Stay

By: Riley Hart

Narrated by: Luke Itzvic

Wes Jensen just lost the sister who raised him, and gained custody of his niece. The last thing he needs to add to his full plate is dealing with Braden Roth, the one-night-stand who continues to try to push his way into Wes' life. He has a kid to raise now, and Wes isn't great at getting close anyway.

Braden has never had a woman or a man sneak out on him the morning after. From the start, Wes intrigues him, and Braden isn't one to deny himself something he wants. And he wants Wes. The more time he spends with Wes and the little girl who constantly keeps them on their toes, the more Braden realizes this isn't just about getting the guy who walked away.

As their lives intertwine more and more, Wes discovers Braden isn't as shallow as he thought. But after everything Wes lost in his life, he isn't sure he can risk his heart, and truly want Braden to stay - and if he did, would Wes' quiet life be enough for Braden?

©2014 Riley Hart (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Fantastic story.

This is definitely a book that sucked me in and I couldn't put down. Knowing Wes and Braden from the first book Collide makes it a story you want to read after you've read(listened) to the first one. Braden makes sure he is there for anything that Wes or Jessie need and eventually Wes realizes he really does need Braden and has fallen in love with him but he fears Braden just feels a duty to them. Braden realizes that he loves Wes and Jessie and its not just that he respects the way that Wes stepped up and had become a parent to his niece who lost her mother. They have become family and aren't quite sure how to make it known to each other; how much they mean to each other. HEA.

loved it!

endearing story with tons of heart and heat. performance was impeccable. black creek series is one of my faved

loved this book

this is my favorite book in the series so far. after listening to romance novels for the past 8 years you kind of know how it's going to end but I still hoped and cheered for Brayden. West was broken and didn't trust anybody to stay and Brayden as much as she didn't delve into it had just as many commitment issues. I love how they fixed each other!

Great sequel amazing narration

We met Wes and Braden in book one. Wes had tried for an anonymous hook up with Noah, but ended up with Braden in what was supposed to be a one night thing. Wes’ need for a human connection while his sister died. But Wes has this overdeveloped sense of protection towards his niece that won’t allow him to have someone in his life, like a lover. So he pushes Braden away, despite their mutual attraction.
It’s this constant push/pull that drove me nuts. On the one hand, I got why Wes did what he did. And Riley Hart does a great job of painting the picture of the dedicated but afraid of being hurt Wes and the playboy who has a heart of gold Braden. It’s hard to accept that Braden can change, but every single one of his actions proves that he can. Wes is just too stubborn to accept it.
These guys have intense chemistry and deep emotions running between them. Add in the other (now) secondary characters like Noah, Cooper, Mason and Gavin as well as Jessie, Wes’ niece, who is far too wise, but who all add so much to the story.
In the end, I think the emotional growth, the super hot chemistry and the overall love they share made up for a lot of my frustration, but the vast amount of inflexibility Wes showed for most of this book really impaired my ability to LOVE this and moved it to LIKE. I just think Wes didn’t do ENOUGH to win Braden’s affection and that bothered me more than I’d like.
3.5 of 5 stars
Audio
This is another example of how the right narrator can really elevate or destroy a book. In this case, Luke Itzvick is SO DANG GOOD that he really elevates this to an amazing listening experience, despite my trepidations with the storyline. He is so easy to listen to and so good with the emotion, depth and pacing, that I absolutely fell back in love with this story.
Highly recommended as a listening experience.
5 of 5 stars
Overall 4.25 of 5 stars

Amazing!

I loved how Braden gave Wes what he needed! He made sure to make Wes laugh and relax. Braden needed Wes and Jessie to make his settle and finally feel like he belonged somewhere. I can't wait for more!

Stay for the Ending

Well, after 7 hours the story comes to an explosive and incomplete halt, with no-ends tied up. Frustrating. The good news, there is another book in the series. But the writer's style comes into play here. I love how the story is continued from the first book. The characters remain as they were, and the story advances. Slowly. So slow, one wonders if it could have been told in two chapters. I don't want to give anything away, but don't blink while reading past this town, cause you will certainly miss that one traffic light and movie theater. I guess I better start the third book before it all goes away.

Loved the story and narration

Any additional comments?

I love it when a sophomore story in a series winds up even better than the first!

What can I say? This just did it for me. This was a great story, with great audio, and a terrific way to get my mind off a stressful situation.

I loved watching Wes grow up (metaphorically), deal with the loss of his sister, be needed by his niece, and seeing him fall in love with Braden.

*sighs* Braden. I just loved this fun-loving, free-spirited character. His attitude, his humor, his ability to get Wes to open up. I loved it all.

But mostly I loved the narration. Luke Itzvic brings the story to life with excellent character voices, steady pacing, wonderful emoting, and a clear sense of who these men are.

The story is fantastic with lots of heartwarming moments, plenty of passion, a dash of angst, and thankfully no melodrama, but the star once again is Itzvic's narration.

I loved the story and the narration, and can easily recommend picking up Stay along with the first story, Collide.

Best of the series!

Where does Stay rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've listened to so many audiobooks, I can't really say that it's my favorite but I really enjoyed this story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Stay?

When Wes and Brayden finally told each other that they loved the other.

What does Luke Itzvic bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He voiced Wes and Brayden perfectly.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I listened to this in one day while on a long drive.

Any additional comments?

I would love to read more about Wes and Brayden.

Possibly my fav in the series

Love these two together! Such a cute story about how they became a family. Beautiful.

Absolutely phenomenal

This book was just as good if not better than the first of the series. The emotional themes in this book were much more mature and hit much harder. I was in tears multiple times at how beautiful a complicated love story can be. Loved it. A must read!