Hold on Tight by Abbi Glines

Narrated by Sebastian York and Shayna Thibodeaux

I absolutely loved this audiobook! It was so captivating that I listened to it in just two sittings over less than twelve hours! As a mother, this story of a single teenage mom and the lengths that she went to protect her baby, even in the face of unbelievable abandonment, just broke my heart. Hold on Tight was so emotionally charged that it even made me cry throughout several points in the book. What a story of courage and of the healing power of true love!

Sienna Roy lost her boyfriend, Dustin Falco, in a drunk driving accident at the tender age of sixteen. They had grown up together and had been best friends since they were kids, so it was a doubly devastating loss. To make matters worse, she discovered shortly after his death that she was pregnant with his child; her parents quickly and quietly sent her away.

Dewayne Falco, Dustin’s older brother, lost more than just a brother following Dustin’s accident, a tragedy for which he blames himself. He also lost Sienna. Dewayne had been protecting Sienna since she was a child, and had particularly stepped it up when she started high school, as Dustin’s popularity as the star basketball player had caused him to neglect her. Believing that his “perfect” brother was the one truly deserving of her, Dewayne made it his mission to ensure that Sienna was safe until Dustin was ready to man up to the woman he deserved to love for the rest of his life.

When Sienna disappeared into thin air, and her parents convinced him that she had been sent to a mental facility to recover from a nervous breakdown induced by his brother’s death, Dewayne resolved himself to move on with his life and help his parents pick up the pieces. Leading a pretty wild party life, he indulged in women to dull the pain of his losses, but never spent more than one night with any one.

Six years later, after her father passes away, her mother moves out and Sienna moves back in, with a five-year old boy in tow. One look into the boy’s eyes, and there is no denying who he is. Feeling like life has provided him with a miraculous second chance, but enraged that Sienna would keep this secret from him and his family, especially at a time when they were hurting the most, Dewayne doesn’t know what to do. The one thing he does know is that he must be involved in his nephew’s life.

With Dustin gone, he determines that it is his responsibility to make sure that all of Dustin’s son’s needs are met. This responsibility is made especially clear when he looks at Sienna and her meager belongings (including her scrap metal of a car), and sees that Sienna has barely been able to scramble enough together to provide just the bare necessities.

Sienna, in turn, while deeply longing to provide her son with family, believes that the Falcos abandoned her when she needed them most. Now Dewayne claims he wants to be involved. Can she trust him? As the web of lies and betrayal start to unfurl, deep held feelings between Dewayne and Sienna can no longer be denied. But given their unbreakable connection via Dustin’s son, is it wise to risk losing it all again for the promise of more?

I had previously listened to another one of Shayna Thibodeaux’s narrations (see my review of Sweet Filthy Boy), so I kind of knew what to expect. I am happy to say that I found her performance in Hold on Tight to have improved. While it still suffered from one distractive practice that I previously noticed, the other issues were much less noticeable.

What I struggled with the most was Ms. Thibodeaux’s manner of delivery. She has a tendency to lapse into a repetitive cadence, irrespective of the particular narrative, in which she starts out slowly, increases her speed towards the middle and then decelerates before taking a sharp breath before commencing the next paragraph. The dialogue, however, showed improvement as it was more attuned to the particular emotion being conveyed and therefore more effective. She also produced more distinguishable, believable, gender appropriate characters which I always greatly appreciate as it means I don’t have to rely on dialogue tags.

Sebastian York is another narrator who I have previously listened to – the most memorable is his narration of Emma Chase’s Tangled. He is definitely one of the top sexy male narrators in the New Adult romance subgenre. As expected, I loved his portrayal of Dewayne which expertly brings to life his alpha protective nature, while at the same time producing some incredibly swoon-worthy passion filled scenes.

Where I usually have some reservations when it comes to male narrators with husky voices, like Sebastian York, is in their depiction of the female roles. Hold On Tight is no exception. While Sienna is clearly identifiable from the other characters in this book, she just doesn’t sound as feminine as I would expect.

Notwithstanding these observations, I do believe that the overall result of Ms. Thibodeaux and Mr. York’s narration is an above-average performance. And it took only a few chapters for me to accept and settle in to their adept renditions, leaving the vast majority of the book to be a seamless telling of Abbi Glines’ wonderful story.

All in all, this is one of the best New Adult stories I have listened to all year! I can’t recommend this title enough. Abbi Glines is an incredibly talented author, not only in the traditional romance elements of crafting a beautiful path to a HEA and believable, passion-filled, chemistry, but also in detailing and lending justice to intricate and difficult intertwined familial relationships. What an emotional rollercoaster, and a truly enjoyable ride to one of the most fulfilling love stories I’ve listened to all year!

BJ

Narration:  Shayna Thibodeaux – B    Sebastian York – B+

Book Content:  A+

Steam Factor:  For your burning ears only

Violence:  None

Genre:  New Adult

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Audio

Hold on Tight was provided to AudioGals by Simon and Schuster for review.