Audio Book Review-Us by Sarina Bowen + Elle Kennedy

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated?

Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves – Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.

Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.

Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?

Warning: contains sexual situations, a vibrating chair, long-distance sexytimes, and proof that hockey players look hot in any shade of green.

I chose happiness over other people’s skewed opinions and cruel judgments. I chose Wes.
But now I have to hide that choice. I have to pretend that Ryan Wesley isn’t my soulmate

My Review

First Impressions

Us is the companion novel to “Him” from the infamous duo series written by Sarina Bowen and Ellen Kennedy. After reading Him last week for the first time, I just couldn’t resist in picking up “Us” and I have to say this book was BETTER than the first book and I really loved the first book. I love a great splice to life novel and loved seeing more from the infamous #Wesmie team. And this book just won my heart and more. There was so much more depths to this book than I expected and it delivered all the way for me. If you haven’t read these books, than I highly recommend it. Not only is it one of the best M/M romances I have ever read but also one of the best hockey romances I have had the pleasure to read. This is a top notch couple that you need in your life and if you haven’t picked some #wesmie than I beg of you, change this. Because one of my largest reading regrets is not picking this one up sooner than I have.

He holds out a hand that I grab to stand up, and he pulls me into a hug. If I’ve ever doubted his love for me, I’m an idiot.

Summary

Jamie Canning and Ryan Wesley are learning what it takes to be in a committed relationship and that settling into life isn’t as easy as either of them imagined that it would be. Ryan is determined to keep their relationship a secret for a year while he settles into his life as a recruit for the NHL. He is having to hide everything from everyone and with each day, the struggle gets harder for him. Then we have Jamie, who comes from a family that are proud of who they are and are never ashamed of who they are or who they become. Its not in him to keep this type of aspect of his life a secret and its starting to wear on him and his true happiness he once found with Wes. And he wonders if he will be enough for Wes…

I feel like all I’ve done these past couple months is lose. Lose patience, lose the ability to talk to my boyfriend, lose that indescribable ease that always existed between me and Wes.

What I Loved

There was so much to love with this book but the heart and emotion just tore me apart in this one and I felt so hard for these two but most especially Jamie. His struggle with the secret just connects you so quickly and you just want to hug this sweet man who just wants to love his man and not feel ashamed about it. He wants to stand proudly with Wes by his side. How much we see him sacrificing of himself for Wes will tug at your heartstrings. And then we have Wes who is so determined to be successful as a NHL player that he isn’t seeing what this secret is doing to the man he loves. As we see them start to distance themselves from each other, it just builds on the heartbreak that is just building between them.

I don’t know how to explain what’s wrong. I’ve been really unhappy, but I don’t want him to think it’s his fault.

We see both of them go through a struggle in their own lives and trying to work in the relationship with this secret. But we see the damage that a secret like this can harm a relationship. Seeing their relationship be so strong in the beginning and that sense of happiness and then see it slowly crumbling was so hard to witness at times but I also couldn’t put this down, I just had to see what would be the climax in their relationship that would make them realize how beautiful their bond is and how that matters more than anything else. Seeing both Wes and Jamie realize what is happening and start making their relationship the priority melted my heart in every way! And when it happens, and the healing journey that they both need to go through just delivers all the way. Their road isn’t easy that is for sure, but when they find their way and start communicating as they should, well, then the story is true *chef’s kiss*. The moments that I truly loved the most was when both Wes and Jamie fight for each other, they do it in different ways which made it for some interesting dynamics in the third act but delightful at the same time. And that ending *complete swoon*, these two melted my heart and I almost cried when it ended way too soon. Jamie and Wes will always be one of my top pairings from here on out. #Wesmie 4 ever!

I have never felt as raw as I feel right now. I’ve just discovered that falling in love has a dark side. When you’re mad at the love of your life, it’s impossible to feel joy.

What I Struggled With

Nothing much. While I loved this book, the only aspect I would have enjoyed seeing more was seeing Jamie and Wes talk about their issues with keeping their relationship a secret, that was never really addressed.

The Narration

Man this is one of the best narrations I have listened to. Its one of those that you do not want to put it down until the book is done. I was so hooked on these narrations. This duo do it so perfectly and really awaken the characters so well!

Love is friendship set on fire.

Overall View

Us is a story that will captivate the essence of the heart and soul of its reader. Its about healing, and personal fears and reservations and finding the courage to fight for your love no matter what it takes! Jamie and Wes will make you fall in love as if its the first and last time and take your breath away and its uberfantastic in every way! A true gem of hockey goodness!

It’s us. And it’s perfect.

Book Details

Title: Us

Author: Elle Kennedy + Sarina Bowen

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: Audiobook

Source: Purchased

Length: 8 Hours

About the Narrators

A soldier, an athlete, a comedian, and a softer kind of soul, Teddy Hamilton is the guy to fill any need. Known best for his work in the Him series by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, and the Mister series by JA Huss, Teddy has lent his voice to over eighty titles, some sweet and some salty, always with a lot of passion and heart.

Zachary Webber also narrates as Jacob Morgan. Zachary Webber is an actor from Fort Worth, Texas. He has narrated over twenty audiobook titles and has appeared in numerous feature-length and short films, including In a Relationship, a short film starring Dakota Johnson, Shut Up and Drive, which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, and Ithaca, a film directed by Meg Ryan. He is a member of Sasquatch Comedy, a sketch comedy group based in Los Angeles

Book Links

Amazon| Barnes & Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| LibraryThing| Storygraph| Literal Club| Audible

About The Author

Sarina Bowen is the twenty-four-time USA Today bestselling and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of three dozen books, including: the True North series, and Brooklyn Hockey. She’s the co-author of Him/Us and the WAGs series with Elle Kennedy. She’s the author of The Ivy Years series, and more!
Are you looking for a friends-to-lovers story or maybe even a secret baby book? You can read a list of Sarina’s books broken out by trope and style.
Need to know what’s coming next ? Get all the latest news on Sarina’s website, and sign up for her newsletter so you don’t miss a book or a deal.

A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.

Elle currently writes for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!