Sweet Nothing by Jamie McGuire & Teresa MummertNarrated by: Carly Robins and Nelson Hobbs
Release Date: April 5, 2016 (audio)
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: Tantor Audio sent me a complimentary copy
Rating: 4 Bookworms
Challenges: #2016NewRelease
Goodreads
Synopsis
It is enough to break any man: watching what could have been my future slip away before it was ever in my grasp. The possibility of losing someone I loved, before she was even mine, is something I never would have imagined. Certainly nothing I'd ever wish on anyone. I go to her every day and wait. Wait for the impossible, for a sign, for her to look at me...hoping that sinners are granted miracles, too. Just one glimpse of him was all it took. In the next lane, at a stop light, was the man I would fall in love with and marry. People talk about the kind of lover that takes time, love you fall into. We were more like a crash and burn, and when our lives intertwined I would never be the same. He was the man I would cherish the rest of my life, who would father my children. In an instant our life together began, and in an instant it would end. The late night; the excuses; the lies. And in the blink of an eye, it was like we never were. Contains mature themes.
This review is really hard to write without giving anything away, so my vagueness is intentional. I have to admit that while I liked the story, at about 2/3 in, I was thinking this would be a 3-star read. Then things kinda got turned on their head. And in the end, I felt that the way things wrapped up - reminiscent of a favorite movie - earned the story a few points.
Can one moment really change your life? Can its impact be so profound as to change your perspective - change the way you look at and live your life? That's what Avery and Josh consider after a life-changing event.
Avery, an ER nurse, is steady, hard-working, always playing it safe. Even in her love life, she doesn't risk anything so that there's never anything to lose. Josh, an EMT, is a player with a penchant for nurses. He plays the field always letting the ladies know where they stand. He doesn't get emotionally involved because he knows he can't be there for anyone in that way.
But one moment with Avery changes everything.
I enjoyed how McGuire and Mummert alternated POVs to convey the story. Getting to know Josh and Avery as they got to know each other was fun. Their banter was playful and seeing Josh and Avery invest emotionally in each other ended up being beautiful. When things started going bad, I got frustrated. I felt like Avery was irrational a lot of times as well as too harsh. Of course, Josh wasn't making the best choices either and that was frustrating as well. I couldn't believe, or at least I didn't want to, that they'd throw it all away - all they'd built together. It was maddening.
The ending was completely unexpected but I quite liked it. It eased some of the tension I'd been feeling towards Avery and Josh and moved Sweet Nothing from a just okay read to a good one.
The narrators were excellent. Carly Robins and Nelson Hobbs were new-to-me narrators and they embodied Josh and Avery. They kept the pace of the story even as well as conveyed all the emotion and turmoil being experienced.
Overall, Sweet Nothing was a good listen. I liked the twist thrown in that took Josh and Avery's story up a notch.
