Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: Leaning Into Forever 
SERIES: Leaning Into #7
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 7 hours 31 minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 9th, 2018
BLURB:
Geordie de la Rosa is a legend among wine lovers in Napa Valley. His ultra-fabulous style paired with a penchant for leading impromptu sing-a-longs has made him a star attraction at Conrad Winery. Co-owning a well-respected winery was never Geordie’s aspiration but he likes the niche he’s made for himself. He won’t deny that his job and his friends have helped ease his heartache and grief after the death of his longtime partner.
Levi Yeager excels at the art of reinventing himself. He’s been a minor league baseball player, a college coach and now a restaurant owner. The problem is he doesn’t know anything about the food business. And when his chef quits unexpectedly, he’s afraid his new venture is doomed. But Levi isn’t a quitter. It may be the only thing he has in common with the beautiful, sassy man from the neighboring winery who agrees to help get his new business up and running. Neither man counts on their fast friendship or the wild attraction they feel for each other. However, they know they won’t stand a chance until they let go of the past and lean into forever.
STORY REVIEW:
Oh my gawd, I was all over the place this book! Happy, sad, and laughter…
Geordie appears in Nick and Wes’s story, as he and Wes are business partners, owning a winery in Nappy. Nick shows up trying to return some bad-mojo wine he purchased for his cancelled wedding, ends up wet and naked at Wes’s house, and we meet the amazing Geordie. Nick and Geordie have a moment later in the book, where we get more of Geordie’s tragic story…. Geordie lost his partner of ten years to a heart attack, and has been broken-hearted ever since. At the start of this book, it’s been nearly four years of Geordie wearing black, but with fabulous shoes, and faking a semblance of stability. But he’s far from ok. Although he floats around singing show tunes as entertainment in the tasting room, he also sits by a shrine to Mike and has a chat everyday. He’s close to Wes, and eventually Nick and his gang of friends, but he’s always lonely and hurt inside. In his mind, there is no way he’ll ever recover from Mike’s death.
Until he meets Levi. Levi has come to Napa to try to re-envision and re-open an old family owned restaurant, and has come to Wes for help. Wes sees the value in this venture, and convinces Geordie to offer assistance to Levi, and check out the possibility of a partnership between the winery and Levi’s restaurant. Geordie is not amused by this task, or by Levi, who is way too butch and straight for Geordie’s taste. Or is he…. obviously not or we wouldn’t have an amazing romance between the two! Levi eventually gets his shit together with the help of Geordie and his font expertise, Wes and his amazing wines, and the cooking skills of his new chef.
On the personal side of the story, the two bond over Geordie’s font obsession and Levi’s sisters Vespa, going from an uncomfortable beginning, to a grudging friendship, to secretly fucking, to publicly dating, to….. Gotta read the book! But yah, it’s clear what will happen with these two. Even though Geordie is still grieving in his own way, he does find the healing and love he so deserves from Levi. It is not an easy path for the two men, Geordie is not ready to let go of his anguish, and the interference of an old acquaintance makes matters worse. Also the reappearance of Levi’s ex-lover really doesn’t help. But! Major happy ending.
I cried over Geordie a couple of books ago when he broke down with Nick, so I knew going in to this one there would be tears. And there were. Geordie is just so damn sad! Several times he broke down, and I wiped a tear away. Then this thing happens with this asshole from the past, and Geordie is done. He was so close, but nope. Can’t do it. And I cried! In the car, listening to the audio book. I had to sit in my car at work for a few minutes to finish a scene between Geordie and Levi, then compose myself before I could go in! I love an author that can make me cry…. and I am a big fan of Lane Hayes and this whole series! And Geordie. And now Levi!
So yes! I freaking loved this book. I’ve liked a couple of the books, loved a couple of the books, then this one goes beyond love. I want to meet Geordie, I could so clearly see him riding on a pink Vespa in a pink helmet, telling the haters to fuck off! He’s such a diva bad-ass. And Levi was the perfect match for him. Strong and sure, fully accepting of Geordie in his awesomeness, and not taking any crap from him. Wearing a leather jacket, and also Geordie’s fuzzy jacket. He knows what he wants, and he’s going to get it, and he does. And he just gets Geordie.
Yup! I couldn’t have loved this one more! Lane gave me exactly what I wanted for Geordie, and for what I assume is the end of this series. I loved the characters, the story, the healing Geordie gets, and the smoking hot sex…. and the pink Vespa! I bought all of it hook line and sinker. I’m sorry it’s over, even though I got what I wanted, I am greedy and I didn’t want it to end. I already miss Geordie and Levi!
I can’t recommend this book enough, although you really do need to read the whole series. So go buy book one and do it!
NARRATION REVIEW:
I think Nick J. Russo was a great choice for the narration of this series, and he out did himself with this one. I need to be able to tell the main characters apart, I want the voices to match the image in my head, I want to hear the emotions in their voices, and I want to believe the sexy times. And I got all of those things out of this audio book! Nick’s voices for Geordie and Levi were perfect, I got the snarky tone I expected from Geordie, but also got the anguish at times as well. And the calm strength from Levi. There’s also humor that comes through as well. Overall a fabulous job!
RATING: 
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