Nothing Feels Better

Better Love, Book 3

By: Brit Benson

Narrated by: Kelli Tager, Noah B. Perez

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Jesse Hernandez has infiltrated my life.

The gorgeous, exciting man who hangs out next door.
Who happens to be younger than me.
And in college.
And heading to medical school in just a few short months.

It started innocently enough.
The occasional run-in.
A few chance encounters.
An offer to babysit.
An offer for…more.

But then, it snowballed.

Now, I only know two things for certain.
One, for the first time in my entire life, I’m not an afterthought.
And two, this will end very, very badly.

My kids. My job. His future.

It’s all at risk.

Jesse Hernandez has infiltrated my life, and if I’m not careful, we will all be in tatters when he leaves.

Nothing Feels Better is the third interconnected standalone in the Better Love series by Brit Benson.

This single-parent, opposites attract romance is sassy, sexy, and has a guaranteed HEA.
It is not necessary to listen to the other books in the Better Love series to enjoy Nothing Feels Better.

©2022 Brit Benson Books (P)2023 Brit Benson Books

Don't skip out on this! I absolutely loved it!

I thought this was a good book. I had the audio version of the book and I enjoyed it. The narrators Kelli Tager and Noah B Perez. I thought they did an excellent job narrating. I loved that they casted Noah to read the part of Jesse and they didn't use someone else. The only complaint was their kid voices were a bit annoying but I can look past that. The narrators themselves as adults were amazing voices.

Now, onto the book! First off, make sure you check your trigger warnings. In this book we have a single mom Jocelyn, who lived with her two kid, June and Jude, in a neighborhood filled with college kids. One night Jocelyn's son sneaks out of the house and ends up across the street where he meets Jesse Hernandez. Captain meatball as Jude liked to be called was not supposed to leave the house and was caught by his mom. Jesse was curious about Jude's mom and asked his friends who the the lady across the street was. They called her the "hot mom". Over the course of time Jesse ends up running into her a few time. The connection between them was almost instant and even when he met her kids too! He is such a positive person for Joss and her kids. I am not going to say to much more! But, you need to read this book!! You will smile, laugh and cry!!

I was provided and audio copy of this book for my honest review of this book.

Beautiful story with great narration

This is the first book I’ve read/listened to by Brit Benson. I really enjoyed her this book as it’s filled with love, laughter, hope and new beginnings. Jesse is a college senior with his dreams set on medical school….he’s following in his moms footsteps. He is so sweet, kind and has a heart of gold…he also knits! He is so good with Joss’s kids - June and Jude…he makes them laugh, shows them love and builds their confidence. Joss is a single mom of two amazing kids. She is a hard worker, determined and fiercely protective of those that she cares about. She’s dealing with a jerk of an ex but she is growing stronger and more determined each day. Jesse and Joss are two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together. Even though there is an age gap they have so much in common - love for others, career goals and an undeniable attraction for one another. This is such a wonderful story and I thoroughly enjoyed the narration by Noah B Perez and Kelli Tager. They are new to me narrators and I LOVED their performance. They gave the characters amazing personalities, emotion and depth. Noah’s voice for Jude may be my favorite. Highly recommend this book.

So so good!

It's no surprise that I'm obsessed with Brit Benson. Her books just have a way of sucking you in and literally pulling every single emotion from your body. I love her writing so so much and will forever shove her books at you unapologetically. (She's also amazing and shoving other books at me and I'm forever grateful for her)

Jesse Hernandez will forever be a top tier book boyfriend. I said what I said. Listen, we all go crazy for a single dad romance but a single MOM romance is so deeply under appreciated. Especially one where the MMC just swoops in and loves her kids like they deserve to be loves. I think I fell for Jesse within the first few chapters. He is just absolutely perfection.

And the narrators for this book were literally the perfect casting. Noah was the literal perfect person to cast for Jesse and I just love his voice so much. And Kelli was amazing. I just can't get over them.

If you're an audio girly, I HIGHLY recommend scooping up this audio ASAP! I loved it so much!

