Whispers of You

The Lost & Found Series, Book 1

By: Catherine Cowles

Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Zachary Webber

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

One night—a single moment—cost me everything.

My body, broken beyond repair. The boy I’d thought was my forever. The life I’d always dreamt of.

Now, Holt’s back. And he’s no longer a boy, but a man with shadows in his eyes and demons haunting him.

He says he’s here to make things right. To get back a little bit of all we’ve lost. And he doesn’t show any signs of leaving the small town that has been my refuge.

As stolen moments turn to days, Holt’s around every corner. With his burning stare and lingering touches. Before long, my walls come crashing down, and I’m just hoping that taking this second chance isn’t as reckless as it feels.

But not everyone is happy that Holt has returned. As tragedy strikes again, I’m the one left in the crosshairs. And Holt might not be able to save me this time....

©2022 Catherine Cowles (P)2022 Catherine Cowles

Great start to a new series

Catherine is the queen of prologues! Seriously, she knows how to deliver them in such a beautiful and heartbreaking way.

This book was such a good second chance romance. It begins with a very life altering, traumatic event that leaves Holt running from town and staying away for ten years. Once he is back in town, the are forced to face the past together and make a decision that will change their futures.

Catherine's writing just sucks you right in and this book on audio was just so dang perfect. Andi & Zachary did such a fabulous job on this book.

So excited for this new series!

I loved reading about Wren and Holt when they were young and seeing their relationship. The beginning of this book had me kind of thinking, “how are these two ever going to overcome what happened?” I should’ve known better, because Catherine Cowles is the queen of showing us why couples belong together and why their second chances are so deserved. I think I appreciated the depth of the characters the most. Wren is such a wonderful character, and I think her disposition is the reason that her and Holt could find themselves together again. She seems to just be a genuinely kind person.

Something Catherine Cowles is very good at is taking a situation that I’m not sure the characters can overcome, and having them overcome it. She is amazing at humanizing the mistakes that people make and writing couples that just seem meant to be. Something else that she’s good at is still surprising me here and there. As someone who’s read a ton of romantic suspense, and watched a lot of thrillers and horror movies, I usually can pick up on the twists in a plot. Although I can usually see some parts of her stories coming, there’s always at least one part that I am thoroughly surprised at.

Another thing I love about Catherine Cowles books is that the family dynamics are always amazing. And while there’s real blood related families, there’s also found families in her books that really intrigue me and warm my heart. I love Wren’s relationships with the Hartleys despite Holt’s absence. And don’t even get me started on the Hartleys. I cannot wait for the rest of the books in this series! Nash is next and I know he’s gonna be great, but of course the two books I want are going be the last two. Yes, I am claiming Roan and Law right now, so back off! Haha. If you read this book and you wanna talk about these siblings I am 100% here for it.

These two narrators do a great job at bringing all the voices to life, which made the story so enjoyable to listen to!

Great Whispers

My favorite narrators delivered a wonder exciting story of mystery and love keeping me interested and so hard for me to stop at late night

Absolutely phenomenal

This book was just simply incredible. I’m such a huge Catherine Cowles fan, but I think this one just took that up even another notch. There was so much emotion I felt through the whole story. She has the ability to really grip you with her words and make your whole soul invested.

Holt and Wren were childhood friends and made for each other. They had a budding teen relationship until a life shatter moment tore them apart. Ten years later, after Holt has been away all this time, he’s brought back to town and they are reunited. Nothing has changed between the way these two feel about each other. They are drawn to one another like magnets.

There’s challenges from their past that are haunting them right now. Similar events that lead to Holt leaving are coming up again and your mind is left wondering who is safe and who is targeting them.

I love this community. The family that surrounds them. They have such a good dynamic going and I can’t wait to see what there is to come.

*audio* I will add this is narrated by two of my absolute favorite narrators and they did such a beautiful job making these characters I fell so in love with come to life.

Keeps you guessing

This story was as much a thriller as it was a romance. The two main characters were narrated superbly by Andi and Zach. All of the supporting characters were so important in the telling of Wren and Holt’s story. Once again Catherine has done a fabulous job.

A superb start to this series!!!

