AUDIO REVIEW: Tacker by Sawyer Bennett

Tacker (Arizona Vengeance, Book #5)
Sawyer Bennett
Release Date: November 5, 2019

 

Synopsis

I am not okay.

Fifteen months ago, my life was turned upside down when the plane I was piloting went down. Injured and trapped in the wreckage, I had to watch my fiancée die a painfully slow death, which is something that can really mess with your head.

Since that day, I’ve had little desire to do much of anything. Except play hockey, that is. Because that is the one place where the bad memories are banished and I can escape my pain.

But off the ice, I’m spiraling out of control. Losing the grip on my life and putting myself and my career in danger. Now, thanks to a string of bad decisions, I’ve been ordered to complete therapy in order to stay on the team.

The problem? Nora Wayne, my beautiful and somewhat unconventional therapist. I can’t buy into the brand of happy clappy crap this woman is feeding me. What could she possibly understand about the type of loss that I’ve suffered? How does she know anything about finding happiness after losing the most important person in your life?

Turns out, I’ve got a lot to learn, and she’s just the person I need to break through those walls I’ve erected.

I am not okay.
But for the first time in a long time, I know that I will be.

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My Review

Here’s the thing…like any avid reader of Sawyer Bennett’s Arizona Vengeance series, I was so ready for Tacker to get his second chance…at love, at life, at healing the parts of him that he thought might not ever get better after MJ’s death. But I also knew that I needed to be patient. I knew Tacker needed to work on himself…work through his pain, his guilt, his grief, and that it wasn’t going to be easy or quick…not when someone has spiraled so far out of control that he wants it all to end and is willing to make that happen.

What I loved most about the way that Bennett crafted Tacker and Nora’s story is that she didn’t add any unnecessary drama or move too quickly or too slowly when it came to Tacker’s progress or Nora and Tacker sifting their way through their individual fear and pain to become something they both never thought they’d have again.

Nora is an amazing heroine who has her own share of pain, but, somehow, she’s turned her raw and heartbreaking emotions into a safe place for anyone struggling and in need of a specialized therapy. She puts her full heart and soul in her Equine Therapy Ranch and works tirelessly to help all those who come to her ranch, even an incredibly handsome man who is a little too tight-lipped for her kind of help to work. Raul is the perfect father-figure for Nora and the way that he protects her, at all costs, proves just how much she means to him and she gives that love back to him.

The fact that Tacker’s teammates don’t give up on him, even when he wouldn’t stop pushing them away, speaks to the camaraderie of the Vengeance and what they’re willing to do to bring back, to maybe even save, one of their own, and the team’s owner, Dominik, plays a huge role in getting Tacker the help he needs, and throughout the entire story, he proves time and time again that he is so not a hands-off kind of owner, which is exactly what his team needs him to be.

I knew that I needed to listen to Tacker’s story; I needed his perspective to be narrated by a male to completely immerse myself into his thoughts and feelings, and Stephen Dexter does an amazing job of bringing every single one of Tacker’s emotions to the forefront…of demonstrating how he works through all the negative in order to push through to the positive. And Lucy Rivers narrates Nora’s voice flawlessly, truly bringing to life just how special of a woman, a therapist, a human being she is.

Sawyer Bennett did such a tremendous job with Tacker’s story. It was everything I wanted it to be and so much more, which is exactly why she’s always been one of my faves.

4.5 Poison Apples

About the Author

Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released multiple books, many of which have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active daughter, as well as full-time servant to her adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or even better, both.

Sawyer also writes general and women’s fiction under the pen name S. Bennett and sweet romance under the name Juliette Poe.

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