This is the second book in a two-part series. While I really loved the characters in the first book, I hated the cliffhanger ending. It seemed like the story just stopped in the middle, with nothing resolved.

In Book 2, we jump three years later. There's been no contact all that time between Leah and Alex. And then suddenly, Alex forces himself back into Leah's life by showing up to her very first art gallery opening. There's no thought about whether or not she might want him there, or what his sudden and unexpected presence might do to her--especially on a night that's supposed to be about here!

It's not until about midway through the book, when he's upended Leah's life and relationship, that he starts to realize that loving someone means considering their needs.

And unfortunately, as much as I felt there was too much sex overshadowing the development of their relationship in Book 1, it's even moreso in Book 2. Their physical need for each other seems to be the basis of their entire relationship, which doesn't make for a very satisfactory romance for me.

I'm glad to have been able to read the conclusion of their story, but don't feel very satisfied by it.

Thank you to Alice Kellen, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

All That We Are Together was a semi-challenging read. The second in the series, Leah seems to be finally moving on from Axel. She has a healthy relationship, having success in college, and making her first break into the art world. Untillll Axel shows back up.

I understand this is supposed to be a second chance romance and the culmination of years of love and longing, but Axel seems to pop up and force his way in just as Leah is getting her life together. I struggled with his attitude toward Leah's pain. I didn't like how he didn't seem to really respect Leah's relationship with Landon. He immediately starts physical contact with her and calling her babe. It was just frustrating and it didn't seem like he allowed her to really distance and decide she wanted him.

The Paris plot line when Leah lives alone seemed rushed. Her character development to an independent woman was unfulfilled.

It just wasn't my favorite. But the narration was great! I loved the accents and the dual POV. I did think some of the chapters were just too short and the POV bounced back and forth a little too fast at times.

*Thank you to Dreamscape Media, NetGalley, and Alice Kellen for the audiobook. I am always glad to leave my honest opinion!*

I was thrilled to read part two! The time jump seemed to make the age difference feel a bit less ick. From the first interaction, this obviously meant to be romance was in the cards. I really loved how art was such a central part of the story. Where book one left me wanting more, this book left me satisfied. So glad to have read the conclusion to this entertaining story.

I was cheering this book on from the beginning, but all in all, it was just anti-climactic for me. I do have to say I loved the Australian accents in the narration, and enjoyed several of the small details like The Beatles references (“Let it Be” series name) and all the artistic elements. The story between Leah and Axel and their reunion after 3 years apart was slow to reemerge and, at times, their conversations and relationship was immature… especially because Axel was supposed to be quite a bit older than Leah.

I did not read the first in this series either and perhaps there was a lot of the backstory I just missed, but I would have like more context and more immersion into the characters, just needed MORE to the story for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t realize this was a series and didn’t read the first. This may have influenced my opinion as my perspective may have been different knowing the cast better. Three years after Axel broke Leah’s heart she is trying still trying to find her footing to move forward. The only time she feels whole and like herself is when she is painting. When Axel creeps into her life, he does it under the guise of helping her professionally. He does so by going behind her back and contacting her school to offer his services of representation. Being a pleaser of sort and not wanting to share why she doesn’t want to work with him, she opts in so please her school community and its members. In a nutshell, it is good for everyone, except for her. When she sets boundaries, Axel waltzes right across them with zero concern about her. He worms her way back in, then when she tries to do anything for himself he loses his mind. They are both immature, but they are young and can learn and grow. What I found so disturbing was his level of misogyny, narcissism constant emotionally abusive behavior. I found it difficult really commit to the story as I didn’t either of the MC’s terribly likable so wasn't terribly invested in what happened to them. Just wasn’t for me.

Unfortunately, All That We Are Together just didn’t work for me. I had high hopes after enjoying the first book in the Let It Be series. I loved that the author kept the dual POV and short chapters from the first book, but sadly, the rest fell flat.

Despite Axel being the older character in the age gap relationship, he is a coward and the character that has more growing up to do. After three years apart, Axel abruptly decides he needs Leah back in his life and is determined to make that happen. It felt like he took advantage of her artistic career taking off, somewhat forcing himself into the role of her agent and convincing her to take a grant opportunity across the world, where the two of them would share an apartment.

I hate that Axel didn’t respect Leah or the boundaries she set and instead badgered her until she caved just to shut him up. This continues to the point where it felt like sexual harassment. Everything she said he had a sexual comeback to. In the first book of the series, some of Axel’s actions bothered me, but there were enough sweet things that he did that it didn’t entirely detract from his character. In book two, he was a complete ass and just made me cringe.

I did love both settings described in the book (Australia and Paris), so that helped bring up my rating ever so slightly.

I enjoyed that the same narrators continued from book 1. Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, for the ALC.

Overall: 4.75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5
Spice : 2.5 🌶️🌶️/ 5
Characters: 4 💙💙💙💙/5
Audio Quality: 5 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧/5
Narrators: 5 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️/5
Genre: Contemporary Romance📕
Tropes: New Adult, Second Chance, Age Gap, Artists, Brother’s Best Friend, Close Proximity 📘
CW: Parental Death (off screen)⚠️

Thoughts: 💡
This was an interesting story. I liked that both characters went through various phases of finding themselves and adapting to one another. There was a deep well of hurt for Leah to process and Axel to learn to navigate around and eventually face, and both characters had to deal with the way it richoted and lingered in different aspects of their lives. I also enjoyed the various side characters and the relationships that the MCs had with them.

Writing Mechanics: ✍️
The book’s plot seemed to meander because the author wanted the characters to go through various changes. I am impressed though with how well the story translated because this wasn’t initially written for an English speaking audience or set in an American setting. (I loved that it was set in Australia.) All the characters had a modicum of depth, but I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of them and there were a few that seemed more like plot devices than actual people.
The story is dual POV, first person, present tense.

Narrators & Sound:
I enjoyed the Australian accents that both narrators used, it seemed very natural to my fully American untrained ear. They both had wonderful and empassioned performances that felt true to character throughout the entire story. The audio quality was great though the whole thing and the decible level remained steady and story pace always felt appropriate.

Fun Bits:
⚜️ Second Chance
⚜️ She Hates Him
⚜️ Close Proximity
⚜️ Brother’s Best Friend
⚜️ Age Gap

Important Note:✨
This is book 2 in the duology

Before the first book in the series has it's English translation debut I was gifted ARCs for the duology from Sourcebooks Casablanca. I had requested the first book in audio because I struggled with it and I found the same struggle with All That We Are Together.

My rating for the audiobook is a 5/5. I thought the narrators did a stellar job with their accents, inflection and emotions.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the gifted ALC.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
(I didn’t realize this was book 2 when I requested this ALC)
All That We Are Together is the sequel to All That We Never Were which…I’m gonna be honest I HATED the first book.
In this book the FMC, Leah, is in college and dating someone her own age. She is still painting and her work gets into a gallery show. The MMC, Axel, finds out about this and uses it as a reason to weasel back into her life. He becomes her agent and they fall back in love.
Thankfully the sequel was better than the first, but I still didn’t like it. A lot of what I didn’t like about the first book is still present in this one: extremely short chapters that made this book read choppy and disjointed. Like seriously why are there 130 chapters and less than 500 pages? Also the MMC is still pushy and still exploiting his position of power over the FMC and disregarding her clearly stated boundaries. It’s also bizarre that suddenly everyone who was (rightfully) horrified and angry about their relationship in book 1 is now rooting for them to get back together?? What the heck??? Her brother who physically attacked the MMC in the first book when he found out they were together is now angry at him for breaking up with her when he demanded it?? I am so confused?? It’s also bizarre to listen to Axel talk about her and how he loves her because it’s always surrounding having sex with her. The attraction between the two of them is ALWAYS just physical or “we’ve been family for so long!”.
The longer the book went on, the less and less I enjoyed it. They kept referencing the age gap and it was truly icky. He remembers a time when she was a toddler and he was holding her, ignoring teenage girls in bikinis because he had everything he needed. I beg your absolute pardon?
“Why do you have to know me so well?!”
“Because I was there when you were born!”
😐😐😐 am I supposed to be rooting for this?? Who is actually reading this and finding it romantic or sexy??
By the end of this book I was so tired of him sexualizing her every single time we got his POV. “I want to cum on you and in you”. Is that supposed to be a declaration of love? (Update: he says this AGAIN?? Once wasn’t painful enough for us, buddy?) He is constantly saying increasingly inappropriate things to her and I am just…grossed out.
Literally the first time she even THINKS about doing anything for herself he spins out and makes it a huge deal and accuses her of not knowing what she wants?? He is supposed to be her agent and should be thrilled for her?? Axel is a walking red flag and Leah’s favorite color is red apparently.
1.5⭐️ and I’m certain my face got a workout from all the grimacing and cringing I did while listening.

Beautifully written emotional and heartwarming love story. Positives of the story are the characters that are massively likable and easily identifiable. I loved the continuation of Axel and Leah's story. I loved the first book, and this was a perfect sequel. Both characters have matured, and their connection deepened. It's also about finding one's true happiness and finding freedom. Narrated beautifully by both the narrators. loved it. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the audio copy.

🌸𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐈𝐭 𝐁𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧🌸
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬
𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 (𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 #𝟐)
𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑃𝑢𝑏 𝐷𝑎𝑦!


I loved the first book in this duology - in fact, it ripped my heart out. I couldn't wait to see what would become of Leah and Axel. I enjoyed this conclusion - maybe not quite as much as the first book, but it was a satisfying ending.

Three years have passed - and Leah has moved on from a shattered heart, kind of. She’s with Landon, but she can’t commit to a relationship. When Oliver extends Axel an olive branch, reaching out and telling him what Leah is up to, Axel can’t resist seeing her, seeing her art exhibit. Can these two be just friends after all they have been through? Can Leah ever forgive Axel for shattering her heart, or will she do the same to him?

