Remembering You

Pushing the Boundaries #0.5

by Audra North

He’s in hot pursuit…and she’s determined not to become a casualty of love.

A Pushing the Boundaries prequel.

SWAT officer Ben Crewes has never forgotten the mystery woman whose voice comforted him in the night after he was shot in the line of duty. A voice he never managed to connect with a face.

Years later, a chance encounter with reporter Nina Lang feels strangely familiar, and although he regards bloodsucking newshounds with the same contempt as perps, he feels something he hasn’t felt since that sexy voice soothed him in the darkness.

Long ago, Nina learned the risks involved with men in dangerous professions. But by the time she realizes he belongs to the voice from that long-ago night, the connection sizzling between them is too hot to stamp out without leaving a mark on her soul.

The smart move would be to walk away. Before she gives in to the kind of heat that forges futures—the kind that could simply end in another painful memory.

Warning: An officer who’s cool under pressure, a woman who blows that cool all to hell, and a fender bender that leads to an exchange of more than just insurance cards.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, M F Romance, Fiction, Novella

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2016

About the author

Audra North is a contemporary romance author of more than twenty romances, including the Stanton Family series from Entangled Publishing, the Hard Driving series from St. Martin’s Press, and the Pushing the Boundaries series from Samhain Publishing. She is the owner and publisher of Pink Kayak Press, which focuses on the publication of diverse romance works. Winter Rain, a Pink Kayak Press anthology, won a gold medal in the 2015 Independent Publisher Awards.

Audra enjoys speaking to writing groups and at industry conferences. She is also an avid jogger and loves running marathons. She has three children and lives with her family outside of Boston.

For more about Audra, and to sign up for her newsletter, visit audranorth.com.

Reviews

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audra North brings her reader a tantalising shorter read in Remembering You. You can't go wrong with a gorgeous SWAT officer, and this one has been holding onto the memory of the lady with the beautiful voice, who comforted him the night he was shot.



Fast forward three years and a chance encounter leads to Ben finding his mystery lady--journalist, Nina. He's not a fan of journalists, but she also has her own reticences as she avoids men like the plague who are in more dangerous professions. Together though, they have a magnetic chemistry and it would be a sin not to act on it for just one night.

"I told myself you were too good to be true."

This story was one of those romances you pick up and lose yourself in for the duration. Grabbing from the opening chapter and continuing to do so throughout, it's paced well, and whilst it doesn't hold any huge storyline surprises, it has an endearing couple who provide plentiful heat-filled moments. And, as they they open up to one another, it brings an emotional aspect and some humour.



If you're looking for a shorter, sexy fix, then you can't go far wrong with this.

Copy received courtesy of Samhain Publishing via NetGalley for an honest and unbiased opinion.

[Maria Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remembering You is a prequel novella to Giving It Up. In that story, Warren and Beatrice first interacted on a more personal level at the wedding of mutual friends Ben and Nina. This story tells of how Ben and Nina got together. It's easily read as a standalone and is a complete story in itself. However I highly recommend Giving It Up as well, as it was one of my favourites of the year to date.

In the prologue of this story, Ben is in hospital in a semi private room. He's recovering from an injury suffered in the line of duty, and has just been dumped by his girlfriend. He ends up in conversation with a mysterious voice, the woman behind the curtain who shares his room. Falling asleep eventually, he wakes up and finds he's been moved. The woman and her soothing voice are gone.

Fast forward three years and Ben, distracted while driving, rear-ends the woman in front of him. The woman whose car he's hit is beautiful and her voice seems oddly familiar, though he's sure they've never met. She's quite warm and friendly, forgiving in the face of the accident - until she finds out he's a cop. Then her attitude changes, she gets closed off and retreats quickly. Hours later, Ben and his friends enter a local hangout after work and lo and behold, she's there at the bar. Unable to ignore the coincidence again, he approaches her and she warily engages in a conversation with him. It turns out that she's a journalist, and this in turn makes Ben put the brakes on as cops and journalists generally don't mix. But one thing leads to another, one meeting to the next, and they end up having an affair. The attraction between them is too strong to ignore. But Nina still holds herself back, hesitant to commit to anything more than a friends with benefits arrangement. As they move closer to the truth of their shared past, will Nina open herself up to a real relationship with Ben?

Well, since I gave it away in the first paragraph that Ben and Nina get married in Giving It Up, which was released before this prequel, it's a given that this story is going to have a happy ending. The trick then, is to make the story interesting and exciting even with that foregone conclusion. This is done expertly by creating that mystery of their shared hospital room at the beginning, and then the gradual unfolding of that realization and knowledge over the course of the story. There is also the need to delve into Nina's past, her relationship with her ill father, and the consequences of his career choices on Nina and her mother. All of these things make Nina wary to give her heart to Ben. She fears abandonment, and has put up walls around her heart as a result.

Nina and Ben's sexual attraction to each other, fueled by their recognition of each other subconsciously from the things they shared in the hospital room, makes for some very steamy love scenes. Ben and Nina cherish memories of that one day spent together, the conversation they had still resonating within each of them. Sex is definitely not a problem for them as they are very in tune with each other. While Ben is quite open with Nina that he wants to pursue more with her, she's the one who holds back, until eventually she realizes that Ben will always be there for her. I loved that this story was told in dual point of view, and that Ben was very willing to share his emotions and love for Nina, even if he wasn't sure he'd get it back in return. It was a sweet and sexy story, about strangers reconnecting, and learning to trust one's heart. 4.5 stars.

Note: a copy of this story was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review.

This review appears as a blog post at http://straightshootinbookreviews.com...

[♡ Jeri's Book Attic ♡ Jeri the Romance Bibiliophile ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Remembering You” was my first book by Audra North, so I am in no position to judge if it is her usual writing style.


