which totally explains why I'm so ridiculously late to the party, but when the opportunity presented itself to review the audio book and I discovered that Michael Ferraiuolo is the narrator and guess who just happens to be on my top 10 list of narrators...well, really who was I to do anything but say yes please.

Ok, so let's start with the elephant in the room...well, actually there's two of them in the room for me and can I just say this room's getting really, really cozy right about now...ok, the first elephant 'catholic priest gone astray' sorry just totally not my thing. Don't get me wrong I'm not a devout Catholic who has some illusion about priest being perfect because it's more like I'm a non-practicing Anglican who knows that...'that dog don't hunt no more'. I think for me it's a case of this is one of those things that happens in real life that, I'd rather not have show up in my fiction and yet here it is and here I am as for elephant #2 let's call a spade a spade because if it's an elephant it's just a teeny tiny little dumbo sized elephant call 'rock star-itis'...that's right I'm not much of a fan of rock star stories, I tend to be really fussy about them...a bit more so than some other sub-genres. It just tends to work out that I either really, really love them or they go horribly wrong for me, so while I do read them they're not usually my subject of choice for reviewing. 

But considering that this is a combination of one of my absolute favorite narrators, Michael Ferraiuolo combined with 2 authors who have written one or more books that I'm wildly crazy about I was feeling pretty good about the chances of liking this audio book and while I was pretty damned optimistic about my chances of enjoying this story I have to admit at the end of it even I was surprised by how much I really loved it... truthfully I wanted to simply go back to the beginning and start all over again once I was done. 

'Vespertine' drew me in, in ways that only a truly wonderful story can. I loved the characters and not just Jasper and Nicholas...although I did become a devoted fan of them both, but there were a wealth of other characters who added so much color and depth to the story from Jasper and Nicholas's parents to members of Vespertine and the community that Jasper and Nicholas grew up in. Not only did the authors make the events of this book feel grounded in reality but they kept the characters there as well. Nicholas's parents were loving and supportive but at the same time I felt their worries and concern for what was happening in his life and much of the time I was right there with them. Then there was the relationship between Jasper and his mother...far more fragile than that if Nicholas and his parents but every bit as possible and realistic.

Jasper and Nicholas grew up together as best friends until they weren't...until that day that friendship became love and then unexpectedly for Nicholas...Jasper left. He followed his calling to the priesthood and Nicholas turned to his own church...that of sex, drugs and rock & roll until years later, after a stint in rehab Nicholas goes home to try and truly put himself back together and find the man who loved the music before the drugs.

While we get a lot of background about these two men as the story progresses it's woven into the events of the present and in many instances gives clarity to not just what's happened in the past but what it's effect is on events in the present.

'Vespertine' is second chances, starting over, seeking forgiveness, coming home, rediscovering love and very probably a few other things that I've missed. It's a story that leaves you breathless, makes you laugh and cry. it's not about losing faith so much as finding it where you least expect it and yes there's a priest in it but there isn't any preaching.

At just over 14 hours I can't say that this is a quick read or listen if you choose the audio version as I did but what I can say is I loved it and it's definitely going at the top of my very, very short list of 'books involving men-of-faith'.

Once again with the help of her writing partner Indra Vaughn and the incredible narrations of Michael Ferraiuolo, Ms. Blake has taken things that really don't appeal to me, mixed them all together and made something that I loved...it's definitely magic of the best kind.

*************************

An audio book of 'Vespertine' was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

It's just the beginning of a new one.

Oliver and Samuel have it all. Their's is a fairytale existence...until it isn't. It can take a lifetime to find love and a moment to loose it. No one knows this better than Oliver. 

'Patchwork Paradise' is the story of one man's struggle to survive the tragedy of loosing the man he loves and rebuilding his life only to discover that while he's lost one love there's another one waiting for him...not to replace what's gone because nothing could ever do that. This love is there waiting to fill it's own place in his heart.

I've had this one in my audio library for a while now and when I came across it the other day I decided that it was time so I grabbed my handy box of tissues and hit the play button and barely 30 minutes into the story tissue in hand dabbing at the tears in my eyes...I questioned my sanity and kept right on listening because this isn't a story about loss it's a story about surviving it, about moving forward and about paying tribute to the person you've lost by going on and making a new life for yourself. One that's filled with love, laughter and hope.

That's what Ollie (Oliver) did of course he mourned the loss of Sam and rightfully so. Sam was his forever love but unfortunately as we all know life's not fair and nothing ever last forever...but, Sam was the person who taught Ollie how to love so a part of him will live forever. Every step that Ollie takes towards rebuilding his life, every time he puts his heart out there it's because Sam's love showed him that he was worth it, he deserved it and in his heart Ollie knew that the last thing Sam wanted was for his life to end with Sam's.

I seriously thought Sam was awesome even though we didn't get a lot of time with him. I think the magnitude of what a wonderful man he was came through because of Ollie. It was his memory of Ollie and how much Sam loved him that gave Ollie the strength to keep trying...to remember even after they're gone how much someone loves us is a pretty powerful indicator of what we meant to them and to be able to open your heart up to the possibility of finding love again shows just how positive that love was.

There were some surprising things that happened in this story that for me made it all the more interesting and even though I'm pretty late to the party on this one I'm not going to delve into them to deeply because I'm just guessing that maybe I'm not the only one who hasn't read/listened to this book yet.

While Sam and Oliver started out as the MCs in the story there was also a core group of friends who were integral to the story and certain events in particular. Within the boundaries of Sam and Ollie's group of friends we have Ollie's best friend (Cloe), Cloe's boyfriend (Imre) and Thomas (Ollie's friend from work and the man who's quietly loved him for years). There's also Sam''s parents and that'll be enough about them and then there's Ollie's mother (most adorable grandma so far this year). 

While this was only my second time with a book by the author Indra Vaughn. It's the my fourth time around with the narrator Craig Beck and once again this narrator has done an exceptional job of giving this story added depth and breathing life and emotion into the characters leaving me confident that when I see his name listed as the narrator I'm not going to be disappointed with what I hear.

"Patchwork Paradise' is a story of pain, lose, friends, family, comfort, healing, second chances, starting over, strength & courage, finding love, having hope...it's about life...the one we have, the one's we lose and all the things in between that touch them.

A Dust of Snow was what I'd call a 'hot mess'. It had way too many ideas and this writer didn't have the chops to follow through with most of them. Let's see there was the crazy ex, odd boss, Ashley's family drama, Greg's cool mother - this could have been a great story all alone and well it was just too much. I wanted it to end at the about the halfway mark. They were not hot or sexy and I thought they were wusses at times. Oh wait, I forgot Ashley's sleeping disorder that could have been an entire book in itself. Just too, too many loose strings for me.