He’s my other half. We complement each other in more ways than I can count. When he’s in the same room, I’m focused on him, and when he’s gone I walk around missing him.
Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy
Us
Format:
Audiobook
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated?
Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves – Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.
Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.
Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?
Point of view:
1st Person. Alternating perspectives between Jamie & Wes.
Rellim’s Thoughts:
Us is the second book in the Him series and while I guess it could stand on it’s own, you definitely want to listen to how Wes & Jamie got together in Him.
While Bowen & Kennedy could have stopped with Him and it would have been a terrific story on it’s own – they blessed us with even more Wesmie in Us. This one seems to feel a little heavier as Jamie & Wes navigate their new relationship, cohabitating, balancing careers, and keeping it all a secret from the world – including close friends and teammates. Wes struggles to feel secure when few in his life have loved him for just being him and Jamie is trapped in the isolation caused by keeping so many secrets. That said, there is still a lot of romance, sexy times, and tons of humor.
I like that “coming out” isn’t saved for the very end nor resolved in an easy “and everything was fine”. There are complicated realities to deal with and obstacles to overcome that Kennedy and Bowen handle really well.
Annnddd… you can’t talk about Us without mentioning the introduction of Blake Riley. He’s an interesting dichotomy of oblivious yet incredibly insightful and almost always absolutely hysterical. Blakey gets his own book Good Boy, which is not only the first in the spinoff series WAGs but also offers more in the future of Wesmie.
If you need even MORE Wesmie, you’ll want to check out the novella, Epic.
Narration:
Teddy Hamilton & Jacob Morgan continue to be a great match here. The personality of both characters shines through in each of their performances. Definitely a series I’d rather listen to than read to myself.
About the authors:
Sarina Bowen is the award-winning author of more than thirty contemporary novels. She has hit the USA Today bestseller’s list nineteen times and counting. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.
Sarina is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. She lives with her family on a few wooded acres in New Hampshire.
You can connect with Sarina Bowen here:
Elle Kennedy A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.
Elle writes romantic suspense and erotic contemporary romance for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!
You can connect with Elle Kennedy here:
About the narrators:
You can connect with Teddy Hamilton here:
You can connect with Jacob Morgan here:
My Favorite Quotes
I’m like the worst queer dude ever. Somebody pass me the manual! – Us by @SarinaBowen & @ElleKennedy #Audiobook narrated by @TEDDYHAMILTON14 & @JacobMo46594164 #MM #SportsRomance #Hockey #Wesmie
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He’s my other half. We complement each other in more ways than I can count. When he’s in the same room, I’m focused on him, and when he’s gone I walk around missing him. – Us by @SarinaBowen & @ElleKennedy #Audiobook narrated by @TEDDYHAMILTON14 & @JacobMo46594164 #MM #SportsRomance #Hockey #Wesmie
Tweet
I’ve just discovered that falling in love has a dark side. When you’re mad at the love of your life, it’s impossible to feel joy. – Us by @SarinaBowen & @ElleKennedy #Audiobook narrated by @TEDDYHAMILTON14 & @JacobMo46594164 #MM #SportsRomance #Hockey #Wesmie
Tweet
“Probably shouldna opened all those drawers,” Blake carries on, rubbing his chin. “Ya can’t unsee some of those toys. But everybody has to have his own kinda fun.” – Us by @SarinaBowen & @ElleKennedy #Audiobook narrated by @TEDDYHAMILTON14 & @JacobMo46594164 #MM #SportsRomance #Hockey #Wesmie
Tweet
I trust who I am with Jamie. – Us by @SarinaBowen & @ElleKennedy #Audiobook narrated by @TEDDYHAMILTON14 & @JacobMo46594164 #MM #SportsRomance #Hockey #Wesmie
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Rellim Reads 