Beautiful Mess Audiobook By A. James cover art

Beautiful Mess

Blossom Beach Series, Book 2

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Beautiful Mess

By: A. James
Narrated by: CJ Bloom, Alex Kydd
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

I’m pretty in pink dipped in sunshine and sweet Southern smiles.

He’s blue collar wrapped up in a gruff summer storm with a scowl.

He also happens to be my ex-boyfriend’s dad.

Not only is Conway Levine grumpy, arrogant, and entirely too handsome for his own good, with the salt and pepper scruff lining his sharp jawline and his thick, corded arms, but he also had a front row seat fourteen years ago to a drunken night so mortifying I can’t look him in the eye without feeling the shame all over again.

Living in a small town makes avoiding him impossible, even more when you add in the fact that his daughter is friends with mine.

When a little tardiness and a whole lot of bad luck lands me partnering with him at our children’s school, I’m certain I won’t survive. Before I know it, the dread from having to work with him turns into a burning desire impossible to ignore when his once stone cold demeanor shifts into longing, heated stares, and somehow, he knows all the right things to whisper in my ear to get under my skin…and my dress.

Between his filthy mouth and stifling need to devour me any chance he gets, the chemistry we share between the sheets quickly becomes something out of my wildest dreams.

Except Conway doesn’t do relationships, and I’m not built for casual. But I couldn’t quit him even if I tried.

When all is said and done, will I be able to protect my already tattered heart or will it end up shattered into a million beautiful, messy pieces?

©2025 Ashley James (P)2025 Ashley James
Contemporary Heartfelt
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
This one was really hard to get into for me, honestly . . . That’s why it took me a while to finish it. To be honest, the whole “idea” felt a little bit creepy to me & I didn’t really LOVE the coupling of these 2 leads. First, I DID know what I was “getting into” before reading it, so the whole “ex-boyfriend’s dad” thing DIDN’T catch me completely off guard. HOWEVER, I didn’t quite like HOW it was all “executed” in this one, if that makes sense. Second, this is NOT my 1st “ex-boyfriend’s dad” trope; I read one other romance novel with this “trope”, BUT, I felt, that in that one, it was “handled” WAY better to feel a lot less “creepy”, I think . . . First, in THAT one, the “dad” had NO idea that woman was his son’s ex- before the 1st “meeting” (the woman & his son didn’t date as long) & the woman was older when they first met. So, unlike in this one, it didn’t feel as weird or creepy, I think. Whereas in this one, the main thing that kinda “creeped me out” was that Grace (the woman & the FMC) dated Conway’s (the “dad” & MMC) son for 5 YEARS & they started dating when she was 15!! So, I’m like, “Wait . . . Is she (the author) suggesting that Conway found Grace attractive at age 15?!?! Because that’s just DISGUSTING!!” Also, I found the reason was Grace “hated” Conway totally immature for her age, age 34 . . . It’s like, “Is she seriously STILL mad at Conway because he turned (rightfully, might I add) her down when he found her dunk at a bar at age 20?!?” I was like, “Woman, he did the RIGHT THING here!! C’mon, you, yourself, have a daughter now!! Imagine if this was YOUR daughter & an older guy did the RIGHT THING by taking her home & NOT taking “advantage” of her!!” I would be saying, “Thank you” to the guy, NOT hating him well into adulthood for that!! I mean, I understand that Grace was embarrassed by that at age 20, BUT, again, she’s 34 RIGHT NOW!! 😒 Also, the whole “baby girl” & “Daddy” nicknames felt creepy to me, too, especially given their age difference & given the fact that, you know, Conway, IS her ex-‘s dad & not the “daddy” of her OWN kids . . . !! Just say their names, for God’s shake!! Also, Conway’s son (the ex- in question) had NO reason to be such an a**!! Oh, and, the guy that voiced Conway in the audiobook just sounded like he was a heavy smoker or just had a sore throat the entire time, to me. I know it sounds mean to say that & I know it was supposed to be “s3Xy” or whatever, but to me, it just sounded like he had a cold the entire time he was “reading”. Also, there was “public play” at a school event AGAIN (this was there in this author 1st book in this series, too)!! Oh, and, I also felt that the final chapter/epilogue thing didn’t really “add” too much to the story, either—except maybe as “proof” that Conway & Grace as still together “6 months later” (OBVIOUS 🙄 . . . This is a romance novel with an HEA, after all . . . ) . . . All in all, sadly, I don’t think this author’s “style” is really for me . . . I gave her a chance (I read the 1st 2 books in this series) & I don’t think I’ll be reading/listening to anymore from her . . . Just is a little “too much” for me . . . 🥺

Didn’t Really Like The Premise . . .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.