Stolen Kisses

A Grumpy-Sunshine Romance

By: Layla Hagen

Narrated by: Jason Clarke, Maxine Mitchell

Chase
I’m a no-nonsense man. As the head of a business empire, I have to be. I’m logical, cut-throat, and don’t believe in cheesy things like marriage and happy ever afters. But when my best friend asks me to be Best Man, I can't say no.

En route to the wedding, I get stuck at the airport when my flight is delayed, and this obnoxious woman sits next to me. Not only does she keep drinking champagne even though she obviously can’t hold her liquor, but she seems determined to push every single one of my buttons.

To my intense surprise, she turns out to be the bride’s sister and the Maid of Honor.

But that’s not a problem. I can behave for a weekend.

After all, my restraint and self-control are legendary in the business world. And I have absolutely no intention, whatsoever, of falling in love.

Hannah
I’m a romantic. Even though my divorcee heart is still bleeding, I’m happy for my sister. I’m determined to enjoy the weekend.

If only the Best Man wouldn't be so completely intolerable and unnervingly handsome at the same time.
One sensual dance and a stolen kiss later, I realize that there is more to Chase Sterling than the grumpy man I first met at the airport.

After the wedding, I’m certain I won’t see Chase again. I’ve got enough on my plate anyway, trying to save the inn I inherited from my grandmother. But when Chase shows up on my doorstep with a proposition I can’t turn down, things begin to get crazy. He wants me to work for him.

Will I manage to see this grump as my boss and forget all about our stolen kisses?

Time will tell. But judging by the seductive smile he gives me as he welcomes me in, I think not...

©2025 Layla Hagen (P)2025 Layla Hagen

An entertaining grumpy-sunshine romance!

Author Layla Hagen is very talented at making contemporary romance tropes realistic, entertaining, humorous, steamy, and easy to read. With Stolen Kisses, we get a grumpy hero who doesn't believe in love and a sunny romantic heroine who is trying to keep her family's rundown inn afloat. Their meet cute started out rocky at a wedding, but that didn't prevent them from working together at his family-run brokerage. All that proximity and corporate brain flexing made them irresistible to each other IMO.

I especially enjoyed the little bit of corporate intrigue twist that was thrown in as a bonus near the end of their falling in love journey. Our hero has lots of brothers. Who will fall next? 🤔 I'm definitely on board and looking forward to discovering the answer to my question.

Format collected: Audible audiobook
Series: book 1 of many anticipated
Narrators: Jason Clarke and Maxine Mitchell
Listening Speed: 1.5x
Ratings
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 stars
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance: Jason Clarke (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars!) & Maxine Mitchell (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️stars!) - I've been a longtime fan of Jason's narrating style, and he delivered another excellent performance for both male and female characters.👏🏽Initially, I wasn't a fan of Maxine's narrating style when I first listened to her narrate a novel by Aly Martinez many years ago. In desperation, I bumped up my listening speed and was able to appreciate her vocal acting choices much better. Her natural speed drags too much for my ears, so it was a huge relief to discover that changing the listening speed could make a huge difference. She's great at doing different character voices with distinct personality, and that's exactly what she did here with Stolen Kisses.👌🏽

Final thoughts: Grab this one if you enjoy the grumpy hero, sunny heroine trope in contemporary romances. You won't be disappointed.

Alpha Brute male anyone

I am falling in love already this is the first book in the series and I love these brothers number one the oldest brother who this is this book is an alpha Brute male that is just wants to take over and take care of you. so this is definitely my kind of book I love that he never wanted to have a relationship ever before which I know a lot of stories do but this one kind of fit the bill like his parents were divorced and it just kind of fit everything that was happening and even the way she met him It just fits so well and I love you know the chemistry the mail narrator did an awesome job playing this role. but I think the female narrator did even better now I don't want to douse the mail narrator but the female narrator chef's kiss because all the voices that she did from Grandma and her sisters and the kids and everything else she just is such a phenomenal performer and it just made this book all the better and I think the story stands on its own to be honest I you know it just highlighted it even more I recommend

Love it!

Chase and Hannah


Right from the start this book kept me interested. Chase and Hannah meet at the airport lounge he is brooding about his lost luggage and she finds him to be a rich starts with a and two ss after that. Then they go on their way til they meet at the same hotel and attending the same wedding. They both find themselves intrigued with each other. Then due to certain circumstances Hannah ends up working for Chase and his brothers. Love the relationship between the two of them. I also love the interaction between Chase and his brothers. I found this cute, sweet and funny.

New series

Chase and Hannah meet in the airport lounge when their flight is delayed. They don't have a good impression on each other with him being rude to people and she's understanding with the situation. When they land, they find out that they're in the same wedding party for her sister and his best friend. They have to work together to get the wedding preparations done. His brothers are there and play a trick to have them dance together which brings out their attraction to each other. Chase is a protective guy and wants to take care of her and Hannah wants to be independent. I like this book and I'm looking forward to the rest of the brothers' stories. I liked the narration, too.

Great start to a new series!

It is the first time I have picked up a book by this author. I primarily chose this book because Jason Clarke was narrating and he happens to be one of my favorite narrators! It was a great listen and the storyline was a great one. The author cleverly introduces all the Sterling brothers. Jason Clarke does an amazing job in personifying each of the brothers. The first book is about Chase Sterling, the oldest of all the brothers. He is a grumpy, no non-sense businessman, who does not believe in marriage. Cannot wait for book two in this series.

A little sappy

The performance was good and the story was ok. It was a little sappy for my taste, the characters, especially the brothers had potential but were a little underdeveloped.

Great story and narration

This is Chase and Hannah’s story and their meet cute was entertaining.

Shocked to find themselves at the same wedding the attraction between them sizzles. It seems that fate has plans for these two.

I really enjoyed the development of their relationship and the love that they found together.

The Sterling family had me laughing out loud on a number of occasions, I just love their dynamic. and that just added an additional layer to my enjoyment of the story.

I spent most of this book smiling and was disappointed when it ended. I cannot wait to read more in this new series.

The narration by Jason Clarke and Maxine Mitchell brought the characters to life for me. Their voices were easy to listen too and they brought all the passion, drama, romance and humour to their performances. They most certainly did justice to the wonderful characters and story Ms. Hagen wove.

Love on her terms

Chase is a grumpy workaholic and is continues to say he is not a relationship guy. But he hadn’t met Hannah the sunshine bridesmaid. These two are broken and they find Love in a headstrong woman. Layla writes very explosive books that suck you in and won’t let go.

Great start to a new series

Layla Hagen is the master of combining romance between rich alphas and strong heroines. With just the right amount of spice and 2 great narrators it’s the perfect way to start the Sterling brothers series.

Stolen Kisses

What a beautiful love story. Loved Jason and Maxine, they were great and brought characters to life. Two narrators that work so well together. 👏🏻👏🏻