Review of Finn by Melody Anne ~with audiobook review

Finn Anderson is a loyal military veteran who has no desire to live a life of luxury and ease, but sometimes a person doesn’t get a choice. His life is flipped upside down when he and his four brothers learn they’re long-lost relatives of the absurdly famous and wealthy Joseph Anderson. The eccentric but generous billionaire puts the brothers to work building a new veterans center, and that’s not all: Joseph won’t stop until each nephew finds love.

Finn has never expected or wanted an easy life, and he struggles with his early retirement from the elite SEAL team. But when a very confident Brooke Garrison literally sweeps him off his feet during a self-defense class he’s teaching, he thinks less about his past and more about a brand-new future.

If Finn knows anything for certain, it’s that he can’t let this woman get away. Though Brooke is tough and compassionate, the loss of her brother has left her vulnerable. She isn’t sure she can risk loving and losing another person in her life, including a very determined ex-SEAL. Can the two of them look beyond their past wounds and embrace what they’re feeling?

Available on Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.

The Audiobook: Yay!!! It’s narrated by  Teri Clark Linden.  Now, with the kiddies around all day, and some really steamy scenes included, it’s not like I could have listened to the whole thing, but I certainly used the audio for more than half of the story, especially when little ears weren’t around! Teri brings her style and skills to Finn and really helps the story come to life. Her male/ female differentiation is on point. Even within the sexes, there is clear differentiation. Brooke’s voice is unique from her best friends, Sarah and Chloe; and Finn’s voice is different from his brothers (even though they are a similar age). Age differentiation is also well-done and prose written in the ‘narrator’s’ perspective is different still. The quality of the production is excellent and I had no blips or text-audio synching issues.

The Story: Hmmm… I’m a huge Melody Anne fan and love her Frenched and Happy series and the previous Anderson series too. I have quite a few of her other books I still want to read. But… this one didn’t do it for me.

First, what did I love? Well, the Andersons. As meddling as Joseph can be, it’s always sweet when he and Katherine ‘visit’ any of the other Anderson stories. There’s usually a wonderful sense of family in these novels that I find absolutely delightful. Of course, there’s also usually the non-Anderson main character who has pretty much no family and falls in love with the Anderson clan.

And now we’re into the instalove. Look, I get it… it’s a cheesy romance novel. We read it for escape. I have no real issues with the instalove formula, so long as there are other elements to work with it. Sadly that’s not the case here. Finn falls into instant and deep love with Brooke and we’re done. Seriously. There actually isn’t much of a storyline in this one. It’s just Finn waiting for Brooke to fall in love with him too. There are no major obstacles or impediments to their romance… just Brooke trying to work through her emotions. I have to admit to getting a bit bored for several chapters in the middle.

Both characters are army vets and really have some strong backstories that would have made great fodder for the present story but that chance was missed. Then, while the romance was kinda cute and there were certainly some steamy scenes, the chemistry between the two main characters was lacking. Maybe it was the instalove issue but there was no pulling the reader into the story to experience the falling in love element. I missed that most, as it’s usually there in spades in this author’s work.

Back to the bright side. We’ve been introduced to a brand new set of Andersons and I’m quite intrigued. Noah’s story is up next and I really want to see what happens with him and Sarah! While I may not have been overly enthused over this story I still want to continue the series.

Overall, a really light read. I give Finn 3/5 espresso shots.