Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Hard to Get
SERIES: Haven’s Cove
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
AUTHOR: Jaclyn Quinn
NARRATOR: Sean Crisden
LENGTH: 6 hours and 40 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 29, 2019
BLURB:
Gabe D’Angelo has it all. Designer clothes, luxury cars, a cool confidence most would envy, and a never-ending supply of money – and men. When he arrived in Haven’s Cove to be there for his best friend, he never imagined he’d end up extending his stay indefinitely. Small town living isn’t so bad after all, and the views are magnificent – especially the view of a sexy, rugged blond. But when that mysterious, brooding man refuses all Gabe’s advances, he is forced to take a step back and truly look at the person he’s become.
Nate Black moved from Boston to Haven’s Cove for his family. He’s missed small town living and the simple, tranquil life that comes with it. What he doesn’t bargain for is the pushy, spoiled playboy who’s set his eyes on Nate as his next conquest. Knowing this man has the potential to crack the foundation of his quiet life, Nate will do everything he can to protect his safe, closed-off world.
Is one man worth loving? Is the other worth the sacrifice? Or is the love they’re searching for not just hard to get but completely out of reach?
REVIEW:
Note: While this is the second book in this series, it can be read as a stand alone although it contains major spoilers for the first book where we meet most of these characters.
Nate Black is a guy just trying to do his best. He works construction for Brody, who is from Haven’s Cover and we met in Book 1. Brody has recently come out and gotten together with his boyfriend and he’s trying to make a go of it with his company back in his home town after a family tragedy. Nate is just trying to keep his head down and get on with his life taking care of his family.
Brody’s BFF, Gabe, cannot believe that Nate will not give him the time of day. Gabe has a bit of a reputation – he particularly goes after guys who seem to be unavailable, i.e. married. And he cannot help be intrigued by Nate’s wedding band. Gabe doesn’t really have anything to go back to in Boston after he relocates to Haven’s Cove to support Brody, so he sticks around. And becomes a thorn in Nate’s side. Nate’s really not playing hard to get. He’s trying to keep control of his little place in the work after a hard fought battle.
Nate is not interested in being a distraction for a rich, selfish playboy – which is how he sees Gabe. He’s got his family to consider and so what if he’s a little bit lonely? He made his decisions and he’s happy to be close to his parents and providing for his family. Gabe doesn’t seem to get it though. When others decide to take it upon themselves to interfere and push the two together, things don’t really go as planned. They both get angry. But maybe if they can call a truce and agree to try being friends, things will be OK.
The “friendship” path goes pretty smoothly at first. Both men realize that maybe they’ve misjudged each other. There are things in their respective pasts that make them somewhat skittish. They haven’t either one had successful relationships in the past. There are also family issues that get in the way. And then there is the jealousy and projecting of past relationship trouble onto this relationship, which ends up being very costly to both. If they can figure out how to be honest with each other and communicate without assumption or judgement, then maybe, just maybe, they can get past everything and see a future together.
I enjoyed this story a lot. I really liked Nate and his whole family. His mom was the best. Gabe grated on me a bit. I didn’t actually like the the narrator’s choice of voice for him which detracted a bit from the story for me. That said, I really ended up rooting for a liking Gabe in the end. He figures out a way to stand up for himself and that made me so happy for him. Nate had really been hurt in the past and consequently has extreme trust issues. Given Gabe’s past, it wasn’t far-fetched to think that Nate would have issues with certain things. His jumping to conclusions and expecting the worst was definitely something he had to work on before he messed up a potential good thing. I liked seeing all the characters from the first book and I can’t wait to get to Jonah’s story next. He’s everybody’s friend, but he needs a love for himself 🙂 While this wasn’t my favorite audio, I still think Sean Crisden did a good job with the story. Recommended and a good followup to the first book. On to book 3!
RATING: 
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