Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Heart Untouched
SERIES: Hearts Entwined #3
AUTHOR: Andrew Grey
NARRATOR: Greg Tremblay
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: June 27, 2019
LENGTH: 5 hours, 38 minutes
BLURB:
An accident crushed Duncan’s Olympic dreams and landed him in a chair, but he knows it’s time to get his life back on track – and he has a plan in mind. Working with his friend Todd, an Olympic skeleton racer, on a promotional campaign will not only help Duncan regain some direction, but it’ll give Todd the financial boost he desperately needs. The sport Todd loves is draining his resources – so much so that he’s thinking of giving up racing just to make ends meet.
As the two men work together, their friendship blossoms into much more, and suddenly the future is looking brighter than it has in a long time. But just when love, happiness, and success seem within their grasp, the USOC steps in with plans to stop their campaign. That’ll mean an end not just to Duncan’s business, but to Todd’s dreams…and Duncan isn’t about to let that happen to the man who means everything to him.
REVIEW:
For some books it’s almost impossible to write a review, for various reasons. The book could have been so good that it left you unable to form words, let alone coherent sentences. Then there are the books on the opposite side of the spectrum, the ones you regret reading/listening to, the ones, where you can’t seem to find a single nice thing to say. You can lack words for a myriad of reasons. This time and for this book I have that problem, not because the book was good or bad, but because it was neither. It didn’t make me feel anything, good or bad. It was a middle road kind of book, a story we’ve all seen and heard before. No real conflict or drama, and no real emotions evoked in the listener. I felt uninspired and wanted something more.
I should have loved this book, or at the very least really enjoyed it. I mean a main character in a wheelchair and narration by Greg Tremblay? It’s has my name in it, I could hear it calling a mile away. That feeling of eagerness and anticipation left me as soon as I started listening and I have no real explanation of why. Listening to stories with survivors or disadvantaged characters usually inspire me. I’m drawn to their strength, they humble me. That never happened with this book. There wasn’t much going on plot-wise and the blurb is a pretty good summary of it. It was low-key and mostly drama free. There was some attempt at creating some drama at the end of the book, but it felt lacklustre at best and only as a plot device. Because once we get to the happily ever after, or for now as the case might be, that part is still left unresolved.
Greg Tremblay is a wonderful performer and narrator, we all know that. But even his talent couldn’t bring this book beyond mediocre. It lacked passion and feeling and sadly failed to connect the listener to the story and the main characters. I have no clue if that was all on my part or the book in general. I do love Tremblay’s voice so that’s always a reason to keep listening to his narrations.
This was, supposedly, a feel-good and fluffy romance, nothing wrong with that I like fluff as much as the next girl. But when I do read these kinds of stories, I want to feel the warmth, the love, the fluff, and I just didn’t. Didn’t feel much of anything if I’m being honest – which I guess is the point of an honest review. However I did enjoy the first two books in this series, so I’m sticking with it and hope the next one will make more of an impression.
RATING: 
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