Highly Recommend

Nothing Feels Better is the third book in Better Love. I was so excited to see that Jesse had his own story. I loved Jesse when I read book one so it was so easy to fall into his story. I enjoyed the slow burn of Jesse and Jocelyn’s story. I love how Jesse was exactly what she and her children needed when things were rough. His relationship with her children was so pure and genuine from the beginning. I loved his nickname for the kids (J Squared). I thought it was cute how they kept running into each other and it’s what sparked the big push for their relationship.Jesse's friends treating Jocelyn and her children as if they had always been her friend too was one of my favorite things about this book.

I think a lot of mom’s who read this can definitely relate to Jocelyn's loss of who she was as a person when motherhood took over. I love how slowly she starts to find pieces of herself with Jesse’s encouragement. I thought her character growth was great, especially with all she has been through.

The audiobook was very well done. Noah B. Perez is a new to me narrator and I immediately after listening to this one looked him up to find more. I thought he was the perfect Jesse and that the swap between narrators from the first two was a really great decision. And Kelli has easily become one of my favorite narrators and I hope to listen to more of her work as well. I enjoy listening to her narrate books, she's easy to listen to.

I highly recommend this book and the other two in the series as well.

Love ❤️ it!!

Give me a new author to discover and love! This is my first Brit Benson novel and it will not be my last. Just the right amount of angst and romance, a bit of taboo and all around great story line. Joss is a single mother of two. Coming out of an abusive relationship, trying to make ends meet and survive her stalking ex does not have her looking for a relationship.She catches the eye of Jesse, a med student who is visiting her neighbors next door. And our story begins. Jesse is quite the man. He loves the kids, June and Jude, and understands this is just a summer fling. But why can he not get the three of them out of his mind? Joss is loving a man who sees her, has similar interests and loves her kids. What will happen when feelings get in the way of their no strings attached relationship? Will Joss's ex give her the chance to be happy? Will the kids be ok? Benson mixes all the things together, giving all the feels and I loved it! These two had a chemistry that was pure and truly made the love come through. The kids are a blast, their banter exactly as I remember mine. This is a fun listen.

Noah B Perez and Kelli Tager give an incredible performance bringing all the characters alive. Their voice compliment each other, and fit the characters personalities. Tager's children voices are spot on! It's a fantastic listen and one that you will enjoy.

Everyone Needs to Meet Jesse & Joss

This is the third story in the Better Love series and it stands alone if you’re starting here. But if you read in order you will have such a deeper love of the people in Jesse’s life and what they went through to get where they are now.

I don’t know how to write a review without just gushing “OMG I loved it” over and over again.

Jesse is just as quirky and compassionate as he was in the first 2 books but to the next level now that his life is the focus. He’s just so instinctually caring. He doesn’t know how to take care of kids, so he learns because he wants to be part of Joss’s life and because June & Jude deserve love too. Be still my heart!

Joss has been through hell with her ex and is doing everything in her power to be the best mom she can, but she also wants to be real, to have her own life along side her children. Jesse works his way into her orbit and she doesn’t know how to deal with that.

Jude is 4, obsessed with pirates, full of energy and enthusiasm and completely adorable!
June is 8, observant and withdrawn. She tries to be invisible but is so full of wisdom in her little body.

These characters just grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I didn’t want to stop reading. And Brit’s writing was so gripping that I was full on crying multiple times because it was all so full and real and heartbreaking and heart mending.

All the things that I loved about this book (when I read the eBook last year) still hold true and I loved it even more this time around with the narration by Kelli Tager and Noah B. Perez. They both made me feel the book in a way reading with my eyes didn't.

Kelli made my skin crawl with the performance of Joss's ex-husband and she made me so freaking proud when Joss stands up for herself choosing to live life for her and her kids after all that she went through to get there. Joss is torn at times between the life she wants to lead and the reality she is forced to deal with. That inner battle was well written and well played.

