Book 1 of 2 in the Consolation DuetLiam wasn’t supposed to be my happily ever after.He wasn’t even on my radar.He was my husband’s best friend—forbidden.But my husband is dead and I’m alone. I ache for him and I reach for Liam.One night with Liam changed everything. Now I have to decide if I truly love him or if he’s just the consolation prize.
I loved reading this book!! I literal finished it and the 2nd book in less the 48hrs. The author has an incredible talent for making your heart feel the intense emotions of the Characters. Definitely a 10/10!!
When a book is not a stand-alone, it should be listed as such so people know it is a cliffhanger from the first!!!
Happily ever after up to 96%… stop there or it turns into a bad cliffhanger.
Great story up to the 96% point. Earlier issue with husband is only needed for the Cliffhanger. Leave that out and it is a great story of Friends to lovers when she is free to love again and he, who has been honorable and kept her friendzoned during her marraige is free to love her.
Navy Seal
Husband’s Best Friend
Single Mom
Liam Dempsey is such a “dreamboat”!!! What a heartbreaking story! I felt so much for Natalie. She took the words right out of my mouth as if we were the same person!! I loved her and Liam together and the new love they discovered, they are truly one of the best couples I’ve ever read.
OK, I never thought I’d say this, but there’s just too much angst. Don’t get me wrong, I love angst with my romance, but I don’t want to be depressed the entire freaking book.
My other issue is I think this series would have been better if the side plot actually was more visible and involved in the books. You only hear about what’s going on with the security/military spy/leak/sabotage after the fact when the main character is TOLD. She’s not involved in it at all, so what’s the point?
I also don’t particularly like the female lead.
This ends on a cliffhanger, so if you don’t have the second book, don’t read it.
My audio read of the week was an emotionally charged story about a woman trying to move forward after the death of her husband.
Natalie was devastated to lose her Navy Seal husband and be faced with having to raise their baby daughter on her own. She knew that his job came with risks but she hoped that it would never impact them.
Nearly one year later Liam knocks on her door. He was best friends with her husband Aaron and although she was initially unsure about seeing him again, it ends up being a blessing for both her and her daughter Arrabelle. Liam has recently moved back to town and he wants to help the girls out as much as he can. Nothing will bring Aaron back but offering help and support will hopefully make things a bit easier for Natalie.
Liam always thought that Natalie was cute but in a purely platonic way. Now that they are spending more time together he is beginning to look at her in a new way. She is an amazing mum and so easy to be around. She may have spent the last 10 months weighed down by her grief but he is slowly bringing her back into the light.
Natalie feels conflicted about the feelings that seem to be growing between her and Liam. At first she felt it was wrong to feel anything about another man and the fact he was Aaron’s best friend just adds another layer. However, over time she begins to realise that maybe it’s okay to be happy again and move forward into something new with Liam.
Liam was so damn cute with Arrabelle, he absolutely adores her and is completely falling for Natalie. Things are going really well for them. I was floating along with them on a cloud and then Corinne smacked me up the side of the head with a bloody cliffhanger?! WTF?! So yeah, now I’ve 1-clicked Conviction so I can get closure on this mind fuck!
After reading some books in The Salvation Society, I decided it was a good idea to go back to the source. I started with Liam and Natalie’s duet because…fight me that’s why.
But MAN it was incredible. It sucks you in from the start and you’re in your feelings the whole way through. And you bet your butt that if I didn’t desperately have to sleep I’d be starting book 2/4 right now. I adore Liam and my heart broke nearly the entire book for Natalie. Seeing Aarabelle as a baby was wild, especially since I read Legacy not that long ago. Wild, I say.
A heartbreaking, heartfelt, breathtakingly beautiful journey to go on with Natalie and Liam. My heart broke, I cried, I swooned, and was left overwhelmingly speechless. I enjoyed every heart pounding moment of this story.
I enjoyed the twist at the end.
I lost my Dad in Vietnam and my husband was in the Marine Corps for 20 years. How you wrote about being a military family resonated with me. Your words captured how it feels to be a military spouse at times.
I fell in love with this series when I read Jackson and Catherine’s first book. I’ve found that the books only get better as Corinne Michaels becomes more comfortable writing as her characters.
I genuinely don’t know how people survive as the spouses and children of military and navy members. I really don’t know how Natalie found the strength to survive losing Aaron so close to her due date. I guess it’s something we learn about ourselves if we ever find ourselves in that situation.
One topic that comes up in this book, is the idea of rose coloured glasses when you’re looking at the past. Natalie learns some information about Aaron, and it forces her to take a microscope to their relationship. How many people stay in relationships because they have a history with someone? I wonder why people don’t leave? Or why they don’t speak to their spouse about issues? Is it fear of conflict?
