Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Beautiful  Mistakes

SERIES:  Second Chances

AUTHOR:  Felice Stevens

NARRATOR:  Denis Lambert

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  8 hours and 20 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  September 27, 2021

BLURB:

Wolf
Desire: What Wolf struggles with from the moment he sees Spencer Hawkins the first day of college.
Fear: Not a word in Wolf’s vocabulary except when it comes to facing his feelings for Spencer.
Lust: What he gives in to that changes everything between them. And his life forever.
Denial: Something Wolf is all too familiar with—denying who he is and who he wants. It’s better this way, even if it’s tearing him and his friendship apart.

Spencer:
Hide: What Spencer does best. He hides from everyone, especially himself and the crazy attraction to Wolf he can’t shake. Walls: Spencer throws them up to protect himself from all the hurts life heaps on him—his mother’s death, his father’s indifference, and the men who share his bed and walk away.
Betrayal: Not by just anyone. By Wolf. The one man he can’t forget. Or forgive.
Want: Spencer wants to live in the moment, but he can’t stop thinking about that night. And it doesn’t help that he and Wolf keep knocking heads…and locking lips.

Love: What those two idiots need to realize is happening between them. What started out as their ugliest regret could end up being the most beautiful mistake they ever made.

REVIEW:

Note:  This is the third book in this series and as such contains major spoilers for the first two books.  My recommendation is to read them in order.  Plus all the books are really good 🙂

So thinking about structuring this review, I do not want to spoil any of the plot points that are pivotal in the story because I think it’s more enjoyable to discover them in the listening/reading. So here goes 😉

Spencer is a party boy.  He’s a sought after stylist and he really likes his job and his life.  He’s got his best friends, Elliot and Ches and Wolf who have been a group since college.  Elliot and Ches are happily ensconced in their relationships.  Wolf has his work as very successful defense attorney.  Spencer can whoever he wants whenever he wants – but only for one night.  He’s not into relationships.  He just knows they will never work for him.

Wolf has been single-minded since college.  He studied all the time preparing for law school.  He’s been extremely dedicated and he’s always very busy with work.  He’s really good at his job and it gives his life meaning.  If he puts it before everything else – even his friends – well that’s just the way his world works.

The four guys have been friends for a long time.  They support each other and tease each other.  But lately Wolf and Spencer’s teasing has gotten kind of vicious.  Elliot and Ches are worried about both of them.  What they don’t know is that something happened between Wolf and Spencer.  One time.  And the aftermath and misunderstanding have left hem at a crossroads that they are both afraid to address.  They continue to keep each other at arm’s length with the constant bickering and it hiding the fact that they need to address this whatever it is that is brewing between them.

When Spencer’s past and Wolf’s past sort of collide, Wolf is shocked to find out the secrets and hurts that Spencer has been hiding all these years behind his party boy exterior.  And when Wolf is devastated by his past as well, Spencer won’t let it go and insists that he be there for Wolf too.  What they each believe about the other and what they are willing to do for each other shifts on a dime.  And no one could foresee the ramifications for either of them.

I think this one is my favorite in the series.  The fact that Spencer and Wolf have so much in common but can’t seem to figure out their issues made this one really just so sweet when they did get out of their own way and go for it.  Both men have hidden deep betrayals from their childhoods and neither have shared the trauma that they have overcome.  They each got on with things and became successful in spite of the cards they were dealt.  Nobody understood just what drove Wolf until things got pretty rough and he finally breaks down and lets Spencer in.

Spencer, for his part, has also hidden behind his carefree persona and essentially self-medicated through casual hook-ups.  At least he’s wanted for a night, right?  So what if it’s not forever.  But the hurt he’s been nursing over Wolf has revealed itself in the way they snipe at each other.  Wolf has never understood why Spencer has valued himself so little.  He’s never been happy about how Spencer has enjoyed all these casual hookups.  From their first day at college, he’s wanted Spencer, but he knows he could never handle him being with others so he’s always just stayed in the background, worked hard, and stayed friends with the guys.  I would venture to say that in a room full of people, these are two men who are profoundly lonely.  They are so closed off and so adept at protecting themselves and using their public personas to keep any true connections at bay.  The only true relationships they have are with the other guys.  Though even with them, they have kept huge parts of themselves hidden.

When things finally come to a head and Wolf and Spencer are no longer able to compartmentalize their lives and their pasts, thankfully they have each other and the other guys and their SOs to help them pick up the pieces.  And provide some buffers for the intrusions that follow.  I absolutely loved how the wagons were circled for both Wolf and Spencer and how the whole mess worked out for the best for both of them 🙂  I also love to see bad actors pay for their deeds.  It’s great to be able to see karma actually come around for those folks 😀  Those who act in bad faith deserve to be taken down a peg or two.

Denis Lambert has narrated this entire series.  I think this is the first MM series and audiobooks that he’s done.  Once again, I thought he did a fantastic job with a pretty large cast of characters.  His characterization of Wolf I think conveys the serious focus of a man that was hiding a deep and abiding pain.  His playful but sharp-tongued Spencer was spot on and seamlessly carried over from the previous books in the series.  Because we are familiar with the other couples from the previous two books, I’m sure it was a challenge to keep all of the voices aligned with those performances.  He did it brilliantly.  The pain and gravity of the situations that Wolf and Spencer found themselves in were superbly conveyed by this voice actor.  Well done!  Highly recommended and a wonderful conclusion to this series.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Audible

Amazon