Noah made me laugh with Jesse's goofball nature, made me over heat with the way Jesse makes Joss aware of her effect on him and also cry with Jesse's back story as well as the heartache through the conflict in the 3rd act.

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

Perfection

I had previously read this book and will post my review of the story below. I recently listened to it in the audio format and the narrators totally embodied the characters. They were a perfect match and they slayed this performance.

I needed this book. After reading the first two stories in the series, we get Jesse's story. And I never truly appreciated him the way that I should have until this story. He is everything. Sexy, hilarious, unique and so witty. He is loyal to his friends and family but most of all to himself. His background was a total surprise and I love him even more for overcoming it. He has nicknames for everyone (multiple ones even) and I cracked up every single time.
Jocelyn is raising her 2 kids next door to Jesse's friends and they happen to meet one night. Let me first say I don't think that I have read too many single parent romances where there are multiple children vs an only child. And J squared (June and Jude) STOLE my heart. These kids are written so perfectly in imperfect times. I also want to find my own emotional support pirate.
Joss really grew over the course of this book for me and loved watching her come out of her cocoon and discover herself. She is a reminder of all the struggles that victims of DV have every day.
I cried. Hard. When a book moves me to tears multiple times and has me waking up at 4am to read it... that is a definitely 5 star for me. It's so rare to find that kind of book that captures my attention and I can't put the book down these days. I was in the most horrible reading slump and this was just what I needed. Brit Benson is a gift to all of us. Her stories and characters give me life.

Jesse is everything

I love single parent romances and this one did not disappoint one bit. Jesse is definitely the book boyfriend we all want to have. The way he is with Jocelyn and the kids, it was effortless. The patience he had when dealing with them. I will definitely be going back and reading the others in the series. I got it in audio and the narrators really brought the characters to life. Really enjoyed it.

Jesse and Jocelyn are book couple goals! One of my new Favorites

Nothing feels better by Brit Benson is now one of my favorite books, everytime I read one of her books I think it can’t top the last but of course she proves me wrong. This is a single parent romance,that will captivate you from the first page. Brit’s writing style is phenomenal and her world building is amazing! Brit is the queen of emotional angst! I love this friend group and they’re found family in this book series. One minute you would be laughing and then next you would be crying. This was narrated by Kelli Tager and Noah B Perez, they did an amazing job bringing Jesse and Jocelyn to life! I’ve listened to Kelli do the other books in this series for brit and she always knocks it out of the park, but Noah was a first for me and it’s definitely not going to be my last, we was the perfect Jesse! Jesse is now up there in my top 5 book boyfriends. I definitely recommend y’all go pick up this audiobook, cause it just enhanced this story so much more!

Narrators were perfect for this amazing story and these characters!

Below is my original review that still stands from my 'eyeball' read. But re-reading through this audio experience was DEVINE! Noah and Kelli as Jesse and Joss were so damn good. They conveyed these characters and their story together perfectly. Must listen!!!

Brit Benson may be a newer author but I swear she writes like a seasoned pro. Benson's writing chops glow in Nothing Feels Better where once again she has created an incredibly well written balanced story that ticks off all the boxes in an attention worthy romance!

Jocelyn as a single mother clawing her way to a sense of self and freedom from her awful ex just breaks my heart fully. She's an extraordinary woman that deserves nothing but the best in life. Her story is so relatable to all of us moms out there who struggle to take time to love ourselves again after having children. Her internal dialogue gave me chills at times, and makes me want to have a good cry to let it all out. And our man Jesse. JESSE! His story with Joss far surpassed my expectations since jonesing for his time in the spotlight after meeting him in Ivy and Kelley's book. I have a huuuuuuge crush on this man. His struggles to overcome his own traumatic past are deeply moving. But this man is such a GOOD man. Move over bad boys of romance—Jesse Hernandez's good guy swagger WILL compete with the best of you for best book boyfriend around!

Nothing Feels Better is sometimes painful, sometimes hilarious, sometimes (VERY!) sexy, and always emotionally astute and touching. A true #mustread, over 5 ‘Classic’ stars here!