Cute friends to lovers romance

This was an adorable friends to lovers romance. The characters were sweet together and relatable.

The storyline was promising and the writing style was engaging.

The narrator performed an amazing audio delivery and narration

3 people found this helpful

Loved!

Nick J. Russo knocks it out of the park with his narration of Memory Lane by HJ Welch.
Memory Lane is a wonderful addition to the Pine Cove series. It can be listened to as a stand alone.
This is a best friends to lovers, bisexual awakening story that I devoured.
Even though they have a long history together things feel brand new now. While Jay has always had feelings for Angel, he never thought they could go anywhere as Angel was straight.
While Angel is confused by his new feelings for Jay he is open to see where things will go.
I loved going on their journey to their HEA! Great story!

1 person found this helpful

Jay and Angel's Best-Friends-to-Lovers Story

As someone who hasn’t read the first 3 books of this series, I do agree that it’s a stand-alone story, but there are supporting characters from previous books that I feel would make the experience a little fuller. I think I’m going to backtrack and read those stories too.

As a result of an accident, stuntman Angel suffers from temporary amnesia. His best friend Jay, who is secretly in love with him, tells hospital staff he is Angel’s fiance. A journey of bisexual awakening begins for Angel. What will this mean for Jay and Angel’s friendship?

My favorite trope from the book is the amnesia storyline. Welch uses this to brilliant effect. Angel has always identified as straight but the memory loss, and Jay pretending to be his fiance, has made him see himself in a different light. Jay, for his part, seems to have a tougher time dealing with this revelation. Welch tells a story of two best friends getting to know each other again in light of Angel’s finding his true self and falling in love. It’s a well-told story, filled with emotion that leads to the happily-ever-after.

Nick J Russo’s narration is wonderful, as always. His voice-acting matches the tone of Welch’s story perfectly.

This audiobook was given to me for free and at my request as a review copy. This is my voluntary opinion of it.

Highly recommended.

1 person found this helpful

Worth waiting for

There’s a lot to like about this story, especially figuring out bisexuality and coming out later in life. BUT, there were things that irritated me as well, namely the obliviousness of Jay and Angel (Jay during the book and Angel the 16 years prior) and the amount of repetitive filler included by the author because of it. Overall though, I enjoyed listening to this and Nick J. Russo does well narrating, providing emotion without going overboard, and making the various characters distinctive enough to identify.

1 person found this helpful

Comfort read

Jay has been in love with his best friend Angel since they were sixteen. But Angel is straight—or so it seems. After Angel is in a car crash and loses part of his memory, he stays with Jay to recuperate. As parts of his memory return, Angel realizes he might be bisexual. And he might return Jay's feelings after all.

Friends to loves, bi-awakening romance is probably my favorite trope. HJ Welch handles it beautifully in this story. It's a slow burn, full of longing. Jay and Angel are sweet and genuine, and they're adorable together. The side characters are fun and provide a strong sense of community. While the plot is strong, it's the characters that make this book such a pleasure to read.

Nick J. Russo does an amazing job with the narration. His voice has a gentle, soothing quality without ever being boring. Each character is distinct and the emotions faithful to the text.

Thanks, Gay Romance Reviews, for the audio ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

1 person found this helpful

sweet best friends to lovers story

Memory Lane is Book 5 in the Pine Cove series, though each book can standalone. This is a beautifully written story about best friends to lovers and second chances. Jay and Angel have been friends since grade school but haven't seen each other in sixteen years. While working on a film set, in their home town, Angel is in a car accident and sustained some memory loss. Jay happens to tell the nurses at the hospital that he's Angel's fiancé to get any information on him, though Jay has always thought Angel was straight. I love Jay and Angel's journey as they discover their more than friendly love for each other as Jay helps Angel recover in his home. This is a sweet story that had me engaged from beginning to end. I recommend this book and series.
Narrator Nick J. Russo has a marvelous job in bringing these characters to life. He really was a treat to listen to.

1 person found this helpful

Best Friends Romance

This book has all the m/m tropes: straight best friend, memory loss, bisexual awakening, and a little fake fiancé action to round it out. I really like the way the book discussed bisexuality and Angel’s coming out. A lot of m/m stories do not treat bisexuals well – or ignore the existence of bisexuals completely. The story starts and ends with a fair amount of action, but drags a bit in the middle. There’s a lot of internal monologues by the MCs, which I don’t enjoy as it tends to make the story slow down. If you’ve read/listened to other books in this series those characters pop up through the book. Nick Russo does a great job narrating as always.

1 person found this helpful

Mostly MCs inner thoughts

I’ve been looking forward to Jay’s story so I’m really disappointed. I’m used to this author overusing the inner thoughts of the main characters, but it was excessive in this book. I felt like I didn’t get to the main storyline until the halfway mark. Then it wasn’t flushed out. So much more could have been done with it. The idea was good. The narrator was good. But it fell flat.

Friends to Lovers

Nick Russo as always was superb. I love HJ Welch. Her books are gorgeous. I have read this whole series and listening to it on Audio just adds more life, emotion - everything.

This was a friends to lovers and was just lovely. I adore how sweet the main characters were and for me they were extremely believable.

You are my greatest adventure

I have loved all books in the “Pine Cove” series mainly because they are fluffy, cozy and they stand-alone. No matter which book you jump into, you will be able to feel a warm-hearted, small town romance. I have waited for Jay’s book long enough since I encountered him in the previous books and HJ Welch really doesn’t disappoint me. Friends to lovers have always been one of my favorite tropes and even a sexual awakening to boot, this is one very happy listener/reader!

Angel had led an exciting life as a stuntman traveling around the world. Meanwhile, Jay has always been living in Pine Cove quietly pining for his best friend who’s having the adventure of his life. When Angel returned because of an accident with a hazy memory, Jay pretended to be his fiancée to take care of him. Even when the ruse is over, Angel found that he had already fallen in love with this gentle, caring and beautiful best friend of his Jay.

This is such a nice blend of book. There’s a bit of mystery, a heavy taste of drama and lots and lots of fluffy romance. I loved that I could still seee some of the characters from our previous Pine Cove books. NJR as always did a lovely job narrating and bringing this story to life. Love it.

4.5 you are my greatest adventure stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫



Audio rating

Story - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Narration - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Performance - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Overall - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