Just Say When

By: Kaylee Ryan

Narrated by: Nelson Hobbs, Jillian Macie

Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Saving myself for marriage, not hardly. Saving myself for someone who will make my heart race, most definitely. In theory it's a good plan, however even the best-laid plans fall through. Seeing him, being around him, alerts all my senses and I dream about being his, wrapping myself in his arms and never letting go. The only problem - he sees me as his sister. My name's Ava Evans, and I'm in love with my older brother's best friend, Nate Garrison.

Burying myself in work for the past two years, avoiding any thought of her, has worked, until now. She's everywhere, in my dreams, in my gym, and in my heart. I'm not sure when I fell in love with Ava Evans, but I am completely in love with my best friend's baby sister. At first she was too young for me, and that made it easy to stay away. Now, it's a struggle to keep my distance. How am I supposed to resist her when I can't escape her? If he ever found out, it would ruin our friendship. Even with that knowledge, all she would have to do is just say when.

©2015 Kaylee Ryan (P)2017 Tantor

A stereotypical romance

This is an okay book. And if you like book reinforcijg stereotypical gender roles this is the books for you.

She is petite very pretty and only focused on her studies until her brother BFF reenters her life. She had a huge crush on him and it resurfaces almost immediately.

I like strong female characters and this book really did not deliver. The girl is harassed by a man she dated once and she just let him touch her, never pushes back. She is just really laking a personality in my view.
All her male friends are bloody fighters, know a weird guy is harassing her and they never even suggest teaching her self defence. No instead one of them is always there to protect her, so she can continue to be an oblivious little mouse. And we are supposed to buy that her father and brother are super protective of her while not giving her a single took to protect herself.

He is a gym owner who growls every time another man touches her (even friendly touches). He has some moments of "vulnerability" but it is glossed over pretty quickly.

Also the female narrator was a bit flat for my taste.

And don't get me started on the artifical drama at the end when her brother finds out they are dating. He acts like a bloody idiot until his friend littery looses his shit and beats up the stalker guy. Because you see the brother wanted to know his friend was ready to beat someone up for his sister. This is despite the male main character treating the sister very sweetly and the brother seeing he makes her happy. But no, what turns him around is the fact that his friend is willing to beat the shit out of someone "for her".

And the ending is soo typical, they get engaged after her college graduation, she has no job, no interest except how she loves the guy.

I guess I just like characters with personality and depth and this book falls very short on that point.

Thinking from another author

I thought the writer of this book is Kelly Elliott because of the plot, narrator.

Great story! Female narrator, not so much.

Loved the book but the female narrator almost ruined it for me. But the male narrator was great!

Light, fun story.

I savor this book, light, easy read. Nate melts my heart with his romantic, sweet words and gestures toward Ava. Perfect for what I was looking for on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

So So Amazing

Two people who have know each other practically their whole lives are done fighting the attraction they have learned they both have. Ava May has know she wanted Nate longer than she should have. The thing is when she learns he wants her too, is it the HEA they both want or is there just to much against them?
Absolute must own performance and story will have you hooked from the first word to the very end. I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone

Good for young adult readers

What did you like best about Just Say When? What did you like least?

While the plot was a popular topic – it’s always fun to see how it unfolds. In this case, the plot unfolded well enough. It wasn't overly awesome and it wasn’t too boring. It just felt like all the good parts were censored – no detail. They are fighters and there are a few fights and we don’t hear any details they just say something along the lines of they fight and then he blackouts (or I close my eyes) and then they’re pulling him away (or its over). Come on – they are fighters! It doesn’t stop there, the steamy scenes and more like a spritz.

There are some cute parts like the birthday week gifts and the brother coming full circle. Nate is really sweet when it comes to Ava. I think that is what kept me going to finish the book.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The male narrator just didn’t sell it for me. He was stopping after every sentence for a breath, felt like he was reading with feeling instead of playing the part with feeling. No matter what was going on he sounded enthusiastic. I wasn’t feeling it. I kept playing with the speeds in order to get more feeling out of the parts (slowing it down for some parts that felt like he shouldn’t be excited or speeding it up to skip that breath break for parts where he should be hype).

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Fighting for Ava

Any additional comments?

Would I recommend it - yes, I would.
I really want to give it more stars but I just wasn't into it.
It’s a good young adult book. The author is a good writer.

Wonderful Brother's Best Friend Romance!!!

Just Say When is a brother's best friend romance that takes place between Nate and Ava. Nate and Ava have always kind of had a thing for each other, though neither one knew it about the other, and after reconnecting, decided to test the waters and see if having a relationship might work.

I absolutely adored Nate and how he interacted with Ava. I love Kaylee Ryan's books in general and tend to think she writes the best characters, so I will be adding Nate right up there to the top of the list. I can't believe it took me so long to dive into this book, but I am so glad that I did. I enjoyed the secondary characters as well and really enjoy the author's writing style. I really enjoyed the slow burn of Nate and Ava's relationship and thought it really added to the story.

I listened to this book in one sitting in pretty much one sitting as it was so engaging. I thought Nelson Hobbs and Jillian Macie did a really good job with the narration as Nate and Ava and would definitely recommend this audiobook!!!

Loved the story

I loved the story but the female voice trying to sound like the guy still sounds like he is being creepy not sweet/loving.

Not bad, but...

Ultimately there's not a lot of conflict in the story, and the main couple aren't conflicted at all about their feelings. Jillian Macie is not my favorite narrator either.

Would have preferred the ebook - didn’t care for the female narrator

The female narrator ruined it for me, so my review may be negatively impacted by that — she made the intimate scenes sound creepy