Hugh

By: Gabbi Grey

Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo

Hugh

Having spent more than twenty years as an emergency medicine physician in war zones around the world, I barely have a home to speak of. A daughter I didn’t know about has died and left a child behind, so I must get to Gaynor Beach, California to claim my granddaughter. Her temporary guardian is the first man to spark my interest in a very long time, but it would be inappropriate for me to have a relationship with this much-younger man.

Oscar

Gutted by my best friend’s death, I take solace in the daughter she left in my guardianship. I’ll protect this precious baby with all I have, and no one is going to take her away from me—least of all the man who turns up on our doorstep claiming to be her grandfather. Despite the resemblance, I plan to keep him at arm’s length. I’m going to show him how capable I am. But I might also lose my heart in the process.

This is a hurt/comfort, interracial, age-gap, MM romance novel with a moderate amount of angst.

©2022 Gabbi Grey (P)2024 Gabbi Grey

Such an emotional and powerful journey.

HUGH by Gabbi Grey (Audiobook Review)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
GABBI GREY where have you been all my life!!!
I’m a sucker for age gap MM romance, after reading the blurb I knew I needed to listen to HUGH. This was such a wonderful story, full of emotions, heartache, acceptance, healing, and the most important love. Hugh is a story about two males, caring for a baby girl. One is the grandfather (Hugh) and the other is the appointed legal guardian (Oscar). Through the story we see how both Hugh and Oscar bond with each other, how they co-parent with each other, how they become each other's person. Gabbi it blew me away, how naturally you developed their bond into a forever love. The whole time I was listening to this book, I never felt like you forced the relationship between Hugh and Oscar. The flow and timeline of their relationship felt natural and easy to follow. I really enjoyed that, also let's not forget about the amazing Michael Ferraiuolo. OMG I loved how his tone of voice would change when it came to narrating for the main characters. He did the switch of voice so well, that not even once my brain registered it was the same person narrating. Especially when Hugh and Oscar were having conversations with each other. It was just perfection. Hugh is a must listen book, Gabbi touches a lot of topics that people can relate to.

"This is a truly blessed house"

This book is part of a multi-authored series called Single Dads of Gaynor Beach written by Gabbi Grey.

Wow, the book blurb does not do this book justice, but I'm not sure how it could be written to express what a moving story this was. This book deals with some heavy subjects and had me tearing up in several places.

If you're looking for a book that's going to put you on the hot tamale train this is not it. This book is a story of two men that come together over an orphaned child. There's lots of emotional intimacy just not a lot of physical intimacy. I love when an author can pull you into a story without using physical intimacy as a crutch.

Gabbi Grey did an amazing job with this story.

Hurt/comfort, interracial relationship, age gap > 15 years,

Sweet Story!

Hugh and Oscar are so sweet together! Oscar had discovered that his best friend had OD'd at their home, but he was doing a great job of raising her daughter when Hugh shows up. CPS had called him to let him know he had a granddaughter, when he hadn't even known he had a daughter. He came right away, and gently eased his way into their hearts.
This m/m romance is age gap, low angst, and sweet as can be! There's just the right amount of family involvement, and the baby is written perfectly. I truly enjoyed this sweet story!

enjoyed it - solid 4.5 stars

📖 Story comment: Good pace, likeable characters, low-angst plot.
I haven't read any of the other Single Dads of Gaynor Beach books, but there are a bunch of interesting characters and businesses mentioned and it piqued my interest - had me looking to see "who has a book" before i'd even finished this one.

I really like a found family and slow burn. The struggles Oscar and Hugh experienced felt real, genuine and made sense to where they were in their story. I liked that Oscar wasn't instantly confident being a new dad and that Hugh didn't just believe the Social Worker's opinion of Oscar, but wanted evidence for himself - it made the two characters feel grounded and real.

🎧 Narrator comment: Michael Ferraiuolo is a master story teller - I ran the full gamut of emotions with his performance of Hugh. He suits the characters, has good timing, inflections and intonations, there is no doubting the connection between the two MC's and he brings life and emotion to every scene. 👍 👍

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 8
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough [3⭐] • 5 enjoyed it [4⭐] • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator [4⭐] • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in all formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]

Such a sweet and hopeful story

Hugh, a Single Dads of Gaynor Beach story is the first book I've read (Listened to) by Gabbi Grey.

This was just a nice, happy, low-angst book that made me happy. It was very slow-burn with a couple of steamy scenes toward the end that paired up with their happy ending.

Seriously - it was such a nice story that began with a young man grieving the sudden loss of his best friend along. In addition with single fatherhood being thrust upon him, he had to deal with a jerk of a social worker who only thinks the worst.

Enter another man in the prime of his life who never even knew he was a father, to begin with, discovering he was not only a father, but also a grandfather.

Teaming together out of necessity, they form a loving bond centered around this little infant girl who changes their lives. I love how they communicated and worked together to form a new family based on love and mutual respect.

Yes, they formed an actual family, but I loved reading about the supportive circle of friends who were always there for them. Everyone should have that. Everyone deserves that. :-)

I picked this up on Audible yesterday after hearing the narrator, the ever-awesome Michael Ferraiuolo, do a short reading with his FB group last week. I'm thrilled to discover a new author thanks to his having narrated this book. I definitely want to delve further into Gabbi Grey's stories!

Love wins out

What an emotionally charged storyline with realistic scenes of struggles, both with the system and themselves. Hugh was just beyond amazing with dropping everything upon finding out about Miralee, and absolutely no hesitation regarding Oscar. I honestly don’t think he ever once saw their skin color either, which added to the depth of his character.

The narrative was great, too! With a few slip ups here and there, he does an impressive job of bringing these characters to life. Their every emotion captured and their character exemplified!

Sweet Story

This was a sweet book with likable characters and an adorable little baby they both cared for. The story is very slow burn, evenly paced, no twists or turns, but good chemistry IMO. Narrator did an amazing job as always and made this story a very enjoyable listening experience.

So good

This story tugs on your heartstrings. Hugh and Oscar form a bond over little Marilee and it was sweet to watch. Oscar has trouble trusting him because she hasn’t had the best of luck with some of the people in his life, especially the case worker Anthony. I really did not like him in this book. He does get redeemed in his own book but he was nasty in this one. Hugh is head over heels with his granddaughter and it was so sweet. Also I would listen to just about anything Michael Ferraiuolo narrates. He does such a good job.

Amazing

The story was beautiful and the narration was perfect. I really loved Hugh and his immediate willingness to be there for a grandchild he never expected.

Hugh and Oscar

This is a lovely May to December romance full of sweet moments. Hugh and Oscar navigate their age gap, grief, and learning to parent an infant. Together they build a beautiful family.
Highly recommended author

Audiobook: Fantastic narrator