All or Nothing by Felice Stevens

Narrated by Nick J. Russo

The third title in Felice Stevens’ Brooklyn-set Together series, All or Nothing is a sexy/sweet and emotional character-driven romance between firefighter and Texas-transplant Adam Barton and Rico Estevez, chef and owner of a growing catering business. It’s a simple story on a familiar premise, but the characters are well-rounded and engaging, and their romance is heartfelt, with just the right amount of angsty goodness.

Adam and Rico first set eyes on each other in book one, Learning to Love, when Adam was part of the firefighting team who attended a fire at the local synagogue. Rico hasn’t been able to get Adam out of his mind since, impressed by the courageousness of his dash into the burning building – and by his broad shoulders, red hair and piercing blue eyes. Rico knows that those All-American-Boy good looks are bad news; Adam has boyfriend material written all over him and Rico doesn’t do relationships. So he’s tried desperately to avoid the guy, even going so far as to hide in his office whenever Adam comes into the store to pick up something for lunch – until the day he’s not fast enough to get away, and Adam asks him out for a drink.

It’s such a bad idea… but Rico accepts the invitation anyway, and a drink leads to comfortable conversation which leads to an explosive hook up later that night back at Adam’s place, despite Rico’s initial intentions to keep things light and casual.

Adam has wanted Rico since the moment he first saw him all those months ago. It’s taken weeks for him to get Rico to so much as talk to him, so getting him to agree to meet up after work felt like a major victory; he honestly hadn’t expected to take him home and spend the night fucking each other’s brains out. When Adam wakes the next morning to find Rico gone, he’s not too surprised –the man is nothing if not secretive and self-contained – but it still hurts. He hasn’t wanted a man this much in years – and Adam is not the sort to hold back when he wants something. He decides he’ll go to the store to take to Rico and, hopefully, plan a repeat performance of the night before.

When Adam turns up at his office door, Rico is more than a little surprised to see him, but they settle into a conversation and end up deciding that, as they’re both happily single and into “having fun”, there’s no harm in indulging in a friends-with-benefits fling. They’re getting along well and things are definitely warming up between them – until Rico’s business partner and best friend Gideon enters and Rico is suddenly all icy dismissal at Gideon’s observation that he hadn’t realised Rico and Adam were “together”. Confused and hurt – again – Adam decides he’s had enough; he’s not into playing games and doesn’t at all understand Rico’s seeming need for such extreme secrecy, and he leaves without another word.

Realising he’s been an idiot, Rico makes his way to Adam’s later that evening, apologises, and the pair decide to pick up where they left off. They both want the same thing – great sex with no strings – but the trouble is that the more often they see each other, the more they learn about each other and the closer they become. When Adam is sent home on restorative leave (after trying and failing to save a teenage boy who’d overdosed) Rico knows Adam needs him and flies to Texas to be with him, even if only for the weekend. But this marks a big shift in their relationship – and it’s not one Rico is ready to face. When Adam returns to New York, Rico says they should put some distance between them.

The storyline isn’t exactly original, but the author has created two appealing characters in Rico and Adam (even though Rico is a bit of a dickhead to start with), and builds their relationship really well, moving from those initial hook-ups to a strong emotional connection and then to love. Adam is a kind, big-hearted guy who is still trying to come to terms with a past tragedy, and Rico is struggling with his need to be true to himself while fulfilling his conservative father’s expectations. Estevez Snr. is a politician who is rising up the ranks, and Rico has never told him he’s gay; partly because he’s scared it will ruin their relationship, partly because he doesn’t want to do anything to hurt his father’s career. But Rico is finding it harder and harder to hide his truth, and is also angry at the feeling he’s been denied his heritage. His parents were born in Florida to Cuban immigrant parents, and Rico always knew he was expected to be the best American possible, attending the best, WASPY schools, and speaking only English at home (the little Spanish he knows he learned from his grandfather). His business is growing and becoming successful, but he’s not living an authentic life – and Rico has some important decisions to make.

All or Nothing is part of a series, but I didn’t feel I’d missed out by not having listened to the previous book, so it can safely be listened to as a standalone. Rico’s blow-hot/blow-cold attitude towards Adam does grate a bit – Adam is such a great guy and doesn’t deserve that – but the author does a good job of showing how conflicted Rico is and how much he longs for Adam, which makes it easier to sympathise with him because it’s made so clear how much he’s hurting, too. The pacing flags in a couple of places, and I felt Rico’s father changed his tune perhaps a little quickly, but I didn’t have any major issues with the story.

Nick J. Russo is someone I always enjoy listening to, and he does a wonderful job of bringing this story and these characters to life. The narrative is told from the points of view of both men, and Mr. Russo imbues them with very different personalities as well as giving them different vocal characterisations. The sexy Texas drawl he gives to Adam is just perfect, while the slightly higher pitch and precise delivery assigned to Rico works well – in the early stages of the book especially – to convey how tightly wound he is. The handful of secondary characters are performed consistently and are clearly differentiated, but best of all is the way Mr. Russo picks up on all the emotional cues; he always sounds as though he’s thoroughly invested in the characters and their stories in the books he narrates; that level of engagement is readily communicated and always a pleasure to hear.

All or Nothing is an angsty and compelling love story with a well-realised setting, likeable, three-dimensional principals and a hard-won HEA. That, together with the excellent narration, earns it a strong recommendation.

Caz

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Buy All or Nothing by Felice Stevens on Amazon