Title: Walk With Me
Series: Home, #7
Author: Cardeno C
Narrator: Alexander Collins
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 6 hours and 40 minutes
Publisher: The Romance Authors LLC (8-28-15)
Heat Level: Mild
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3 Hearts
Blurb: When Eli Block steps into his parents’ living room and sees his childhood crush sitting on the couch, he starts a shameless campaign to seduce the young rabbi.
Unfortunately, Seth Cohen barely remembers Eli and he resolutely shuts down all his advances. As a tenuous and then binding friendship forms between the two men, Eli must find a way to move past his unrequited love while still keeping his best friend in his life. Not an easy feat when the same person occupies both roles.
Professional, proper Seth is shocked by Eli’s brashness, overt sexuality, and easy defiance of societal norms. But he’s also drawn to the happy, funny, light-filled man. As their friendship deepens over the years, Seth watches Eli mature into a man he admires and respects.
When Seth finds himself longing for what Eli had so easily offered, he has to decide whether he’s willing to veer from his safe life-plan to build a future with Eli.
Product Link: http://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/Walk-With-Me-Audiobook/B014JYSDYC
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Eli Block has known who he is and who he wants since he was eleven years old. Six years later that person is not only back in his life, but in his living room. Too bad Seth doesn’t even remember young Eli. Not one to give up when he sets his mind to it, Eli pulls out all the stops in an effort to make Seth notice him.
Eventually Eli takes a step back and goes through the motions of living his life. He graduates, goes to college and gets his degree in Music and Teaching, has a series of boyfriends, but nothing or no one every truly replaces the longing he holds for Seth.
Seth Cohen has always kept Eli at arm’s length, always tried to convince himself that he is not gay. When Eli extends an olive branch, asking to be friends, Seth graciously accepts and the two become best friends. They talk about everything, and when the time comes, Eli helps Seth pick out his home.
As the years pass and Seth stands on the sideline watching Eli grow, make mistakes and try to learn from them, he also watches Eli become a man. A man who Seth is starting to think he wants to be more than just friends with.
I really adored Eli Block. He was tenacious, loyal and unwavering in his love for Seth. It took Seth a while to get on board, and early on I could completely understand why. Seth wasn’t in a place to openly admit or accept being attracted to another man, and there was the age difference.
But once Seth’s feelings started to change, it annoyed me that he went out of his way not to talk to Eli about it. I loved the chapter headers in this book, the comic relief with the various weddings and the shenanigans that people got up to. I think the fish graveyard reception was perhaps my favorite.
This is the first book narrated by Alexander Collins I’ve listened to and I wasn’t really impressed. At times I couldn’t tell who was talking, Seth or Eli, he chose such similar tones for the two main characters and that was confusing and frustrating. He seemed to put more effort into the secondary characters than Seth and Eli. I won’t say I wouldn’t listen to another book he voices, but I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to grab something of his either.
The story itself was pretty good, as I said, the sort of angst aspect with Seth figuring out his sexuality and keeping Eli in the dark bothered me, but overall I thought the writing and concept were great… the narration, not so much.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *