Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Above and Beyond
SERIES: Twist of Fate #4
AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox & Sloane Kennedy
NARRATOR: Michael Dean
PUBLISHER: SKLL Books
LENGTH: 10 hours, 54 minutes
RELEASE DATE: February 6, 2020
BLURB:
Lucky
Two years ago I humiliated myself by declaring my love to an older man who clearly didn’t share my feelings. And that’s fine. One day Zach will come around. Meanwhile, I’ve built a life for myself in northern Montana, pursuing my college degree while working hard toward certification in high-risk alpine search and rescue on the side. And perhaps I’ve kept the danger part a secret from my two dads. After all, what they don’t know won’t hurt them…
Everything’s going exactly as planned until my dads send Zach to check on me just as I’m dealing with an ex who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word no. It’s bad enough Zach still thinks of me as a child; now he also thinks I’m incapable of looking out for myself. I need to get him off my back before he finds out I’m not heading to Wyoming for summer break like everyone thinks. I’m going to Glacier National Park to learn how to rappel from helicopters…
Zach
Two years ago I wanted something I couldn’t have, so I threw myself back into my job as an Army Ranger and wound up scarred in more ways than one. When the army dumps my sorry self back into the real world, it’s time to start over. I accept a summer job teaching high-risk search and rescue. On the way there, all I have to do is peek in on little Lucky Reed and make sure he’s okay.
He’s not. Someone has it out for him, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him get hurt on my watch. My plan is to keep him safe until he heads south for his summer job playing trail guide to tourists. Once he’s gone, I’ll be free to head to Glacier where my biggest challenge will be keeping a handful of alpine search and rescue students safe as they learn how to dangle from helicopters high above the Rocky Mountains.
It’s all fine. Until it’s not. Danger follows us to Glacier, and by the time I finally start seeing Lucky as more than the awkward teenager he used to be, I wonder if it’s too late to convince him that this scarred soldier sees him as anything but little anymore.
REVIEW:
It’s been a while since the last book in this series. This time we follow Lucky, the foster kid we meet in the first book (though you don’t have to have read any of the previous ones follow this one).
Lucky is in college in northern Montana, busy living his life. But having not come home to his family for more than the major holidays, his fathers ask their friend Zach to check up on Lucky. Something Zach is very reluctant to do considering the heat smouldering between them two years ago. Fate kept throwing them together, and it’s not long the heat between them consumes them both.
I was hooked by this book by the start. I was fascinated by both Lucky and Zach. Zach just a little bit more, his issues spoke to me, touched me. But what really surprised me was that this shine didn’t last that long for me. When we’ve reached the middle of the book I was fed up with all things Zach and his woe me personality. It wasn’t about his injuries, mental or otherwise, those I didn’t mind, they added to who he was, to his history. However, past hurts is not a green card for treating others badly, and he really treated Lucky badly. Almost to the point where I wanted Lucky to find someone else.
There was one other thing that didn’t make sense to me and that was the vandalism. Well, the vandalism made sense (well in romance novels), but the reactions to it didn’t. There were mentions of past notes, some spray-paint and I can maybe understand ignoring that. But when the vandalism turns dangerous and possibly even life threatening? How was I the only one worried about it? Lucky and Zach was too busy with their relationship drama to really worry or think about it. It didn’t make sense to me.
Above and Beyond was beautifully performed by Michael Dean. There’s one particular scene early in the book that stuck with me, can’t really explain as it didn’t really have a major impact on the story. But drunk Lucky was hilarious and Dean really captured the feel of the bar, the swaying Lucky and the slurred speech – and faulty logic. It was fun and made me smile. In general terms, this is also true. Dean captures the moments and the feelings in them. He made you balance on that ledge, run from the fire and feel the longing that was so strong between Lucky and Zack.
I do believe me not loving this book is a classic case of the classic line of “It’s not you, it’s me”. Looking around, most readers and listeners have loved the story of these guys. So if you are a fan of this series and these authors and narrator ignore me and enjoy the story to the fullest.
RATING: 
Narration: 4,5 hearts
Story: 3 hearts
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