Never Say Never

The Ladies Who Brunch, Book 1

De: Harlow James

Narrado por: Teddy Hamilton, Samantha Brentmoor

“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”

When those words left the lips of Damien Shaw, my childhood nemesis, I should have told him to kick rocks right then and there.

But sadly, his scheme to impress his boss left me with something to gain from it too—getting my meddling mother, who was obsessed with my love life, off my back just in time for my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary celebration in Hawaii.

You see, Damien and I grew up together, but we weren’t friends. No—we were rivals.

And when we both moved out to California to go to different colleges, we promised never to think of each other again.

It had been twelve years since we had been face to face, but when he kept popping up everywhere, I should have known that trouble would follow.

And sure enough, during a lunch with my parents he told them we were dating.

I was hellbent on exposing him, but then my mother’s reaction made it hard to say no. So, I ended up fake dating my enemy while trying desperately not to fall for him.

My gut told me to keep my distance. But my heart? That bastard was falling for the man with every sweet gesture he made and every orgasm he gave me.

But when the reason for our rivalry and our fake relationship comes to light, everyone and everything explodes, leaving one hell of a mess to clean up.

I never thought I’d fall for Damien Shaw. I never thought my enemy could force me to figure out my life. But you know what they say—never say never.

TW: Toxic parental relationships

©2022 Harlow James (P)2023 Harlow James

4.5 Stunning Story Stars!

Audiobook and Book Review

🩷 Rivals to lovers
💛 Fake dating
🩷 Swingers??
💛 Parental pressure
🩷 Dove chocolates

Story: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you HCB!

It took me a bit to get into this book, but the further I read, the more I found myself enjoying the story and falling for the characters. I loved the realness of the topics that were discussed. Being a woman is hard. There are so many expectations that we have to deal with, and this story covered pretty much all of them. Expectation to be married? Check. Women shouldn’t focus on their careers? Check. Male chauvinism? Check. Maternal pressure? Check. Zero knowledge of periods? Ha. Check.

The way that Harlow James wrote and discussed each of these issues, and more, made this story so extremely relatable. I love that. I connected with that. At times it was downright hilarious, given the gravity of what we as women face each day. The feminine products conversation between Damien and Jeffrey had me literally laughing out loud. Men are so freaking clueless when it comes to women’s health. I love that this book adds levity to this issue.

At the beginning of the story I thought that Damien was SUCH a jerk! Ugh, typical male. As the story goes on he became such a wonderful character that I found myself smiling over. His humor and thoughtfulness, plus his want to learn about females made him so endearing. Not to mention his bedroom antics were *chef’s kiss!* Gah. Could he actually be any sweeter AND shmexier?!

I really liked Charlotte. It took her a very long time to stick up for herself in someways, but I can understand why. As women we’re programmed to be people pleasers and to hold in what we actually feel. I’m glad that Charlotte ‘was too much’ and stood up for herself and women in general. I get why she waffled over Damien. They were freaking rivals for twelve years! I would feel that way too. I adored the two of them together and how they grew close over their fake relationship.

Samantha Brentmoor is awe-inspiring and can do anything. And if she ever thinks she can’t, whether because of being female or being human, I’d like to dispel those thoughts. And here’s how. I’d be her ‘Conscience Ninja’ and karate chop those thoughts straight out of her brilliantly skilled mind. Is that weird? Yeah. Do I take it back? Nope (I popped the P on that, in case you were wondering). S.B. Narration= Effing Awesomeness.

Teddy Hamilton is (hold while I look up several synonyms for amazing…) *ahem* astonishing, breathtaking, marvelous, thrilling, stupefying, phenomenal, stupendous, remarkable, and amazeballs. (Yes, that last one was listed too 😆). He really is all of those things and more. I love how he brought out all of Damien’s sides: cocky, funny, shmexy, serious, domineering, and loving sides. When he narrates any sentence with F*** in it? 🫠🫠 T.H. Narration= Pure Gold.

🍫 "If you can't get someone off your mind, maybe they're supposed to be there. Remember: the mind can recognize what the heart is trying to deny."
🍫 “Sorry, Charlotte. The only time I c*me second is after the woman I’m with c*mes first.”
🍫 “Don’t settle for a spark. Light a fire instead.”
🍫 “You trusting me is such a f***ing turn-on.”
🍫 “F***, Charlotte. You feel incredible.”

What you think you know, can always be proven wrong

Overall this was a good book and the narrators top notch. I was surprised to find myself actually getting a little sick of the open door sex scenes and I was wondering if that was ALL the book was going to be about. The author kept presenting the characters as having difficult childhood experiences with their parents yet nothing deeper was happening with that.

Then, as the title of my review says, what you think you know can always be proven wrong because...

Finally the book moved into some of the deeper issues, touching on Mysogeny, Domestic Violence and Body Shaming. One quote, toward the end will stick with me (I think I have it pretty close) "After trauma, there can be Love and Acceptance."

There was considerable humor, especially in the beginning and the Tampon scenario had me in stitches.

Teddy Hamilton/Andrew Eiden and Ms. Brentmoor were excellent as always.

I loved it.

What a great audiobook. Great writing and great narrating that’s the perfect combination. Thanks for the book

5 stars

I listened to an audio ALC of this one and it was amazing. Performed in dual narration by Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor. They were perfect as Damien and Charlotte. They both captured the characters voices so well. They killed it with this performance!

This book was compared to Sex in the City and How to Lose A Guy In 10 days, which I both love. I devoured the audiobook in 3 days. There's fake dating, flirty banter, spice and a wonderful group of friends, which are Charlotte's best friends. I loved Charlotte's best friends they were so relatable, funny and very supportive.

