Title: Ever the Same
Series: N/A
Author: BA Tortuga
Narrator: Paul Morey
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 7 hours and 32 minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (07-06-15)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5 Hearts
Blurb: Audie Barrack is in it up to his elbows with a sick calf when his son’s school calls. Seems Grainger has gotten into yet another fight. When he walks into the principal’s office, he’s shocked to find his son has been fighting with a little girl named Randi.
A little girl with one blind dad and one dad who recently passed away.
Dixon has lost his sight, his career, and his husband. Thank God for his brothers, Momma and Daddy, and his little girl, or he would simply give up. The last thing he needs is for Randi to start trouble at school, especially trouble that puts him in contact with another dad who might expect him to be a functional human being.
Dixon is struggling to live as a blind man, Audie is terrified someone might see he has a closet to come out of, and everyone from the school to both men’s families is worried for the men and their children. Unless they get themselves together and commit to change, neither of them stands a chance.
Product Link(s): https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6711
http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Ever-the-Same-Audiobook/B010WHD2DC
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Audie lives his life under the radar. A single father to a young son whose mom abandoned him, practically at birth, he keeps his sexuality a secret from everyone but his family. Everything changes when Audie gets a call from school that his son, Grainger, has been fighting with another student.
Dixon and his daughter Miranda, Randi for short, are still in mourning over the loss of a loved one. Not only did Dixon loose his lover in the wreck, Randi lost her other daddy and Dixon lost his sight. Now he spends every day in darkness, just trying to put one foot in front of the other and learn how to live again. Imagine having everything you ever dreamed of; love, life, happiness and a family; and in an instant, it’s all taken away.
Audie winds up befriending Dix, inviting him and his daughter to Grainger’s birthday party in an attempt to help his son make new friends. It’s a rough start at first, Grainger determined not to like the little girl who socked him a good one. Eventually though, the four of them become inseparable. Audie begins teaching Randi how to ride horses while Dix teaches Grainger how to play guitar. And the two men, well they teach each other how to love and live again.
I was completely engrossed in this story five minutes in. The storyline was totally fun and care free. Of course there are some bumps in the road. Dix is bitter and lonely but once he opens his heart and lets Audie in, everything changes. Audie hasn’t lived in the closet per say, everyone just assumes that since he has a son he is straight; he does or says nothing to change their minds. But meeting Dix awakens something inside him he didn’t think he would ever experience again.
The difficulty these two face is merging their different life styles and blended families. The most strife and discord comes from their own mothers. Now that they’ve found happiness and a man who not only accepts them, faults, blindness, small children and all, they aren’t about to let anyone keep them apart.
Narrated by Paul Morey and if you follow my reviews, you know I adore his voice. He has this country gentleman tone that he uses for Audie and it is absolutely perfect. I especially liked that I could feel Dixon’s frustrations in the way Morey voiced him, it gave the story and the character so much more depth.
Tortuga definitely did her research into the specifics of living life without site. Little details like the other senses becoming stronger, the anger and frustration over not being able to visualize something… I really enjoyed that she went that extra mile for the story.
I would recommend this audio book to anyone that likes cowboy romances, hopeless romantics and fans of Morey’s work.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *