Beautiful Exile by Catherine Cowles | Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Beautiful Exile (Sparrow Falls Book 4) by Catherine Cowles

Narrated by Sebastian York and Samantha Brentmoor

4th in a series of Connected Standalones. Romantic Suspense.

My thanks to Catherine and her team for providing an advance copy for review purposes. Ana’s Attic accepts no compensation for reviews, and all reviews contain my honest opinion. This post does contain affiliate links.

“I wish I could erase all the darkness that has ever touched you.”
“You don’t have to. You just have to be with me in it.”

I have been obsessed with Catherine Cowles’s books for years. Every time, I tell myself this one won’t live up to the others and I will finally guess the bad guy. Every time, I am wrong. But for Beautiful Exile I knew I would love it.

I do not usually remember side characters, but Arden has been in every book in the Sparrow Falls series. The reclusive artist was always skittish and standoffish, and I have been dying for her story.

The Colson family is at the heart of this series. They are a mix of blood, adoption, and foster kids where it does not matter how you joined. Once you are in, you are in. And I love the Colsons. From their chaotic group chat with its ever-changing name, to Nora, who is honestly the most amazing woman to ever live, to Lolli, the pot-smoking, horny, no-filter grandma, they are my favorite found family.

Arden heard the man who killed her parents, his voice is etched in her mind. The Colsons took in Arden after she left witness protection, but she never really stopped running, always looking over her shoulder and suspicious of everyone. Now she lives in her foster brother Cope’s guesthouse with her highly trained guard dog. So when a handsome stranger interrupts her workout, she almost unalives him, earning her new nickname, Vicious.

Linc owns Cope’s hockey team, and the two have become best friends. He fell in love with Sparrow Falls during visits and decided to look at properties, crashing at Cope’s house while Cope is in Seattle. He had heard about Arden, but he did not meet her until she nearly killed him. From that moment, Linc was gone for her.

Arden does not let people in, but Linc slipped past her defenses. Sharing the same property meant running into each other constantly, and even if they could avoid it, Linc was a man obsessed. He fell hard and fast, taking every opportunity to get close to her.

“Why do you have to see so much?”
“I pay attention to the things that are important. And you’re important.”

I absolutely loved how patient and understanding Linc was. He never pushed too hard and gave Arden the space to warm up to him. But when danger came knocking, we saw just how tough and protective he could be.

“Who. Hurt. You.”

As for the suspense, while part of the twist crossed my mind, I never saw the real twist coming. In the 20-plus Catherine Cowles books I have read, I think I have guessed the villain only once.

“I’m not scared of the dark. Not anymore. Because you gave me the light.”

Likes:

The Colson family, especially their group texts.
I have always loved Nora, but she reached legendary status in Beautiful Exile.
Lolli. She provides all the comedic relief we need. As a pervy stoner myself, I hope I am just like her in 20 years.
Seeing all the previous characters.
The suspense and the twist.
The scene between Arden and Nora 😭
The bonus scene.
I still did not guess the baddy.

Dislikes:

There was a bit of predictability, just from knowing Catherine’s style so well.
I wish we got to know Linc a little better. This was very much Arden’s story.

The Narration:

Samantha Brentmoor and Sebastian York are two of my absolute favorites, and they were fantastic together. Because there was so much of Brentmoor doing male dialogue in her chapters, the only thing that would have made this better was if it had been duet narration. I really hope Catherine tries that in her next series.

The Down & Dirty:

Catherine Cowles never disappoints. I have been waiting almost a year for Arden’s story and was teased through three books. Now I can confidently say the wait was worth it. I loved Arden and Linc’s romance and watching her grow and blossom with him. The suspense had me on edge, and the twist blindsided me. Another phenomenal addition to the Sparrow Falls series.

I cannot wait for Chasing Shelter in July!