregnant with his child and that I’d been harboring feelings for Evelyn months before all of this happened, and well, now?

Now the lyrics to that song don’t sound so bad anymore.

The worst part is, I’m the one to blame for his death which made facing her an even harder pill to swallow, so what did I do? Pretend like she didn’t exist anymore, even though it was virtually impossible because she was everywhere in our small town of Newberry Springs.

Flashforward six months and suddenly Evelyn finds herself in a legal battle she never saw coming, and I can’t just stand by any longer and pretend like my heart isn’t in shambles.

So I suggest the unthinkable.

I offer to marry her, help her prove that she’s a fit mother and her daughter is being raised well despite John not being in the picture.

But Evelyn doesn’t know that being near her gets my blood pumping, even more so after avoiding her for months.

She doesn’t understand that doing this favor for her is a way for me to gain retribution for John’s death and take a chance to find out if she can reciprocate my feelings.

And she doesn’t get that by being there for her and loving her and her daughter that I’m doing everything that my best friend couldn’t.

©2023 Harlow James Publishing LLC (P)2024 Harlow James Publishing LLC

Cowboys and Firemen - whoo hoo

The second book in this series brings us Walker and Evelyn. Their story has a lot of tragedy wrapped up in it, but the joy does shine through for them.

Evelyn is pregnant, and the baby's father has just died. They were not in love but she is still mourning his loss, as is Walker as John was his best friend.

Walker is still regretting not making a move for Evelyn before her and John got together, now he fears it may be too late and will pine for her forever.

Fast Forward: Evelyn is being sued for custody of her baby by the father's parents, partly because she is single. Walker decides they should marry, so obviously they do.

The attraction between them pulls them even closer together now that he's living in her home. She really struggles with letting him in entirely because of her past. But once she does, it's all pretty fantastic.

I'm enjoying the narration on this series, It's great to hear all the male characters from book 1 with the same voices throughout.
Angelina really had a moment when she recounted Evelyn's past. And that is such an age old story, a powerful man, her mentor and family friend attempted to sexually assault her when she was just 18. But no one believed her, not even her parents. It's the whole reason she moved away and started over in a new town and hasn't seen her parents in 9 years. That's a tough burden to carry, when you're utterly alone.
Thankfully, Walker believes her and believes IN her.

I do love stories that also show a man not only falling for the woman, but her child, that he also sees this child as the blessing she is and not a burden. And Walker does love that baby as if she's his own.

How did Harlow James get away with writing Walker, a Cowboy AND a Firefighter? Just let that soak in for a moment.

I have enjoyed this series so much - I give this 4.5

Walker & Evelyn are so sweet!

Everything He Couldn't is a small town, single mom, marriage of convenience love story. Evelyn accidentally got pregnant by Schmitty, Walker's best friend. They weren't serious, just having a little fun. But then before Evelyn had the baby, Schmitty died in a tragic fire.

Six months later, Evelyn finds herself in the middle of a custody battle with Schmitty's parents so what does Walker do? He proposes that they get married to help her case.

Walker also had ulterior motives to marrying Evelyn. He's had a crush on her for a long time. Maybe this is his chance. Evelyn's walls were wayyyy up... with good reason. She just needed someone to show her she was worthy of love. Somehow Walker wormed his way into her heart and held on tight. The way this man went to battle for her... SWOON. He's literally the best husband in this fake marriage. He was also sooo sweet to Evelyn's daughter.

-Small town
-Single mom
-Fake marriage
-He falls first

I listened to the audiobook of this one. Angelina Rocca has the sweetest voice. She does such a great job showing the emotion these characters are feeling. Dane Anderson has that growly voice that ladies love. Some of his female voices could use a little work, but that didn't deter me. They were both so good!

Firefighter Cowboy Marries Single Mom

Book 2 of the series. You can read it without book 1, but there is more depth if you've read in sequence.

I am swooning over Walker. This man is ah-maze-ing! He's a firefighter, he's a cowboy (that teaches kids to ride horses!), he's good to his momma, he wants to take care of Evelyn, protect her and he offers to marry her so that her daughter doesn't loose both her parents. He Fell First! And he cooks!!!! Did I mention his bedrooms skills? Done, I'm done!! The man is perfection and is my favourite Gibson brother.

What starts as a Marriage of Convenience becomes so much more once Walker gets past Evelyn's walls. She is so wounded by a past she doesn't share that a bunch of her personal defenses and sensitivities don't make sense to him until she opens up. Evelyn worked so hard to start her new life, but she still lives behind walls. She stands up for herself and her daughter but she doesn't show the world that behind it all she's vulnerable and timid and so incredibly scared to trust. Seeing her open up and start to believe in Walker's feelings, it's so incredibly beautiful.

Performed by Angelina Rocca and Dane Anderson. They bring a fantastic continuity to the series since they do the whole shebang. I adore Angelina's performances, she brings such depth of emotion to her characters and you can feel the turmoil and vulnerability. Each woman has their own flair/flavour that is carried through the series. Dane has a deep rumble to his voice that makes all the swoony dirtiness these men say to their women just melt your earbuds. He made each brother distinct and recognizable.

I felt the emotional peaks and because of when I was listening, I started my day with the emotional climax of the book and it just flattened me. I absolutely LOVE when a performance makes me FEEL in that way. Especially when I'd already read the books and knew exactly where the stories were going, it still hit me with all the feels. Walker is my fave of the brothers so there was a lot of expectation from me with this performance, Dane did not disappoint. He made me love Walker even more!!

Thank you so much to Harlow James for letting me listen early. I requested and was provided advanced copies of the audiobooks, these are my honest opinions.

Angsty

Walker was so sweet with not only Evelyn but Kaydence as well. He instantly took to his “little owl” and Kaydence liked him too. He had to go through some healing and acceptance before he could truly let himself show his love for Evelyn. After that, he was determined to show her that their marriage of convenience wasn’t going to end because he truly loved her and Kaydence.

Evelyn was so strong. She was determined to raise Kaydence on her own, and she wasn’t doing a bad job either. She also had to deal with her toxic parents who only cared about their image and refused to listen to her when she tried to tell them about what she had gone through.

I also loved how protective Walker was over Evelyn. He didn’t let anyone talk sh*t about Evelyn, and when he learned of her past, he stood up for her. He was also so patient and understanding about why Evelyn was holding back from truly being with him, but he never gave up on her.

This was such a cute small town romance, and I enjoyed seeing Walker and Evelyn’s relationship grow.


Narration Style: Dual