I can’t wait to read the rest of Natalie and Liam’s story.
OMG Liam and Natalie were rock solid good. They were brought together due to a tragedy. You know how you have read an excellent book and can’t get it out of your system, well that is how I felt with Consolation. Although Corinne Michaels did leave us with one of the biggest cliffhanger. I absolutely loved it and devoured it. Definitely worth more than 5*********
Oh my gosh! This book ripped my heart out and just when it was starting to be pieced back together, the floor fell out from beneath me. Corinne Michaels writes amazing, angsty, emotional, sexy stories that suck me in every time. Liam and Natalie own my heart. I loved seeing characters from the other books in the series. If you haven’t read this book yet, read it right now! And I have to go read the next book right now!
This audiobook had all the feels……..
I’m not sure why all the 1 stars and why people are angry about the cliffhanger I don’t get it. It does state that it is a duet. Duet means 2 books people. So there will be a cliffhanger and a second book. So why you would give an amazing written/narrated story 1 star because you weren’t paying attention. I will never understand that. Ok enough of my venting.
This was a beautiful written and narrated story. Michaels had me laughing, crying, sobbing and swooning. Have your Kleenex ready because you are going to be taken on emotional rollercoaster.
This is part of a series but I haven’t read the other books in the series and didn’t feel lost or feel like I was missing any pieces. So it can be read as a standalone. But be prepared there is a cliffhanger. As the author stated this is a DUET. Which means 2 books. And I can’t wait to see how it call ends.
Wow what an emotional book. Nicole’s husband is killed in action and she is left to pick up the pieces and raise her daughter. Liam is Aaron’s best friend who is trying to help Nicole figure out how to live again. Nicole and Liam develop feelings for each other, which they fight, but eventually give in. This is the 3rd book of the Salvation Series and book one of the Duet— that means there is a cliff hanger! Loved this book and can’t wait to see how their story ends
Seal widow finds love. Cliffghanger. I don’t like that.
Talk about a roller-coaster of emotions! I swear I was a total crazy-pants to be around while I was reading it!! I was sad, frustrated, excited, pissed off, thrilled to bits… you name it, I felt it. It was totally unputdownable.
What these characters went through… man, it was heavy. LOVED Liam so much for everything he did for Natalie & Aarabelle. He was so stinkin’ sweet, funny, thoughtful, caring, patient & understanding. Definitely, a DREAMBOAT! 😉 Not to mention the fact that he was super HOT! I can’t even begin to put myself in Natalie’s shoes but if I tried, I bet I’d react the same way she did. I wanted to give her the biggest bear hug ever! LOVED these two together but I am on pins & needles, wondering how things will progress after the bombshell that was dropped on the very last page! Gah!!
But OMG… someone pass me a bottle of tequila because after I take a double shot, I need to smack Brittany upside the head with it! What in the ever-loving-f*** was wrong with her?! The whole, “I-didn’t-want-to-hurt-you-but-I-can’t-help-but spew-the-venomous-verbal-diarrhea-that’s-flowing-from-my-mouth” thing was pitiful. I get that she wasn’t totally to blame for what happened (although with the number of times she ran into Natalie after the fact, I find it hard to believe she never saw the couple together) but she had NO reason to approach Natalie after the funeral. None. At. All. Talk about a first-class b*tch! (P.S. And of course, it HAD to be her that Liam saw in the bar earlier on!!)
The one thing that I didn’t like (besides b****-tastic Brittany, of course) was how after that betrayal news was revealed, you (the reader) find out that things weren’t all that hunky-dory between Natalie & Aaron. It seemed like every other character threw in a comment after that, saying “Aaron wasn’t the same after so & so died” or “there were many times where I (Natalie) wasn’t sure we would make it & I put blinders on” or “What about the nights he was being an a**hole and angry at nothing… What about the way he’d go out & not come home?” It made me feel duped as a reader (& not in a, “WOW, what a twist!” way) & that kinda bugged me.
That CLIFFHANGER ENDING… Good gods. Knew something like that would happen but was still holding out hope that it wouldn’t!
On to the second half of this “Duet”, Conviction! Dishes be damned because I need to untangle all of these knots in my stomach!!
Disappointed I end
Oh my God…..no, no, no…..that ending will bring you to your knees! This book was heartache, grief, betrayal, healing, compassion and love. I was so immersed in this story I inhaled every page from beginning to end within hours, I struggled to put this book down because I needed to know this story like I needed to breathe. Natalie and Liam’s story was heartbreakingly beautiful and yet that ending was so riveting that I was holding my breath on the edge of my seat while wondering what the hell just happened!!!
Great characters and realistic emotions