Yassss!

We finally get Blythe’s story. She has been a character has been in the last three books. Always on the edge but never the focus. It’s nice to see Squirrel’s alpha come out to play cause dayum!!!

Another great book in a great series.

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GREAT READ

Loved it. It really makes you take a look at the world of the homeless and makes you want to try and help in some way. Great story. Ready for the next one.

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very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

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One of my favorites

Wow finally getting to hear Blythe’s story. I absolutely loved this one. Found my self smiling and laughing on several occasions. One of my favorites even though it’s hard to choose which book is at the top but it for sure is at the top. You won’t be disappointed

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Boring

The story was boring and unrealistic. No man in existence is that sweet. And I didn’t care for the narrator. The way she drags out the last word of a sentence is very annoying.

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Such a great message..

This book hit me a little differently than other Stoker books. It is still written amazingly well and has a fantastic narrator, but the message behind this story is what impressed me the most. 💜

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Couldn't give high rating on this one...

Erin Mallon is an excellent narrator, so listening wasn't taxing. What I disliked about this book/storyline was that it doesn't really ever happen like this. I imagine that this book would bring heartbreak to any homeless person who might pick it up in a public library...because it doesn't resolve like this for the homeless. I was on the board of a homeless shelter and volunteered inside that shelter. Never did I hear a story like this...and I heard many stories from the homeless. Also, I was a bit discouraged that so many people that the storyline brought into this woman's life, one would think it would open their eyes to homelessness on a more regional level. Why help just one woman, or one woman and her son...but not help the hundreds of other homeless people living at the shelters? They had the means, the money, the connections. So that didn't make sense to me. I think their could have been a global message in this book, instead of just a single love story for a misfit.

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Recommended

I have been anxious to read Blithe's story after Malena & then Sadie's. It was even better than I had hoped. This story gives a little insight into what being homeless can be like. It is romanticized many times but here gives a more realistic point of view.

Erin Mallon did a fantastic job bringing the story to life and has some amazing voices.

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Great read

Love badge of honor series and this one kept me wondering what would be
Next

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When a helping hand means more than enough

Shelter for Blythe is Susan Stoker's take on the plight of the homeless. Here, she introduces us to Blythe Coopman, a homeless woman who lost everything caring for her mother, who eventually succumbed to cancer.

We meet Sawyer “Squirrel” McClay, a firefighter, who falls for Blythe after encountering her in one of the fires that he helped put out.

Sawyer and Blythe's lives cross when, in the midst of lending Blythe his sweater, Sawyer inadvertently left his mobile phone in its pocket. Instead of going after Blythe, he saw the loss of his phone as a means to keep in touch with her, and that he proceeds to do as he tries to convince her to get off the streets.

Circumstances force Blythe to accept Sawyer's help when, one day, she was attacked in an alley. The rest, of course, you have to read to appreciate the story.

I understand that some readers are put off with some stories shining a light in the plight of the homeless. Whatever their reason, that is theirs to keep, and I know I should let that be.

But.
"The homeless know they can always go to a shelter."
"The homeless won't do anything because they know they can always beg for food/help/money."
"The homeless are lazy, entitled people who believe society owes them something and will not do anything to help themselves."

Why even shine a light on their plight, right? And what's up with Sawyer, taking one look at a homeless woman and knowing that she is the love of his life? Creepy much?

Yes, some of those who are homeless resort to a life of crime and drug addiction to make ends meet, and these are the ones we should be wary of.

But. Let us face the facts that not all homeless people are out for handouts. Just because they live in the streets, it does not mean that all of them are lazy. Some of them may have experienced circumstances that prevented them from having a roof over their heads, or, worse, a home with loved ones they can turn to when needed.

I have heard of a countless number of war heroes who go home thinking they have something to look forward to, someone to turn to when they needed them the most, only to end up in the streets because they have been abandoned by those who could not wait for them to come home.

I have heard the story of a teacher who, even with his master's degree, was forced to live in the streets when he fell ill and could not return to his profession.

I have read the story of a child who had to use a street lamp so that he could study at night--yes, he is able to go to a public school, but he lives on the streets with his Mom, who picks up discarded plastic bottles and barters them for food at recycling stations. His mom, I heard, was thrown out of their home, for giving birth to a child of rape.

So yes, turn a blind eye to the homeless. But when it happens to you, or your loved ones, know that you, yourself, can make a difference in their lives, and I hope that you do.

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