Great Friends-to-Lovers with Twists and Suspense

4.5⭐️
“Everyone but you could see how much you owned me, way before you should've.” Review: This is book 2 in Catherine's new Tattered and Torn series. I always love the small town romances Catherine writes with the added element of suspense. My favorite trope is Brother's Best Friend and I think a lot of the times it's because the characters have history together as younger kids. Those feelings for each other when they are little just always wrap me up in a warm hug. I love it! This one did not disappoint. Hadley has always had feelings for Calder until something happened altering those feelings. Calder is a single dad working as a fire fighter on the same crew as Hadley. I LOVED Calder! Ugh he is the best especially with his protective nature. I love how he stood up for Hadley and would stop at nothing to protect her. Once he decided, there was no going back for him. I loved Calder's girls. Twins are always a weak spot for me!👭 I loved Hadley's relationship with the girls and how she just knew what each one needed. The twists surprised me since I had my eye on the wrong suspect.😂 I did want to smack Hadley's mom upside the head mutltiple times. She made me mad!😂 I loved the updates on Hayes and Everly. I listened to the audiobook by Joe Arden and Vanessa Edwin. Joe was great and brought Calder to life. Vanessa was a little breathy for me, but once I sped up the speed to 1.5x (I ususally listen to books at 1.25) I was fine. I love the characters that Catherine has created in this series. I am excited for Addie and Beckett next! Addie deserves all the happieness in the world and I can't wait to get to know more about Beckett!

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1 person found this helpful

Wow!

I have a hard time flowing a series sometimes but this one has been awesome so far. There’s characters that are contours in all the books but each character and story line is so different. There’s no repeating the same thing in each book. The narrators do an amazing job and you really get hit in the feels with the writing and the emotions being brought to life.

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Amazing Story with Wonderful Narration

This story is EVERYTHING!! Catherine writes the best stories that will pull on your heartstrings and make you love the characters she writes!

I love Calder and Hadley together.. They are the perfect match and you can see that instantly. The way they find their way together is wonderful..
The love these two have is one I love to read about.

Calder is one of my favorites characters, he has such a big heart and and so loyal!
Hadley has so much spirit, and you will love her!

I love the suspense you get with this book. It keeps you guessing and will keep you at the edge of your seat!

This book is one of my favorites! I listened to an early copy of the audio... The narrators do a perfect job with this book!! I could not stop listening to this, I finished in one sitting!

You don't want to miss this book or this series!! Catherine has a way with words that writes a beautiful story!

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Cute Story!

Cute story with a happy ending. I have enjoyed this series by Catherine Cowles so far!

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addicting series

𝙄’𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙯 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙮. 𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙄’𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙.

After finishing 𝘛𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴, I wasn’t quite ready to leave these characters behind, so I jumped right into book 2.

Here we meet Hadley, who has butted heads with her overly overprotective mother, since *the incident*.

Her older brother’s friend, Calder, became her gateway to feeling free, but when his life was turned upside down, he stopped living his life, and their friendship (that *could* have become something more) was left by the wayside.

This was another suspenseful, who’s the baddie, emotional read.

I was particularly pulled in by the strained relationship between Hadley and her mother. We meet her mother in book 1, and she is so lovely with Everly, so it was interesting to see how differently she behaves towards her own daughter. I could somewhat understand her frustrations, but I still gasped a bit at what her mother would say to her.

The romance was very sweet. Calder finally being able to *see* Hadley again after all these years. And Hadley was amazing! Definitely stubborn, but in all the best ways, not letting anyone hold her down.

The ending was a little wild, like just when you thought it was over, it was decidedly NOT. But still, I’m really enjoying these books, and plan to continue on with book 3.

Audiobook notes: I always enjoy Vanessa Edwin, and she did an absolutely fabulous job here. Note: The male narrator is problematic. I personally felt the female POV took precedence here, but very much understand this could affect other’s enjoyment.

