Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Coddiwomple
AUTHOR: S.E. Harmon
NARRATOR: Nick Hudson
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 10 hours
RELEASE DATE: September 22, 2021
BLURB:
As a wildlife photographer, Journey “JJ” Sutton never stays in one place too long. The world is his classroom, and he’s living his dream. His only regret is that he had to sacrifice the love of his life to do it. But as the saying goes, you can never go home again. That’s until there’s a family emergency, and he has to…well, go home again. His easy breezy lifestyle gets complicated fast. It certainly doesn’t help that his ex-fiancé has bought the house next door.
After an unstable childhood, Cameron Foster loves small-town life. He has everything he needs in his vet practice, his friends, and his animals. Despite what numerous exes seem to think, he’s not still in love with Journey. And so what if they add “benefits” to their friendship? As long as he keeps his heart out of the equation, everything should be fine.
Too bad Journey’s not onboard with that plan. With summer ending, he has to convince Cameron that this is more than just a fling. This time around, he knows what he wants. He wants a second chance. He wants forever. Most of all, he wants Cameron’s heart.
Journey may have put away his passport, but things are just getting interesting.
REVIEW:
Journey and Cameron were each other’s firsts for so many things. When Journey returns home after a three year absence when his father has a stroke, Cam is the one who picks him up at the airport and has him stay overnight in his guest room. In the house that he has bought next to Journey’s childhood home. Really? Despite fighting it, Cam still wants Journey. But Journey left him and put his small Florida coast home town behind him to see the world. He had to become an adult and take on raising his younger brothers when his mother died when he was a teenager and he spent the following decade being there when his father couldn’t be. He gave up so much for his family and when it was finally his turn, he needed to go see the world. But Cam just couldn’t go with him. He’d spent his childhood following his father’s whims and marriages and when he had the opportunity to stay in Coral Cove with his stepmother, he took it. He runs his veterinary clinic – Happy Paws and he loves his small town life. He’s got his practice and his foster animals and his stepmother (another vet) and his staff and his friends. But he hasn’t found a partner. Despite what Cam and Journey think, they also are each other’s only (though as it takes them a while to figure out). 🙂 As Cam’s string of exes has told him – he’s definitely not over his first love, Journey.
Journey agrees to stay for the summer to help his dad recover from the stroke. He and Cam find themselves running into each other and Journey is entertained by Cam’s lackluster dates 🙂 One this is certain though. Journey still wants Cam. And since he’s going to be around for the summer, maybe they can have a friends with benefits arrangement? Since neither of them is attached and obviously they chemistry is still there, well why not? Of course Cam is still a bit salty over Journey leaving before and he’s worried that he’ll be even worse off if Journey leave him again. But eventually he can’t resist.
Journey and Cam aren’t very subtle or stealthy and soon the whole town is talking about them being back together. Despite their protests, they can’t really deny it. But they insist they are just friends. Ok. Friends who have sex but . . . Nobody is fooled 🙂 Journey finds a dog and the even go on evening walks with their pets 🙂 It really could not be more adorable. Journey and his family (with a little help from Cam) also address some of the messiness of their relationships. There are surprises, revelations, and forgiveness and acknowledgements that have been a LONG time coming. There are also repeated instances of Cam putting his foot in his mouth with Journey right behind him 🙂
I remember loving this book when I read it years ago when it came out and I jumped at the chance to listen to the audio and revisit this beautiful story. These characters, Journey and Cameron, are not perfect. Neither had ideal childhoods or families. Their separate pasts factor largely into their previous split and also impact the current position they find themselves in – a reunion necessitated by Journey returning home after his father’s stroke. There are a bunch of tropes here – the forced proximity of Cam buying the house next door to Journey’s childhood home where his father still lives, the second chances, the friends with benefits, the summer fling, the one that got away, the broken engagement but unable to move on, the small town vs. the world, etc. But the thing is, the book feels nothing like a “trope” at all. The only point I’ll concede is the second chances because indeed that is what this is. But in the best possible way. It’s taken years for these men to come to the conclusion that they CAN be together – just maybe not so conventionally. They certain have a large support system if they can just figure out how to take advantage of it.
I adored this audio. Nick Hudson did the perfect job of performing these two characters. The cynical banter, the internal monologues (Cam’s is hilarious), the many diverse characters were all delivered flawlessly. I loved every single minute of these 10 hours – which really flew by. The dual POV was perfect for tow men who are realizing what they need and desire is right in front of them if they can just figure out how to get out of their own way. Beautiful story and great narration makes this a certain relisten of a favorite book. Bravo!
RATING: 
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