Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Always Mine
SERIES: Love in Eden #1
AUTHOR: Sloane Kennedy
NARRATOR: Michael Pauley
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2019
LENGTH: 7 hours, 46 minutes
BLURB:
I had one reason for never going back to the small town I once called home, but I never guessed it would be the same one that made me want to stay….
Brooks
I grew up in the small town of Eden, Wyoming, but never really felt like I fit in.
Until I met the one boy who changed all that.
When we were kids, Xavier Price understood horses, but somehow, he got me too. He’d made me feel like I wasn’t just the overdressed, too sensitive 15-year-old geek who loved math and didn’t always say the right thing. But all that changed the night he threw my trust back in my face and betrayed my family in the worst kind of way.
And while I’m back in Eden to make sure my uncle’s horse ranch is operating in the black, the one thing I know I won’t have to deal with is the man who’d been on the verge of stealing my heart 10 years ago.
Because Xavier Price is still in prison for what he did and even if he weren’t, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to show his face in Eden ever again.
Right?
Xavier
Wrong.
That’s what returning to Eden after ten years behind bars feels like. But it wasn’t like I had a whole lot of choices. And it wasn’t like I was going to be handed any decent job offers, let alone my dream one of working with horses.
But that’s exactly what happened and now that I’m foreman of Black Hills Ranch, I’m not letting this job go for anything.
Not even the spoiled little rich kid I’d thought was different when he’d glommed onto me 10 years ago.
I have no doubt Brooks Cunningham didn’t wait long to move on to bigger and better things the second my jail cell was locked behind me, and that’s just fine by me. I’d been wrong about the sweet, emotional boy who’d had a habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve anyway.
Except fate has decided to have another go at me by tossing Brooks right back into my sometimes too small world. Gone is the scrawny, stars-in-his-eyes nerd who used to do math problems just for fun. In his place is a gorgeous specimen of a man who thinks he can go toe-to-toe with me and once again destroy everything I’ve worked for.
Not happening.
REVIEW:
Always Mine started out kind of intense, with Brooks going back to Eden, the small town where he grew up in order to help his uncle with his ranch’s financial troubles. Only when he arrives he meets a man from his past. A man he hasn’t seen since he was 15 and had the biggest crush on. The man who went to prison for almost destroying his family; Xavier.
To say that emotions run high and sparks fly on that first meeting is putting it mildly. Brooks did not expect to see Xavier again and Xavier is not good with unexpected physical contact after spending 10 years in prison. After that both are determined to keep their distance from the other – but you know – intentions… Keeping the distance doesn’t last long and the two starts dancing around each other in every way possible. A dance that’s overcharged with sexual tension and hurt feelings.
This is a story that’s been told before. The misunderstandings that leads to separation and love growing into resentment or hate. Even the outside forces trying to keep them apart is the same, the evil father and a small minded town. It’s not new or different. On the other hand, it’s not bad either because Always Mine is a well written and narrated story that I’m sure will capture many hearts.
I’m not sure what I really feel about Brooks and Xavier. On the one hand I really enjoyed listening to their story. And they had a lot of history to work through. On the other, the non-communication and constant back and forth was drawn out too long for my liking. At times it felt like it was drawn out for the dramatic effect and didn’t really move the story or our MC forward. And the ending felt a bit too neat and wrapped up nicely and tied together with a shining red bow. I’m all for tying up loose ends and correcting past wrongs, but I don’t want it served on a silver platter. I want to work for it with the characters I’m living with.
Michael Pauley delivers as he always does. His narration was spot on. If I could, I could probably melt from his voice alone, so he’s definitely in the right profession. Xavier was the one he captured just right. You could truly feel his anxiety and fear of closed spaces, needing that fresh air. His fierce protectiveness of the things and people he loved. And not the least the longing for Brooks and the hurt associated with that night ten years ago. Your heart will ache and pound with Xavier’s and it makes this listen all the better for it.
Always Mine was a mostly sweet second chances story. Of finding love again, finding yourself and moving forward. It was about family and friendship and the myriad of possibilities that opens up if you are willing to take the chance and letting go of the past and work for a better future.
RATING: 
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