Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis Narrator: Andi Arndt
Series: Sunrise Cove #2
Published by HarperAudio, William Morrow on June 14, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Life Fiction
Pages: 384
Length: 9 hours, 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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Alone in the world, Tae Holmes and her mother April pretty much raised each other, but as Tae starts asking questions about the father she's never met, April, for the first time in her life, goes silent. To make matters worse, Tae is dangerously close to broke and just manages to avoid financial meltdown when she lands a shiny new contract with an adventure company for athletes with disabilities and wounded warriors.
Her first big fundraiser event falls flat, but what starts out as a terrible, horrible, no-good night turns into something else entirely when Tae finds herself face-to-face with Riggs Copeland. She hasn't seen the former Marine since their brief fling in high school, and while still intensely drawn to him, she likes her past burned and buried, thank you very much. Hence their friendship pact.
But when April oddly refuses to help Tae track down her father, it's Riggs who unexpectedly comes to her aid. On a hunt to unlock the past, the two of them find themselves on a wild ride and learn a shocking truth, while also reluctantly bonding in a way neither had seen coming. Now Tae must decide whether she's going to choose love ... or walk away from her own happiness.
The Sunrise Cove series continues and it seems like a place anyone could love. The beauty of the outdoors and all the activities would be awesome. The books are standalones. Our couple to be actually, in The Friendship Pact, were friends in high school and grew up here. Tae is back after college running an events planning company. Riggs is here for the summer to work with the company he and his brother own which do activities for veterans.
Tae is running their fundraising events and is immediately re-attracted to Riggs. They both have some bad family history and don’t open up to others well. But they are also pretty irresistible. Tae remembers what it is like to be a teen without enough food and suggests they also include disadvantaged youth. The concept and execution are heart-warming.
Tae and Riggs both have issues to work through over the summer but they can’t seem to stay away from each other. I enjoyed their personal growth and how they became more honest and connected to their families. I felt everything which is totally how a Shalvis book works.
Narration:
I don’t remember Andi Arndt ever narrating a Jill Shalvis book, but I love her work. Her voice for Riggs was husky and fit him so well. Her female voices were also enjoyable. I was able to listen at 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:
About Andi Arndt
Andi’s relatively neutral US English accent is a product of a Minnesota childhood, New Jersey high school years, and Maryland/DC/Virginia adulthood. Firm grounding in both theatre and broadcasting led to full-time work in voice over.
About Jill Shalvis
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 22-COYER
I love that the outdoors factors so much into the series. I enjoy Andie Arndt’s narration work, too.
It’s a favorite author and favorite narrator.
Jill Shalvis writes some really good books, doesn’t she? I haven’t read this one, but it sounds fun.
She’s an auto read for me. I love her books.
Looking forward to reading this one soon.
I hope you enjoy it. I loved it.
Oh I bet Andi did a great job with this one!
Yes and I was very excited because I don’t recall her narrating for Jill Shalvis in the past.
It’s been a long time since I haven’t read a book by this author but I always like them
She’s a huge favorited of mine.
I read this too and really enjoyed it. Now I wish I had listened to it! Terrific review!
Thank you Wendy! I love Jill Shalvis in any format. But I also love Andi Arndt so it was a good fit for me.
I have this one, too, and it’s up next for me. I love Andi Arndt’s performance so I’ll probably buy the audio to help me catch up. Happy to see you loved it!
I love everything Jill Shalvis and Andi Arndt is a favorite narrator so it was great for me. I hope you enjoy it. You live nearer to this area now?
I do! I live about 50 minutes from Truckee and 1.5 hours from Lake Tahoe. It’s a beautiful area, but I’m happy to not get as much snow as they do! Truckee has a really cute Old West downtown vibe, and I like it more than Tahoe.
I’d be there for the skiing. I love the skiing.
I’m starting this series in about a week. Wonderful review, Anne, and I can’t wait💜 Also encouraged that Arndt is narrating this series.
I have truly loved the books in this series. However, the first book was narrated by Erin Mallon.
Awwww I wanna read this.
I hope you do; I love this series.
I’ve only read one book by Jill Shalvis, but I did enjoy it! I was going to try to meet her at Book Bonanza, but she might be one that I don’t go out of my way to meet just because I’ll be she’s really popular! If her line isn’t too big, though, I’ll be sure to drop by and get her autograph. Great review!
Thank you Lisa. She’s one I’ve always wanted to meet but she missed RT 2017 and also BB 2019. I really enjoy her books.
I adore Andi, Jill too of course…lol I ended up reading this while on vacation and will share my review next week. Wonderful review!
Thank you! Two favorites in one audio and it was great.
I just finished the first two books in this series and loved them both so much! It was my first time reading Shalvis so now I need to go back and start reading her backlist.
It’s all great Suzanne. She’s an auto-read for me. I started with the Lucky Harbor series and also highly recommend Wildstone (similar to Sunrise Cove series) and Heartbreaker Bay but I’ve read everything since Lucky Harbor. I’d start with those 3. I also enjoyed some of her really old back list.