Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Always
AUTHOR: Kindle Alexander
NARRATOR: Lee Swift
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
RELEASE DATE: September 9, 2019
LENGTH: 8 hours, 39 minutes
BLURB:
Born to a prestigious political family, Avery Adams plays as hard as he works. The gorgeous, charismatic attorney is used to getting what he wants, even the frequent one-night stands that earn him his well-deserved playboy reputation. When some of the most prominent men in politics suggest he run for Senate, Avery decides the time has come to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. With a strategy in place and the campaign wheels rolling, Avery is ready to jump on the legislative fast track, full steam ahead. But no amount of planning prepares him for the handsome, uptight restaurateur who might derail his political future.
Easy isn’t even in the top thousand words to describe Kane Dalton’s life after his father, a devout Southern Baptist minister, kicks him out of the family home for questioning his sexual orientation. Despite all the rotten tomatoes life throws his way, Kane makes something of himself. Between owning a thriving upscale Italian restaurant in the heart of downtown Minneapolis and managing his long-term boyfriend, his plate is full. He struggles to get past the teachings of his childhood to fully accept his sexuality and rid himself of the doubts brought on by his religious upbringing. The last thing he needs is the yummy, sophisticated, blond-haired distraction sitting at table 34.
REVIEW:
Always has been on my TBR for years, but for some reason I never got around to reading it. Now, when it was released into audio I felt it was time for to push the book to the top of the list.
I should have loved this book. This epic love story that spanned decades of love and family, a love that conquered all. Sadly I just couldn’t, more than once I wondered if I read the same book as everyone else. It seems like most people love it – more than loved it even. Maybe that’s all on me for expecting something else? I don’t know.
There were a few things that didn’t work for me, some smaller like the time period and what felt like advanced technology that just didn’t feel right for that era like IVF or when they started to use computer at home. To the marriage between Avery and Kane, also in the 70’s. A marriage the sitting president of the time supposedly congratulated them on. I’m all for this, I really wish it had been so, but I can’t believe in it as it felt too big. It was a scandalous for two men to love back then, and sadly still is for many people today. It really shouldn’t be. People should be free to love freely.
I think I would have an easier time to get past the smaller stuff if I had been invested in Avery and Kane’s story. But throughout this book I felt as if there was the distance between the listener/reader and the story. Listening to Always felt like I was watching a movie in fast forward, images and time just flying by without really having time to make an impact. We saw some short snippets in time, some of minor events in their lives and some of the bigger ones. All of them were short, and after a few pages we are transported to some other event some years later. So the huge moments didn’t have the time to resonate with the listener, we were told about them and then moved on to something else that happened in their lives a few years later.
For the most part Avery and Kane were free to love and express their love openly. There was never any huge controversy or drama connected to their sexuality. Not really any repercussions from it either, barring Avery’s leave from politics for a while. Still their story was mostly smooth sailing all the way. The acceptance of them was nice to witness and also refreshing in a way.
This might just be the first time I say this about a narration – but Lee Swift was way, way too fast of a narrator for me. And I’m a speed reader/listener. Swift’s narration stressed me out and made me feel out of breath, but not in a good way. The words weren’t unclear or garbled. It was always easy to hear what Swift said. At the same time it felt like he was in a race to speak as many words a minute as humanly possible, which at times made the sentence structure feel off. Swift had a great voice that I enjoyed listening to, and I hope that for his future works he might slow down a little and give his words a bit more feeling.
Sadly this book wasn’t all that I wished it to be, but seeing as many readers and listeners before me have loved it, you might too, so please don’t dismiss it because of my thoughts and feelings.
RATING: 
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