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cahdii 's review for:
Somehow You Knew
by Harlow James
🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧
🎤 Dual narration by Erin Mallon and Brandon Francis
Story: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Performance: 🎤🎤🎤🎤.5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ .5
👀POV: Dual, first person, present tense
📖 Tropes: small town romance, marriage of convenience/arranged marriage, irritation to lovers, forced proximity, meddling family, sassy FMC, tattoo artist MC, pierced MC
This was such a beautiful end to the series. I loved the symmetry between Hazel and Gage’s love story and Willow and Dallas’s. There’s a thread tying them together that brings the series full circle in the best way.
I’d been looking forward to reading this since we got a teaser in the last book, and I was not disappointed. I love the “matchmaking from the grave” trope, i.e. “to get my money you need to get married”, or some other variation that causes forced proximity, but this book takes it to another level and I was here for it. It’s giving P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern with the whole “instructions via posthumous letters to help you find happiness” plot.
Hazel and Gage are multi-layered characters with tragic backstories and are so easy to love. Hazel is a romantic who’s had bad experiences with love and has all but given up. Gage has closed himself off because of a secret that, when revealed, is so heartbreaking, I teared up. Their meet cute had an element of fate that I really loved. They meet properly for the first time a year later and they get off to a rocky start, even though there’s clearly an attraction between them. (this is where my rating loses half a star because we get no explanation as to why Gage pretends not to remember/recognise her. It feels like it was written that way just to create friction.) Their journey to happily ever after is full of humour, tension, banter, heat and heartfelt moments. This is a medium to slow burn. The spice hits around 60% and it is so hot. This might be the spiciest book in the series.
I enjoyed seeing all the Shephard siblings, their spouses and their mum. They have such a loving relationship and support each other fiercely. I loved seeing Dallas in big brother mode, encouraging Hazel, and trying to protect her from hurt. It was great to see Gage welcomed into their family after being alone for so long.
Erin Mallon and Brandon Francis were amazing in their performance. Brandon Francis is fairly new to me, but Erin Mallon is one of my favourite narrators for dual style because I love her male voice and her voice is perfect for Hazel’s sunny personality. While this story carries the same light-heartedness as the rest of the series, it’s one of the most emotional, heartbreaking stories (tied with book 1, in my opinion) and the narrators did a great job conveying all the emotions of the characters and truly bringing the story to life.
This was a great story of healing and acceptance with a cozy small town vibe, large meddling family dynamic and lots of banter, swoon, spice and character growth. It was a fitting end to the series (which I highly recommend) and I’m looking forward to the next series that’s coming in late 2025. The first book is going to be a brother’s best friend story about Hazel’s best friend Laney. I can’t wait!
*I received an advance copy from The Author Agency. These opinions are entirely my own.