Waylaid

By: Sarina Bowen

Narrated by: Callie Dalton, Zachary Webber

It’s a tale as old as time: The bad boy meets the good girl. He makes a daring proposition. Then the boy gets a mysterious head injury and loses a year of his life....

The first time I meet Rickie, I don’t know what to make of him. The second time we meet, he doesn’t remember the six hours we spent together. Or standing me up afterward.

I’m not the same, either. I’ve got secrets. I’ve told lies. Bad boys aren’t my type, anyway. Even the ones with troubled gray eyes.

But now we’re roommates. Cue the awkward moments in the hallway when he’s wearing only a towel and a smile. He’s determined to win me over, and his talented hands weaken my resolve.

It’s all fun and games until my past rears its ugly head and his secrets come to light, shaking our fragile connection, maybe even breaking it....

Note: This is Daphne Shipley's story. Contents include Vermont-y ice cream flavors, nerdy awkwardness, tattoos, and a playboy grandpa.

©2021 Sarina Bowen (P)2021 Sarina Bowen

Powerful Romance!

“We are all trying to survive our pasts, so we can live with ourselves in the present.”

This story absolutely stole my heart and I loved every minute of listening to it. I am a huge fan of the True North series, every book makes me want to pack my bags and head to the farm in Vermont with the whole Shipley family. The heart of this storyline was so much deeper than I expected with both Daphne and Rickie experiencing some truly tragic and painful moments in their past but my heart was invested and so in love with this story. Even with the tough subject matter this story had me laughing and smiling and genuinely falling in love through their sexy banter and journey to friendship and so much more.

“Maybe I don't need a reason to kiss a bad boy in the starlight. It's such a relief to sink into his touch. And to stop thinking so hard.”

Daphne is so hard on herself, she is part of this big tight knit family but doesn’t feel like she can open herself up to them anymore. Family played a big role in this story and the Shipley’s truly are so open and loving, and Daphne’s journey to forgiving herself and letting them back in had me a little misty eyed.

And Rickie, he is the biggest sweetheart, he is flirtatious and funny and just an all around great guy. I LOVED him for Daphne, the two of them together just felt right, he was the laughter and light that she needed in her life. But my empathetic heart hurt so much for Rickie and all his struggles to get his memory back, I wanted to wrap him in my arms for a hug! There was the perfect amount of heat, laughter and moments of overcoming tragedy that truly made this a great listen for me!

Loved this book.

Read the whole series and each one got better I only wish there were more. I fell in love with the family

One of my favorites

Sarina Bowen has a knack for creating warm hearted people who are on a journey. She also has created a world around anVermont farming family called the Shipley’s. Each Shipley sibling has their own novel. But this one is a favorite because it is also a mystery. Or maybe a very laid back thriller. There is a villain who has to be uncovered and then battled. But the journey for the two lovers is described with smart psychological insight ( one of them has part of their story I played out via dialogue with a good therapist). I like it when the author actually knows something about human psychology. This makes their story telling fascinating and easier to escape into. Smart character development and insight into the human condition, or even in this case human neurology of trauma I’ve read this book three times and will read it again and again. Very good narration especially the guy.

Awesome storytelling and inspired narration performance by Zachary Webber!

I loved Rickie and Daphne’s story because of his overall swoon factor and the tender heart that she hides behind her prickly and aloof exterior. Daphne hasn’t been a favorite character so far in the series but Rickie’s poignant unraveling of her defenses, his outrageous flirtation, and the exploration of their common inner demons made me fall in love with this couple. Add the magical ambience of the Shipley family farm, this couple’s sizzling passion, and the poignant and suspenseful storyline and I was hooked from the start. I loved Rickie’s relationship with his therapist Lenore and the author’s realistic and sympathetic PTSD storyline which was beautifully written. There’s also plenty of sexy banter, affectionate ribbing, and best buddy smack talk between Rickie and his best friend and Daphne’s twin Dylan. The endlessly entertaining and insightful narration performance of Zachary Webber elevated the magic of this story because he adeptly embodies Rickie’s irreverent sense of humor while his interpretation of irascible Grandpa Shipley made me howl, and the revelations of his inner turmoil due to his memory loss were deeply moving. I’m not a fan of Callie Dalton’s uninspired performance so I sped up her parts but I still recommend the audiobook because of Zachary’s inspired performance.

