| Series: | London Lovers #5 |
| Pub. Date: | June 28, 2016 |
| Publisher: | Star Hollows Pub. |
| Narrators: | Charlotte Cole Will M. Watt |
| Length: | 9 hrs 59 min |
| Source: | Author / Audible |
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I met Amy Daws at the RT Convention earlier this year, and she was so sweet and nice, I knew I had to try one of her books soon. I picked up a signed copy of Not the One - but its so pretty I haven't wanted to crack the spine! So I was stoked when I saw this review opportunity for That One Moment. I have yet to read the earlier books of the London Lovers series, and I know the characters crossover quite a bit. However, Daws included enough backstory in this one to keep you from feeling lost if you are starting in the middle, like me.
Let me start out by saying that the narration of this book was absolutely fantastic. Amy chose to do a true dual narration - the first I have heard - and I absolutely loved it. Rather than switching off each chapter like many duets, these narrators swapped off according to the gender of who was speaking/thinking. It's definitely spoiled me for future audiobooks. The narrators, Charlotte Cole and Will Watt, also did a fabulous job at bringing the story to life. They conveyed the appropriate emotion, no matter how trivial or heart-wrenching.
So this was really Hayden's story for me, and he is a tortured hero in the extreme. Currently in therapy after a failed suicide attempt, he has been challenged by his therapist to tell his story to someone outside his family. I know Hayden's story as been building but, like I said above, I did fine coming in for the "end" where he has met this amazing girl and really makes progress with his mental health. I was a big cheerleader for Hayden. His trials and tribulations were well-written and realistic, and I was really drawn into the emotion of his story. If I had to cast someone in the role as Hayden, I think I would choose Sam Claflin. That is who I pictured as I read.
Vi Harris is the only female in a family of footballers and protective males. I loved her dad and brothers, even when they were being overbearing and obnoxious. Obviously this family has been hurting since the death of Vi's mom when she was only 8 years old. As a result, Vi is both a mother figure and a younger sister, but a cherished female to be protected at all costs. As you can imagine, this abundance of testosterone hanging around has wreaked havoc on Vi's dating life. When Vi agrees to hear Hayden's story, I knew things were not going to be easy for them. However I found myself getting mad at Vi for her impatience with Hayden - she really didn't seem to get where he was coming from at times. Vi also had her own issues - she felt she was unlovable for some reason, but I didn't quite understand where she was coming from with this issue. So maybe my connection with Hayden was blinding me to Vi's POV.
While I like my heroes broken and broody... I have to say that I don't like them suicidal. So this wasn't a story where I was able to envision myself as one of the characters. However, that did not detract from the story in this instance. I did feel connected to Hayden and I was emotionally involved in the outcome of his story. While I wasn't quite as invested in the romance... I wanted Hayden to succeed and felt like Vi was the perfect person to help battle his demons. Daws really did a fabulous job at drawing the reader in and detailing these serious issues. Not only did you see the impact on Hayden himself - but you also felt it in his interactions with Vi, Leslie, Reyna and Hayden's family. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.
I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review.
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