What this book is giving:
✅ Small Town Romance
✅ Romantic Suspense
✅ Dual POV
✅ Cyber stalker/bully
✅ Overprotective mom
✅ Second chance

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ / 5
🌶️🌶️ / 5

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Wow

This is just perfect. This story gives you everything. Smiles, hope, tears,swoon and most of all love. I experienced it all. Oh how I love Calder and Hadley. The narrators as always brought such emotion feeling to this beautiful story. You won't be disappointed.

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can't wait for the next in this series!

great story, good mix of suspense and romance. can't wait for the next book in this series

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emotional performance and storyline!

🅰🆄🅳🅸🅾 🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆 🆄🅿🅳🅰🆃🅴

What can I say about Vanessa Edwin and Joe Arden that I haven't said before? Her voice is perfection and really conveyed all of Hadley's emotions, especially when dealing with her family. Joe gives a solid performance as Calder, and who doesn’t enjoy his kid voices?

♡♥♡♦♡♥♡♦♡♥♡♦♡♥♡♦♡

𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞!!

Hadley and Calder have been friends since childhood. He's her big brother, Hayes, best friend. Growing up she had feelings that went beyond friendship and hero worship.

Hadley is headstrong, brave, loving and caring. After a family tragedy involving her sister, Shiloh, the family was never the same. Her mom has become overprotective and relentless with her worry.
☆ 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴. ☆

She's almost vicious in her protection and doesn't see how she's ruining her relationship with Hadley . I felt so bad for her because of just how terrible she's treated.

Calder is pretty amazing though it took him way too long to come to his senses. He did get 2 beautiful little girls out of that mistake of a marriage, and they are just too precious!

Hadley has a secret life she's been living that her family doesn't know about until she starts getting threats.
Calder and Hayes need to solve this mystery of anonymous and escalating threats... before its too late.

So many twists, unexpected suspects and a trail of clues to follow before Hadley and Calder can get their happily ever after!

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Full of swoon worthy romance, suspense & adventure

“There’s no shame in fear. It’s how you tackle it that counts.”

Full of swoon worthy romance, suspense and adventure, Falling Embers is a story that hooked me from the prologue and made me fall in love with all things Calder and Hadley! I don’t normally love a best friends brothers romance, but the friends to lovers’ aspect of this story gave me all angst and longing that I love without the drama of the overbearing brother. Hadley had been in love with her brother’s best friend Calder for years, but circumstances and life were never in their favor. Infatuated with his no fear attitude when they were younger, she never stopped her adrenaline seeking ways while Calder settled down with adorable twin girls. I loved watching Calder let himself take the risk of loving Hadley; his romantic past had left him scarred but the fear of never having Hadley’s love opened his eyes to all he could have.

“Never feel more alive than when I’m with you. You’re like a fire that lives inside me.”

When you give me a romance with a hero who is protective, a firefighter, and a single dad, I am SOLD for falling in love! Then you add in a heroine who is an adrenaline addict with no fear, a stalker trying to ruin a reputation and an overbearing mother, that is all the drama and angst I need to make this book a 5 star listen. A few of the subtle twists in this book were unexpected as well as the bigger reveal that kept me guessing who could be behind it all! Overall, I loved how the romance developed slowly between Calder and Hadley, how sweet Hadley was with his twin girls and how loving and caring Calder was with Hadley. Be prepared to swoon, laugh and fall absolutely in love with book two in the Tattered and Torn Series.

“Family. It’s not all by blood, but that doesn’t matter. We have the kind of people in our lives who will always show up, especially when the chips are down. So many people don’t get that.”

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I fell in love AGAIN!

It's no secret that I LOVE Catherine's books! Her heroines are strong and fierce, and her heroes are SO SWOONY! However, Calder and Hadley have stolen my heart. This is the first time I've listened to an audio narrated by Vanessa Edwin and she was absolutely perfect as Hadley! And Joe Arden can basically do no wrong, let's be real. As far as the story goes...AMAZING!! Single dad, firefighter, strong and independent female, friends-to-lovers, all the things I need to fall in love! But more than that, I love how the relationship developed slowly over time, and that Calder's girls, Birdie and Sage, were such a main focus in their story. This book is 10/5 stars all the way around!

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