🎧ALC REVIEW🎧
📚A Beginner's Guide to Forever by Kendall Ryan
🎤Vanessa Edwin

SOLO NARRATION

Alessia's dream of building a school for girls in Nairboi is a huge undertaking. When the Winthrop family agrees to make a large donation towards her project, she meets Hart, the son of the benefactor's donation but this isn't the first time she's met him. They met earlier in Florence, Italy & a spark was started then.

When Hart realizes who she is, he makes his intentions very clear & direct. He'd like to pursue something. Alessia is so hesitant & doesn't really have faith in a future with him. One of her biggest fears...their age gap. She's 37 & he's 26. Even though Hart sweeps her off her feet, is everything she's ever hoped for in a partner, she has a hard time looking past what she considers road blocks. She's only ever wanted to have a family & kids & she doesn't even consider the possibility that Hart may want these things too. She refuses to date another, "Someday, maybe" person like her last relationship.

This is quite a different book for Ryan & I found it refreshing & interesting. I LOVED the reverse age-gap. We don't see it enough in romance. Ryan handles it very maturely & it was believable to think that this would be Alessia's thinking. This is a story about two people who are in different stages in their life but finally realize that they have common goals in what they want out of life.

There's a real balance between Alessia's struggle with her heart & her desire to accomplish something great with her school in Nairobi. Although, I had a few issues with the pacing of the book in certain parts, I honestly LOVED the idea behind this story, a slightly older FMC having dreams of being successful not only in her work but wanting a family as well.

This book is really about finding love WHEN & WHERE you least expect it. The "perfect person" in our mind doesn't always match who "our person" truly is. Let yourself love outside of the box if needed. Our preconceived notions about love & age just honestly don't matter. Love is love and that's what really matters in a relationship.

🎧Let's talk narration: Honestly one of the reasons this audio was so easy to listen to was the incredible talent from Vanessa Edwin. She never ceases to amaze me with her captivating voices, emotional performances & her sweet, light & airy tones are seriously so easy to listen to. She did such a great job at voicing Alessia along with several other female & male characters alike. Showing off a beautiful French accent as well. We get to hear Alessia's vulnerability, fears & true joy she finds when she realizes she's found the one. She's just such a favorite of mine & it's NEVER hard to have her in my ears.

This book is definitely one for someone who is looking for more mature MC's & some substance to the story & relationship.

Thank you so much Kendall Ryan, Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for a copy of the #gifted ALC. All thoughts are my own.

I was super excited to read this because I have read and enjoyed Kendall Ryan's books in the past, and i LOVE Vanessa Edwin's work. Sadly, I quickly felt so bored with these characters. I get that they were doing good work, but I just didn't seem to care about them, the side characters, or anything about what they were doing and I feel so bad about that! I had to force myself to finish it an overall was just happy it was over. It's entirely possible I was just not the target audience for this, I just wasn't a fan of the emphasis on Alessia's age and how even though she's SO OLDDD, some young rich guy can still like her.

Great! I have never read anything by this author and plan to search her books and read more. I loved the two main characters and I not once wanted to put the book down.

Received the audiobook via Netgalley and Brilliance Publishing for my Honest Review and I will be as honest as I can be! Vanessa Edwin the Narrator for both characters did a great Job! Even as the Male voice, she was great! I Loved the Story of a Younger Billionaire with an Age Gap! Yes, it took many things to finally get the ball rolling, but it finally happened! I am just Glad that in this Fictional RomCom Alessia and Hart became quick Favorites, the cousin not so Much! 😏😒

2.5 ⭐️ rounded down

I really enjoyed the underlying story of what our FMC was trying to do. I loved what her cause was and what she was working for. I loved the school and just everything that revolved around that in terms of the plot.

I felt like these MCs had literally 0 chemistry. I didn’t even care about their romance throughout and almost wished this was a fiction book and the story focused more on the school and those points of the story.

The MMC annoyed me more than anything but i do believe it has to do with the fact that he didn’t have much depth.

I really liked the narration. I do believe i would have probably DNFed this if i was reading the physical or digital. I found myself bored and disinterested in a good portion of the story, and when we got more crumbs about the school and what our FMC was working toward it was always cut short imo.

