Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Hither, Page
SERIES: Page & Sommers #1
AUTHOR: Cat Sebastian
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 6 hours, 27 minutes
RELEASE DATE: February 4, 2020
BLURB:
A jaded spy and a shell-shocked country doctor team up to solve a murder in postwar England.
James Sommers returned from the war with his nerves in tatters. All he wants is to retreat to the quiet village of his childhood and enjoy the boring, predictable life of a country doctor. The last thing in the world he needs is a handsome stranger who seems to be mixed up with the first violent death the village has seen in years. It certainly doesn’t help that this stranger is the first person James has wanted to touch since before the war.
The war may be over for the rest of the world, but Leo Page is still busy doing the dirty work for one of the more disreputable branches of the intelligence service. When his boss orders him to cover up a murder, Leo isn’t expecting to be sent to a sleepy village. After a week of helping old ladies wind balls of yarn and flirting with a handsome doctor, Leo is in danger of forgetting what he really is and why he’s there. He’s in danger of feeling things he has no business feeling. A person who burns his identity after every job can’t put down roots.
As he starts to untangle the mess of secrets and lies that lurk behind the lace curtains of even the most peaceful-seeming of villages, Leo realizes that the truths he’s about to uncover will affect his future and that of the man he’s growing to care about.
REVIEW:
At times like these I wonder why I don’t read more historical romances. There’s something about the pacing that’s very comforting and soothing. It’s a nice change from the fast paced stories and lives of today. Even though Hither, Page is set post WWII with all that it entails, listening to this book felt almost like a mini-vacation – and one I’d happily go back to.
James is haunted by his time as a doctor in the war. Patching up one soldier after the next. His mind is fried and he wants nothing more than the pace and quiet a small town has to offer. That is until a dead body is discovered and Leo Page comes to town, turning his life upside down in the process.
Leo is anything from what he seems. Part of a secret organisation he’s travelled the world on one mission or another. Being a spy is all he knows, being alone is all he knows. With no place or family to call his own, he really is the perfect spy. And really, loved ones and roots are only obstacles and dangerous in his line of work. That is until he arrives in this quiet village, where things weren’t always what they seemed – and some things were.
I loved the pacing and setting of this book. The quiet, and not so quiet, sense of place. From the moment I started listening it really grabbed me, even before the characters and plot did. Though it wasn’t long until both Leo and James captivated me on their very own. I loved this book beginning to end and I can’t wait to see what will happen next.
James and Leo were perfect for each other, in that they were what the other needed; a home and peace, understanding. I don’t imagine being gay in that time was ever easy, but they really had something worth fighting for. They knew the value of it, at least in time.
The mystery part was engaging, with plenty pf clues and suspects. It had this Agatha Christie vibe to it, this gentler feeling, with no real sense of urgency or danger. It was more like “let’s figure this out, one step at a time”. I loved it, I want more.
I quite enjoyed listening to Joel Leslie narrating a historical romance again. It’s a good fit for him. He captured and gave the listener this sense of place and transported you back to post war England. He made you walk beside James treating the villagers, his exasperation when his ordinations were ignored, how the sight of blood transported him back to the battlefields. But also plotting and planning with Leo when his mind spun out of control with all the possibilities, looking at the invisible threads. But more than that I loved how he made you feel the connection between James and Leo.
Hither Page was captivating beginning to end, and I just hope that we’ll see much more of this duo in the future – or past.
RATING: 
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