Rickie and Daphne!

When Rickie laid eyes on Daphne Shipley, he felt two things: intense attraction and déjà-vu. She's his roommate's twin sister but he has this strange feeling they've met before. Well, they have. The thing is (unbeknownst to his friends) he had a brain injury before transferring to Moo U and he has lost 6 months of memories.

As for Daphne, she's never known what to make of Rickie: the first time they met was through a ride-share where he drove her back and forth from Connecticut to Vermont. She thought they had really hit it off and accepted his invitation to dinner and a party (and other things) - but he never showed up and never answered her texts. Now, he seems to pretend he's never seen her before!

Told through dual POV, with a few flash back chapters in 3rd person, the story lets you piece together how they met and what actually happened. Even with the weird misunderstanding, Daphne can't resist the cheeky, sassy and endearing Rickie.

We met Daphne in book 1, she had really turned into a brat by book 3 and now she's finally grown up. Rickie was a very prominent side character in Heartland and I fell in love with him in that book. (This is definitely a standalone, but you have so much more fun if you have read the other books in the series).

There is the obvious mystery of what happened to Rickie during those 6 months and why he has no memory whatsoever of those days and Daphne is also dealing with secrets of her own:no one in the family understands why she's transferring from her dream Ivy League school to a state school back home. So, there is this mystery element to the book that really makes you not want to put it down, especially since, as the small bits and pieces come together, you start to fear that these two were really really hurt.

There's a Shipley engagement and a wedding and a few other people in the Shipley family seem to have found a second chance at love. I hope Sarina keeps writing this series - we're out of Shipley's but there are Rossis! *nudge*

Narration: Callie Dalton brings the snarky, take no prisoners Daphne to life perfectly (as well as the other voices). There would be no better choice for the cocky Rickie than my super favorite Zachary Webber. (I should just have a "copy and paste-ready" paragraph to save me typing. Seriously. He rocks. And not only as Rickie! SO many voices!

Rep and Possible triggers: Rickie identifies as heteroromantic pansexual (but it's a blip in the screen and makes no difference in the story, imho). Amnesia, PTSD, mentions of vi0lent acts and rape (off page), FMC mentions shooting an animal

just gets better

love Daphnes story! love how it pertains to real life of everyday people.. you never know what's gonna happen but there are certain people that are supposed to be in your life!

nice conclusion

nice end to the True North series. Every love story was different and had its hardships but they came out stronger at the end.

Another great addition to the True North series

If you liked the other books in this series, you'll love Waylaid. Daphne and Ricky have a great connection that surprises you with its depth. You get to catch up with other members of the Shipley family. And as always, Bowen weaves in social issues seamlessly without being obvious about it. Really great portrayal of what therapy is like and what healing after trauma looks like. It's exactly what you've come to expect from Sarina Bowen.

Content warning: this story does deal with sexual assault so if that's triggering you might want to skip it.

The End

When I first saw this series I had my doubts about whether I would like it. I had my doubts I would even finish it. Overall I really liked it. I liked some of the books better than others, but I liked the series as a whole more than I anticipated. I may just try another Sarina Bowen series in the future.

Zachary Webber you can't go wrong!

This book was a book that you could figure out what happened at the very beginning. I simply love Zachary Webber, and will read anything that he narrates!! I could not wait until the end to come. Nine hours is a long time when you are just not into it!! The female voice was absolutely horrible, and that is why I could not get into this book. She has a squeaky voice that drove me crazy!! This is the first book that I have read that she narrated. So my advice is to purchase the book because Zachary is awesome!!