Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Little Harbour
SERIES: Scandinavian Comfort
AUTHOR: Sophia Soames
NARRATOR: Jaxon Jensen
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 15 hrs and 19 mins
RELEASE DATE: Feb 18, 2026
BLURB:
This is a story about life and death, because there was never anyone else for Jens. He had been with Sofie almost all his life, from the day they met at school when they were fifteen, until the day she took her final breath against his chest. She was always everything to him. As he was to her. He never doubted that. Not for a minute.
This is an adventure of hope, where Axel Kleve keeps himself too busy to even stop and think. Work, sleep, eat, repeat. He loves his job as a Midwife at Oslo’s University Hospital, He’s good at lecturing and training, and now he has somehow been pushed into running “Ask Axel”, a midwifery blog on PNN.no, the parenting-site everyone in Norway trusts.
This is a tale of second chances. Jens, he doesn’t let himself think of Axel. He doesn’t think of Axel at all. And Axel needs to stop longing for that one crush he’s never been able to leave behind. It’s just plain ridiculous. He should have got over Jens Sommerfeldt years ago.
A novel full of love and family life, featuring a hord of feral children, a stolen pram, a Midwifery blog and an ill advised stint on TV. Oh yes, and a man who had lost hope and another who never gave it up.
REVIEW:
Jens Sommerfeldt is a single dad professor with four kids from teenager to toddler. His wife Sofie passed away the year before after a fast illness. He’s struggling to keep his head above water and keep the children somewhat on track and cared for. His work has suffered and so have his relationships with his extended family. He reached out on a blog to get help and the message accidentally goes to Axel Kleve, the most popular midwife in Norway. But that’s not only who Axel is.
When they were teenagers, Axel and Jens were friends. Well more than friends. Jens was Axel’s first kiss, first love, first heartbreak. Jens never told Axel about Sofie – his girlfriend – despite their very close relationship. When Axel accidentally finds out, he cuts Jens off completely. It’s now been 20 years, but Axel figures it has to be the same Jens. They agree to meet for a drink after Axel helps direct Jens to resources to find shoes for his youngest 🙂
Axel confesses that he’s never found anyone who compares to Jens and that he’s never stopped loving him. Jens is in pretty battered shape after trying to be a single parent to his four kids and keep the house running, etc. Axel offers to help and he can see how much Jens is struggling. This is going to be a lot though. ‘
Axel works nights at the hospital, teaches classes to training midwives, has his blog to run and other obligations too. Jens has his children to consider. Can he bring another person into their lives? Can he bring a man into their lives? His teenager and 12 year old are not exactly welcoming, but they do appreciate the help too. The little ones of course are more adaptable and they take to Axel right away. Axel has never had an parental responsibilities and he’s feeling his way along. He’s great with babies and he loves kids, but these kids have baggage too.
Pretty quickly Jens has come to depend on Axel. He feels guilty about a lot of things – not having been a good enough husband, needing help, not being able to handle everything on his own after Sofie’s death, etc. He is honest with himself though and acknowledges that he’s always loved Axel and that they really do fit – even if it’s going to take some doing to make this new family work.
Wow. So this is a very long audio. There is so much that happens with Jens and Axel in this story. The flashbacks to their teenage years puts their relationship into perspective so that the listener understands their deep affection and love. There is some discord with the kids here which I think was handled well and if it’s a little less disruptive than maybe real life, that might be cultural? Having never been in this situation but seeing other go through it, it can go great or it can be a disaster. Doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of in between. Maybe it’s different since the gender of the new parental figure here was not the same as the deceased parent. I really did love how much Jens and Axel clearly adored each other. Axel truly has a heart of gold taking on this group. I also loved the glimpses into the future in the bonus content – even though some of it was quite sad but true to life. This is the second book I’ve listened to with this author/narrator combination and I really enjoyed both.
Jaxon Jensen is a terrific narrator. There are a LOT of characters here – outside of the main six characters in this nuclear family. I loved the kid voices! The nasty nursery supervisor, the TV personalities and hair/makeup people, and Axel and Jens’s co-workers and Jens’s parents were all distinct and fabulous. Really a tour de force of voice acting here. The emotions are all over the place with the kids and the adults and the performance kept me engages and believing in this family and their happy ending. Recommended!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