I loved Damien and Charlotte together. Even though their relationship started out fake it became more real and natural as if they were dating since the beginning. They had undeniable chemistry. Damien made me swoon so many times. The care and thoughtfulness he had towards Charlotte. Truly noteworthy. I've highlighted so many stuff that he did or said. I just adore them so much.

The story also deals with toxic parental relationships. I thought it was portrayed realistically and didn't overshadow the main conflict.

Love this series!

Never Say Never audio

5 star listen!!

Dual POV/ dual narrators
Enemies to lovers
Fake dating
Strong FMC


Narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor, both of whom I love as narrators.

Never Say Never was funny, steamy, full of hilarious banter, great characters and just overall a really entertaining read.

Charlotte and Damien were childhood rivals who vowed to not even think of eachother once they left for college, but a chance run-in 12 years later might be exactly what needed to happen to solve the current problems they’re both dealing with.

I love that Charlotte was a strong, driven, independent woman, who surrounded herself with the same type of women (and I can’t wait for all of their stories!) and didn’t let men push her around. Damien had me hardcore swooning from the very beginning. Those steamy scenes had me MELTING. I listened to a good portion of this in my car and I found myself driving with a smile on my face, tears down my cheeks and feeling very squirmy in my seat multiple times.

I have come to love Harlow James’ writing and am eager to read the next books from this series and anything else she writes!

Never Say Never is a MUST listen!!

Never Say Never was the story that made me fall in love with Harlow James’s books. It’s been awhile since I’ve read it and was wanting to do a reread so I was ecstatic to find out an audiobook was coming! It’s not only a childhood enemies and fake dating to lovers romance, but also a story of the importance of female friendship, the effects of parental relationship and female empowerment. The audiobook was an amazing way to bring the book to life. Teddy Hamilton is wonderful as always. The one thing I did not care for was the females voice when she did male characters but I think that was just a personal opinion. Overall, a must listen!!!

Childhood Enemies to Fake Dating to Lovers...

Book 1 of a series that I was super excited to dive into. It totally delivered and I can't wait to devour the rest of them.

Charlotte and Damien were rivals as kids, everything was a competition to see who was better, smarter, going to bigger and better places, and now as adults, they come together for fairly selfish reasons. An I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine situation of fake dating. Damien opens his big mouth and lies to his boss and now needs a girlfriend so he can get ahead at work so when he crosses paths with Charlotte 12 years after they swore to never see each other again... AND!!! It turns out she needs a fake boyfriend just as much as he does so she can get some breathing room from her busybody mother (Charlotte really needs to learn how to set boundaries and Damien helps with that).

They both come out the other side perfectly matched for each other, healing old wounds, finding new footing towards healthier emotional futures and very very much in love. And even when they are happy together (before the shoe drop and after) the banter and one-up-manship is top tier. The tension that simmers under the surface of enemies to lovers was 100% present with this pairing and I was completely there for it.

I loved their journey!! I kind of disliked Damien when I met him in his first POV chapter, but as they spent time together, he grew on me. He stood up for Charlotte, took care of her (in more than just the bedroom... *wink*) and in the end he was a very different guy than first impressions. Charlotte needed someone in her corner (other than her amazing friend group) and Damien became 100% team Charlotte and went out of his way to learn what she needed from her person because he wanted to be that person... and my heart went squish!!!!

The audiobook was performed by Samantha Brentmoor and Teddy Hamilton. These 2 are amazing talents that I will never say no to listening to. They both bring so much emotion and range to the performances. They made me laugh and made me rage on their behalf, they made me talk back to the book (which is both the power of the performance and of the story they brought to life). In the end I found myself crying listening to a demonstration of the growth of these characters... I loved every moment.

I requested and was provided with an advanced copy of the audiobook. These are my honest opinions.

I want to go to brunch!

Well I am never saying never after this fabulous start to the Ladies Who Brunch series. Harlow James has hooked me in and now I just need to keep listening to these fabulous characters! This book features Damien and Charlotte, rivals for their entire childhood now meet after Charlotte tells Damien never to think of her again when she leaves for college. Now ten years later, the two cross paths again, and it's got all the makings of a true love disaster. Damien needs a fake girlfriend for work and Samantha needs a date to her cousin's wedding so her interfering mother will leave her alone. But will this agreement to help each other out ever be something that would would work after their tumultuous history? Packed with a lot of humor, incredible chemistry, and a passage to catastrophe, I was all in. Every scene in this book is exciting, as it builds their relationship, shines light on the past and creates a wonderful couple. Plus, we got to go to Hawaii!! How could I go wrong! I loved this story, and cannot wait to dive into book 2.

How to make it better you ask? Add Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor in my ears in duet narration, that's how! Hamilton is amazing as Damien. A lot of confidence and ambition come out, along with a passion that only Hamilton can create. Brentmoor is fabulous as Charlotte. She is self assured in one breath and a little girl in the next, dealing with demons. This team could not have been better cast as these characters and I loved hearing them together.

Miscommunication

Charlotte and Damien were always in competition with each other in high school and there mother are best-friends. Years past both have successful careers. When Charlotte mom put her down on how she dress look and why she's not in a relationship. When she sees Damien in a restaurant where she having brunch with her girls. She avoid him. Damian need a fake girlfriend went his boss pass him off a project because he single. So when he sees Charlotte again he ask her to fake it especially because her parent are having an anniversary celebration and it will make her mom back off.
They meet up to find out how they saw each other there dislike and likes. The banter between these two was so good and the character growth between these two was very fascinating but to see them change into becoming reliable on each other they needed to have that shoulder to lean on and heart to share their lives

Charlotte and Damien!!

Ugh, I originally read this book when it was released and I absolutely loved the chance getting to reread it through audio. Samantha Brentmoor and Teddy Hamilton did an amazing job.