Undone

Thanks to Home Cooked Books for the ALC & the chance to give my candid review. Undone by Amy Knupp Narrated by Patrick Zeller & Samantha Brentmoor. Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5) Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5) Overall Rating: 4/5 Steam: 🔥🔥🔥☄️ 3.5/5 What I’m Starry-Eyed Over: 🤩 Small-town goodness & helpers all around. 🤩 The Inn—I’m such a sucker for an inn, especially one in need of improvements. Read the blurb!! 🤩 Second-chance romance—so much love and longing from their earlier-in-life love and breakup. 🤩 When Cash feeds Ava and apologizes. 🤩 Jealousy at the bar. 🤩 Introvert female MC—it feels like a rare treat. 🤩 Kitchen and frosting fun! 🤩 Family teasing. What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About: 💫 I was hoping for a few more laughs and a little more in the lusty feels. So greedy, I know.

Story: 3.5 ⭐️s Narration: 4 ⭐️s This third installment in the Henry Brothers series did not meet the level of anticipation I had at the end of book 2, so my experience with Ava and Cash’s love story was a slight let down by comparison. It can be hard to thread the second-chance romance trope needle - navigating any trope is an art form really - and the execution here was a bit underwhelming. I also found their overall connection in the present a bit surface. Both spend a lot of time in their heads thinking back on their past connection and I was less sure as to why they were into each other 17 years later. There is obviously a lingering physical connection, but there just weren’t enough out-of-bed interactions between the two, or maybe the quantity was fine, but the quality of those interactions was just (again) underwhelming. I think this is mostly down to Cash’s character development falling short when compared with Ava’s. While Ava was developed through her interactions with other characters and her struggles with her grief, Cash was just sort of there and very much in h is own head. Most of his struggles were internal, so there were pages of pages of him in his head. I get he is the broody brother, but when he was interacting with his brothers or other characters, it did so much more to show him than all the telling in his head. I find this one of the pitfalls of first person POV and that’s not on Knupp; I enjoy her storytelling and the majority of her characters. I just prefer when character growth happens through action and interaction rather than redundant introspection; or I at least prefer when there is more of a balance between those elements. There is definitely that balance with Ava, and it’s done very well and that is what kept me engaged. The secondary character work is also something I enjoy about this series as a whole, along with the setting. I’ve said in previous reviews, this is just a place I want to spend time and that has a lot to do with cast of characters Knupp has created. I was a little let down when in Cash’s POV because there was less of this, and even when other characters were not he scene, I was still frustrated by Cash; so I don’t think I enjoyed even that as much as I did when in Ava’s POV. For instance, I am interested in Knox. I loved that he and Ava’s relationship was purely platonic and there was no hint of any attraction between the two (despite Cash’s cliched assumptions). I kinda wish Cash and Ava’s romantic reunion had been half as compelling as her friendship with Knox. And that bomb Knox drops at the end was just… wow! Definitely excited to see how that plays out; though less excited that his story will include a traditional age gap (older man/younger woman). Still, I do want to see where things go! The audiobook is solid. The standout performance in the narration was Samantha Brentmoor as Ava. Brentmoor is just gets better and better with each performance I hear. She moved seamlessly between emotions in this outing; Ava goes through it in this book, but there are still lighter moments. Brentmoor displays a range that was a perfect fit. While Patrick Zeller is a good narrator, I just wasn’t as into his performance as I as into Brentmoor’s. Now, maybe this was a case where because I was not as interested in the character, even a solid narrator could do little to save it. I’ve heard a few of Zeller’s performances in the past, and he can get the job done. It just worked less for me this time around. Overall, I still recommend this one, as it is a lovely exploration of grief and how finding the right support system (when you didn’t know you were missing it) can be everything. I received an ALC copy of the audiobook via Home Cooked Books. All opinions are my own.

This is book 3 in Amy Knupp’s Henry Brothers series. This can be enjoyed as a stand alone. However, I think it’s a little more fun having “met” Cash and the rest of the Henrys in previous books – starting with Unraveled. This was a great second chance romance. I think my favorite part was that this was really less about the past and more focusing on Cash and Ava falling in love again with who they are now. That strong history – and passion – is there providing a wonderful foundation for them slipping back into being lovers. However, with futures seemingly diverging in two different locations, they know that their time together is limited. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I loved how Knupp didn’t make it so that one person was forced to give everything up (and that it wasn’t only Ava making concessions!). Their solution was wonderful and really solidified their HEA. Then they get an awesome epilogue which ends on a huge surprise impacting the entire Henry family. Audio lovers get a *second* bonus epilogue offering a peek into married life for Cash & Ava. I’m looking forward to Knox’s book, Unexpected.