🧔🏻‍♂️Brother’s Best Friend / Forbidden Love
🔟 Age Gap
🎨 Art & Music Infused
🌶️ Steamy
🌏 Aussie / Paris settings

Thank you #partner @sourcebookcasa for a gifted book and thank you @dreamscape_media for the fantastic audiobook.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were fine. I had the same issues with this book as I did the first- the main characters are the worst. The dialogue is difficult to get through because they are both so insufferable. I’m sure this will be a favorite for some but this was not the book for me. .

I finished this audiobook in a day. I couldn't put it down.

It has been three years since seeing Axel. Three years since Axel broke Leah's heart. Leah has done everything she can to move on, in both her art and with a new boy named Landon. When Leah lands an exhibition for her art. she comes face to face with Axel once again. When Axel offers to be her agent, she hesitantly accepts. When a work trip to Paris arises, it throws them together to look back on their relationship and gives them the push they both need to start a future. Can everything between them work out, or will their past hinder them from being together?

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook All That We Are Together by Alice Kellen.

This is the second book in the Let It Be series and a continuation of Axel and Leah’s story. After 3 years, you get to see where Leah has been and what growth (and non-growth) she has done which was very interesting. This story showed how unfinished business can stunt your personal growth which is demonstrated in both Axel and Leah.

This book, so pleasantly surprised at how fast I got lost in this! I will be very honest in saying that I did not overly love the 1st book of this series. My expectations for this one were not high.
It took no time at all to be completely consumed by this listen. The re-kindling of this relationship was properly executed, and the flow of this was at a perfect pace. Keller dove right in with this one, which was a hope of mine - it grabbed my attention immediately, and consumed me until it was over.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio for the honor to listen to this audio version of the ARC. This was remarkable!

All That We Are Together by Alice Kellen
Narrated by Bridie Lawrence & Dorje Swallow
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

Book 2 of Let It Be (Book 1 is All That We Never Were)

We are thrown back into the world of Leah & Axel about 3 years after the first book ends. Whew, these 2 need some therapy!!! There are some really beautiful sentiments in this book and it was one thing I enjoyed. However, it was weird to me that Axel or Leah thought these things yet they were so immature towards each other. It was a lot of circling through the same arguments and fears. I mostly enjoyed it but it did feel a bit drawn out. The narrators returned and that was nice. They’re great!

Leah and Axel will meet again after 3 years. Art, clear blue skies, waves, The Beatles and their past love story bring them together in this second part of the bilogy.

As in the previous one, it is also narrated from two POVs alternating between Leah and Axel and divided into seasons.

There is passion in this novel, and their encounters are descriptive. The thing that I like least about the male character was the explicit language used, sometimes it was sounding more lust than love, but I guess this is more common in New Adult Romance novels.

In the previous book, I found the characters full of virtues but as well a lot of things to work on, and I liked the characters' development through the book, and the ending fulfilled my expectations.

I read the first book in Spanish, and now I listened to the audiobook in English narrated by Bridie Lawrence and Dorge Swallow, and I enjoyed the narrators' voices with the Australian accent.

This time, I paid more attention to the book covers, I understood more the meaning, and I loved them.

Thank you, Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook.
Pub Date: January 23rd, 2024

All That We Are Together is the second book of two in the Let It Be series. Axel Nguyen is back in Leah Jones' life after a breakup three years ago. Their unconventional relationship has had its ups and downs. Leah is now a budding artist and is in college with a new relationship even though she hasn't put a label on it yet. Axel manages to weasel his way back into her life. Then we are in a will they or won't they situation.

The sex scenes are a little graphic and borderline raunchy sometimes. I didn't like Axel. He seemed to be taking advantage of a vulnerable woman that he should have been taking care of. To be fair I didn't read the first book.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

I was so happy to see this book available since the first book finished on a cliffhanger and I hate what I feel are unfinished endings. Much like the first book there were times where I felt it could have been shortened and still had the same impact but I enjoyed the book overall. In the first book I felt the characters were likable but there was just something missing that made them feel relatable to me, I was hoping the second book would change that, but I still feel like there was depth lacking for the FMC and MMC. I feel with the highly emotional subject matter, I want to feel emotional but I just didn’t. I do think the plot is well thought out and loved the artistic and musical elements that are sprinkled in both books. I do know readers that would enjoy this series and will happily recommend it for those wanting the romance but not overly emotional weight.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Alice Kellen, the narrator and the publisher for the opportunity to experience this audiobook prior to its release.

The first book in this series was not a favorite of mine due to my personal issues surrounding the relationship between a vulnerable young woman and the person entrusted with her care. I think the author did a good job bringing the story full circle in the second book. I still have reservations about the relationship between Axel and Leah, but appreciated the growth journey for them as individuals and as a couple.

While this book was not really for me, I believe others will find the sweeping love story to be emotionally engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for my unbiased review.