I think I would potentially still say go ahead and read it to my audience. If you’re wanted a super low maintenance story and don’t care about the romance, but it would be audio or nothing.

I think this is definitely a book for a lot of people but at the end of the day it just didn’t work for me.

Solo narration isn’t always my go-to, but when a narrator of Vanessa’s calibre is narrating, you know it’s going to be good. Couple that with a story written by the fabulous Ryan, and you are in for a treat!

This is an age-gap romance with the FMC twelve years older than the MMC. I could totally relate to Alessia’s insecurities, but Hart is relentless in his pursuit of her. I thought the storyline and settings were interesting. They travelled between America and Nairobi and London! The backdrop of a non-profit working to build a school for girls in Africa was something I’ve never read before. Ryan can do no wrong when it comes to weaving a compelling love story between complex characters. She totally hit the mark with this one.

Vanessa smashed this solo narration. This was a masterclass in accent work. She easily flipped between male and female characters with accents from many countries and regions. It was all seamless and total perfection!

If you enjoy interesting stories, characters with depth, and narration that will hook you from the first to last word, this is the audiobook for you.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

I wasnt sure if i would like this, but i thought it was really cute. It was a quick easy read, and even though you know where its going, its a nice palate cleanse or cozy read.

I really love the FMC, she is smart, and just feeling pressure from the normal "timeline" of people. She felt very human, and was easy to resonate with.

There were a few loose ends, like the obnoxious cousin, etc. I wish we had gotten a little more of that interaction or understanding of why he was being the way he was, maybe even a resolution between him and Hart, but it wasnt super necessary.

I really liked this. It was the perfect length. I’m not a fan of a double third act breakup but LOVE an age gap where the woman is older! Hart is so charming. And Alessia stands in her own way constantly but it was a feel good, relatable read

Who doesn't like a age gap story. I know I do. You don't come across a older FMC and younger MMC very often. My main complaint of the book is Hart tried his best after fate brought them back together for his family to invest money into the charity Alessia had started to raise money for building a school for underprivileged towns in Africa but Alessia only cared about there ages and it started to get annoying but I overlooked it most of the times. The age gap started to overlook some of the best parts of the book that it should not have been mentioned during those times. The book overall was okay but I did love the narrator . The story was 3 star but the narration bumps it to a 4 star for me.

So Alessia is a 37 year old non-profit director who gets involved with the 25 year old son of a billionaire donor. I appreciated the story since I am a few years older than Jose and it was nice to read about an age difference romance in that way. I also loved how many places they traveled to. However it gets 4 stars for two reasons. One, Alessia was waaaaay too hung up on the age difference. Like would not shut up about it. Girl, the dude likes you, just go with it. Second reason for the star reduction is TRIGGER WARNING a dog death. It doesn’t spoil the plot and lowkey isn’t even necessary to the plot so I’ll explain. Basically the first time we hear about the dog is when Alessia’s ex calls to tell her their dog isn’t well. So when she’s back home, it’s time, and they have to take the dog to the vet to cross the rainbow bridge. And then she says goodbye to her ex for the final time since they no longer have anything shared. It felt like an unnecessary let’s make the readers cry thing. Also I feel like the book has some Christian undertones which I’m not a fan of.

I have been a longtime fan of Ms. Ryan, and I looked forward to the release of this new book but in the end, I thought it was an okay read.

In this new book Alessia is getting over a breakup when she first meets a stranger named Hart. She later meets him again professionally when he and his family come to the nonprofit that she works for looking to learn more about their latest project before donating to it. The pair at first keep running into each other where Hart wants to pursue more - the stumbling block with this is Alessia and her not being able to get over being older than Hart. This is also the issue that she repeatedly has throughout the book.

This book is told from Alessia's POV and I would have liked to have at least a little of Hart's POV too. I feel that the age issue was only Alessia's and the only thing that she could hold onto being a problem that also deflected from the story. I also did not understand the storyline with Hart's cousin. I thought that could have been skipped.

