Romance Review: Emphatic by Kaylee Ryan

That cover just does not do it for me but the story is pretty good.

Emphatic by Kaylee Ryan, Narrated by Jillian Macie & Nelson Hobbs
Audiobook 8+ Hours, Released February 2017
Amazon ♦ Goodreads

There comes a point in your life where you have to say enough is enough. I wasted my college years on a guy who played with my head, played with my heart. I was blinded by the fairy tale, the one that didn't exist. The day I gave up on the idea of happily ever after, my focus became me. Moving forward and establishing my career. Until one day... I didn't expect him. My new boss, a six foot two, inked rock god. I believed I was working for the record label-I was wrong. It's impossible for me to keep my distance; believe me, I've tried. He's not who I expected him to be. He's so much more... He's emphatic

My Thoughts:

3 1/2 Stars

Emphatic is a sweet romance about a rock star and a beautiful girl next door type who fall madly, deeply, emphatically in love but don’t truly get together until the book is almost finished. Their romance starts out hot and heavy but then turns into one of the slowest of slow burns I think I’ve ever read in this genre.

Logan has just graduated college and has wisely dumped her cheating loser of a boyfriend and is ready to start a new life and a brand new job. But first she heads to Hawaii with her best friend to celebrate and maybe have a well-deserved fling. There she meets a gorgeous hunk of friendly tatted up man who calls himself Michael (but is really named Kacen). A hot and heavy sexy time ensues. She leaves sated and ready to begin life as an adult but you’ll never, ever in a zillion years guess who her new boss turns out to be . . . Yep, that dusty old-school romance trope is shined up and put to use here. Things like this make me feel like I’ve read entirely too many books. If you can’t guess, you probably haven’t read enough romances yet so get going on that!

What follows is a very sweetly developed romance between Logan and the rock star who loves her to pieces from the first moment he meets her. Even though he can have anyone he chooses he thinks she is the most beautiful girl in the world and loves that she isn’t after him for the fame. He falls hard and fast and he never sways. She, however, has been emotionally wounded by her ex and fears the pain of getting entangled with anyone, never mind a gorgeous rock star so he must wait ‘til she comes around.

Do you think there is such a thing as a hero who is too emphatically in love? I didn’t think so until I read about this guy. He lavishes Logan with sweet (and often sappy) words, stolen butterfly kisses and he always seems to be hovering around with his undying devotion. Some girls love this kind of thing but I’m not that kind of girl and to me it was almost smothering. Maybe I’m just too old to appreciate that kind of touchy feely kind of loving especially when it’s one-sided for so long.

Narration Notes: The story is told in first person, alternating between Logan and Kacen’s POV and each have their own narrator. Logan’s narrator has a lovely voice which gets sultry when it needs to. She does justice to the male characters too. Kacen’s narrator has a soft southern accent which, at first, didn’t seem to fit and then I remembered/realized they were in Nashville so I went with it. Honestly though, I preferred the female narrator but I can see why they went with one for each POV because it would’ve been very confusing otherwise.

I liked the writing despite all of my complaints about the story. The author has an easy, down to earth style and though nothing truly exciting happens despite the fact that this book features rock stars (no drugs, no debauchery!), it was never boring – if that makes any sense. The characters were all decent people just falling in love and hanging around. If you want a sweet, slow-burn and like this kind of hero give it a go!

I received a copy of this unabridged audiobook from Tantor Media. Thank you Tantor, I hope you don't regret it!