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Length: 7hrs 33mins
Narrated By: Michael Stellman
Cover Design: Tiferet Design
Blurb
Mark spent his life trying to live up to the tough swagger of his older brothers until he pushed himself so far against his nature that he cracked. Now a former Marine, he rents a little cabin in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where he can lick his wounds and figure out what to do with the rest of his life. One thing was clear: Mark was nobody's hero.
Fate intervenes when Josh sets up camp under a covered bridge near Mark's cabin. Mark recognizes the dead look in the young stranger's eyes, and he feels compelled to do something about it. When Mark offers Josh a job, he never expects that he'll be the one to fall.
The snow is coming soon. Can Mark convince Josh that the two of them can build a life together before the flurries begin?
Trigger warning: Suicidal thoughts
Carra's Review
Falling Down is the first Eli Easton book I've read, and I find that now after reading it I want to move all of the author's books up to the top of my TBR list. This is an excellent story that provokes the emotions and had me wanting to wrap Josh up in my arms to make him feel wanted and protected.
Josh's character made my heart break. He feels rejected, beat down and basically worthless, and the running commentary in his head had me constantly worried about him. I was hoping for him and Mark from the moment Mark offers him a job and home. Mark has his own issues and is deep in the closet, but can't help the pull he feels to Josh. The way his character is written makes it feels like he's a lot older than Josh than he actually is, even though he's actually not.
Their relationship develops slowly as Mark tries to keep his distance, but eventually neither man can ignore what each of them feels. But even as their connection evolves, it still has both Mark and Josh's personal issues hanging over them. When things finally come to a head when Mark's brother stops by to visit, I became concerned for Josh and I was holding my breath for the outcome-which means that this story was really provoking my emotional response.
A moving story of acceptance and discovering love and belonging, Falling Down was a 4-star read for me. I highly recommend this to any M/M romance fan, and this one is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and M/M sexual content. It does contain a character who is contemplating ending his life, so the adult themes may be a trigger topic for some readers. The epilogue makes the entire story worth it, and having the dual points of view for Mark and Josh make this a much richer, deeper tale.
The narration: Michael Stellman is a new narrator for me, and I found his style to be more like a reading of the story than a performance narration. There was a good level of emotion in the characters’ voices, but not a great deal of distinction between characters themselves (at least not at the level I’m used to hearing). The pace of the narration was good, although the pauses between chapters or within a chapters were not consistent in length, and there were times when the intake of breaths that normally wouldn’t be noticeable were loud enough to be a bit distracting. But overall, I did enjoy the narration and would listen to this one again so 3 stars for the narration.
About the Author
Having been, at various times and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, a game designer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a fan fiction writer, and organic farmer, Eli has been a m/m romance author since 2013. She has over 30 books published. Eli has loved romance since her teens and she particular admires writers who can combine literary merit, genuine humor, melting hotness, and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story. She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time. She currently lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her husband, bulldogs, cows, a cat, and lots of groundhogs.
In romance, Eli is best known for her Christmas stories because she’s a total Christmas sap. These include “Blame it on the Mistletoe”, “Unwrapping Hank” and “Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles”. Her “Howl at the Moon” series of paranormal romances featuring the town of Mad Creek and its dog shifters has been popular with readers. And her series of Amish-themed romances, Men of Lancaster County, has won genre awards.
Her website is www.elieaston.com
You can email her at eli@elieaston.com
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