Love, Ally

Brooks University, Book 1

By: Hannah Gray

Narrated by: Maxine Mitchell, John Lane

The world never granted me much. No warm and cozy home to rest my head, no loving parents to cheer at my games or remember my birthday, and certainly no finer things in life. Just a damn good arm to throw a football and a hunger inside of me that I hoped would lead me straight to the NFL.

I was 12-years-old when the universe finally delivered its first gift. A beautiful angel, though my angel certainly wore no halo. She dressed in the same tattered clothes that I did, and her eyes were as lost and broken as mine were.

All it took was one look at her face, and I knew she had been made for me and me alone. From that day forward, my soul was hooked, taken, a slave to hers. Nothing could come between us. I was headed to college and then pro ball, and she would be by my side, where she belonged.

Until one day, she disappeared without a word.

The love of my life, my best friend, was suddenly gone, vanished, evaporated into thin air. Almost as if she were never even here.

Now, over a year later, at Brooks College in Georgia, she’s back. I want vengeance for her leaving me so callously. But one look into her stormy-blue eyes, and I’m enamored yet again.

But she’s keeping secrets. Pushing me away so that they remain buried in the past. She’s forgetting one thing though—when it comes to her, I’ll stop at nothing.

She can’t keep me at arm’s length forever. After all, she is mine.

This is a complete stand-alone in the Brooks University series.

©2021 Hannah Gray Books LLC (P)2022 Hannah Gray Books LLC

Great Listen!

I devoured this audio!! I really enjoyed this story and the characters!

This book is easy to read and the characters have such great dynamic that you will love.

Cole and Ally are such an amazing couple with a story that will break your heart for them... You will flip the pages wanting to know if they get their HEA!
I adored them and their relationship!!

Love Hannah Gray!!

4.5 ⭐️

Hannah is by far one of my favorite authors, and I absolutely LOVE both of the hockey series she has. I was so excited to listen to this one as it's been on my TBR since I discovered her, and it did not disappoint.

I loved Ally and Cole's story and how no matter what they went through, they had each other. I loved how they found their way back to each other and fought for the love they both deserved. The miscommunication trope was frustrating (as it always is) but it didn't deter me from the story one bit. The character arcs for both Ally and Cole were really great to see, and it made my heart happy for them to see where they ended up and what they were able to accomplish together.

Thank you to Wordsmith Publicity for the Audible code to listen to this! I can't wait to continue the series!

Ally + Cole

5 stars
2 spice

- Football romance
- Second chance romance
- Friends to lovers
- Angst

I’m finally dabbling into Hannah’s backlist and I’m loving every second of it. I listened to the audio for Love, Ally and I recommend it if you haven’t listened to it yet! This book had me all in my feels. There were so many emotions and so many raw moments that I just wanted to squeeze the MC’s and get to know them in person. Cole and Ally’s love story was so genuine and real. I loved learning about their past and what originally brought them together and then what tore them apart. It was all so emotional and I felt like I really could understand their emotions through Hannah’s writing. I haven’t been disappointed by Hannah’s writing yet and I don’t see it happening anytime soon!

Love, Ally (Brooks University #1)

PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Maxine Mitchell and John Lane both did an exceptional job bringing this story to life for me!! Well done!

STORY REVIEW: You wanna know what really gets me all excited and want to shout from rooftops? Well, when an author achieves what I perceive to be the impossible and they do it spectacularly! Wanna know what I perceive to be an impossibility? Creating a story about young kids without making me #twitchy and/or want to stick an icepick in my eyeballs. HANNAH GRAY IS MY HERO!

Listen, I’m not saying that I’ve never read YA/NA romance fiction that was spectacularly done or that Hannah Gray is some sort of anomaly with the world’s best word wizardry, but I am saying that while listening to both Love, Ally and Forget Me, Sloane I never once thought about their age and the ridiculousness that is normal behavior for anyone in their late teens / early twenties. NOT ONCE PEOPLE! Do with all that information what you will :) but you should probably drop everything and buy every book she has ever written. Just some friendly advice from one avid reader to whomever is reading this review!

I did a promotional #bingelisten for both these stories and I’m choosing to review them both as one because it’s not like I’m going to give away any plot-points about the story and also, they’re both happening on the same(ish) timeline and you should not read/listen to one without the other. I mean technically one could say these are standalones inside the Brooks University world, but no. More information for you to do with what you will :)

Love, Ally is a 5+ STAR story but Forget Me, Sloane is more like a 4 STAR.