After reading and obsessing over the Tattered and Torn series. I was so ready to dive into Whispers of You. If Book 1 is any indication we are in another fantastic series from Catherine Cowles

I love Catherine's writing I love her suspense. It's becoming my favorite thing to try and guess first off who is just going to flat-out shock me or yell "I KNEW IT." This one was a bit of a tie for me haha I suspected but just wasn't sure which way the story was going to go. Holt and Wren were just so fun to read. I love Wren and as a fellow Little Women addict, I have to say she's now a favorite.

Im so happy I listened to this one. Can you get a better combo than Andi and Zachary Webber? I really don’t think so. Zachary Webber was absolutely perfect casting for Holt. His voice always brings out so much emotion in a character. As always Andi is perfection and brings every story just to a whole other level of life.

Great story

Whispers of You is a small-town second-chance romance with a suspense story that reminds me of Scream.

I am loving romantic suspense lately, and Whispers of You is a great one. I loved how the mystery was tied to something in the past. As I mentioned, it reminded me of Scream, and while I figured out some of the mystery, there was still a lot that surprised me, and it certainly kept me on the edge of my seat!

The second chance romance was great, and it was easy to see how they would fall back into things quickly. They never got over each other! Holt had a lot to prove, not just to Wren but to everyone, and I certainly enjoyed watching him prove it. I loved how strong Wren was, almost to a fault. Both she and Holt were terrific characters.

Do I need to say more than Zachary Webber and Arnie Arndt? I probably don’t, but I will anyway. They were fantastic. Zachary Webber is one of my all-time favorite narrators, and I will listen to just about anything he reads, so the fact that Whispers of You had a great story was even better.

whispers

nice story. I was really surprised who the head guy was. lots of action and great romance. narrators were very good

A sweet story

I needed a sweet story after all I have read lately. This book is a cute sweet constantly changing book which could be a stand alone but the story goes on to other characters. I haven’t decided if I’ll read the next one yet. But I did like and appreciate this one.

Worth Every Penny… Exceeded My Every Expectation

Grade: “A” - Excellent

Overall Assessment:
* Best Audible “read” I’ve encountered since Blindsided (Harris Brothers spin off) and the entire Harris Brothers series (by Amy Daws) which, candidly, is the highest praise I can think of. I will immediately commence listening to the rest of this Lost & Found series.

* Tugs at your heartstrings, Suspenseful without gratuitous horror etc., Dash of Spice, and a H/h you are rooting for to survive and find their way back to each other.

Summary:
I found myself really invested in both the H/h characters throughout the entire storyline. The H/h clearly loved truly and deeply but one (emotionally) devastates the other after a tragedy and a new set of tragic circumstances brings danger back into the lives of the characters. This is a story of redemption, healing and a true love that cannot be denied regardless of time, distance or tragic circumstances.

Things (imo) the author did really well:
(a) detailing the remorse of the prodigal H/h and the understandable hurt of the other H/h without making either whiny, self indulgent or hard to sympathize with, (b) offered really enjoyable and relatable characters of H/h and the side characters (H appears to be quite the perfect blend of a thoughtful and kind male lead and an alpha military/badarse mchottie pants, yes please), and (c) describing the chemistry of the H/h’s relationship (arguably spicy (barely) but definitely not gratuitous, imo).

Potential Spoilers warning…

My only overall critiques are:
(a) forgiveness or at least tacit acceptance happens a wee bit too fast after the prodigal lost love returns (um, inviting / allowing the prodigal to stay / temporarily reside with them (x) years later just because the prodigal is “worried” about the other’s safety…? Um you walked away at my lowest and now you care?! Hmmph.) but it still works for the plot and isn’t an impossible scenario so I’ll let it pass (lol), (b) after the plot ramps up (midway), the latter chapters drag a bit (ie could’ve been trimmed up a bit) as (c) the plot twist at the end and complete reasoning behind a decade of evil plotting doesn’t feel fully fleshed out (I get it but maybe a little bit more of detailing of the relationships during the teen and separation years?).

If you like this book, you may like: Loved You Once - Baker’s Creek Billionaire’s Book 1 (Claudia Burgoa),
Blindsided (Amy Daws), Harris Brothers (& spinoffs) series (Amy Daws) *first rec has a prodigal lost love returned storyline and latter two recs by Amy Daws are sports romance; none of recs are romantic suspense and all are contemporary romances*

Trigger warnings: Teen Violence, Gun Violence, and an (Implied) Threat of Sexual Violence (but unless I misunderstood, the SV did not occur, which was a big relief for me).

Happy listening!