Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Featherbed

SERIES:  Vino & Veritas

AUTHOR:  Annabeth Albert

NARRATORS:  Alexander Cendese and Kirt Graves

PUBLISHER:  Tantor

LENGTH:  5 hours and 23 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  May 25, 2021

BLURB:

When a bookworm on borrowed time meets a younger free-spirited chicken farmer, sparks and feathers fly….

Harrison Phillip Fletcher III isn’t supposed to be here. Not in Burlington, Vermont, not running Vino & Veritas, a quaint inclusive bookstore and wine bar, and definitely not still alive, at 42. Also not supposed to be here? An unexpected delivery of chickens.

Finn Barnes knows chickens. The burly organic farmer knows all about rare breed poultry, but dealing with a hot older bookseller is an entirely different matter. City-slicker types like Harrison never end up staying in Vermont for the long-term.

They should steer clear of each other. But the flare of attraction is mutual. And somehow amid book discussions and farm tours, they discover plenty in common. Now they’re stealing kisses in Finn’s barn, sneaking out like teens, and burning up the sheets.

What starts as a fling brings very real feelings for two lonely souls, but a future together seems as unlikely as chickens in a bookstore. Feathers may be flying, but learning to trust takes time neither may have. Can they take a leap of faith together before it’s too late?

Contains mature themes.

REVIEW:

Harrison has moved to Burlington, VT to open a bookstore and wine bar along with his mother. He’s left his big city law career behind and he’s happy to be moving on with his new venture.  But early on, he gets a strange delivery to the store.  When he calls the intended recipient of the shipment, he gets off a bit on the wrong foot with Finn, the hot young organic farmer.  Finn doesn’t necessarily put his best foot forward either, so there is a bit of an adjustment period 🙂

But as Harrison gets to know Finn and they give in to the simmering desire below the surface, their relationship changes.  Or at least they’d like it too. Each man is held back somewhat by some sort of fear.  For Finn, it’s the fear of being left again when small town life gets to be too boring and the farm takes up too much of his time.  For Harrison, he’s convinced he’s not going to have a long life, so why burden someone with dealing with that kind of a potential loss.  So they kind of hold each other at arm’s length for a bit.  But they do really like each other and so they find themselves spending more and more time together.  They need to learn to trust in each other and be honest in their communication.  When they aren’t, things definitely get a bit off course and feelings get hurt.  But if they can find a way to get past their issues, they just might have a future.

This is a sweet and low angst story for the most part.  Harrison is a bit of a worrywart.  He also has a bit of foot ‘n mouth disease, but luckily he seems to figure that out rather early on.  He’s obsessed with his health – to the point that the stress of his worrying could probably bring on some health issues 🙂  Finn is such a good guy!  He loves his family – his sisters, his mother, his farm, his animals.  But he’s worried that his life is exciting enough for a former big city lawyer – despite the fact that Harrison seems quite happy with his new venture of the bookstore/wine bar.  It’s a nice slow burn story where the relationship grows at a reasonable pace and moves from a maybe more sort of hookup thing to the possibility of something more.  Both men would like someone in their lives to share more with, but both are reluctant to become too attached as they are both afraid of being hurt and disappointed.  I really loved the beginning of the book but it kind of lost a little steam for me towards the end.  I enjoyed the story overall though and I loved Harrison’s mother and Finn’s family as well.  This story sets up what promises to be a nice series set in and around the bookstore/wine bar featuring employees and other towns folk in future installments.  I’m looking forward to reading them.

I will say this is one audio that I didn’t feel added a lot to the story.  For me, and this definitely a personal preference, I did not care for one of the narrators.  The other narrator I greatly enjoyed as I have past performances.  I have found that there are only a few narrators that I enjoy listening to in this genre and so I’m going to try to stick with them in the future as for me, when I don’t like a narrator’s voice, it takes a lot away from the story for me and that’s what happened here.  As usual, YMMV.  But if you’re in the market for a sweet, slow burn and low angst story with mature characters who get their HEA, then this might be the story for you.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

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