Review of ‘Coming Home’ by Lois Cloarec Hart, audiobook narrated by Anastasia Watley

This is book one of the ‘Calgary Chronicles’ by this author, a very emotional and atypical lesbian age gap romance that starts as a friendship triangle. I found the premise intriguing so I’ve decided to listen to the audiobook and I’m so happy I did.

Terry is a young postal worker who accidentally meets Rob, a charismatic ex-pilot who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS), and his wife Jan. As Terry draws the couple into her circle of family and friends, the bond between the women grows stronger and it will test to the limit their loyalty to Rob and to each other.

‘Coming Home’ is a poignant rollercoaster of a story about friendship, loyalty, and love. It’s not easy to write a love triangle in a romance book and pull it off but Ms. Hart does just so. All the characters are very relatable and likable and the friendship chemistry is as important as the lovers’. Ms. Hart says that she wrote this novel while her late husband was battling against MS and she met her wife-to-be while editing it.

This story is extremely slow-burn in both the building of the friendship and the bond between the main characters. The main premise of the book announces heartbreak from the start. There’s no way to avoid angst and suffering but it’s such a compelling story that it’s very much worth it. I have to admit that angsty books aren’t my cup of tea but this one was done with tact and sensitivity so I really enjoyed it.

Anastasia Watley is the audiobook narrator whose only performances in lesfic to date are this novel along with “The X Ingredient” by Roslyn Sinclair. Someone has to do something to change this as Ms. Watley is a superb narrator. She’s got a repertoire of varied voices, including realistic male ones and her overall performance brings a rich layer to the storytelling. I really enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it to fans of lesbian romance. 5 stars.

Available with a Scribd subscription. Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins