Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Ends of the Earth
AUTHOR: Keira Andrews
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 6 hours, 52 minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 15, 2020
BLURB:
Jason Kellerman’s life revolves around his eight-year-old daughter. Teenage curiosity with his best friend led to Maggie’s birth, and her mother tragically died soon after. Only 25 and a single dad, Jason hasn’t had time to even think about romance. Disowned by his wealthy family, he’s scrimped and saved to bring Maggie west for a camping vacation. The last thing Jason expects is to question his sexuality after meeting a sexy, older park ranger.
Ben Hettler’s stuck. He loves working in the wild under Montana’s big sky, but at 41, his love life is non-existent, his ex-boyfriend just married and adopted, and Ben’s own dream of fatherhood feels impossibly out of reach. He’s attracted to Jason, but what’s the point? Besides the age difference and Jason’s lack of experience, they live thousands of miles apart. Ben wants more than a meaningless fling.
Then a hunted criminal on the run takes Jason’s daughter hostage, throwing Jason and Ben together in a dangerous search through endless miles of mountain forest. They’ll go to the ends of the earth to rescue Maggie – but what comes next? Can they build a new family together and find a place to call home?
REVIEW:
I enjoyed listening to this book immensely, it was entertaining, and Greg Boudreaux was most definitely a big reason why. I could listen to him for days.
Jason Kellerman had to grow up early. Teenage curiosity and a broken condom made his daughter Maggie appear nine months later. Jason never regretted giving up everything to raise her, but it caused him to lose his family in the process. Now, eight years later he and his nature enthusiast of a daughter are camping in the Montana wilderness. And it’s hilarious. Jason is a worry-wart, and the warnings of bears, cliffs, rivers and what-nots have him tied up in knots. Or that might just be Ben, the handsome park ranger that shows them around. It was kind of fun watching his mind spinning out of control and his daughter standing beside him shrugging her shoulders.
But real danger is lurking in the park, and out of nowhere Maggie is kidnapped by a man on the run. Terrified and determined to get her back, Jason and Ben sets of after them. The hunt that follows was intense and scary and made my heart race. I could feel the terror from all three of them – much in thanks to Boudreaux’s fabulous narration, more on that later. I loved the intensity and the chase, This is my kind of book and I honestly wouldn’t have minded for it to have been drawn out just a liitle bit longer –but that’s only me loving the action.
I have to confess that I had two problems with this story; the romance that came out of nowhere and Maggie, the eight-year old going on thirty. It seems like most readers didn’t mind it, but to me Maggie rarely felt like the child she was supposed to be. Don’t get me wrong she was lovable and the relationship she had with Jason was cute and sweet. I just couldn’t believe in her. I did want her back safely so she could terrify Jason more on their next hike with facts of bears and what-nots, because that was funny. However I could never believe she was only eight.
So, Jason and Ben… I did love them together and I do believe they can become something special, but… well, they rarely spent any time together at all in this book. There was always something keeping them apart. There was the kidnapping of Maggie – hardly inducive to romantic feelings for obvious reasons. But you’d think that after she was safe and sound, they’d have some time to get to know each other and build on their relationship – not the case. Apparently, that meant even more time – and miles apart. That was a shame, because I really wanted them together, winding down after the drama, you know. Taking comfort in each other.
Oh, and speaking of drama and time apart. When Jason’s parents just showed up again after years of silence, I was so sure there was going to be some major drama attached. It wasn’t frictionless, and I’m glad for it. But I’m even happier that it didn’t turn into some huge dramatic thing like it often does when long lost relatives show up out of nowhere. It was handled with care, and I was glad for their reunion.
About the narration… in short, I absolutely loved it. I’m a huge fan of Boudreaux’s and always enjoy his productions. He makes the listener feel with the characters, and while I might not enjoy the terror of a kidnapped child it also something that connects you to the story, to Jason and Ben. It makes you invested in the outcome like nothing else will. It’s also always easy to follow dialogues as each character is distinct – and I love how credible his female voices are. All in all, Boudreaux carried this story and made me love it much more than I would have had I read it.
RATING: 
Narration: 5 hearts
Story: 3 hearts
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