Fool for Love (Lost in New York #1) by Felice Stevens (audiobook) – Narrated by Kale Williams

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Can there be a second chance for a first love?

When Presley Dawson falls in love with a married man, he knows it’s wrong but can’t help himself. For the first time, he’s wanted and desired and not so lonely. When his lover returns to his husband, Presley doesn’t worry. He always comes back — until he doesn’t.

Years later, Presley is stuck in neutral and lonelier than ever. He can’t forget his past and doesn’t know how to reach for his future. When his best friend suggests a support group to work through his grief, Presley agrees but without much hope; nothing has helped before. At the first meeting, he’s instantly attracted to Nate and struggles not to fall so far, so fast. He won’t be fooled again.

Nate Sherman is only attending a support group to get his family off his back. True, he hasn’t slept through the night in over three years, but he has reasons. Discovering your father — the man you love and idolize — is a liar and a cheater will do that. And dying in his girlfriend’s bed? No wonder Nate has trust issues.

Meeting Presley changes everything. Nate sees Presley’s sweet nature and good heart and when he sets boundaries for their relationship, Nate surprises himself by willingly going along. With Presley by his side, Nate is able to sleep again and find the trust that he’s lost in himself and other people. He can even fall in love.

But Presley is keeping a secret and if he tells Nate, it could be the end of everything between them. He knows it’s wrong to start another relationship based on a lie. But it isn’t a lie if you don’t say anything. Is it?

Rating: Narration – B+; Content – B+

Felice Stevens’ three-part Lost in New York series opens with Fool for Love, a tender, poignant romance between two men who are struggling to deal with grief and loss. I really enjoyed both the story and Kale Williams’ narration, but I’ll say this now as I realise that for some it may be a deal-breaker: one of the leads was previously involved with a married man. There’s no cheating in this book, but that relationship does play a role in the story.

Presley Dawson is the owner of a successful New York antiques store, but for the past six years, he’s been stuck in a kind of limbo. When he was much younger and newly bereaved, he was floundering under the weight of grief and of being responsible for the business he’d inherited following the deaths of his parents. He was lost and lonely, until he met a man who made him feel wanted and desired – and he tumbled into love with him. They were together for a few years – until Presley discovered Jared was married and broke things off. But months later, when Jared reached out to him, telling Press how lonely he was and how much he missed him, Press took him back and they started seeing each other again – until shortly afterwards, when Jared was killed in a car accident.

Looking back, Press can see how stupid and naïve he’d been, but he just can’t seem to move on. His best friend Frisco encourages him to get out and start living his life again, but even though Press tries his best, he just can’t shake off his melancholy. After another abortive attempt at a fun night out, Frisco suggests that he should try joining a support group to help him work through his grief. Which… is maybe not such a bad idea.

Nate Sherman is a partner at the law firm founded by the father he idolised. He’d have done anything to win his dad’s approval, although their relationship was never the same after Nate came out; his father didn’t condemn him or throw him out, he just… ignored it and never spoke about it, and Nate knew that what really bothered him was what other people would think about his having a gay son. But even though this damaged their father/son relationship, Nate continued to look up to his dad – until the day he died three years before – of a heart attack while in bed with his mistress. Furious with him for such a betrayal of his mother and everything he’d believed his father to be, Nate’s illusions were shattered, and he still hasn’t got over it. Cheaters are scum, his personal relationships now consist of one-night stands and he’s an unapologetic manwhore; he has no intention of becoming emotionally involved with anyone, ever.

When Press and Nate meet at the support group, there’s an instant attraction there, but while Nate is fully on board with their ending the evening in bed, Press is more cautious. He feels the same, intense pull of attraction and agrees to have dinner with Nate after the meeting, but he’s determined to tread carefully. The dinner goes well but Press goes home following a passionate goodnight kiss, and although Nate is disappointed, he’s not discouraged. After this, they start spending more and more time together, getting to know each other, enjoying each other’s company and starting to build something together. The chemistry between them is undeniable and does lead to more passionate kisses and an explosive hook up – but Press asks to slow things down; he wants to be sure that Nate wants him for himself, and not just because any warm body will do. To his surprise – because there’s something about Presley that makes it impossible for him to walk away – Nate agrees.

Okay, so it’s obvious what the big third-act conflict is going to be. Also obvious – Presley should have been upfront about his past and Nate should have been less of a judgmental arsehole. But in both cases, their actions and motivations are so very clearly shown and aligned with the personalities the author has created that it’s easy to understand why they act the way they do, even though we – and they – realise that they’re not behaving sensibly. Knowing from very early on what was going to trigger the ‘black moment’ didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the story at all; if anything, it made the falling-in-love part of it that much more affecting precisely because I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Any long-time romance reader knows romances are predictable, but it’s not the outcome that’s the important thing, it’s the journey. And the journey here is a rather lovely slow-burn laced with self-reflection, sensuality and humour in which both characters experience considerable growth individually as they grow together. I loved watching Press learning to put himself first, and Nate learning to let go of his anger and resentment, and then how they eventually find a way back to each other (not a spoiler – it’s a romance, right?) in a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness, accepting that people mess up but they can change and learn from their mistakes, and that life goes on.

Kale Williams is a narrator I enjoy listening to, and his smooth, warm tones are perfect for a deeply emotional story like this one. He differentiates effectively between Nate and Press by pitching’s voice Press slightly higher, and while there aren’t a huge number of secondary characters, they’re all clearly distinguishable from the two leads. His female voices aren’t always that great, but there are only a couple of female characters with speaking roles – one of those being Nate’s mother – and he does a decent job with them. But by far the best thing about his performance here is the amount of emotion he brings to the story; he clearly has a good handle on the characters and what they’re going through, and hits every emotional cue. Pressley could have been a difficult character to like or empathise with because of his past, but thanks to Mr. Williams’ sensitive portrayal, he’s immediately likeable and more than a little vulnerable. He does a good job with Nate, too, showing how his initial arrogance slowly melts away as he begins to fall for Press, while also managing to convey that this is a guy whose anger is never far from the surface.

Fool for Love is a beautifully written story of coming to terms with loss and learning to live – and love – again. The warm and insightful performance by Kale Williams makes a strong case for experiencing it in audio, and I’m more than happy to offer a strong recommendation.

This review originally appeared at AudioGals.