The One I Left Behind
Plain Daisy Ranch, Book 1
By: Piper Rayne
Narrated by: CJ Bloom & Robert Hatchet
It's the classic story: boy goes off into the world to fulfill his dreams and leaves the girl behind.
Not every boy returns home, and I wish Ben Noughton wouldn't have come back to our small ranching town at all after he retired from playing professional football.
I figure it's a quick layover for him. He always wanted out of this town and off his family's ranch. I just have to bide my time until he turns his back on all of us again.
Then he takes on the coaching position for the high school football team and starts milling around too much, bulldozing the protective walls I've built around myself. But he goes too far when he takes my son under his wing to help him be the best player he can be. Leaving me to protect not only my own heart but my son's too.
Because I promised myself a long time ago that I'd never be the girl in the rearview mirror again.
Momma Says: 5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ben and Gillian are a great way to start a new series by Piper Rayne. They have such good chemistry, and they're both lovable characters. Then we have the small town with its quirky characters, including the gossips who are only too happy to voice their opinions. As the blurb tells us, Ben left town and Gillian behind, so he's got a lot of making up to do. Then, there's Gillian, who has a secret those gossips can't resist.
To sum it up, the One I Left Behind is a great combination of sweet and sexy with some witty dialogue and just a bit of angst to get us to the HEA.
Not only did Piper and Rayne knock it out of the park with Ben and Gillian's story in this first of the Plain Daisy Ranch series, but they also put it in the hands of narrators CJ Bloom and Robert Hatchet for a duet performance. Honestly, I don't think they could've chosen any better. The timing and tone, the emotion, and the banter were spot on. I was pulled into Ben and Gillian's world, and I can't wait to visit again in book two.
He's my first love. My high school sweetheart. And he's leaving tomorrow for a bigger and better life.
I've loved Ben almost my entire life, and we have one night left before he heads miles away to college on a football scholarship. I'm bound and determined to make sure this day goes perfectly so he remembers me as the girl he loves. But I can't help worrying that I'll end up as the girl he loved.
Momma Says: 5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
One Last Summer is a quick prequel to The One I Left Behind. It gives us a peek at Ben and Gillian before Ben left town for football. The book is easily read in an hour or so, and it lets us get a feel for just how good the chemistry is between this pair.
Robert Hatchet and CJ Bloom do the narration, and in my opinion, Piper Rayne couldn't have chosen any better. It's duet narration, and I thoroughly enjoyed the listen. The combination of Piper Rayne's writing and the performances from Robert Hatchet and CJ Bloom bring out so much. I could feel how much Ben and Gillian love each other, and there's an innocence about them as they make promises to each other that's just as palpable as the emotion.
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