****SPOILER AHEAD****

Why does Forget Me, Sloane get 4 stars you ask? ….

✔️ I hated how far the author took Sloane’s inability to get past the mistake that Knox made because as a reader, we lived through his remorse from almost the minute he did the thing and frankly, he took steps from almost the beginning of his deceit to walk it back. He may not have verbally stated to Sloane his deceit, but he did try to walk-it back. That entire plot-point came across as out of character.
✔️ Maybe this is just a me thing, but I’m pretty sure most people don’t drop F-bombs left and right when speaking with their parents, no matter how old they are. The F word is one of my all time favorite words but even at 52 years old, I’m not screaming it at my parents … *blink*
✔️ The healing time for a complete craniotomy, collapsed lung, broken wrist and collarbone didn’t sit right with me. The story wasn’t specific enough for me to say the research was flawed, but it just felt wrong. *shrug*

*****END SPOILER****

I know I’ve only experienced two stories by this author which is a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, but I’m quite certain just from this experience that she’s a writer I’m going to keep my eye out for. The stories were relatable and realistic and very compelling. She packed enough of a punch in each story to make them emotional but didn’t quite cross the line into dark angst, which I appreciated.

Okay, enough words from me! Go forth and enjoy ….

What a whirlwind

Wow! This book was so stinkin good! It takes you on a mental roller coaster but well worth the ride! Listening to the life of the storm “cole” and Ally had my heart breaking, becoming a cheerleader and heart melting through out the entire book. Even tho this is fiction I know this book could help so many know they aren’t alone with an awful childhood and can become successful no matter how many obstacles get thrown their way. This book also shows that hard love can be found even 15 years apart. I love the entire ride this book took me on! Bravo on the writing Hannah Gray! Now Maxine nailed all emotions in the book. She had mw so wrapped I didn’t hit pause once. John Lane did a great job as well making me want to give him a huge hug through the phone lol. 5 stars all around here and can’t wait for the next

An emotional journey

I can't believe I went this long without either reading or listening to this book. The pull between these two characters was off the charts. Both Ally and Cole come from a rough past and they meet each other in foster care at 12 years old. Despite their background they turn out to be amazing people. I fell in love with these two. Hannah has a way of writing characters that have such depth to them. All you want to do is cheer them on but she takes you on a journey of ups and downs along the way. the two narrators did an amazing job. they had great tone and pacing while reading this wonderful story. John and Maxine both did a great job at switching voices for different characters as well as adding the accents too. All in all I highly recommend this.

5/5 stars!!

Cole and Ally broke my heart and put me back together again. They individually and as a couple, are the truest examples of not being a victim to your circumstances. Two kids who have had more than their share of hard knocks growing up, find each other when they need to the most and become one another's pillars of strength. When a horrible situation breaks them apart, they find themselves at Brooks University at the same time unexpectedly. Given a second chance to secure a lifetime with his angel, Cole is determined to not only make Ally his again, but figure out what pulled them apart. I'll tell ya, it's truly heartbreaking and gives this HEA so much deserved satisfaction, I have never wanted a couple to ride off into the sunset together, happily, in my life. These characters deserved so much more than what they were given growing up and I rooted for them with my whole chest, to the point where I was a sobbing, blubbering mess by the end of it. Cole is deliciously determined to keep Ally with him and sue me but a secret tattoo will get me, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Listen, we all know that I am a daily advocate for all things Hannah Gray, I adore her writing and every single thing she puts out. I genuinely cannot believe it took me this long to read this book and it has catapulted into one of my top couples of hers. 5/5 stars. Bring on Knox and Sloane babyyyyy.

Ally & Cole

Holy crap this story was so good, I don't even have the words for it. Ally & Cole were together as teenagers. They both came from crappy backgrounds and they both just understood each other, they had a special kind of love. But when something pulled Ally away, Cole was heartbroken but also angry at her. So when they are reunited they have a lot to work through. But the things theyve been through and the love that they share is a special bond they will not have with anyone else.

This audio was done very well

Soulmates

Ally and Cole are, like Ally says, “perfectly imperfect.” They are two people who grew up and flourished amidst the harshest circumstances. They were tested and pulled apart and yet found their way back to one another. Through it all, their love for one another never weakened.

I thought Maxine Mitchell was an amazing voice for Ally! John Lane also did a great job of bringing Cole to life. This was my second read of this book, so I knew everything that was coming, and I still got emotional with their performances.