All the Way to Shore

Stories from the Shore, Book 1

By: CJane Elliott

Narrated by: Tim McKiernan

A Stories from the Shore Book

Jonathan Vallen has never felt good enough. A gentle musician who loves to garden, he’s woefully unsuited to running Vallen Industries, the family business. When his father hires a hotshot executive, Marco Pellegrini, to save the company, Jonathan moves away and leaves his humiliation behind. A year later and 40 pounds lighter, Jonathan runs into Marco on an LGBT cruise. Marco doesn’t recognize him, the sparks fly, and Jonathan pretends to be someone else for the week - Jonah Rutledge - someone good enough to be loved.

Marco Pellegrini has always been driven. He rose from poverty to the pinnacle of business success, and he’ll do anything to protect his reputation - including hiding his bisexuality. Having saved Vallen Industries, he’s weary of the rat race and ready for a more meaningful life. When Marco meets his soul mate for that new life - Jonah Rutledge - on an LGBT cruise, he prepares to stop hiding and start living.

Back on land, the romance crashes when Marco discovers his perfect man is not only a lie but the son of his boss, Frederick Vallen. Jonathan resolves to win Marco back, but Frederick takes vengeful action. Jonathan and Marco must battle their own fears as well as Frederick’s challenge to get to the future that awaits them on the horizon.

©2016 CJane Elliott (P)2018 Dreamspinner Press

Good cruise romance

Jonathan wanted to be a musician and garden. But after his mother's death, his father wanted to groom him to take over the family business. He brings in big shot Marco to save the company and teach Jonathan all he knows.
Jonathan finally stands up to his father with the help of his cousin Anthony and moves to the shore in the house his mother left. A year later after a major makeover and loss of 40 pounds, Anthony convinces him to go on a gay cruise where he runs into Marco. Anthony gives the name Jonah and Jonathon goes along with it, but things get out of hand.

This is a cute story. It's flirty and fun. It is also very formulaic Boss/coworker, gay cruise type romance There's a lot going on. I never really connected to Marco or Jonathan but I loved Anthony! I hope he gets a story next!

I enjoyed this.

This is the second book I've read by CJane Elliott and I enjoyed it. It's the first audiobook I've listened to narrated by Tim McKiernan. I enjoyed his narration but I do think he over-emphasized in some areas. This may be a case where I just need to get used to his narration style. Oftentimes when I listen to a narrator for the first time, I have a few issues but then upon listening to another book that changes.

The blurb does a pretty good job of explaining the story but it doesn't tell you how much of a jerk/homophobe Jonathan's father is. He is horrible to his son and later to Marco who he hired to run his company.

I loved how free Jonathan is when he is on the cruise ship. He broke away from his father and made himself over into a very cool looking guy. His biggest problem now is his lack of confidence. When he runs into Marco on the ship, he is afraid of his reaction since they clashed when Jonathan still worked for his father. He knows it's not a good idea to pose as someone he isn't but he lets his cousin talk him into it anyway.

I loved the supporting characters of Jonathan's cousin Anthony, and Marco's sister Sophia. These two really added a lot to the story and I enjoyed the witty repartee between all of the characters. All in all, this was an easy book to listen to and I liked it a lot.

A copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

Entertaining shipboard romance with a twist.

Survivor's guilt and his father's unrealistic expectations almost ruined Jonathan's life until he grew a pair and decided to make some positive changes. Marco was at the top of his game, career-wise, but something was missing. He couldn't figure out why he wasn't happy until he booked passage on an LGBT cruise with his sister. When he first laid eyes on Jonathan he had more questions than answers but everything slowly fell into place. Until it didn't. I enjoyed this slow burn romance from start to finish. Both MCs were engaging and secondary characters added a lot to the story. Nicely narrated by Tim McKiernan. Recommended.

Perfect Escape

The quick-paced and fluid audio was fun to listen to as I went about my day. The narration section of this romantic story centering around two very unlikely men was fast but slowed down to a more comfortable clip during the dialogues. Mr. McKiernan did a very nice job of capturing quite a few characters and I never had any problems differentiating between them. The audio story grew on me as I continued to listen. It was a lovely diversion as I enjoyed the lush descriptions of the cruise where the men fell for each other. Ms. Elliot does give bold details to not only the scenery but the characters.

A sweet romance that yes, does have quite a bit of drama to it. Johnathan Vallen is destined to be the CEO of Vallen Industries. A fate he dreads and knows deep in his soul will slowly destroy him. Johnathan is an artistic man that has always horrified his over the top homophobic father. Reeling from his beloved mother's death, who always supported him for who he was, Johnathan feels the world closing in. His father had insisted he trains with the temporary CEO assigned to salvage the company. Marco Pellegrini tries to groom the reluctant heir to step up to the helm which only makes Johnathan feel more like a loser.

