Love, Like Water

By: Rowan Speedwell

Narrated by: K. C. Kelly

Three years undercover with one of the worst gangs in the country left FBI agent Joshua Chastain shattered. Battling nightmares and addiction, he leaves the concrete jungle for New Mexico horse country, hoping to start over on his uncle's ranch.

Foreman Eli Kelly spends his life rehabilitating abused animals, and Joshua is just another lost soul. But as Joshua slowly begins to put his life back together, Eli realizes that Joshua is a lot more than his newest project.

Joshua's plan seems to work - maybe a fresh start was just what he needed. Then, just when he has finally found a sense of peace, crime and hatred nearly destroy all his hard work forcing him to reevaluate what he wants out of his relationship with Eli and his own life.

©2013 Rowan Speedwell (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Loved it!!!

A nice romantic tear ya heart strings emotional roller coaster ride!!
This story wasn't just another cowboy meets city boy love story this had drama with a difference.. If that makes any sense with out giving away the story as I hate spoilers in reviews.

At first I thought the narrator made the characters sound a bit backwards with the slow drawls in the accents and I wasn't happy with it as it was my first time listening to K C Kelly.. But I have since listened to other works he has done and loved him ..so I went and listened to this book again and it made me love the book even more as I found that it wouldn't have worked with someone who couldn't speak the other languages in this book.. He done an excellent job..
Worth ya money

Loved the tone of the narrator's voice

**Audiobook edition**

I could listen to K.C. Kelly recite the phone book and I think I would be in heaven. DAMN he had a perfect voice for this book! I'm not sure if he is Hispanic or Native American but he had that soulful, deep, perfectly accented tone to his voice that fit this book like a glove.

I love Rowan Speedwell. She consistently and artfully produces stories that never fail to touch me. This one was no different. Admittedly, cowboys are not my thing and neither are guys in the closet. However, this one worked for me.

I enjoyed the slow burn relationship between the two MCs and the angst in this book. What? I love being emotionally shredded! However, I thought that Joshua was a bit too stubborn and pig-headed for me to fully relate to him. I wanted more from his character, more something. He went back and forth with his feelings so often that I got whiplash. And while I certainly felt the beginnings of love between him and Eli, I felt like the romance could have used more marinating.

I probably would have given this book 3.5 stars or maybe 3 stars for the content if it wasn't for the spot-on narration that elevated this book to a work of art. I'll be looking for this narrator in the future, you can be sure!

**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

An intense and wonderous story...

Excellent! The first word that comes to mind when I think about the story of Joshua and Eli and the cast of characters that help to make this tale so enthralling. Rowan Speedwell's story telling encapsulates the reader at the forefront and carries to the end. The narrator provided depth to the characters with his inflections and tone. The tale is filled with drama, pain, love, joy, violence, healing, laughter, tears, horses, and of course, cowboys! One of the best stories I have read in a long time...I highly recommend this audio book....

Nice one.

Great character development, well performed and engaging. Well worth the credit - go ahead and buy it!

Heartbreaking & Hopeful, A Beautiful Combo

This story is both heartbreaking and hopeful, a combination often difficult to balance but done well by Speedwell. There are a combustion of emotions between Eli and Josh... hurt, fear, lust, understanding, comfort, and love... and they are impossible to not be drawn into. The ranch is so vividly described, with each of it's occupants being strong secondary characters that add to the story. Tucker is a powerful influence on both men, as is Serafina who serves as a mother to them.

The narration had a good feel to it, an authentic western flavor. I was so absolutely caught up in this story at one point that I burnt dinner! I couldn't stop listening. With a huge grin, I listened to the last sentence of the epilogue and know without a doubt that I'll be watching for another book about the Tripe C Ranch.

ONE CAVEAT: The pronunciation of "Rodeo" was odd, as if saying "Rodeo Drive" in Hollywood rather than the "Rodeo" cowboys participate in. I don't know - maybe this is common dialect in this area of the country where the book is set but it did distract me a bit each time I heard it.

Love, love, love!

I do love cowboys. This is now one of my favorite audiobooks. It was so hot when K.c. Kelly talked in spanish :) Love, like water satisfied everything i love in a good book...two guys getting to know each other and falling in love, a little angst and pain and a happy ending.

Good story. Great narrator.

K. C. Kelly is a good narrator.
This is my second Speedwell book and I really liked them both.
Finding Zach was quite different than this one. I may like it better than Love, Like Water. But both are great.

A Great Story with Pitch-Perfect Narration!

What did you love best about Love, Like Water?

The narration. K.C. Kelly did an outstanding job with the southwest cowboy drawl.

What did you like best about this story?

That everyone, no matter how damaged, deserves love and happiness.

Have you listened to any of K. C. Kelly’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Regrettably, no.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The admission, by Joshua, about the pregnant girl's death.

Any additional comments?

Rowan Speedwell has crafted a nuanced and beautiful story.

GOOD ONE

I found that I enjoyed this story it have everything you need for a good story drama, action, a lead character that's going through hell from the things he had to do to survive undercover work. Good writing Speedwell

Extraordinary narrator make all the difference

Would you consider the audio edition of Love, Like Water to be better than the print version?

Yes, the audiobook is significantly better than the ebook/print version.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Love, Like Water?

Josh dancing in the waterfall for Eli.

What about K. C. Kelly’s performance did you like?

The absolutely perfect voice for cowboys. Sadly he mispronounced more than one very important word. For example, no self-respecting cowboy would ever pronounce rodeo as RO-DAY-OH. It's RO-DEE-OH, Mr. Kelly.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were too many to cite. Mr. Kelly made these characters, all of them, seem so real and relatable. Speedwell's description of the ranch made me feel as though I was there.

Any additional comments?

As someone who spent decades around horses, ranches, farms, and an occasional rodeo, I picked up some incorrect terms used by Ms. Speedwell. But those are niggles. It's not a perfect story, but the audio version narrated by KC Kelly is just not to be missed. Listening to this story was more like watching a movie than listening to a book. Highly recommended.