🎧 Berls Reviews Pure Seduction

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Pure Seduction by Ella Frank
Narrator: Elizabeth Hart, Nelson Hobbs
Series: Chamberlin Brothers #1
Published by Tantor Audio on May 11, 2021
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Length: 7 hours 2 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads

From USA Today Bestselling Author Ella Frank comes a small town, second chance romance.
Small towns are definitely not for me. Probably because I was born in one, raised in one, and eventually run out of one. The understanding was that I would one day return to Chamberlin California. After all, it is my namesake. What my father didn’t count on however, was that once he sent me away, I would never come back—at least not until he was gone.
Which brings me to now, his wake, at the family winery that was supposed to be mine. It also brings me to her. The sweet girl I left behind. The girl who has since grown into the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on—Laurel Anderson.
She’s looking at me as though she wishes I was the one she watched get buried this morning. But she’s out of luck. I’m alive and kicking. I’m also stuck in this town with nothing to do but wait until the will is read.
Well, nothing to do but see if I can seduce the pure and passionate Laurel, and change that anger I see in her eyes to something just as fiery…desire.
***
The last time I saw Noah Chamberlin, I was a doe-eyed innocent and he was the boy of my dreams. My future was all planned out down to the wedding dress, until one morning I woke up and he was gone.
You’d think after all these years, I’d feel the same blind indignation and rage that has haunted me since that day. Instead, the second I set eyes on him again, I felt something altogether unwanted and unexpected—lust.
If the rumors are true, he’s only going to be in Chamberlin for a few days. I can handle that, as long as he stops looking at me as though he’s thinking about the last time we were together.
But when Noah’s forced to stay and run the family business, it puts us in dangerously close proximity. And in a town this small, that can only mean one thing—trouble.

My top thoughts:

There was a lot about this book I enjoyed but there was a lot that didn’t do it for me either — making it a middle of the road 3 star read for me. I feel like it had a lot of potential to be better than it was. In fact, at the start I was excited to think that I saw future books in the siblings, but by the end I had decided I probably wouldn’t continue the series.

What I liked/didn’t like:

I love second chance romances, which this most definitely was. And that part was done really well. They’ve both moved on with their lives – their very different lives – and are basically happy, if single. But deep down, they’re also both still hung up on that teenage romance from 17/18 years ago. I loved watching how Noah’s return to town, dictated by the death of his evil father’s will, forced them back together and the old sparks started to fly. And there are some really great characters – from Noah’s siblings, to Laurel’s friends, to the small town (which I’m always a sucker for). So that’s the part I really liked.

What I didn’t love I can’t really talk too much about because it’s spoilery. But it’s a common trope that’s not my favorite – although I’ll concede the way it was done in this book was better than most. I also didn’t love the amount of explicit sex. Don’t get me wrong – I’m an erotica reader. But it felt out of place and in replacement of plot/character/relationship development in this book and just didn’t work for me all the way. Some was good – but it went too far.

Narrator thoughts:

Elizabeth Hart and Nelson Hobbs narrated this together and it was an enjoyable listen. Neither narrator is new-to-me; in fact, I think I’ve heard them narrate together before. They are a good match and bring the characters to life really well. All in all, an enjoyable listen and I wouldn’t hesitate to listen to either again – solo or together.

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