Simmer

By: Stephanie Rose

Narrated by: Inés del Castillo, Joseph Discher

Simmer (verb): to stew gently below or just at the boiling point; to be in a state of incipient development

My life was always at a simmer… only stewing, never going anywhere. I was left to fend for myself when it came to affection or love, so I learned to go without.

I refused to let them see how broken and lonely I was; it was much easier to hide behind a false reality. I didn't want anyone's pity. I didn't need it. Pity wouldn't put food on the table or keep a roof over our heads. That was all me.

Now, I have a second chance at a dream long forgotten. It demands hard work and sacrifice - with absolutely no distractions. A recipe I already know all too well, raising a daughter on my own.

Drew Kostas is everything I’ve ever wanted but couldn't let myself have. He’s younger, gorgeous, charming - and relentless. He sees beyond the hardened shell I’ve built to protect myself, coaxing out a softer me I don't recognize. It doesn't matter how I melt in his presence when the heat between us threatens to boil over.

That's the thing about heat. When it rises, everyone gets burned.

Especially when they're foolish enough to fall in love.

©2018 Stephanie Rose (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Beautiful & unmissable slow-burn! 5⭐️!

Oh my god, Stephanie Rose! This audiobook has turned me into a complete puddle of swoon! I’d tell you to stop it, but I loved every single moment of it.

Simmer is the perfect slow-burn romance. Emotional, raw, and filled with such intensely real feelings, this is the one story that slowly consumes you and doesn’t let go. The delicious sexual tension between Drew and Sara is only paralleled by their intense chemistry and beautiful love. I cheered for this couple, I ached with them, and I shared in their happiness.

This book is basically perfection! Stephanie Rose dazzles with her gorgeous storytelling and ability to turn a character into a person you feel like you know in real life. Emotional, raw, and beautiful are only a few ways to describe this incredible must read book. And if you haven’t read or listened to Rewrite go back and do it because everyone needs more Stephanie Rose in their lives.

Narration for this book was stellar! Both narrators were new to me, but absolutely blew me away with their performances. Inés del Castillo was the perfect Sara by beautifully bringing out her vulnerable side while initially maintaining her gruff exterior. Joseph Discher was delicious. No seriously, listen to that voice speaking as Drew and tell me you don’t want to eat it up with a spoon! The swoon factor is strong with this one! Both narrators do superb work of magnifying all the emotions and making this emotionally stirring, sexy, and beautiful romance unmissable.5 Stars.

Top 10 of my listening year

There is something about this story that wrapped around my heart and made me fall in love completely. This is Sara's story and the journey she takes to find the best of herself. Stephanie Rose has delectably concocted a mixture of subgenres. Her ability to combine second chances, single moms, college and taboo romance all into one simmering story is beyond delicious.Sara had a one night stand, ending up with the joy of her life, her daughter Victoria. When Josh, Victoria's father comes unexpectedly in the picture, Sara's whole world is turned upside down. When she comes to terms with Josh being part of Victoria's life, she is given the opportunity to go back to college to finish her degree and have her daughter stay with Josh. As a 32 year old single mom, going back to school is daunting, but the handsome grad student, Drew Kostas is there to make the days brighter. This story is about self awareness, growth, learning to trust in love and yourself and knowing you have worth and are able to be loved.Sara's path is one we all can relate to, wondering if the choices she is making are the right ones, will they result in the success she is looking for? Can the man that is younger than her really be the one? Should she open her heart and trust in her feelings? What will the future bring when school is over? Drew is a man who can see his future clearly, knows himself and his emotions. I love his secure way of loving Sara, so warm and understanding. Their road together will make you smile, tear and love from beginning to end. It's a book you will want to listen to again and again and each time fall a little deeper in love.

Picking a narrator is not an easy task, and the combination of Ines del Castillo and Joseph Discher is spot on for this book. Castillo's performance, with her New York accent, gives Sara that edgy sound, and she portrays the emotional turmoil as well as the happiness Sara feels. Joseph Discher has a warm, smooth as silk voice, the perfect sound to keep Sara's character calm and on track for their relationship. He really is Drew in this story and it could not have been cast better.

good

the narrator has a good NY accent. I didn't care for Sara too much I thought her a downer in life who made her own hurdles . Drew was good for Sara

Loved it❤️

This is my first book by Stephanie Rose and I am hooked oh yes I am! Loved this story first of all her determination to rise even when her own family turn their back on her, the struggle to survive and with a child, but what I loved the most is that love is possible even when looks impossible, the fact that he’s younger that her is even better! With Drama enough and the characters that complement at perfection the whole story made this book fantastic!

Her Best Work

This story is not only relatable, it's relevant. Strong women are few and far between in romance these days. In a world where alpha males rule, Stephanie takes her leading lady and creates, not only a true and raw world, she gives her redemption without stripping away the strength that makes her unique. Sara saves herself like always, but in the end, her growth as a character is forged together with Drew, not because she needs him, but because she wants him.

This book shouts to my inner feminist. Stephanie has out done herself. Every word, every detail has heart, and needs to be read.

Brave, independent and admirable

This audible book was a gift for a fair and honest review, thank you Stephanie Rose, and Audiobook Addiction.
My first thought of Sarah was pity.
0. For what her parents did.
0. For missing out on her sisters life
0. For being a single parent with no assistance.
Then as I listened it turned into admiration.
0. Leaving her daughter with virtual strangers
0. Going to school to achieve a goal.
0. Thinking of Drew’s welfare over her own.
My final thoughts were happiness, she achieved her goal, got Drew, and finally had a family.

Great Read

Simmer was a great read by Stephanie Rose. I really loved reading Sara and Drew's story. Drew is seven years younger than Sara and that has been something that made Sara rethink their relationship. Sara will do anything for her daughter Victoria, even putting her love life to the side. I can't wait to read more by Stephanie Rose.

