Never with Me (Unabridged‪)‬

This is my first Kaylee Ryan book, but I was sold just from the blurb & tropes. Best friend’s brother is catnip for me. Throw in some best friend’s female cousin, age gap, & strangers photoshoot, I didn’t stand a chance.
Deacon Setty is a workaholic attorney who needs a break in day to day. He sees no problem, but his family sees his all work & no play lifestyle. That’s why his sister convinced him to do a “strangers” photo shoot.
Ramsey Smithfield is a tortured soul who escaped a life of atrocious expectations to live a happier life with her aunt, uncle, & cousins. She’s happier with them & has been able to come out of her she’ll enough to gain a best friend. One who has convinced her to do a “strangers” photo shoot for her photography business.
I absolutely adored the concept of the strangers photo shoot. It was adorable, steamy, & it allowed these two to see how intense their chemistry truly is. And I love that Palmer was the catalyst who saw how amazing the potential was for her best friend & her brother to be together. The age gap between Deacon & Ramsey made it even hotter. And the way that Deacon made every effort to take care of Ramsey both physically & emotionally during the photo shoot & every day beyond was so swoon worthy. He was absolutely perfect for Ramsey and everything she needed to be able to move on from her past.
Everything about this book made me love it. I loved the relationship between the two main characters. I loved the relationship between Declan, Palmer & all of their other brothers. I loved the relationship between Ramsey, her aunt & uncle, & all of her cousins. And I loved the relationship between Declan & Ramsey’s cousins.
I can honestly say that I can’t wait for more reads in this world.

Audiobook Review:
Jack Maverick & Lexi Mae were such a great duo to provide me with a very pleasant listen. These two are new to me, but they took these characters and owned it.

Never With Me is a stand alone contemporary romance novel by Kaylee Ryan. This book is about Ramsey and Deacon, who are set up on a blind date photo shoot. Despite both having been reluctant to agree to the date, they clicked and soon began dating for real. Ramsey had a lot of baggage’s that carried over from her childhood, and Deacon was nothing like people she had grown up with. He goes out of his way to tell and show her this. This was a sweet story with a bit of steam. I enjoyed what an outstanding guy Deacon was and how willing he was to be vulnerable with Ramsey. I especially liked Ramsey’s bravery in trying to date, despite her fears, and in her willingness to give and receive love. The audiobook was well narrated and the narrators brought the story to life. This was a best friend’s brother/little sister’s best friend, best friend’s cousin, age gap contemporary romance novel and I would recommend it for readers who enjoy these tropes. I am voluntarily writing this honest review after listening to an advanced complementary copy of this audiobook thanks to Story Origin and Pink Flamingo Productions.

A romantic story, this insta-love romance follows Ramsey and Deacon. There is an element of age gap and brother’s best friend but these are basically non issues after a few mentions of it. The romance is full steam ahead generally and oh so sweet. Ramsey had a difficult family life and I have to admit feels very young in this story. It was likely meant to be as she was sheltered and controlled by her family (who are awful) and escaped before a forced marriage to her aunt’s place. Her aunt and uncle have 9!!! boys so I can see that this will be a long series! (And they all seem so sweet and cool, the ones we met anyway).

Love the characters- they are both so sweet- ultra loving Deacon, who aims to bring Ramsey’s voice to the forefront. A little bit of continued family drama at the end leads to a really low angst story.

The narration featured two narrators that are new to me-Jack Maverick and Lexi Mae. Both were great- very good voices for the characters and a good ability to switch between characters. definitely elevated the story. 🎧AudiobookObsessionReviewer, AudiobookObsession