Undone is the third book in the Henry Brothers series, and I am so loving making my way through it, earbuds firmly in place, certain that observers think I’m crazy when I laugh out loud, shout, “Oh, no!” or get the dreamy swoony look. Perfect as a standalone but trust me, you need to get to intimately know all these guys and their family, friends and special loved ones. Because the Henry Brothers are special. They grew up in a loving home, cherished, wanted, secure in the knowledge that family would always be there for them. But upon closer inspection, they have all had vulnerabilities, concerns, worries, fears and secrets that made them each feel ‘less than’ in their own way. Which is why they most definitely need the love of that woman who is perfectly right for them. And for Cash who could it possibly be but Ava? The one that got away. Or more precisely, the one he sprinted away from twenty years ago with no explanation. He is gruff, has friends but keeps most things close. He is a wildly talented and successful chef, but also has a ton of baggage he carries around with him about his self-defined failures. And Cash is no second-chance guy. Once and done as far as he is concerned. He blew it and that’s that, he won’t ever be able to successfully overcome that shortcoming. And just how irresistible and adorable does that make him? He didn’t expect these feelings with Ava to resurface when he sees her again. Heck, he didn’t expect to ever see her again. But now that she’s here? A minute, an hour, a day, a week – he just wants to enjoy every second he has with her now, his body and his heart are telling him to just give in, relax for once. She’s going back to LA. Does he want her to? Who knows? He wants her to finally realize her dreams, to have what she wants instead of always forcing down her own desires to take care of others. But can he lose her again? Can he walk away like he did last time? And what’s up with that writer guy, Knox Breckenridge, who showed up in book one and says he’s never leaving Dragonfly Lake now? That he’s fallen in love with the place and is planning to settle in. Holden and Seth didn’t pay him too much attention, but Cash doesn’t like or trust him, and for now I’m on Team Cash. I thought maybe Knox was going to expose Everly when she was trying to hide out or expose Seth’s secret in book two. That didn’t happen, but my maybe-overactive-reader-imagination still has me wondering if he’s writing a tell-all book or something about Dragonfly Lake. Don’t know but something about him makes me cringe. Or maybe hope there’s a Knox’s Story book in the future? Ava has come home to Dragonfly Lake for her aunt’s funeral, the only family she had left. And to see what repairs and remodeling are needed and to find a manager for her aunt’s baby, the Honeysuckle Inn. She grew up working at the inn but she’s a writer, not an innkeeper. She has an amazing opportunity in LA – this could be her shot, what she’s always dreamed of. So she makes her lists and gets going fixing thing up, preparing for when she can go home. But as she reconnects with people she knew long ago and meets new people, settles into a routine, Dragonfly Lake starts to feel an awful lot like home. And of course there’s the Cash thing. Yes, he broke her heart when he up and left her, but he’s even more good-looking now (can that even be possible with a Henry man??), so sweet, so helpful, so considerate, so appealing – and so much heat in his gorgeous eyes – that that broken heart of hers starts going pitty-pat and she starts wondering What If? I was ready to travel to Dragonfly Lake myself if I had to and make Cash and Ava find a way for this to work. Because if there were ever two people who belong together, no matter how many years have passed, it’s these two. Author Amy Knupp has crafted another enticing, enjoyable, impossible to stop listening book. We catch up with friends and family from previous books, meet new people we might like someday but don’t quite yet, laugh, cry, worry. Ava and Cash lean in, pull back, lean in – the tension is unbearably perfect. And there is a big surprise at the end and a tantalizing peek at what might come in the next book. Two more stellar narrators for this book series, Patrick Zeller & Samantha Brentmoor, give you all the shivers of emotion with their perfect pacing, perfect portrayal of our two lovebirds’ personalities. 100% satisfying all around. I received a free audio copy of Undone from the author via Home Cooked Books. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am loving making my way through this satisfying series. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

This is my first ebook review. After retiring last May, I was able to pursue my love of reading and voraciously read all of Amy’s available books in a few months, thus the title. This one is as good as all the rest. I feel connected to these families and places. It has the right amount of reality to keep you engaged and not offend. It is appreciated that there are very few grammatical, punctuational, or spelling errors, as this distracts someone like me from the flow of the story and influences future purchases. It is a sign of professionalism. Thank you for the great stories. I look forward to many more.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and I am voluntarily reviewing it. I LOVED this book. I hated to see the last word on the page! I mean really authors should just be able to keep a book going! (Yeah right but I feel like I lose good friends when they end!) I did love to see some of the North brothers and their significant others! Thank you for including them. I adore all of the books that Ms. Knupp writes. Her stories are gripping, the plots are well written and the characters are ones that I would love to have as friends! I just hope the stories continue with all of my faves. Hint! Hint!!! Now after saying all of that, you don't have to read the prior stories to enjoy this one. I would highly recommend reading them though as they are simply delightful. Ava returns to Dragonfly Lake after being away for 17 years. Her aunt passed away and left The Honeysuckle Inn to Ava. The prospect of being back is a complicated one. She is on the cusp of realizing her dream. She wanted to be a screenwriter and has pitched an idea to a new streaming service. But the inn needs a great deal of work. Ava has the overwhelming job of getting the inn in better shape and hiring people to run her beloved aunt's inn. Hopefully she won't run into the guy that broke her heart all those years ago. Cash is the chef for the family's restaurant, Henry's. After serving his time in the Navy and bouncing around at various restaurants, he runs the kitchen to perfection. He is the grumpy Henry brother and the last one to find the love of his life. After a failed marriage, he doesn't want to try again. Been there, done that! But Cash and Ava meet again. The sparks from all those years ago never faded. The chemistry is still bright. Can Ava overcome her reluctance of spending time with the man who broke her heart? She felt sure Cash was going to propose before leaving for the Navy. Instead he breaks up with her! Can she forgive him? Why did he break up with her? Even if she forgives him, she lives in California. It is a long way from Tennessee. This is a sexy read. The story is such a fantastic one that if you aren't into the few small sexy scenes (yes they aren't pages and pages of sexy), I would suggest overlooking them. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS STORY!!!!! (Yes, I meant to yell that out!)

This book was such a great read! I loved Cash and Ava and that their second chance at romance started early in the book and developed before they went their separate ways only to realize they were meant to be. I have not yet read any others in this series but now I’ll be going back and reading them. And what an ending! Not a cliffhanger to their happy ending - Cash and Ava got a HEA, but now I’m waiting for the next book! Wonderful book!