Hard Wood

I've been on a romantic comedy kick just lately, especially with this series and I was so overjoyed that another book was being released. It's a story of love. Simple as that. You will meet these characters and you'll instantly like them, shortly after you will be in love with them and the world they live in. As soon as I hit play on this book I knew I wasn't going to be able to stop listening until I had devoured every last second, and that's exactly what happened. I loved the wilderness aspect of this story, That's what these books do, they immerse you in them so fully that you feel like you are there, experiencing things with them. I loved that the epilogues tied everything up with a pretty bow and left me with a happy feeling of being complete.

Lauren Blakely writes the best characters. I loved Patrick. He's my favourite. He was such a sweetheart, I liked him when he was introduced in Joy Ride and was super excited to see him get a book. His friendship and banter with Max was fun and showed a different side to him, as opposed to the sexy sweetheart he is with Mia. His relationship with Zeus, his cat, was just the most adorable thing ever. I loved that he knew how he felt about Mia and wasn't scared of it, he wasn't scared to admit it – just about whether she was at the same place as he was, I thought that was really refreshing.

Mia is awesome. I think I identified with Mia the most, out of all of the female characters in this series. She's short, yes this is a thing, do you know how many female characters are considered short but really, they're not? (Sorry, I digress) She has two brothers that she adores. She's independent, knows her own mind and gets things done. What's not to like? Her interactions with Patrick were sweet and you could sense the chemistry from the get-go. I've always been drawn to strong female characters and I think she embodies that.

Zeus, come on, he had to get a mention. He was freaking adorable. I feel like he needs his own twitter account so he can keep us informed of his progress.

It was nice to have a little mention of the characters from the other books in the series and how their happily ever afters are progressing. With that being said, this book is a complete standalone, you don't need to read/ listen to the others for the little mentions to make sense. Personally, I think you should, because they're awesome but it's definitely not required.

The relationship between Patrick and Mia is such a sweet one. I loved that they started as friends with chemistry and that grew to something more and something neither of them could fight, nor wanted to. The fact that they were both on the same page about the relationship and how they felt but they didn't tell the other - both drove me insane and kept me listening and wanting to know where the story was going to go. Thankfully, they didn't keep me waiting too long, their attraction and love were just too strong to draw it out. The banter between the two of them was spot on and so full of sexual tension and innuendos that it made the sex scenes just perfect for this couple, not overdone or unnecessary, they felt very organic to Patrick and Mia and a part of their story.

When I was getting ready to listen to Hard Wood I thought about the review and wondered how I was going to manage to say something that I haven't already said about Sebastian York and figured it would be a struggle. Then I listened to it, oh man! It's typical Sebastian York goodness, with an extra flair I wasn't expecting. At the beginning and end of the book, there are some cool nature sound effects that I thought was a great addition to the overall feel of the book. Sebastian really has been the best choice for this series, but with that being said, I feel he really embodies Patrick, his performance is commanding yet sweet. He nails the sexiness like, well, come on, if you've heard any book narrated by Sebastian, you know the man can make a sex scene sexier and he delivers in that aspect here too, but it's the emotional scenes where he really excels. Did I mention this book has chapters from the cat, yes you read that right, Sebastian York narrated a cat and even meows, I don't remember the last time I laughed that much or that loud. It was pure comedic genius on both Lauren Blakely's part and on the delivery from Sebastian. Just when I think he can't surprise me anymore, this just came out of left field and I loved it.

Side-note: The book also contains a sample chapter from Most Valuable Playboy, narrated by Zachary Webber. If you've been on the fence about MVP this is the perfect opportunity to hear ZW's awesomeness and get a taste for the story.