Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Galaxies and Oceans

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

NARRATOR: Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

RELEASE DATE: August 13, 2019

LENGTH: 10 hours, 19 minutes

BLURB:

Seizing his one chance to escape, Ethan Hosking leaves his violent ex-boyfriend, leaves his entire life, and walks into the path of a raging bushfire. Desperate to start over, a new man named Aubrey Hobbs walks out of the fire-ravaged forest, alive and alone. With no ID and no money, nothing but his grandfather’s telescope, he goes where the Southern Cross leads him.

Patrick Carney is the resident lighthouse keeper in Hadley Cove, a small town on the remote Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. After the tragic death of his lover four years ago, he lives a solitary life; just him, a tabby cat, the Indian and Southern Oceans, and a whole lot of loneliness. He’s content with his life until a stranger shows up in town and turns Patrick’s head.

Patrick never expected to be interested in anyone else.

Aubrey never expected to be happy.

Between Aubrey’s love of the stars and Patrick’s love of the ocean, these two fragile hearts must navigate new waters. If they can weather the storm of their pasts, they could very well have a love that eclipses everything.

REVIEW:

Galaxies and Oceans is one of my favourite N.R. Walker stories to date. It’s a bit more serious and sombre from her usual works and it really resonated with me and touched me. I wanted to spend all my time in Hadley Cove with Aubrey and Patrick, watching the penguins, the stars and the ocean. Curling up in front of the fire petting the cat.

This is a mostly quiet second chance romance between two men not ready to find that special someone. Aubrey literally ran from and for his previous life six months ago when an out of control bush fire was lapping at his heels. A miracle let him escape it, and the stars led him to the small town of Hadley Cove on Kangaroo Island. Bartering favours for goods and a place to sleep he’s finally able to settle down and relax a bit. He even finds a friend. Patrick makes him feel safe and it’s not long until he wakes even more feelings in him. Feelings that are scary and complicated for so many reasons. But their relationship develops slowly over lighthouses, home-cooked food and watching penguins.

Once again Joel Leslie delivers a marvellous narration of this book. He made you feel the heat of the flames when Ethan ran from the fire, feel his heart pounding and his determination to survive. He also made you feel the relief when he turned into Aubrey and how he slowly came to life in Hadley Cove, how Patrick made him shine. Leslie truly found and portrayed the essence of the characters in Hadley Cove, the gruff but gentle Frank, the friendly Cassy and overprotective Collin. He captured the essence of the place and took you to Kangaroo Island.

One of the more emotional moments in his narration was when Collin turned up with Aubrey’s ex. Gah, the absolute terror Aubrey felt at seeing him gutted me. It was a powerful scene to say the least – made even more powerful due to the almost tranquil feel of the rest of the book. We’d been lulled into a false security, there in Patrick’s strong and safe arms and the friendly town so when the big bad showed up we were not prepared for it.

Leslie’s narration wasn’t flawless, there was that one instance, in the middle of the book I think, where he repeated the same sentence twice and forgot to delete re-take. But you know, when that’s the only problem, it makes me pretty darn happy.

Galaxies and Oceans was a beautiful slow-burn love story and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

RATING:

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