Overall, this turned out to be just an okay read for me. I would have liked to have liked it more but I could not.

A Beginner's Guide to Forever by Kendall Ryan is a delightful slow burn, age gap romance.
I really enjoyed these characters, fun story and swoony romance! I was so excited when I got an advanced readers copy. This book was so much fun to read. I didn't want to put it down.

Thank You NetGalley and Brilliance Audio for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This was a really interesting and fun, jet setting book. The narrator was perfect.
A young woman that is traveling all over the world raising money for a girls school in another country. She meets a man in his 20's and they connect like they never have with anyone else. She feels she is too old for him but despite friends and his cousin voicing their opinions he just doesn't see it. I would have loved to not have to hear that she is too old for him over and over but I guess that was part of the story and how she felt. I smiled huge when her school opens and there is a surprise guest and loved the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook arc.

Alessia meets Ryan in Italy, has a quick fling and moves on - after all, she has important things to accomplish - like building schools for girls in underprivileged countries. Until she meets him again because he is a billionaire and she needs donations for her non-profit.

What I didn’t love: I felt a battle between a romance novel versus a geographic educational non fiction. There were a lot of plots that weren’t the main plot. Additional things for the FMC to feel guilty about. A sick dog, a bestie having a baby shower, etc.

The narration by Vanessa Edwin was enjoyable, I love the clarity of her voice and how she portrays emotion (and her male voice is great).

I truly wanted to like this age gap with an older established woman, dedicated to philanthropy, set to the backdrop of international destinations but the characters really fell flat. I dis not believe their supposed explosive, undeniable chemistry and that they would fly thousands of miles to see each other over months before ever even having sex. At times the story seemed to be veering into Christian women's fiction, every timw she prayed god points her to this younger man. I just couldn't finish it

Read if you like:
✨ age-gap romance (older woman / younger man)
✨ closed-door sexy times
✨ idealistic, driven heroines
✨ a slow and quiet pace
✨ stories with global settings—but not necessarily global immersion

📚 A Beginner’s Guide to Forever is one of those books that sounds fantastic on paper: a mature woman building schools for girls across the world, a younger man who challenges her emotionally, and a journey through glamorous and meaningful international locations. The setup had so much promise—but sadly, the execution left me feeling disconnected and underwhelmed.

👨‍👧 Alessia’s career, purpose, and internal growth stem from a place of authenticity, and I truly appreciated the author’s note at the end. The intention to write a story where women—at any age—can see themselves doing meaningful work is powerful and valuable.

💞 Unfortunately, the romance didn’t land with the same depth. Hart, the 25-year-old billionaire’s son, never evolved beyond a flat archetype. He was charming, yes, but one-dimensional, and his dynamic with Alessia lacked emotional tension or growth, making it difficult to buy into the HEA.

✈️ Another major letdown was the “globe-trotting” promise. While the story technically visits international cities, it never feels like it does. For example, the book opens in Florence, but instead of evoking the city’s stunning landmarks and atmosphere, we’re given vague mentions of “a piazza” and “a gothic church.” A rooftop hotel scene could’ve taken place anywhere. Oddly, hotel interiors were described in more detail than the cities themselves. If you’re hoping for a lush, immersive travel experience, this one may disappoint.

👧 Narratively, the tone felt uneven. At times it leaned into spiritual self-help territory, other times romantic drama, and then occasionally veered into closed-door romance—but it never fully committed to any one tone. And while Alessia is the one portrayed as needing emotional growth, it’s really Hart who needed far more development and maturity for the romance to feel believable.

🎧 Vanessa Edwin’s narration was mostly strong and engaging—though her attempt at an English/Italian accent was distracting and took me out of the story.

🌟 Final thoughts? I wanted to love this. The message is meaningful, and Alessia deserved a beautiful, nuanced story. But instead of feeling like an empowering, immersive journey, it felt surface-level and tonally mismatched. A lovely concept, with flashes of depth—but the execution just didn’t deliver.

