Cruz & Mara

Mara & Cruz are two college students dealing with all the normal college problems and more. Both have deep ingrained battles with past events that still touch their lives.
This book shines a huge light onto the stresses of invisible disabilities and mental health and how they affect not only the sufferer but all those immediately around them. It was deep and emotional but also somewhat overwhelming with so many secondary characters to keep track of.
Connor Crais and Desiree Ketchum narrate Cruz and Mara, doing a brilliant job capturing their individual personality traits.

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Great story, excellent narration

I read the kindle version of this previously and loved it so much I decided to give the audio a go and was really glad I did.

Mara first appeared in a previous Tijan book, as the ex, but here she gets her own story. We find out why she’s so closed off, and what it takes to get her to open up. Cruz is the hot shot hockey star, who has his own demons and together they just work. Cruz is a wonderful book boyfriend and Mara is a great female lead.

There are various storylines in here, from mental health issues, previous tragedies, ongoing difficulties including misogyny and sexual assault so readers should beware. There is also a guest appearance by Zeke, a character from previous books, and he is just too funny! I hope he gets his own book sometime soon - he needs to find love.

The narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life really well. Well worth a credit.

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Can I Have My Own Cruz Please?

Y’all. 𝑯𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 was absolutely addictive! 𝚃𝚒𝚓𝚊𝚗 never ceases to amaze me with her ability to capture every single emotion in one novel!

I loved Mara & Cruz. Their characters were flawed, dealing with a lot and were just really breathtaking together! Their non relationship worked on so many levels and really added so much to the story!

I adored Connor Crais narrating Cruz. His voice is always swoon worthy, but he truly knows how to capture each and every emotion to make the listener 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 them to the depths of their soul.

Desiree Ketchum was awesome at being Mara to life! Her voice lends so much to the story and I loved listening to her.

This story has it all: mental health rep,tortured past, sports rep, finding true love, and a beautifully fantabulous story line filled with masterfully chiseled characters. You don’t want to miss this one!

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Emotionally driven and amazing!

Mara has a difficult time of it, so she keeps to herself for the most part. She doesn't have a lot of friends, and those she has, she keeps at a distance. Cruz only focuses on hockey. He doesn't have time for a relationship and puck bunnies are really not his thing. So a no strings attached, no friendship relationship with Mara seems the most logical and pleasurable. Between the two, their chemistry is off the charts and to be able to walk away when it's over is icing on the cake. That is until feelings do begin to get involved. Tijan writes an incredibly addicting story about love and all it's glory. Mara has some secrets and letting Cruz in will not be easy. Cruz has big dreams and letting Mara be a part of them may not be realistic. I was completely invested in the outcome of these two. The many layers to each of the characters pulled me in and I was hooked until each layer was revealed. It's a fantastic story!

Connor Crais and Desiree Ketchum perform this story to perfection. Crais featured as Cruz, gives him a warmth that is undeniably attractive. He is strong, and perceptive and each time Crais brings out all the feels. Ketchum is fabulous in as Mara. She is a complex, layered character, and Ketchum understands each part of her. Emotionally driven, she had me feeling everything Mara did. This team always is amazing and this book is no exception.

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Hockey With Benefits

I loved it what a brilliant story I’ve never listened to anything like hockey or football or even cowboys there not my thing . But I’m thinking I would take a chance so I will brilliant thank you .

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Super entertaining college hockey romance

Hockey with benefits. That was what Mara proposed, and I was down.The title says it all. Not even friends with benefits. Just hockey and benefits. Cruz is the hockey idol that doesn’t want, or need a relationship. Mara is the loner who just needs an escape, no questions, no feelings and certainly no drama. She thought she left all her drama behind when she came to college. Although when you’re sneaking around under the covers with the college hockey god then drama is going to come a knocking. Both Cruz and Mara are running from their pasts, both for different reasons, but neither of them willing to talk to anyone about it. Until their benefits start being a little bit more. Are they willing to go down that road? Lots of drama, a little angst and a whole lot of emotion make this a story that will stay with me for a long time to come. Side note, the chemistry between Mara and Cruz is hot, hot, hot. I loved it. Now for the audio version. Absolutely loved it. Narrated by Connor Crais and Desiree Ketchum, perfect as Cruz and Mara, they gave me all the feels.

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1 person found this helpful

All the hockey romance goodness

Well, this book was absolutely amazing. I loved the characters and the premise of the story. Mara and cruz were perfect for each other.
The book covers some really hard topics, but i thought they were all written really well.
The narrators were absolutely amazing. they really bro the characters to life and made me enjoy the book even more.

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Terrific Story & Narration🎧Riveting & Heartfelt!

Tijan blows me away with another amazing novel, a contemporary college sports romance and wow, romance like no other. It is a complex and multilayered story, one that captured my attention right from the start and held it captive the entire time. The writing and plotting are fantastic, as are the world building and character growth and development. Mara, a college student, likes to keep herself distanced from everyone, but she also likes to get lost in someone else for pleasure and she found the right partner for that, a no strings, no friendship, only the benefits with Cruz, the college’s hockey team star player. Cruz has a lot going on in his life and does not have time for a serious relationship, so Mara’s arrangement fits the bill. And it all worked out perfectly until feelings got involved. I loved watching these two first navigate their non-relationship hookups and then seeing parts of their lives trickle into each other. Both had family drama and issues going on and demons in their closets, and my heart broke for them both. Mara wanted to keep it all to herself, not burden anyone with her problems, and not let anyone in. However, she never had the right people in her corner. There is never a dull moment in book, the drama is non-stop and there is plenty of angst, heartfelt emotions and steamy romance. Tijan, thank you for another fantastic story and emotional rollercoaster ride. 

🎧📚🎧 And for the fantastic narration, Connor Crais and Desiree Ketchum did an amazing job portraying these characters and did so with a complete understanding of who they were, giving each a voice that suited that character and was believable in every role they played. Both completely nailed it in the lead roles, with Crais as Cruz, and Ketchum as Mara, they brought out all their emotions and had you feeling every single one. They were just as fabulous in covering the roles of the secondary characters, too. These versatile voice artists are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to, and their performance enhanced this amazing story to another level. Thank you for another wonderful listen.

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Another fab continuation and conclusion

So pleased we got to hear Mara’s story and go full circle, it really explains the back story for rich prick and her behaviour.

Brilliant story loved everything, about the narrative exploring more issues and how people handle them in different ways a healthy conclusion to what can never be a good situation and realistic about the on going affects.

Only small thing was there was a lot of names -first and last - of players and characters switched back and forth calling them either by first of last and so sometimes tiny bit confusing and had to go back and listen again to follow as it was a bit fast sometimes, but overall another great read/listen!
Haven’t been disappointed yet love Tijan!

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Classic Tijan Genius

Really great, as usual! Love all her work! Narrators brilliant and will look out for them both again.

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