The Best of All

The Best Men, Book 2

De: Karla Sorensen

Narrado por: Samantha Brentmoor, Shane East

Duración: 9 h y 52 m

Resumen del Editor

He’s commitment phobic. She believes in happy endings. The twist of fate that binds them is a surprise they never saw coming in a bittersweet romance about instant family—and not-so-instant love.

A decade-old animosity is the only thing Liam Davies and Zoe Valentine have in common. Until their mutual best friends pass away and they’re appointed co-guardians of the trusting couple’s precocious toddler, Mira.

Liam is committed only to professional football. Relationship-wise, he’s even better at defense. Still wrestling with a tough childhood, he’s not cut out to be a father. Why his late best buddy believed in him, Liam has no idea.

An optimistic romantic, Zoe has always dreamed of a fairy-tale life. But even though Liam’s biceps make her dizzy and she can’t stop thinking about his lips on hers, he’s not exactly Prince Charming. With or without that brooding Brit, she is determined to make good on her friends’ last wish.

Forced into a predicament they never expected, Zoe and Liam are discovering things about each other that could scorch through boundaries, warm hearts, and change minds. And best of all, with their shared love for a pint-size surprise like Mira, they might just turn a house into a home.

©2024 by Dutch Girl Publishing, LLC. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

LOVED Liam and Zoe's romance in audio!

Squeeze my heart! The Best of All by Karla Sorensen was a sweet, swoony, and emotional romance that had me all up in my feels from start to finish. Zoe and Liam’s love story was full of heartwarming moments and slow-burn so good spice that I could not stop listening until they finally spoke their truths and found their long-awaited HEA. This is a new favorite from Karla!

Samantha Brentmoor and Shane East perform this audiobook in dual narration, and Eastmoor strikes again with another memorable performance. Samantha created this fragile vulnerability in her voice to capture Zoe’s doubts and desires, making you long for her to find true happiness and peace. Her male British accented growl was on point, making Liam’s grumpiness loveable. Shane added a gruff, defensive edge to his tone encompassing Liam’s guarded exterior that slowly melted away as truths were revealed about the past that eventually made him irresistible. Both narrators added the perfect amount of longing and tension with the slow-burning chemistry between Zoe and Liam.

Overall, I LOVED this book. If you are a fan of a hate-to-love romance with a grumpy hot football hunk, an optimistic book-loving heroine, new co-guardians, an adorable little girl who loves ducks, book club, lingering touches, advice-giving elderly women, declarations about the past, ladies' night, soothing massages, slow-burn steam, starting fresh, closure on the past, pool truths, bookstore first dates, and a HEA that proves the best is yet to come, then you will love Zoe and Liam’s romance. I always look forward to more from Karla Sorensen.

Bloody Perfection!!

I’m obsessed with these two Karla, and the scarred but tender heart of Liam! Their love developed in such an honest way with no games, it had me smiling throughout. Thank you for such a wonderful work! I laughed, sighed and had all the feels!

I don't have the words to express how much I love

Watching Liam and Zoe navigate raising their best friends child will pull at your heart strings. Every moment Mira is on page, I couldn't help the smile on my face.

My favorite part is hearing Liam call her "Duck", and all the shenanigans they get up to revolving around that animal.

This is definitely one audio that I'll be listening to again in the future and it has the slowest burn, but it was so worth the wait knowing that he fell first.

** Enemies to Lovers
** Forced Proximity
** Grumpy x Sunshine
** He Falls First
** Slow Burn

The audio is available for free in Kindle Unlimited, so I highly recommend going that route if possible. Shane East brings Liam to life with his accent and I was drawn into the story immediately.

Loved it!

Gah this book hit me right in the feels. I seriously teared up off and on the entire time, it was just broke my heart.

What didn’t break my heart though was that Liam was written with Roy Kent in mind. Liam 😮‍💨 the mouth on him. But also all that trauma he’s been carry around. Seeing his growth was absolutely beautiful. And the way he pines 🥹
Zoe is so amazing. I loved her and everything she does. I loved them together and their banter. Their chemistry was amazing, phew did it burn slow and tension pulled tout, until it finally snaps! Loved it!

Seeing how they both go through their grief and having a small child going through it as well just killed me, but I loved their journey of healing together. If you lived the movie Life As We Know It then this one is for you.

The narrators were absolutely incredible in this.

All the sweetness

You know how some books are just all the vibes you need when you read them? This is one of those for me.

I listened to this narrated by one of my absolute tippy top favorite narrator pairings, @ms_brentmoor and @shaneeastreads. You know going in the performances will be exceptional and that certainly held true with this story. I want to highlight how incredible Samantha Brentmoor is with Mira’s sweet little girl voice as well as Liam’s grouchy, gruff, British masculine voice. She is a star! And as always, Shane East excels in the same grouchy, gruff, secretly tender voice.

