What a roller-coaster!

a heartbreaking and beautiful story.

the little Easter egg of 'don't you dare' was cute!

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The entire book crushed my soul…

Head Above Water is a high angst enemies to lovers step brother MM romance.

This is my second CE Ricci book and like the first I was hooked straight away. I loved it so much that I was 4 chapters into the audio and had to buy a physical copy.

My heart broke for Cannon. Then my heart broke for East.
The entire book crushed my soul…but it was heartbreakingly poetic.

Ricci must thrive off the tears of her readers. The all consuming grief of this story was palpable. I’m a huge fan of authors that make me feel something from their writing and characters, be it happiness, joy, laughter etc. But when an author can make me feel the gut wrenching sadness, that’s a a true gift.

CE Ricci is the master of the high angst. But while you feel the pain an heartache, you also feel that love. Plus the added moments of sass and snark. It’s art I swear…

Zachary and Michael were also the perfect narrators for these characters. Michael brought the pain of Easton’s emotions alive. And Cannon’s rage and bottled pain perfectly shown by Zachary.

If you haven’t read one of CE Ricci’s books and you’re looking for one to start with….Make it this one, their story is worth all the heartache

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Yum! Easton & Can are delicious.

Woohoo! So excited to listen to CE Ricci's first audiobook! It was amazing. Absolutely love Easton & Can. I'm a huge fan of Stepbrother stories and this story did not disappoint. I'm definitely sad that it's over. I'm definitely not ready to let them go. Zachary Johnson & Michael Dean did an awesome job narrating!

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Broke my damn heart in the best possible way.

Ugh this was SO GOOD. Predictably, the voice actors who did the narration were perfection. Purchased because of them, but seriously impressed with the story as well. Can't say I "enjoyed" every second, because I spent quite a few chapters sobbing like a baby... But it was very, very good. Will absolutely be listening again when I have more tissues. Also, brilliant to see a tear jerker with a solid HEA to heal the wounds. Will be checking out more of this author's work.

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The story was fantastic

I love the way this was narrated and the characters were so good to read

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Oh my god this book!

I cried for Easton, I cried for Can and I cried for David. Such an emotional book. You can’t put this one down. It is a master piece. Keep you drawing to the book.

Michael and Zachary did a fantastic job. Zachary had that stern Con voice down pack.

Loved it! Highly recommend.

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Heartbreakingly Beautiful!

Such a true telling of what relatable heartbreaking grief actually looks like in the real world, how we can get lost in our thoughts and grief and the strength of love that can pull us through. So many raw emotions (that were felt by the great work of the narrator’s); but balanced by the beautiful reluctant stepbrother, enemies to lovers story that’s doesn’t just happen over night as in some books, but rather decades of fighting the attraction pull, battling what’s right, societal norms and more; in this slow burn romance, sexual exploration (for one, the other is out) and mending of bonds, that takes on a wild ride and with a HEA. So well written - became so invested in the characters, was great to see the cracks in the armour and vulnerability underneath, and so much depth in the characters. There were also some fun laugh out loud moments and banter, sexy smirks and steamy spicy sessions of course!
Highly recommend, one of the best MM books I have listened to yet!
(Follow this with CE Ricci’s book - ‘Don’t you Dare’, there is a fun cross-over putting characters from both books in the background of each other, see if you pick it up! It’s also another great MM book by this author!)

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Painful and beautiful

I absolutely love CE Ricci’s writing and that’s held true with this book. I had to keep opening the kindle version just to highlight lines. The two voice actors did an absolutely phenomenal job, i don’t think I’ve heard this level of expression before. You could feel the pain and anguish. Just a beautiful story of grief and forbidden love.

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Sorry but can someone loan me a heart? Mine is broken!

I read this book back in January and loved it but as I’ve been getting into Audios I thought I’d give this one a go and I’m glad I did the narrators have done an amazing job bringing the characters to life and with such raw emotions. Recommend to everyone! Bring your tissues!!

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A binge worthy story.

Ive fallen in love with both Canaan and East. They are so different and yet so drawn to each other. Their story has made me cry laugh, wiggle in my seat and jump for joy. So well written and drawn out. their story spanned their younger and teenage years through to their adulthood, but in such a way that i was completely enraptured by them at every turn. The Narration was wonderful and encapsulated their characters so well. Easts tantrums and exuberance was perfectly shared and as was Canaans naturally protectiveness and complete inability to resist East. So good. Highly recommend.

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1 person found this helpful