Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: We Found Love
AUTHOR: Kade Boehme & Allison Cassatta
NARRATOR: Michael Ferraiuolo
LENGTH: 7 hours, 23 minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 13, 2015
BLURB:
It’s no surprise Riley Connors is dealing with issues. He was kidnapped as a young boy, and his parents abandoned him after his newsworthy return. He bounced from foster home to facility and back. Now an adult, ghosts from his past continue to haunt him. After a suicide attempt, he is locked away in Hartfield so that people can make him tune in to emotions he has tried to bury.
Hunter Morgan had the kind of love that spans ages. But the stress of college and adulthood became too much to handle, and the love of Hunter’s life turned to drugs. After he overdoses, Hunter finds himself soaring out of control on the same miserable path. His brother finds him and calls an ambulance, and the sister Hunter would rather not have calls it a suicide attempt, landing Hunter in Hartfield.
Finding love isn’t easy, but it can happen under the direst circumstances. Together Hunter and Riley may be able to grow from their pain. But they will need to learn to live for themselves, letting love come second.
REVIEW:
I fell in love this book right from the start. It wasn’t an easy listen but it was worth all the pain. This book shows us that love really can be found in the most unexpected places and when you least expect it.
Riley has suffered through more than most in his short life. Being kidnapped and held captive for years and then being abandoned by his family once he was finally free, understandably left him with issues and a whole lot of pain. It landed him in Hartfield, a mental hospital after a suicide attempt. Two years later he’s still there, going through the motions one day after the other. Not expecting anything to change really. He sees himself as a lifer there. Then he gets a roommate, Hunter and suddenly everything changes.
From the start there was a connection between the two of them. It started small, with a couple of words spoken, but sometimes that’s enough to set something big in motion. They become a unit against the rest of the residents and staff at Hartfield, defending and championing the each other. Though as things are, their closeness wasn’t permitted and they were separated.
This was one of these quiet and slow-burn romances. It took its time and while Hunter and Riley ending up together was the ultimate goal, it wasn’t the point of this book. It’s about healing, wanting to live and love, but more living and accepting oneself before loving someone else. Meeting your soulmate in a mental hospital might not sound like the most romantic set up of all time, but here it was. It fit their story, as did their dream-away dates in the forbidden wing. It was bittersweet and you ached with them and for them. Wanting them to be okay, wanting to give them hugs and stand with them to fight.
Michael Ferraiuolo did a beautiful job with this book and he truly brought both Riley and Hunter to life, and all of their pain with them. Which my heart might not agree was a good thing… But I love it when a narrator makes you feel what the characters are feeling, He brought you to New Orleans with them, sneaking passed the staff. He made you fall in love with these characters and he has such a great voice that I can just listen to for hours on end.
This book was as brutal to your emotions as it was healing and beautiful. My heart broke and mended in the best of ways and I’m so happy I got to listen to Riley and Hunter’s story. Their happily ever after was truly deserved.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: