Falling First Hell

Hellman Brothers, Book 5

By: Marika Ray

Narrated by: Kyle Mason, Angelina Rocca

I'm unemployed and down to my last dollar—thank you, stranger, who bought my coffee when my card was declined this morning. If that wasn't bad enough, I just T-boned the truck belonging to the guy I was meeting on a first date.

Ethan Hellman, small-town sweetheart with a secret, and an instant—unbelievable—love for me despite the condition of his truck.

It's not that I don't believe in love per se. It's just that I've done the calculations—it won't happen to me. And especially not now when I'm bouncing off rock bottom with the bruises to prove it.

But Ethan doesn't seem to care about all that. He offers me a job, a place to live . . . and a rock on my finger. I just have to turn my back on my career, pretend to be giddy in love, and be the face of his new company. His constant sunshine makes me grumpy. It's also kind of addicting. So I agree to his terms and find myself living a life I don't recognize.

Things are going surprisingly well when someone from my past reappears offering a similar lifeline. I'll have to make some tough decisions that just don't compute in my logical brain.

Ethan may have fallen first, but I'm afraid I've fallen harder.

©2023 Marika Ray (P)2023 Tantor

A swoonfest of all the goodness

I loved, loved Ethan and Andi’s happy-grump, forced proximity, love at first sight, heart warming romance with a side of healing. And the meet cute - oh my goodness - adorkable - clearly being dressed as an asparagus spouting asparagus facts would not usually be reason to fall in love, unless you’re Ethan and Andi. Ethan is the last of the five Hellman brothers to be single. He’s a handyman but he also has a secret side hustle. Andi is at a low point in her life, jobless, homeless and relationshipless, when she meets Ethan. He is the sunshine to her grumpiness. Understanding that Andi is the love of his life, he quickly gives her a job, a place to stay, and agrees to be her fake fiancée all to give himself time to woo her. The journey to their HEA is so very heart warming and swoony. This entire story made me happy except for the brief breakup scene. I especially loved the way Ethan gently, lovingly, and beautifully helped Andi come out of her self-imposed prison, begin to shine and helped her to discover her own awesomeness. The story was well written and included witty dialogue, three dimensional characters who grow, and an engaging storyline. It will give you all the feels - laughing, crying, swooning, cringing, teeth gritting, and cheering through sweet moments, steamy scenes, laughs, supportive friends, messy families, painful pasts, and all the wonderful heart squeezing love. I wish there were more Hellman brothers to get HEAs but I am glad there will be similar shenanigans and love in a Blueball series.

Kyle Mason and Angelina Rocca did a wonderful job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters quite well. I love the added dimension narration brings to a story.