Review by Sadonna
TITLE: Hard to Hold
SERIES: Haven’s Cove
AUTHOR: Jaclyn Quinn
NARRATOR: Sean Crisden
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 7 hours and 5 minutes
RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2019
BLURB:
Perfect, happy, “Jonah the Savior”, that’s how most people see Jonah Taylor. What they don’t always see is how incredibly overwhelmed he is with his new business or how lonely he is. When a painfully shy man enters his wellness center, all Jonah wants to do is help break him out of his shell. The problem is, the attraction he feels to the nervous, timid man is undeniable.
Cameron Vaughn has let most of his life be decided for him. A traumatic event from his past has caused him to doubt every decision he makes. When he’s forced into a new, anxiety-ridden situation, his first instinct is to run. So, what is it about the owner of the wellness center that has him questioning everything he’s ever been told?
Can one man convince the other he’s worth saving? Can the other realize he’s strong enough to save himself? Together, can they prove that what they’ve found is worth holding on to?
REVIEW:
Note: While this is book 3 in this series, it can be read as a stand alone, however there are major spoilers for the previous two books. There is also a reference to past sexual abuse that is off page.
Jonah Taylor is finally opening his own gym. He lives in the apartment above his new business and while he’s very busy and spending most of the time on his business he’s very happy to be providing the services that he’s been wanting to for some time. There is a lot of pressure on him because this is the first time he’s run his own business. Gabe, his friend, landlord and sometimes front desk person is happy to help out and is glad to see Jonah getting to reach for his dream. He just wish Jonah wasn’t all work and took some time for himself.
Cameron Vaughn was a member at the gym where Jonah worked before. Jonah noticed him and Cam always seemed a bit nervous. Cam has worked hard to get off weight he had put on due to a number of factors. He has a supportive brother and sister-in-law who give him a membership to Jonah’s new gym as well as personal training for his birthday. So Jonah is going to have the opportunity to interact with the shy man.
Despite Cam’s shyness, he does want to spend time with Jonah although he finds him a bit intimidating 🙂 Cam doesn’t enjoy his job, where he isn’t treated well and he has a bit of a strained relationship with his parents – particularly his mother. His parents seem to have a vision of his future that he doesn’t necessary share. They want him to get married, have 2.4 children a dog and a white picket fence. However, Cam has not met, nor does he care about meeting a nice woman. His crippling shyness has led to his rather solitary lifestyle. He is close to his brother, but he’s just not comfortable with people. That doesn’t stop his mother from trying to set him up. He feels incredibly pressured to “date” even if he has no attraction or desire for any of these things. He is not at all in touch with his own desires.
Jonah has feelings for Cam and he doesn’t really try to hide them. In fact he’s completely above board and he accepts that Cam might not reciprocate his feelings and he willing accept Cam’s friendship if that’s what’s on offer. Cam could use a friend so he’s OK with that. He also offers to help Jonah with his business and book keeping for the business which Jonah is happy to take him up on. Cam also gets a front row seat to Jonah’s big affectionate and accepting family. He is surprised and he’s a bit in awe.
This part of the story I liked quite a lot Cam is getting used to being around Jonah and he’s exploring his actual feeling – including his growing attraction to Jonah. Then things started to go off the rails a bit for me. Cam agrees to a scheme under pressure from his family. Even though he definitely has growing friendship with Jonah, he’s also seeing someone his parents like. Even that I was ok with. Cam and Jonah get much closer and Cam shares with Jonah his past trauma that has led to his weight gain and his crippling shyness and anxiety. But then there is a plot line that screams to me of the 1950s or 60s that I just found beyond ridiculous and it really put me off the rest of the story. That was too bad because I think the lingering effects of trauma and the impact of bad and frankly malpractice in therpy can have on a patient. Unfortunately this soured my overall enjoyment of the story.
In the end, the first part of this story was well done, but the melodramatic turn did not work at all for me. I still love Jonah and was happy to see him get his HEA, but I found the family drama and control a bit over the top. Sean Crisden did a good job again with the voices. While not my favorite story, the narration did sort of save it for me. As usual, YMMV 😉
RATING: 
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