Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Footsteps of the Past

SERIES:  Second Chances

AUTHOR:  Felice Stevens

NARRATOR:  Denis Lambert

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  7 hours and 57 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  July 21, 2021

BLURB:

It was like in the movies: Their eyes met from across the room, and they fell in love. Nine years later, Chess and André are the envy of all their friends. But this is real life…and things are never what they seem.

Still, waters run deep – the better to hide Chess’s ugly past. He’s worked hard to bury the troubled teen he once was and is living a life he never imagined possible. André’s love is a gift that makes him believe in second chances, and Chess is grateful for it every day. The only thing he wants is what André finds impossible to give: his time. Six months apart might be the breaking point, even for Chess.

One horrible night changed André’s life forever. Formerly a party boy of the Hamptons social scene, André buries himself in work for years until he meets Chess and learns to enjoy the simple things. He’s tired of being away from home all the time and ready to step down from his role as CEO of the family business, no matter how they try and pull him back in. But old habits die hard…and so do memories.

Photos from the past and present surface, shocking Chess and André out of their carefully constructed dream life. They are forced to face the unthinkable: the love they thought would last a lifetime may be on the brink of falling apart. Secrets are exposed, opening a Pandora’s box both men hoped would stay locked forever. Now Chess and André face the hardest question: Do you ever really know the person you’re living with?

REVIEW:

Chester Braxton has left his terrible childhood and adolescence behind him.  He literally pulled himself out of the gutter and has made a life for himself.  He’s compartmentalized the life he had before college and nobody – not even his closest friends know what he went through.  He’s a well-respected professor and he’s been in love with André Webster for nearly a decade.  But the last half year it’s been tough being apart.  André has spent the time in Europe on some big deals for his family’s hotel chain – of which he is the CEO.  But he’s finally taking a break and coming home and Chess cannot wait.  That is until someone tags him in a picture on social media of André kissing another guy.

André Webster has spent his adult life taking care of the family business and moreso since his father’s death.  But the one constant is his love for Chess.  He’s made work his entire life until the night he met Chess and knew he’d found his soulmate.  They have been together for 9 years and now it’s time for him to take a break from work and spend time with Chess.  He already knows life is too short. Look at his father.  However, his mother is not taking no for an answer and even worse, she’s brought in Kyle, his nemesis – and old flame – as her counsel and he’s also bent on screwing things up for André.

When Kyle shows up in the Hamptons where Chess and André are taking some time away and André’s mother insists that they have to jump on these deals, Chess is less than pleased.  Then he discovers that maybe André hasn’t told him everything about this past – and specifically his past with Kyle.  But there are things that Chess hasn’t divulged either.  And it turns out that secrets can’t stay secret forever, and sometimes they are shared in the worst possible way at the worst possible moment.

Well this was a bit of a tough read in many respects.  It’s really hard to write a story about an established couple that is facing a “crisis of faith” spurred on by interference.  But this was very well done.  I would have liked more punishment for the bad actors here – particularly a certain family member that I’d like to see grovel a WHOLE LOT MORE (maybe next books?).  This book touches on so many important subjects – impostor syndrome for example.  Despite all of Chess’s success in academia and with André, he still feels like a fraud and that he’s not worthy of love.  The other thing I took away from this book is that the only way to control the narrative is to be the first to discuss painful or hidden truths.   If only André and Chess had done that before they were manipulated into it.  I did LOVE the support both men got from their families – or found family in Chess’s case.  I also really really loved the end of the story 😀  Finally, Denis Lambert did an absolutely stunning job narrating this one.  There are LOT of big emotions here and I thought he hit the right notes.  Highly recommended and I cannot wait for the final book in this series, because I feel like Spencer and Wolf’s story will be a barnburner!!

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