Austin

I really appreciated listening to this new book by Con Riley. Emotional and with a well-developed plot, the story of Austin and Dom had enough depth to be believable and beautiful. Also the side characters were interesting and relevant to the story. The narration was top notch!! Loved it!

Riley writes so beautifully. Her stories always have a richness and depth that I don’t see in a lot of other romance novels. I love how she takes a character, Austin, from previous books, one who came off as cold and ruthless, and gives him a backstory to explain how he came to be that way. And then she puts him in a situation—first meeting Luke and then working on site with an e with whom he has a complicated past, and then introducing a new love interest, Dom—to challenge him. Riley’s stories are always so layered, and that’s true here, too. It’s not just his relationship with his mother Austin needs to deal with, but also his feelings about his sister and his work and how all of that is tied together with his relationship to his ex’s nephew and his new relationship with Dom and Dom’s daughter. On to of all of this is Dom’s rather complicated relationship with his ex-wife as well as the gratitude he feels for Austin. It is just lovely, and even sexy at times. Cornell Collins is an excellent narrator, imbuing the characters with life and personality. This story is told third person, single POV. I am so grateful to have received a review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I can’t recommend this book or this author highly enough.

Con Riley's stories are never a disappointment, and Cornell Collins is fantastic as usual. Austin is such a beautiful addition to the Learning to Love series. I'm forever obsessed with prickly Austin slowly melting for Dom. Highly recommend not only Austin but all of Riley's work.

Story: The magical moody quality of Con Riley’s writing is in full force in this one! Deep in the feels, with a brilliant cast of characters and with an engaging storyline, the book pulls you in and doesn’t let go for even a second! Narration: Perfect match for the mood of the book! The soulful voice was just what the story needed!

Audiobook Review: Overall – 5 Performance – 5 Story – 5 I just finished listening to the audio of Austin and I loved it. Cornell Collins did a wonderful job performing this story and it brought back all of the wonderful feels I had when I read the book with my eyes when it was released in May 2022. I highly recommend this audiobook! Original review: Tore me up and put me back together again. One of my favorite things in books is when a “bad” character gets redeemed and Austin, a secondary character in Luke, was a perfect candidate. Con Riley did a wonderful job redeeming him and giving him a wonderful story. I recently described another writer’s writing as lyrical and while reading Austin I realized that it also applies to Con Riley’s writing. What I mean by lyrical is that the words flow so smoothly it’s kind of like listening to a favorite, comforting song and I didn’t want it to end. Austin didn’t think very highly of Dom at first because he felt that Dom was negligent of his daughter, Maisie, by failing to pick her up from school on time. Over the course of the story Austin learns what is really going on and why Dom was late getting Maisie. We also gradually learn why Austin is so prickly and driven to excel at earning money even though he doesn’t like doing the kind of work he’s done in the past. Dom has been attracted to Austin for a while, his prickly nature didn’t put Dom off, and when Austin becomes a hero Dom can no longer keep from expressing how he feels. Austin doesn’t want to form any emotional attachments, especially to someone with a child to raise, but Dom and Maisie both make their way into his heart and won’t let go. Con Riley’s writing always gets my emotions involved and Austin was no exception. I loved visiting with other characters from this series. While you can read this as a standalone the story will probably have more impact if you read the other books in the series first; they are all wonderful stories. Epilogues are often my favorite part of a book and the one for Austin is so good! Be sure to sign up for Con’s newsletter to get a bonus scene for Austin. I was very happy to learn that there will be another story in this series, Heppel Ever After, coming in late September. A copy of this book was provided to me at my request but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.