So, this story has such a sad start. Mira’s parents are Liam and Zoe’s best friends and die in a car crash. They have left Mira’s care to be split between Liam and Zoe. Zoe is all in from the get-go, but Liam has some serious reservations based in his past. Of course, he does eventually figure out he’s meant to be involved in Mira’s (and Zoe’s) life. He moves in next door and here we have that delectable forced proximity.

Their care for Mira and subsequent closeness is so sweet. They’re funny and teasing and the chemistry is just. right. there. Is there anything better than a yearning alphahole?

I’m such a fan of everything @karla_sorenson writes and I just realized I missed the first one in this series, so off I go to listen to that.

I loved this book and I think you will too. ♥️♥️♥️

❤️❤️

• Enemies to lovers
• Forced Proximity
• Grumpy/sunshine
• Sports Romance
• An adorable little 2 year old
• Grief Rep
• Hilarious banter
• 3 hilarious old ladies
• The most heart felt apology

This book has left me completely speechless. I wasn't ready for this book to end! It was hands down one of my favorite Karla Sorensen books!

I'm such a huge fan of her writing. Her ability to capture sensitive topic and put them into the most heart-stopping words is just unbelievable! Grief isn't an easy topic to write about, but somehow, Karla did it and left me feeling everything those characters were feeling. Feelings I've never been personally able to put into words. Losing a best friend is hands down one of the hardest things I've ever experienced. 11 years later and the feelings are still so raw. Watching these two characters navigate the loss of their best friends was a very emotional ride put so beautifully into the perfect words.

"Even if the words were delivered with the very best of intentions, I kinda wanted to scream when someone told me they were sorry for my loss."

As heavy as this book was it was also full of the most hilarious banter.

Liam's character stole my heart from the start. He was such a grumpy character in the best way. I absolutely loved being inside of his head. He was so grumpy on the outside. But internally, he had the most beautiful heart he kept hidden safely surrounded by walls he had created from a very young age. Watching such a gruff man on the outside become vulnerable with a sassy 2 year old was amazing. I loved the way he talked to her like she was an adult!

"What is it?” I asked her. “And, no, I’m not reading that book again, so don’t even think about asking with that little face you make. It won’t work.”

Mira was so adorable!!!! I loved how she was such a large part of this book!! Karla did such an incredible job on her character!

It's so rare that I LOVE both main characters from the very start! But like Liam, Zoe also stole my heart from the very beginning. She navigated not only the loss of her best friends but also caring for their grieving two year old with such strength. She gave Liam grace when he deserved it in such an understanding way! Her strength was beautifully written. And so was her fiesty side. Even though she gave Liam grace, she wasn't afraid to put him in his place!

I seriously can't get over how well Karla brought all three of these characters to life.

Thank you for another incredible read!! And the ability to have read it early!!

the performance was perfect!!!

Liam & Zoe

If Karla Sorensen writes it, I will read it. The Best of All is an emotional roller coaster, and I loved every moment of it. Liam is a grumpy professional football player with no plans of ever starting a family. Zoe is pure sunshine and approaches life with optimism. When tragedy strikes, they are thrown together into the co-guardianship of their late friends' daughter, Mira. Zoe is ready to take on the responsibility; however, Liam is reluctant to be involved. Liam and Zoe don't get along, but Zoe is determined to do what's best for Mira, even if Liam refuses to be there to help.

The Best of All is a beautifully written story. Karla Sorensen created two characters who are believable, relatable, and full of depth. Not only must Liam and Zoe grapple with the loss of their friends, but they must also navigate providing the best care for Mira while dealing with their own personal struggles and trauma. They are also forced to really get to know each other and face hidden feelings. I loved everything about Liam and Zoe together. Their chemistry was amazing, and I loved the push and pull of their relationship. This story broke my heart, but I enjoyed witnessing their journey of healing and growth. Little Mira was adorable. The development of Liam's relationship with Mira was super sweet. This story is a super slow-burn romance with lots of tension and all the feels. I highly recommend this book!

NARRATION:
Samantha Brentmoor and Shane East are phenomenal narrators. Their performance of this story is absolute perfection. I loved Shane's accent and portrayal of grumpy British Liam. Samantha provided the perfect voice for the responsible ball of sunshine, Zoe. Samantha and Shane did a wonderful job taking me on this emotional journey of Zoe and Liam learning to be parents and trust each other. They brought the characters to life, making it easy for me to listen to this story in one sitting.

Awesome Narrators

Samantha Brentmoor and Shane East are perfect in these roles! That British accent 😍 There were some very emotional scenes that Shane absolutely crushed!

I enjoyed the overall story very much and the narration only added to it.

Pleasantly surprised!

I didn’t expect this book to be this good but oh my goodness I really loved it so much. The audio performance was very well done and so steamy! Woo! This was such a slow burn literally until the very end but it was well worth it. Grumpy to sunshine trope, enemies to lovers, he falls first, forced proximity, found family.. this book was just such a perfect little romance. Definitely worth the read.

Adorable

I love how Liam calls Mira his little duck. Such a good story with great narrators. Well done.