Switched

By: N.R. Walker

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Israel Ingham's life has never been easy. He grew up in a house devoid of love and warmth. Nothing he ever did was good enough. The fact that Israel is gay just added to the long list of his father's disappointments.

Then a letter from Eastport Children's Hospital changes everything.

A discovery is made, one of gross human error. Twenty-six years ago, two baby boys were switched at birth and sent home with the wrong families.

Sam, Israel's best friend, has been his only source of love and support. With Sam beside him every step of the way, Israel decides to meet his birth mother and her son, the man who lived the life Israel should have.

Israel and Sam become closer than ever, amidst the tumultuous emotions of meeting his birth family, and Sam finds himself questioning his feelings toward his best friend. As Israel embraces new possibilities, he needs to dissect his painful relationship with his parents in order to salvage what's left. Because sometimes it takes proof you're not actually family to become one.

Contains mature themes.

©2016 N.R. Walker (P)2017 Tantor

Fantastic

This is my second listen and 4th time reading Switched. Each and every time I forget just how much I love this story. I can’t say enough good things about the plot and how the story progresses through to the end. And Joel Leslie’s accents and overall narration is ALWAYS stupendous.
One of my absolute favorites from N.R Walker.

Sweet speaking to your soul story

The subject of being switched at birth can take your mind in thinking of so many implications and effects, from emotional to legal to social! The book dwells more in the emotional/ family and it is a very sweet story with the touch of grace and beauty that I already know from N R Walker.
Putting this together with the wonderful voice of Joel Leslie, and there you have it, a great experience! Thank you!

Excellent!

IMO N.R. Walker is one of the very best at creating characters and stories that pull you in and make you never want to let go. This was such a wonderful story of love and family. Please read it, you won’t be disappointed!

Talk about a happy tear-jerker !

The depths of human understanding are surely what this author understands, and the reader was perfect too.

Glad I finally listened

I have had this book in my library for a long time. For some reason I kept procrastinating, but finally queued it up.
What a lovely surprise and heartwarming book. Not at all depressing, which I expected.
Joel Leslie is awesome as usual, and N.R. Walker is a favorite author.

Good story, excellent performance as always!

This has been in my Audible library for a while and I’m not sure why I haven’t listened before now.
If friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, then childhood best friends-to-lovers is my kryptonite. The focus of the story isn’t really Israel and Sam’s relationship, that’s more of a secondary story however it’s hovering just slightly in the background the entire time. The focus is on family…what it means and what it doesn’t. //



I loved Sam and Israel together. Their banter was entertaining, their protectiveness and possessiveness over each other were endearing and once they gave in, their sexual chemistry was off the charts. They were clearly meant to be together. Even their group of friends – who were amazing as well – saw what was between them before Sam and Israel admitted it to themselves. //



One of my small niggles was with Sam. He was such a strong, almost dominant, person when they finally forged a relationship it was surprising to me that he didn’t push for more instead of waiting for Israel to make the first move. The lack of communication was a bit frustrating until Israel finally decided he’d had enough. //



My other was Israel’s father…and his change of heart. It was semi-explained, but I still didn’t buy it. It was hard to believe he went from “you’re worthless” to letting Israel basically tell him to eff off. //



Joel Leslie’s performance was brilliant as always. From portraying the true emotions of each character to using a voice for the women so unlike his own I had to rewind and listen to it a few times to see if I could pick up his voice, he just nailed this. There is no doubt listening to this book instead of reading it made all the difference in the world between ‘liking it’ and ‘oh my gosh this is amazing’. //

Lovely and Original

What a wonderful and unique story! I was not expecting to feel all the emotions I felt while reading this book. Israel was an interesting character and I really felt for him while he tried to navigate the rift between him and his parents plus the bombshell news that he was actually switched at birth. I enjoyed the friendship to lovers trope that developed between Israel and Sam. The entire story was interesting and left me feeling good.

Narration: Joel Leslie was absolutely amazing with his narration of this story. He really conveyed all the emotional complexities Israel felt as he dealt with such unusual and intricate circumstances. I loved the narration.

Overall Rating: 5 Stars. The writing was magnificent and the story was just fantastic. I loved the characters and the emotional rollercoaster ride they took me on.

realism

great story, well told and great narration
I really enjoy this author every book I've read has been entertainig

Damn NR + Joel for making me snot-cry!

Get ready for tears.

I've watched this genre explode over the last 10 years. NR was one of my first authors, and Joel one of my first narrators. Both have stayed in my top five list in their fields, and this book will show you why. Yeah, life doesn't always go this well in the end, but the character development and reveals support the outcomes. The characters are beautifully human... broken and learning. Sam is "too perfect"... but isn't that kind of the point of the best book boyfriends?

A Lovely Friends to Lovers

This was a great listen, I really enjoyed it. As usual, Joel Leslie nailed these characters for me. Joel has a way of pulling you into a story and making you feel what’s happening. I really enjoyed Israel and Sam’s story. Israel had such a calm about him when finding out that he had been switched at birth. It was as if a puzzle piece fell into place for him on what had been missing. Sam was such an amazing support system for him as the inevitable emotions came to the surface. Finding out who Israel was and at the same time, trying to find a new relationship with the parents who raised him his whole life. I love a good friends to lovers story, and Israel and Sam’s was spot on. Seeing Israel finally come to the realization he was in love with his best friend was so lovely. Their friendship was so strong, and seeing it go to this next level was so hot. As always, N.R. Walker tells an amazing story that I couldn’t recommend more.