❤️‍🔥Simmer is a slow burn with a sudden boil!

Stephanie Rose's Simmer is sad, and sweet, and in the end so very uplifting.

Sarah is kicked out of her parents home very young when she's expecting because they're so very disappointed in her behavior. In that moment Sarah promises to give her daughter the love her parents never gave her when she was growing up.

When Sarah is given an opportunity to go back to culinary school with the help of her daughter's father and stepmother, she really has no choice. She's been working two or three jobs and still not sometimes making rent, but she's still feeling so angry and hurt towards herself and Josh that he's been able to give Victoria everything while she's still struggling, that she enters school determined just to get through - no distractions, no hindrances, but life never counts for reality.

Drew falls for Sarah as soon as he sees her when bumps into her in the dorms when she moves in her first day. Sarah is at a loss for words, and then decides to be as grouchy as possible to push him off. I absolutely adored him, his sweetness, his determination to show Sarah that she was worth the love she didn't believe she deserved.

Stephanie Rose's ability to take the damage that one person has been dealt their whole lives, and hold it up to the mirror of someone else's life. I swear I cried more for this book than I have in a while, the feelings I had for Sarah and her pain were just so strong.

Simmer is a beautiful book filled with love, grief and healing, and deserves every star I can give it, which unfortunately is only five. Stephanie Rose deserves so many more here, her ability to crack my heart open and seal it tightly by the end is just breathtaking.

So cute!!

Simmer is a perfect name for this book! the slow burn that is Drew and Sara’s love story is an awesome listen! I loved Drew and Sara! Drew had a very hard shell to crack with Sara and he did it with complete ease and super swoon worthy sweet/alpha way! Sara went through so much growing up I didn’t think she would recover from it, and I am so glad she did.
This was my first time listening to Ines del Castillo and Joseph Discher and they did a fantastic job!

Really enjoyed this one!

Standalone spin-off of Rewrite
4.25 Stars
Silly me! For some reason I I didn’t realize or remember that I had met some of the characters in Simmer by Stephanie Rose already in the previous book, Rewrite. Since they are not marked as connected anywhere it never occurred to me, even though I felt like there was something very familiar a few times. That being said, I never thought it, because it never seemed like I missed anything. Previous events were described well in Simmer.

Sara, the female protagonist, is a single mom who has worked her butt off all alone with no family to help her. She has scrimped and saved every penny to give her adorable daughter as good of a life as she could.

In Rewrite, Sara played the part of the nasty baby momma when her one-night-stand wanted to be part of her daughter’s life with his new wife. In Simmer, we get to see Sara’s point of view. Since I didn’t remember that it was a previous character, perhaps it made it easy for me to forgive her; because she knows exactly how horrible she was and is totally ashamed. But I get it. She was all alone working so hard for her daughter for 8 years, now new people want to just swoop in after all she has struggled.

In Simmer, Sara as on much better terms with Josh and Brianna. Her daughter, Victoria, has a beautiful room there, and Sara has an opportunity to finish her chef degree so she can finally get a good job. The only problem is the school is in Boston and kids aren’t allowed in the dorms. Sara decides to do what is best for her and her daughter, and leave Victoria with her dad in NY while she completes her last year of school hours away.

Sara was all about missing her daughter and getting her work done. She tried to avoid the social stuff, and at 32, she was one of the oldest students. But that didn’t stop Drew, who is 7 years younger, from being very interested.

"Whatever life did to her made that smile hard to come by. It was the second time I’d seen it, but I knew it was as rare as it was beautiful—like a shooting star."

Sara made it very clear that she was not there for romance and had no room in her life for it, so she and Drew became just friends.
You are the best friend I’ve had in, maybe ever. I still don’t know why you waste your time,” she choked out a laugh. “But I’m so thankful you do.”
“I’m not wasting my time. It’s not a waste if I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Sara never grew up with love. Her parents disowned her when she was pregnant. She had a really low opinion of herself and didn’t understand why 25-year-old Drew was wasting his time with her and her baggage.

"You didn’t ruin my night. You were the highlight of my day.”

As the friendship morphed into more, I loved it more and more. The slow simmer of their relationship was great. I love how their love grew as her relationship with Brianna and Josh grew as well.

”You were never worthless. You’re worth everything to me.”

Likes:
•It’s a story of redemption.
•I love a single mom story.
•Older woman, younger man.
•How nice Brianna and Josh were despite Sara’s bad behavior.
•Victoria was totally adorable.
•Josh was completely swoony.

Dislikes:
•She fought him too hard. Let him make his own decisions!
•I never totally fell for Sara. She was still prickly and called women she didn’t know names out of jealousy. She mostly won me over, but there was a little that still held me back.
•Drew was a little bit too perfect.
•Needs a real audiobook cover.

The Narration:
I loved the narration. I’m not sure if these are pseudonyms because they both sounded familiar, but I have nothing I have read from either narrator. Inés del Castillo differentiated between voices beautifully and I loved the New York accent. Joseph Discher was a tiny bit mechanical sounding but I still liked him, he sounded great for the age he played.

The Down & Dirty:
Even though Simmer has characters from a previous book, it can very easily stand alone. I read Rewrite and it didn’t hit me that they were related until the very end. I enjoyed the fact that this was a character that acted badly, really badly, but is working hard to make up for it. I liked that a big barrier wasn’t so much age as it was their lives and careers. 7 years is a big age gap, especially when the woman is older, but it was never shoved in your face. They made a great couple, and I love that the title Simmer is a great name both for the chef and the slow-burn romance.


Rating: 4.25 Stars, 4 Heat, 4.5 Narration