Book: Hearts to Mend by Christina Berry
Reviewed by Booksbystarlightandshadows
Rating: 3/5
This is a sweet second chance romance focusing on Dee and Rico reconnecting after Rico left to enlist leaving his childhood sweetheart Dee broken hearted. The sparks are still there and although Rico's circumstances have changed he never stopped loving Dee and wants her back. Dee on the other hand has closed herself off from that type of love after being hurt and isn't ready to welcome Rico back with open arms.
Its a fairly quick listen but packs a lot in; there is no OW drama which was a nice surprise as Matteo's mother is out there somewhere and instead its medical drama which pushes the plot along. The medical scenes were written very well and I liked how nerdy Dee got with some of the details! There are also some pretty heavy sub plots concerning more than one parent; these are only briefly touched on and I'd have loved to have that developed a bit more as it was such an important part of Dee and Rico's pasts. Similarly, I'd have loved a flashback to when they were younger just for some more context. There is no real grovel either; this is just two people who are meant to be together finding their way back to each other.
This was my first Christina Berry audio and the narrators were both great; the chemistry was perfect in both the spicy scenes with the leads but also in their more emotional scenes with Rico's mum and Matteo. Maxine Mitchell is always good and I liked how she brought out the conflict Dee was going through in both her vulnerable and snarky moments. Gregory Salinas's Rico had a very quiet determination about him as although he knows what he wants, he was willing to wait as long as it took with no pressure.
The found family was a definite highlight though and I cannot wait to see more of Rooster; I'll be picking up book one too after that epilogue!
My interpretation of the star system;
3 stars - I enjoyed it; would read the author again
4 stars - I really liked it; I am invested and definitely want more from this author/series
5 stars - I loved it; I engaged with this book completely until I finished it and it is one I will re-read