Whistle by Cambria Hebert (Westbrook Elite Book 8)

Whistle is book 8 in the Westbrook Elite series. In this book, Coach Resch finally gets his happily ever after with an unexpected partner.

About Whistle

Emmett Resch is the coach for Westbrook Elite. He has been coaching the Elite swimmers for two decades, but this group is more like a family than a team. He finds it hard not to be there for these guys and their significant others. His trademark whistle has caused many headaches through the years and will continue to do so for many more to come.

Bodie, also known as Malibu Barbie to the team, used to be Rush’s best friend until his sister was killed and he blamed Rush for killing her. After her death, he gave up on swimming and went in to a deep spiral and made really bad decisions. He lost his sister and he lost his best friend. His family wants nothing to do with him and have cut him off. He has nobody anymore.

Coach and Bodie met a year ago when he came to Westbrook to talk to Rush. After the truth came out about how his sister was killed and who did it, he needed to talk to Rush. They used to be best friends. But the confrontation was anything but amicable and Coach’s whistle sounded the end to the discussion.

Coach’s whistle is well known throughout Elite. So much so, that its reputation is bigger than Coach’s or anyone on Elite.

When Bodie finds himself in a precarious situation and needs help, he calls the one person he hopes will even pick up the phone. They have not been on the best of terms for the last year. But Rush does pick up. And when Coach hears him on the phone in the middle of the night, he goes in search of what is wrong.

As part of restitution, Bodie must now transfer to Westbrook and swim for Elite. There is just one problem. Bodie is unable to step foot in to a pool because of how his sister died. But when Elite indoctrinates him in to the team, he has a complete freak out.

And so begins a new chapter in both Bodie’s and Coach Resch’s lives.

No one has any idea that Coach is not straight. Because he has a daughter, they all assume he is in to women. What they do not know is that a horrific event occurred when he was younger and he turned to a woman, resulting in a daughter, Landry. But Coach has a history that he guards with everything in him.

Until Bodie.

Bodie, who he calls Goldilocks, makes Coach want things he is afraid to want. He is scared of history repeating, so he avoids relationships of any kind. But Bodie pushes his buttons.

But, sadly, history will somewhat repeat itself and it will take everything in both Bodie and Coach to get through what is yet to come.

Impressions

Personal trauma, mental anguish, fear, anger will all play out in this story, as will love, acceptance and relationship rebuilding. This story brings out so many emotions as you gain perspective on Coach and Bodie, for that matter.

But the true test happens at the end when Elite is threatened. No one will stand for the allegations being made or the resulting resolution. These people are family. They are a tribe. And they all need to stick together.

I have to say, these boys are masterminds. One call and problems can disappear. But the “guard dogs” are the absolute best. Max, Wynn and Arson may not be members of Elite, but man do they interrogate and warn off outsiders.

And yay for trauma lattes. Best invention ever. The reason behind them, not so much. But they really do make things better.

Narration

I have enjoyed listening to Lance Isley and Michael Norman Johnson narrate many different books. Some in this series and some in other series. Some MM, some MF, and some MFM/MMF. They handle the age gap in this story beautifully. They have handled the college age characters diversely. Cheers to more books narrated by them.

Availability

Whistle is currently available to read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited and for purchase in all formats on Amazon.

https://amzn.to/3LbVrTU

Series Listing

Wet (Westbrook Elite Book 1)
Wingspan (Westbrook Elite Book 2)
Wish (Westbrook Elite Book 3)
WTF (Westbrook Elite Book 4)
Wildcard (Westbrook Elite Book 5)
Whoa (Westbrook Elite Book 6)
Whisper (Westbrook Elite Book 7)
Whistle (Westbrook Elite Book 8)
Wedlocked (Westbrook Elite Book 9)

About Cambria Hebert

Cambria Hebert is a bestselling novelist of more than fifty titles. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.

Besides writing, Cambria loves a pumpkin spice latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching K drama until her eyes won’t stay open. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chihuahuas (the real bosses of the house).

Cambria has written in many genres, including new adult, sports romance, male/male romance, sci-fi, thriller, suspense, contemporary romance, and young adult. Many of her titles have been translated into foreign languages and have been the recipients of multiple awards.

Awards Cambria has received include:

Author of the Year 2016 (UtopiaCon2016)

The Hashtag Series: Best Contemporary Series of 2015 (UtopiaCon 2015)

#Nerd: Best Contemporary Book Cover of 2015 (UtopiaCon 2015)

Romeo from the Hashtag Series: Best Contemporary Lead (UtopiaCon 2015)

#Nerd: Top 50 Summer Reads (Buzzfeed.com 2015)

The Hashtag Series: Best Contemporary Series of 2016 (UtopiaCon 2016)

#NERD Book Trailer: Best Book Trailer of 2016 (UtopiaCon 2016)

#Nerd Book Trailer: Top 50 Most Cinematic Book Trailers of All Time (film-14.com)

#Nerd: Book Most Wanted to be Adapted to Screen: (2018)

Amnesia: Mystery Book of the Year (2018)

Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.