But as far as the plot of this book is concerned I felt there was missing something and I am still not totally sure what it was.


The plot was interesting so I felt lucky to be able to receive an ARC for review and the beginning was promising.


But I struggled with the developing relationship between the leading characters. The story would have needed a deeper impact a deeper development of their character. But to me they appeared too superficial.


I would have needed more to be able to relate to the characters, so even if the plotline was interesting the characters themselves were not able to draw me into the story.


But this might be only me and the next reader could be fully enjoying this story so do not let my feelings stop you from reading this book.

[Ruthie Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

~~I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads ~~

This is a book based on an interesting starting point, and develops well as they meet again. Ben's friends were good foils, and in the end Nina's father was the one who made all the difference, in spite of all the negativity that had been suggested before. I think that the fact that they both had dangerous jobs, and were strongly independent worked well, and of course knew more that most about each other. For some reason I felt it could have drawn me in further, as their lives weren't painted in quite as much detail as I like in places. Maybe if we had had some of that original conversation that would have filled in my gaps - and in fact is possibly why it wasn't mentioned very much later.

Overall a good way to spend an evening, enjoying someone else's romantic story.

[Marie Brown (Marie's Tempting Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie's Tempting Reads Netgalley ARC Review:

Passionate, sweet, sexy, and breathtaking! These are the words that come to mind when I think of Remembering You by Audra North. I really enjoyed this story. The characters were great and the story very appealing and yummy.

I loved the plot! And the story was very nicely paced too. Nina and Ben made a sweet, beautiful couple.

Remembering You by Audra North gets a SWEET FOUR SHOOTING STARS!! Its the kind of story that will have you sighing and asking for more.

[Penelope · Rating 2 out of 5]

short but felt long as hell.

i really cant read cop romances.

insta-love that was too instant for these old ass leads. still dont know why they liked each other that much. book ended fast as hell and heroine gave up dreams basically.

just remembered! the casual sexism that was framed as loving and wanted was ick

[oitb]

DNF @ 54% on 7/3/22. This is just a novella but the writing doesn’t work for me.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful quickie (compared to the other two full lengths) of a story.
I really enjoyed reading Ben's story. And it's such a sweet and romantic one.

[Book Gannet · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

The first book in this series (Giving It Up) proved to be an amazing surprise for me, with its complicated and unconventional D/s relationship. I have to admit I was expecting more of the same in this prequel novella, but that’s not what I got. There is plenty of sex and some scorching chemistry, but there are no BDSM elements and although the traditional gender roles of falling in love first and wanting to settle down are reversed, overall it’s a fairly standard read.

That doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable, because it is. Ben is kind of adorable in his SWAT team leader way, falling in love with a voice and wondering if he and that mysterious woman from three years ago might be soul mates. He’s a guy who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid of settling down.

Nina is the complete opposite. A driven journalist who has daddy issues and is more concerned with running from one story to the next than hanging around and building anything memorable. Except things between her and Ben are hot and heavy and unforgettable, making life tricky for Nina, as she has no plans to ever get involved with someone in such a risky position.

As I said, this is a good read. Not quite what I was expecting, but enjoyable nonetheless. However, because it is short, this book is more about sex than romance. Ben might have all these feelings for Nina, but we don’t really get a true picture of it, and I expected a bit more conflict from their issues with each other’s careers. It’s a tale of lust rather than love.

If you’re looking for something hot and sexy that’s quick to read and doesn’t demand too much attention, then give this a go. If, however, you want something hot and sexy that does demand more of you than a quick read, maybe you should check out Giving It Up, because that’s a book that has stuck with me, whereas this one, I suspect might be slightly forgettable.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

[JG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remembering You, a prequel to Audra North's series Pushing the Boundaries, is a short but emotional and very sexy read about two people whose path crossed three years ago in circumstances less than ideal. But that short encounter has stamped itself on Ben Crewes' memories that he simply can't forget that voice that he connected with. Told from alternating viewpoints, Remembering You may be a novella but it tells a great story about two people whose lives seems so meant to be but whose viewpoints and careers feels so far apart. Take into consideration personal preferences on Nina's partand it seems that this relationship isn't going anywhere. Sure the sex is really hot but it for these two it can also be the start of something deeper. Are they willing to take the risk? I really enjoyed this story, from the start I got invested in Ben and Nina's relationship and not knowing how this was going to end lent an air of uncertainty which in turn gave it that realistic edge. Most couples don't really know how a relationship will develop and this was well played in this book. It may be short but Remembering You won't be easy to forget.

*ARC provided by the publisher thru NetGalley*

[Myst]

Crossposted at my blog: What's Detetiv Doing Now?

Hmm, it was a nice little snippet into the Pushing the Boundaries world. I wish there was more after Ben gets shot and interaction with her dad. There's nothing really about how they worked out between their jobs but I am guessing that is touched upon in the next book. I liked how they jumped ahead and made you want to read the next book to hear about the new pairing. It was a enjoyable short read that I wish was longer. Bit too much sex scenes but considering the next book is talking about a domme, I guess is not much of a stretch. Not sure if I will read the next book, this will sadly go in my read and forget pile.

This is a arc via Netgalley, I do not get paid for this.

[Paige Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remembering You is a short but sweet. Good start to a new series.

Nina and Ben had sparks while talking between a curtain and they continued when they reunited.

Despite Nina and Ben only talking for a few hours, the author does a good job connecting these two several years later. It's evident that they shared heat along with some steamy scenes.

The secondary characters characters were also well written. I could see several of them in future books.

I received an ARC through NetGalley for a honest review.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this short & sweet story of Nina and Ben, who are featured in Giving it Up.

Bought from kobo