Before the Call cover art

Before the Call

A Small Town Hearts Novel

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Before the Call

By: Emma Alcott
Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo
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About this listen

Rule #1 Don’t fall for the ridiculously hot straight guy

Rule #2 Especially not if he’s your best friend

Rule #3 Extra-especially not when you’re supposed to be his private tutor

Rule #4 Oh, god, but those eyes

Rule #5 Okay, maybe eyes are fine if you don’t look south

Rule #6 Don’t look south

Rule #7 You looked south, didn’t you?

Rule #8 Are you even listening?

Gabe Mitchell isn't listening. What's worse, ever since he moved back to the small town he thought he'd left for good, he's turned into a habitual rule breaker.

Falling for his straight best friend, Clark Summers? Check.

Falling for his straight best friend, Clark Summers, who also happens to be his newest mature student? Check.

And don't you dare get him started about what's going on down south, because Gabe doesn't need to check that to know he's in deep.

It's a good thing Clark's missed him these last four years, and a better thing that he's willing to do whatever it takes to have Gabe back in his life, because rules are about to be broken. All of them. And Clark’s only rule? The one about being straight? It might just end up broken, too.

Before the Call is the second book in the Small Town Hearts series, which features heroes scattered across the rural United States who find love where they're least expecting it. In addition to friendship that turns red-hot, you can expect to find generous servings of vanilla ice cream that are anything but vanilla, interesting “tutoring” techniques, a nerd who's head over heels for the best friend he can't have, and a jock who loves his Dork even after years apart.

©2019 Emma Alcott (P)2020 Emma Alcott
Literature & Fiction Romance Small Town Heartfelt Feel-Good

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All stars
Most relevant
Really sweet and steamy story about the sometimes long and winding road to romance and HEA.
Full of heat, laughter and a wonderful sense of family and small town community.
Michael Ferraiuolo did a wonderful job single handedly bringing an entire cast of characters to life.

Friends to lovers, slow-burn

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Before the Call (A Small Town Hearts Novel Book 2) by Emma Alcott. This was a slow burn friends to lovers romance. This story develops nicely. A good combination of world building and character development.
The Narrator Michael Ferraiuolo did a fantastic job bringing these characters and stories to life.

🎧 LesCourt Reviewer 🎧

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Adorable and so sweet the feel good pick me up I needed!! LOVE the narrator

SUPER CUTE

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I love Michael Ferraiuolo's narrations as they always bring the characters to life. I loved the book by Emma Alcott (Piper Scott) and this second book in her Small Town Hearts series was just lovely with two childhood best friends coming together when Gabe finally comes home from college to teach Math at their home town High School where Clark's younger siblings are now students. It's great to see how Gabe helps Clark find a way forward when his job at the mine might be in jeopardy and they rekindle their friendship, practically picking up where they left off. And they discover that they might just find something deeper than they previously shared as deeply buried secrets surface and they learn to deal with their true feelings as mature adults. Highly recommended with a HEA and friends to lovers MM contemporary romance.

Gabe's childhood best friend looking for love?

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Listener received this title free

This is a very sweet, slow-burn, small-town, friends to lovers, gay-for-you love story. There is friendship, love, some geekiness, some awkwardness, some funny moments, and sweet emerging love. I loved Gabe and his funny dorkiness, and Clark and his selfless caring for his siblings. This story didn't have the level of angst and drama as the first in the series, just a little centered around incorrect assumptions of small-town bias and a near-kidnapping and pursuit of a teenager by an older man. This is only book 2, but so far I am really loving this series.

The narration was great, and it was easy to tell the various character voices apart.

I received an complimentary copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Sweet second-chance, GFY story

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