I’’m sorry, the male narrator was not good. I listened for about half an hour and was so bored I had to DNF.

This books was full of so much feeling. I fell in love with the way he helps her get over her fears, get her out of the box. I need to read a second part!

All That We Never Were intoxicates with a slow build-up to a taboo love with a best friend's teenage sister. A grief-stricken Leah moves in with Axel to finish her school after being in a car accident that kills her parents. Over time Axel brings Leah back to life and eventually falls for her. When their relationship gets exposed, their love is shaken and left to be continued. As a reader, you know the characters will be in love at some point. Getting to that frenetic - I love you nothing matters point no matter how fleeting love will be -is the journey. Each time Axel plans activities to bring Leah out of her grief, each experience while innocent at first endears you to Axel and slowly you understand their connection. I am waiting for more character development of Axel and why he is the way he is, but I figure it is coming in the next book. Despite that, I still was caught up in this romantic drama.

Themes: Friends to lovers, forbidden romance, forced proximity, Australian setting, emotional and heartful

Kudos to narrators Bridie Lawrence and Dorje Swallow. The accents were satisfying and soothing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

overall stars 4/5
steamy stars 4/5

The blurb said this was for fans of CoHo and Anna Todd and so I had to request right away. Sadly, I don't think this was up to par, but it wasn't terrible.

First and foremost, I like age gap romances. So I liked that part. I also really love emotional stories and I think this one did a good job of showing Leah's journey through her grief for the loss of her parents.

That's where it sort of fell flat for me. It just wasn't unique enough for me to feel like it's memorable. It was good and I think definitely has potential in the sequel.

The narration wasn't my favorite, but I'm picky when it comes to audiobooks. Maybe reading the book traditionally would have made me enjoy it more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I really did enjoy this audio. The author did a good job of making me immersed in the story. I would recommend this book.

Ok so the narration was good. The narrators did a good job. But as far as the book goes. I did not enjoy it fully. I like the idea of the story I just feel like there was a lot of filler and maid this book longer than it needed to be. I understand the complicated emotions and turmoil’s she wanted to explain with her characters but it just felt to drawn out. This book is addressing some really big topics and concepts and I commend her for going there but it was just too slow and couldn’t get into the story.

All That We Never Were follows Axel and Leah’s story through grief and love. Leah has been struggling since her parents died. Axel wants to fix…I mean, help her. Some of the things Axel did bothered me, but I guess it helped her. This was a loooong story. I think quite a bit could be cut out without altering the story. I felt like it was dragging at times but also it didn’t really go deeper into Axel’s issues. This might have been a 4 star read but the ending is horrible. I’m actually really mad about the ending. Just know it ends on a cliffhanger with no HEA or HFN. If I had known this I probably would not have requested the ALC. I did enjoy the narrators.

Both narrators were excellent—I did need a minute to find the correct speed for me to acclimate to accents. Enjoyed the story and am going to need book two of this duet asap!

I loved this book!
I hated this book!
So happy that I found one that brought out my emotions again!!
Leah and Oliver are sister and brother. In the opening of the book a tragedy takes the lives of their parents, and they are left trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, and put them back together again…
Axel is Oliver’s best friend/brother from another mother. Axel’s family comes thru for Oliver and Leah in their time of grief…. In so many ways…
Oliver, while trying to do the best he can in taking care of Leah, and yet working to make money so they can continue to live the way they were, accepts a job that is FAR AWAY. He asks Axel to take in his sister, 10 years younger than both of them, and watch over her for a year while he goes away to work.
The problem you ask?? Leah has been in love with Axel for as long as she can remember…
This one will really tug at your heart. Made me laugh and also made me cry. So happy for what could be…and what could be lost…
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC of the audiobook which was terrific!
Due on shelves on August 29th…so look for it soon!
Of note: Apparently this is book #1…
4 1/2 stars for me!

This is a story of someone dealing with PTSD after losing their parents —and the process by which the main female comes out of her shell — and her feelings and how she begins to feel things again by seeking comfort from her brothers friend. I listened to the audiobook version — it took me time to get used to the Male voice actor — but I enjoyed the female voice actor from the beginning — she had a lot more emotion and connection to her character in my opinion. I could connect to Leahs` feelings as I also suffer from PTSD — but she is someone who is venerable due to this and Axels` behaviour is in some ways taking advantage of the situation — she also in my option can`t rely on her emotions due to the PTSD. Since I have been in this kind of scenario it was difficult to read — but it does happen this kind of attachment and dependency. This book was written well — The character development in this book was really good. The book was definitely relatable for me. I do commend the author for bringing to the forefront the facts of trauma ( PTSD) and mental health issues— this may help readers understand what others go through. — Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for this ARC , this is my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape and Alice Kellen for the opportunity to listen and review the ARC book.