Alessia has a dream of building a school for girls in Nairobi. When the Winthrop family makes a sizable donation towards her project, she meets Hart, the son of her benefactor's donation. When sparks fly between the two and Hart makes his intentions of getting to know her clear, Alessia is thrown. Hart is twelve years younger than her but she feels happy with him. This was a quick and satisfying read. I adored the storyline and the epilogue and felt this was the exact kind of book I needed in between all the thrillers I have been reading of late. I was lucky enough to listen to the audiobook while I read my ebook and loved the immersive reading experience.

I love with authors take risks, and it’s clear to me here that Kendall Ryan is both pushing herself creatively, writing outside of her usual romance framework, and given some of the personal notes in the book, writing something that feels personal and meaningful to her. That, I super respect. And there’s a lot to like in A Beginner’s Guide to Forever, which is a more grounded, emotionally mature story from here that explores aging, love, and finding your purpose, all while exploring the world. Set against the backdrop of international nonprofit work, this book certainly has ambitious aims. Some of which it achieves, and others didn’t quite land with me.

Alessia Moore, a 37-year-old nonprofit leader building schools for girls in Nairobi, meets 25-year-old Hart Winthrop, heir to a fortune that could potentially save her mission’s work. Their age gap is pretty (and at times unnecessarily) central to the story, but there’s also the dynamic of two people from very different lifestyles and stages navigating a connection that’s as complicated as it is genuine.

So what works? The global settings in this are really enjoyable, and I really appreciated the research and information Kendall brings to the story. The settings are vivid and purposeful, grounding the story with authenticity and an important part of the characters’ emotional exploration as they explore (and seek to impact) the world around them. And that also amplifies the stakes when it comes to Alessia’s work. Her dynamic with Hart isn’t just about romance, but there are also implications for the important work she leads. So the plot examines real-world challenges while also staying true to it’s romantic core.

Where the book falters for me are some themes explored with Allessia and some of the pacing. Ultimately, so much of Alessia’s arc amplifies a tired cliche that I loathe when it comes to reverse age gap stories- that where an older woman (who here is actually younger than me LOL) who feels like her life is a ticking bomb and everything is passing her by. The age gap is overemphasized, to the point of distraction, and it makes Alessia feel more a cliche of women aging than the empowering exploration I think Kendall is going for here. The pacing also lags a big in the second half, conflicts are resolved too conveniently, and some promising subplots fade into the background. Hart is a sweet and emotionally available love interest. While he shows maturity beyond his years in how charming and considerate he is with Alessia, occasional moments remind you of the generational divide. He feels truly sincere and I enjoyed their chemistry, though the romance sometimes feels rushed and lacks the slow-burn payoff I was hoping for…and again I think might have been the reduction of the tension sole to their different ages. I also found the spiritual element a bit unexpected too.

The audio is expertly performed- and I think it enhanced the story for me. Vanessa Edwin brings a lot energy and emotion and range to the performance, and kept the story engaging and authentic. Great performance overall.

Ultimately, A Beginner’s Guide to Forever is a thoughtful, ambitious romance that aims high thematically, a reach as broad as it’s global travel. Despite some uneven pacing and some characterization of Alessia, I did enjoy the romance and some of the broader themes, and I always appreciate an author’s intention to empower, even if for this it wasn’t quite that for me.

ALC from NetGallery 3 ⭐️’s

This is the second book I’ve read from this author. I will say that the production and the narration was good. The story line was very lacking for me. This story has some very good Tropes: Age Gap, Forbidden Love, Billionaire Romance. Those alone could make an awesome story. The authors note at the end explaining why she wrote this was book was good but it just missed the mark.

We met Alessia Moore & Hart Winthrop. She’s older philanthropist who is working to make the world a better place across the world. While there she needs Hart who’s a twenty something guy who’s a Billionaire whose family company donates to her charity. They are attracted to each other and through the book we were supposed to watch their love story develop. There wasn’t much development. Alessia kept harping on the age gap which got old very old to me.

This story was so refreshing and sweet and I really enjoyed it. I've read age gap before but it was always the mmc, whereas this one is the fmc. Alessia and Hart's relationship had the perfect buildup and an even better ending. I will definitely be looking for more from Kendall Ryan!