Soon Johnathan leaves the company and concentrates on himself. A year later after losing weight and getting in shape, he decides to do something out of his comfort zone by taking an LGBTQA Cruise. While there, he bumps into Marco. The overworked executive does not recognize Johnathan and sparks fly. Johnathan has been going by the name Jonah which seems innocent at the time but as the men bond, he has painted himself in the corner by not admitting his real identity. The connection deepens and you can guess where this is going. When the truth does surface Marco is livid and leaves Johnathan. Lies by omission, a twisted control freak father that was seriously over the top and two men that desire each other but are unsure how to reconnect are artfully narrated in this sweet and at times heart-rending story.

I recommend this pictorial audio-book and wish you happy listening!

On Sun, Jan 5, 2020 at 9:12 PM Kathy <[e-mail]> wrote:

4 Stars ****

Narrator: Tim McKiernan

The quick paced and fluid audio was fun to listen to as I went about my day. The narration section of this romantic story centering around two very unlikely men was fast but slowed down to a more comfortable clip during the dialogues. Mr. McKiernan did a very nice job of capturing quite a few characters and I never had any problems differentiating between them. The audio story grew on me as I continued to listen. It was a lovely diversion as I enjoyed the lush descriptions of the cruise where the men fell for each other. Ms. Elliot does give bold details to not only the scenery but the characters.

A sweet romance that yes does have quite a bit of drama to it. Johnathan Vallen is destined to be the CEO of Vallen Industries. A fate he dreads and knows deep in his soul will slowly destroy him. Johnathan is an artistic man that has always horrified his over the top homophobic father. Reeling from his beloved mother's death who always supported him for who he was, Johnathan feels the world closing in. His father had insisted he train with the temporary CEO assigned to salvage the company. Marco Pellegrini tries to groom the reluctant heir to step up to the helm which only male Johnathan feel more like a loser.

Soon Johnathan leaves the company and concentrates on himself. A year later after losing weight and getting in shape he decides to do something out of his comfort zone by taking an LGBTQA Cruise. While there he bumps into Marco. The overworked executive does not recognize Johnathan and sparks fly. Johnathan has been going by the name Jonah which seems innocent at the time but as the men bond he has painted himself in the corner by not admitting his real identity. The connection deepens and you can guess where this is going. When the truth does surface Marco is livid and leaves Johnathan. Lies by omission, a twisted control freak father that was seriously over the top and two men that desire each other but are unsure how to reconnect are artfully narrated in this sweet and and at times heart rending story.

I recommend this pictorial audio-book and wish you happy listening!

Sweet and romantic

This was my first book by CJane Elliott and my first narrated by Tim McKiernan. To me,the combination of the story with the narrator's voice has been an amazing experience.

One of my favorite things about 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲 was the particular double POV. Jonathan's provides the most of the book's events but Marco's is formed as diary entries, each ending with reasons to be grateful( which I found really cute).

Jonathan and Marco first met when Jonathan's father hired Marco as CEO of his company. Thanks to the latter's arrival at Vallen Industries, Jonathan could give his resignation from a job he hated and finally make true his wish to move to Cape Cod,where he could dedicate himself to his real passion: music.

They were supposed to be passing ships in each other's lives until,fast forward a year,they meet on an actual ship,a cruise set for the Caribbean. But Jonathan has changed a lot,lost weight and a general makeover,and Marco doesn't recognize him. So why not use that and create a false identity? After all,it's only for the duration of the cruise and a vacation fling never hurt anybody... Only,they didn't take into account the fact they would have a lot in common, or they'd discover to complete each other's hearts and fill their lonely souls with love and happiness. Neither to have their rosy clouds of bliss crash hard when the truth comes out.

While I don't agree with the deceit, it does ad an extra flair to the story. And the aftermath helped both Jonathan and Marco,because,in a way,it forced them to realize things about themselves and made them stand up for what they really wanted. They both grow a lot throughout the book,neither perfect but all the more endearing because of their flaws. The author also gave them amazing supporting characters with Anthony and Sophia. They're adorable:meddling,nosy and disastrously helping lol.

There are a lot of reasons to read or listen to 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲. It's funny,sweet and it will take you to amazing, romantic locations. You'll fall in love with the characters and cheer for their happy ending, holding your breath waiting to see if Jonathan and Marco would kiss and make up.

Can't recommend it enough.