Leah has lost her parents suddenly and her older brother is all she has left. He accepts a new job that requires him to leave three weeks out of the month. Leah goes to live with Axel, her brothers best friend. He has been her life long crush. A slow burn romance between them starts to burn.

Axel at first sounded like your typical fu** boy. As the book progresses, his true character starts to show. The turmoil he goes through as he realizes his feelings is frustrating hahah. You just want him to love her. He has a lot to risk though if he does fall in love.

Leah has such a sad background. Hearing her work through her trauma makes you get into the feels. She is very relatable. Leah is very naive and her idea of love is unrealistic but she does learn.

I’m excited for the second book to come out and to see how their love story goes.

This book broke my heart. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet I really loved Leah and I can't decide if I like or hate axel. I really love the way that this book was broken up and the narrators overall did a great job. I am excited for the next book in The saga cuz I'm really hoping that this couple story isn't over I don't really like the way this ended but I understand it.

Quick read. I like the characters. It was pretty steamy. I am anxious to read the sequel and see how it ends.

Over all, the writing was good. The storyline was what I couldn't get behind. Axel is kind of a jerk. He forces Leah to do things she doesn't want to do and acts like it's because he knows best. He's ten years older than her and at their ages, while it's legal, it still comes across as predatory. He even mentions in the book how he grew up with her as a little sister and now he's fine to have sex with her? He mentions watching her ride her bike to school and how good she looks. Again, I know she's 19 in this scene, but the way he describes her is gross. I would have liked this story a little more if their age gap wasn't so significant, although that wouldn't have erased the pompous attitude that Axel displayed.

I wanted to like this so badly, as it features some of my favorite tropes: brothers best friend, forced proximity, age gap. Unfortunately I could not connect with the characters at all, and I honestly really didn’t care for the male narrator. He sounded more like a game show host than a narrator 😬

I was expecting this to really make me emotional, grab me from the beginning, as I’ve found most romance duologies do. Unfortunately it’s a DNF at 49%, though I think I tuned out before that. Between the storyline which I found lacking, and the distraction of the narration, I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it.
I did enjoy the trauma & mental health representation, though.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the chance to review.

All That We Never Were🌸
By Alice Kellen⛅️

Review📕


I started this book and was quite sure it would be a great read for me. It had some great moments, and I loved the brother's best friend aspect of it. Unfortunately, there were a lot of things that I just didn’t enjoy. I want to point out that this could have been because of my mood while reading. I feel like this can highly affect your view of a book. I really have to prepare myself to read a book that’s this sad. It was overwhelmingly giving off melancholy vibes. I suspect that if they had cut it down a bit, I would have enjoyed it more. The FMC is depressed due to her parents dying, and the only person who can pull her out of it is the MMC. With the main theme being grief, I found it hard to get through it. It ended on a cliffhanger as well. Overall, disappointing.

Depression☔️
It’s always been you🫶🏻
Brothers best friend👀
Healing after trauma❤️‍🩹

3 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The narrators Bridie Lawrence and Dorje Swallow were both really good. I could listen to Dorje Swallow read a dictionary and enjoy it. The character development in this book was really good. My heart broke when Leah Jones talked about the accident that killed her parents. The relationship between Leah and Axel was fun, as well as frustrating. I enjoyed listening to this book very much. It was hard to even stop listening so I could sleep at night because I wanted to keep going. Also, the cover of this book is just gorgeous!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to this book advance of publication.

This book is predictable but it's a quick easy, and enjoyable read. The characters are relatable and interesting.

Audiobooks can easily be ruined by a bad narrator - The choice of narrators for this one was spot on ... super articulate and in line with the theme of the book.

This book was the first I've read by Alice Kellen and I look forward to reading more.

At 13%, I was prepared to stop reading, but I told myself to keep going because it would get better. Sadly, though, the more I read, the less I enjoyed this book. It was just creepy and gross. Simply put, I didn't enjoy reading it. Officially DNFing at 24%.

Book Releases August 29, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own

The first book in a 2 book series. After a tragic accident Leah is trying to grieve and heal. Leah was driving with her parents and they were in an accident in which both of her parents were killed. Oliver stepped up to take care of his little sister. As Leah's brother is traveling for work Axel steps in to assist in caring and helping Leah through grief. The rest of the book is about Leah finding herself again, and the development of the relationship between Axel and Leah. I think my biggest problem with this setup was the age difference. Axel was 10 years older than Leah. He was also a bit of a party boy, a womanizer, and the relationship that developed between him and Leah felt kind of creepy. I get that technically Leah was at a consenting age, but it still felt weird that he was having sex with someone he’d thought of as a little sister for so long. The book the way it is laid out is a slow burn and I felt I had to work to stay interested. The characters are hard to relate to for me as I can't find a real connection.

Thank you to the author, publisher and author for the opportunity.