The Best Man

Jasper Falls, Book 2

By: Lydia Michaels

Narrated by: Ashley Trumpler

Patrick fell for Julie in kindergarten when she shared her snack with him. As her childhood best friend, he adored and protected her for years, until she gave her heart to someone else. Loving Julie meant letting her choose her own path, so he did the gentlemanly thing and bowed out of her life, but never stopped loving her from afar.

When Patrick returns to Jasper Falls for his brother’s wedding, Julie is there - alone - and he decides it’s time to hang his heart on the line, but Julie has been keeping secrets, too.

Is it ever too late for a first love? When it comes to Julie Cook, there could never be another. And, this time, Patrick Clooney is determined to prove himself as the best man.

©2021 Lydia Michaels (P)2023 Lydia Michaels

The very best man

The Best Man is the second book in the Jasper Falls series by Lydia Michaels; book one wake my heart is posted for review if you want to check that one out as well!

The Best Man is the story of Patrick Clooney, and Julie Cook. Patrick has returned to Jasper Falls for his brothers wedding to Maggie (book ones characters) where he will be the best man and to set up his medical practice in Jasper Falls. Pat convinces Julie’s twin sister, Jo to attend Ryan’s wedding as his date. Jo is tired of her mother setting her up on random dates. She feels like her family is judgmental and she's honestly not into men.

When Patrick and Jo arrive at her home Jo blurts out that she and Patrick are engaged, it was a heat of the moment blurt it out to get her mom off her back but this is one mistake you don't make in Jasper Falls, the rumor had circulated before the next day!! and

Patrick’s first and only love, Julie returns home for Ryan’s wedding alone. Patrick has loved Julie since kindergarten when she shared her pudding with him. He was a coward and never told Julie how he truly felt so she moved on and he lost Julie to Lance.

One of my favorite parts was how the title of the book is a sneak into Julie and Pat’s love story. I can't wait to see what is next in this series. Lydia is a author that I really enjoy and always pick up!

10/10 recommend.
I received this audio from valentine_pr
The narrators did amazing and I really enjoyed this audio book!! Narrated by Ashley Trumpler.

Another great Ashley Trumpler narration!

Patrick was going to have a horrible morning. All his friends are at his and his best friend Josephine's place shoving shot after shot towards him wishing him farewells. He has just completed his degree and residency and is on his way back to Jasper Falls for his brother's wedding and to open his medical practice.

Jo has been getting message after message from her mother about attending the wedding...wanting to set her up with every single male as her date. Except Jo is gay and not out of the closet to her family and is determined not to return to their hometown and her mother's disappointments. So he jokes that she can tell them he is her date.

Patrick has been in love with Jo's twin Julie since kindergarten, but she moved to Maryland with her douchebag boyfriend Lance.

Julie is driving home for Ryan's wedding and wondering if she made the right decision. Her fiance is an arrogant, controlling jerk who only voices his criticism. She is so tired of being gaslit. Enough is enough. After their last fight where he told her they never discussed him attending the wedding, she told him she was leaving him.

This is book two of the Jasper Falls series and is was nice to be reacquainted with all the family and friends again. Patrick finally tells Julie his feelings, but Julie is not only on a rebound but she is holding a secret.

Like all of Lydia Michaels books, it is very well written and the characters are amazing! Ashley Trumpler did an amazing job narrating this story. I fell in love with her narration from listening to Wake My Heart, book one of this series, and I look forward to listening to more books read by her in the future.

Outstanding Narration

The Best Man is an estranged-childhood-friends-to-lovers, small town romance told in dual, alternating third-person POV. It is the second installment in the Jasper Falls series, and though it is technically a standalone, I felt as though I would have benefitted from reading the first installment before this one. Though the plot was easy to follow and still enjoyable, I suspect a lot of world-building for Jasper Falls and the community there occurred in the first book.

I went into this book fairly blind, just knowing it was set in a small town and involved a couple who met as children - two of my favorite tropes. The story caught my interest immediately, and even had me guessing for the first few chapters who exactly Pat’s love interest would be. Jasper Falls is the quintessential romance small town, and a place I wish were real so I could visit. After being guilty of judging a book by its cover and expecting a closed door romance, I was pleasantly surprised when the relationship turned steamy! Pat’s ceaseless devotion to Julie for so many years, even from afar, was endearing, and his self-admonishment over letting his fear stop his past self from shooting his shot felt very relatable.

Ashley Trumpler was a new-to-me narrator, and her performance in this audiobook blew me away! There was so much emotion in her delivery, it had me feeling everything the characters felt. This amazes me especially because it was in third-person POV, which I find more difficult to connect with than first-person. Particularly descriptions of Julie’s previous relationship, and the emotional abuse she endured, tore me apart. There were parts of the book that didn’t work for me - mainly the very short timeframe for their reconnection and subsequently Julie’s moving on from a very traumatic long-term relationship - which I think would have caused my rating to be a 3-star if I had read it, but Trumpler’s delivery was so fantastic that I couldn’t stand to rate this less than 4-stars overall.

Touching Story

Because this was my first book by Lydia Michaels, I didn't know what to expect. This twist on the best friend's sibling trope more than pleasantly surprised me. The Best Man exemplifies the adage that people come into your life for a reason. Patrick is reunited with Julie just when she needs a kind, thoughtful, genuinely nice guy in her life. He shows her that she is worthy of a trusting and honest relationship as she rediscovers her personality's feisty, clever side.

Narrator Ashley Trumpler effectively conveys Julie's doubts as well as her fragile mental state in her narration. The Irish accents are also well done. Trumpler's voice for Patrick's Irish mom was fantastic!

This touching story is a quick listen that will make you smile.

Patrick & Julie!

Patrick returns back to Jasper Falls with his best friend Jo for a wedding. He has been in love with Jo's twin, Julie since they were six years old. Never taking the chance to win her heart, he thinks it's over now that she is engaged to the horrible, Lance. But when Julie comes home too, things begin to change. Could this be the chance these two deserve? I love Jasper Falls. The people are welcoming and interfering, the best kind of small-town!! The dynamic of Jo with her parents is dealt with as the relevant issue it is. Patrick is the sweetest man, patient and comforting. Julie is a mess, and Lance is a mean, horrendous man. Fun getting to know them all, love the storyline and the outcome brought a huge smile to my face!

Ashley Trumpler is a new narrator to me, and I enjoyed her voice. She has a warmth that generates through the narration creating that feeling I love. She has a good array of voices and her pacing is perfect! I will definitely be looking for more of her work.