I am loving this McCullough Mountain series, the characters and storylines are amazing, as is the family dynamics and camaraderie amongst them. Lydia Michaels is a gifted author with a wonderful writing style and ability to draw her readers into the stories she creates. And making it even more special is how realistic the characters are and how easy they are to relate to and connect with. The books in this series are written to stand on their own, each one features a different McCullough sibling, while some family members appear in each other’s books as secondary characters, everything you need to know about them is in the descriptive details, each book is as wonderful as the other and I highly recommend them all. Ms. Michaels created something special with this series, the emotions pour off the pages and into your heart and tub on your heartstrings the entire time. Sheilagh McCullough has a brilliant mind, it is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. She planned on attending college after HS, but after seeing something she was not supposed to, it crushed her and sent her into a tailspin, causing her to act out whenever she could. She never went to college, stayed home instead, but when her brothers finally had enough of her wildness and terrible life choices, they gave her an ultimatum, she needed to go to college like she had originally planned. She went and took a full course load, but when her philosophy professor challenges her, she wants to throw in the towel. Dr. Alec Devereux wants to get the most out of his students and he sees something in Sheilagh, not just her smarts but that she is not applying herself as much as she could and that she is hiding who she really is. And she may have given up on “Plato’s Republic” he still did not give up on her. It was great to watch these two not only fall in love but to challenge each other. It was also great to watch Sheilagh come into her own once she recognized what was holding her back, herself. This beautifully plotted story has the perfect balance of drama, heartfelt emotions, some great dialogue and steamy romance. As always, I loved the McCullough’s shenanigans and watching Sheilagh get some payback. Lydia Michaels, thank you for another wonderful story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, Lucinda Gainey is a talented narrator and a versatile voice artist. She continues to do an amazing job, bringing these characters to life, humanizing them and giving each their own distinct voice, making it easy to follow and tell who is who. She has a complete understanding of the characters she is portraying and I love how she takes each role and makes it her own, sounding believable in every role she plays. She played Sheilagh’s role with perfection, grasping every side of her personality and her Alec was amazing too, accent and all. You could hear how much heart she puts into her work as she captures all the character’s emotions and projects them into her performance, having you feel every single one. Lucinda Gainey is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another wonderful listen.