Category: audiobooks (Page 70 of 94)

Burying Water by KA Tucker, narrated by Josh Goodman and Elizabeth Louise

April 27, 2015 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: One of my fellow reviewers at AudioGals recommended this one so I bought it.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The top-selling, beloved indie author of Ten Tiny Breaths returns with a new romance about a young woman who loses her memory—and the man who knows that the only way to protect her is to stay away.

Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives—but she awakens with no idea who she is, or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to “Jane Doe” for another day, the woman renames herself “Water” for the tiny, hidden marking on her body—the only clue to her past. Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge: Who is the next-door neighbor, quietly toiling under the hood of his Barracuda? Why won’t Ginny let him step foot on her property? And why does Water feel she recognizes him?

Twenty-four-year-old Jesse Welles doesn’t know how long it will be before Water gets her memory back. For her sake, Jesse hopes the answer is never. He knows that she’ll stay so much safer—and happier—that way. And that’s why, as hard as it is, he needs to keep his distance. Because getting too close could flood her with realities better left buried.

The trouble is, water always seems to find its way to the surface.

Warning: Ahoy! Thar be spoilers.

Trigger Warning: Domestic violence, rape.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’m not quite sure what I was expecting when I started this book but I didn’t think it was going to be an adultery book. I probably should have realised that. My bad. I’m not big on the adultery trope. I had mixed feelings about it here. Alexandria Petrova is married to Victor Petrova a Russian mob type 20 years her senior. While she married him willingly, I’m sure he did take advantage of her youth and circumstances (she was poor and only had her mother for family) in getting her consent to marriage. Victor is rich and he left her presents and dazzled her with the promise of plenty. I gather that the marriage wasn’t entirely awful at the start, but gradually Victor becomes more and more controlling and physically violent with her.
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Review at AudioGals

April 25, 2015 / Kaetrin

I’m over at AudioGals with a review of The Liar by Nora Roberts and narrated by January LaVoy. While not quite as good as The Witness, it was a great listen and I was really impressed by the narration. A winner.

Review at AudioGals

April 23, 2015 / Kaetrin

I’m over at AudioGals with a review of For the Love of Lilah by Nora Roberts, narrated by Kate Rudd. This narrator continues to impress me.

March Round Up

April 2, 2015 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Rock Chick Redemption by Kristen Ashley, narrated by Susannah Jones – B+ I said in my review of Rock Chick (I read the print version) that I imagined Amanda Ronconi reading the story to me and that this would probably mean I’d be inclined to judge the narration by Ms. Jones more harshly. I listened to Rock Chick Rescue and Rock Chick Redemption for fun, “just for me” listens because sometimes it’s nice for me just to be a consumer and not a reviewer and I wanted my brain to relax for a bit. But I wanted to say something about the narration.

I could wish that Susannah Jones has slightly more vocal range and could portray a larger variety of male voices – pretty much, all the heroes sound the same and they’re really only slightly deeper in pitch than her female character voices. (For regular audiobook listeners, this is a trade off we make fairly often. There are only so many character voices a narrator can perform and many male narrators cannot sound “female” in pitch and vice versa; however, they do adjust their tone sufficiently to give an audio cue to listeners that this is the hero or heroine talking and, provided it’s not grating, that can be enough.)

But, as for the rest, Ms. Jones was brilliant. She didn’t have any trouble with some of the more convoluted sentences Ms. Ashley uses (which I love even though their grammar is sometimes quite tortured) and the completely nailed the humour of the piece. I cannot even express to you how much I love her characterisation of Tex. He is twice as hilarious on audio. Continue reading

Obsession in Death by JD Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen

March 30, 2015 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m a fan of the series and pre-ordered the audiobook.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Eve Dallas has solved a lot of high-profile murders for the NYPSD and gotten a lot of media. She—and her billionaire husband—are getting accustomed to being objects of attention, of gossip, of speculation.

But now Eve has become the object of one person’s obsession. Someone who finds her extraordinary, and thinks about her every hour of every day. Who believes the two of them have a special relationship. Who would kill for her—again and again…

With a murderer reading meanings into her every move, handling this case will be a delicate—and dangerous—psychological dance. And Eve knows that underneath the worship and admiration, a terrible threat lies in wait. Because the beautiful lieutenant is not at all grateful for these bloody offerings from her “true and loyal friend.” And in time, idols always fall…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): When a lawyer is murdered and a “note” written for Eve Dallas on the wall at the crime scene, it is obvious that the unsub isn’t your run-of-the-mill killer. Obsessed with Eve and thinking they are BFFs, the killer metes out “justice” in a way that Eve cannot, constrained as she is by, you know, the law.

The book takes place immediately after Christmas 2060 and ends up at New Year’s – the next book it will finally be 2061!!! Can you believe that so little time has passed in Eve’s world but there have been 40 full length books? Continue reading

Scoring Wilder by RS Grey, narrated by Jessica Almasy

March 20, 2015 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I was provided with a review copy by Audible Studios.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) What started out as a joke— seduce Coach Wilder—soon became a goal she had to score.

With Olympic tryouts on the horizon, the last thing nineteen-year-old Kinsley Bryant needs to add to her plate is Liam Wilder. He’s a professional soccer player, America’s favorite bad-boy, and has all the qualities of a skilled panty-dropper.

• A face that makes girls weep – check.
• Abs that can shred Parmesan cheese (the expensive kind) – check.
• Enough confidence to shift the earth’s gravitational pull – double check.

Not to mention Liam is strictly off limits . Forbidden. Her coaches have made that perfectly clear. (i.e. “Score with Coach Wilder anywhere other than the field and you’ll be cut from the team faster than you can count his tattoos.”) But that just makes him all the more enticing…Besides, Kinsley’s already counted the visible ones, and she is not one to leave a project unfinished.

Kinsley tries to play the game her way as they navigate through forbidden territory, but Liam is determined to teach her a whole new definition for the term “team bonding.”

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I have the print version of this book on my TBR but my TBL is far shorter so I find it easier to listen when I have the opportunity. Kinsley is a little… hyperactive on occasion and new-to-me narrator Jessica Almasy depicted that well. I couldn’t fault the way she portrayed the character. While there were times Kinsley felt very young (and therefore me old) the narration was true to the text. I also thought Ms. Almasy had a great “hero voice” and I liked the way she delivered Liam’s dialogue.
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