Arianne Hollis’s husband dies, forcing her to sell the house. She moves away to start over in the Montana mountains.
Ross Ferrell, the de-facto heir apparent of a clan of fiercely opinionated mountain people, saves Arianne from a bear, but they part without exchanging so much as names.
She ends up moving to his neck of the Montana woods, so they’re neighbors. Arianne gets embroiled in the local rivalries and misunderstandings.
Additional Comments:
Main characters 4/5: Ross and Arianne are likable enough.
Plot 3.5/5: It felt surprisingly slow for something that had a lot packed into it, even at 2x speed. Maybe because much of the happenings were around the main characters, not to them. Many events while wildly unbelievable make the book like a book soap opera.
Side characters 3.5/5: The book is positively overflowing with characters. It’s really difficult to keep them all straight, though to be honest, you probably don’t have to keep them straight because they’re reintroduced as necessary. I can see the necessity of such a large cast, but unfortunately, that means my emotional investment was spread out so much that I didn’t really care about the horrible things that befell some of the characters because I didn’t know them enough to care.
There’s an emotional distance in the way the book’s written. For example, when describing the large family, you’ll hear what the women are doing and the men, but you don’t really feel attached to many of them.
Becky White’s performance is decent. There were too many characters to be able to distinguish everybody, and that’s fine. You could tell male from female, and the main characters had unique voices.
Content warnings: contains some casual cursing (I think) and some trigger topics like suicide.
Conclusion:
If you like a family drama set out in a small mountain town, check this out.
Audiobook Promotions …
Were on Audiobookcrave.com (which just went under). Ones with links are relisted at Audiobooksunleashed.com.
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) – not relisted yet
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
The Individual titles are available but not yet listed on an ad site
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
Besides being a high school student (during the summer?) Paislee Grimes functions as a small town historian.
Additional Comments:
Side characters 4/5: have a lot of character to them. I believe the side characters are one of the strongest points to this book. They’re many and varied. Making the connections of who’s related to whom can be daunting. I’m not sure I have them all straight.
Main character 3/5: It’s a first-person narrative, and to be honest, the MC’s kind of annoying.
Performance 4/5: I didn’t detect much variation between various characters, but then again, I listened at 2x speed. That always messes with nuances of the performance. The narrator has a nice voice, and I’d definitely listen to more from her.
Plot 3/5: It’s standard fare cozy-like mystery, right down to an obsession with something cooked (in this case pancakes) and spouting off of recipes mid-book. What the heck is with cozy-like mysteries and recipes? The plot itself meanders all over the place. I think the MC spent 5 minutes of audio-time picking up her little sister.
I have a lot of issues with the way the mystery unfolds and certain things like the MC’s father, the coroner being okay with his daughter traipsing over a crime scene when he didn’t know who the victim would be. Somebody asking a random 17 year old high school student to solve a murder mystery isn’t normal either, Nancy Drew references aside.
Content Warnings: Nothing gruesome is described, but there is a LOT of casual cursing. I think holy s- was used at least 7 times. Not sure I can truly count this as a clean book or not. If they were f-bomb’s I would have quit outright. Guess I’ve been jaded.
Conclusion:
If you can deal with curse words being used quite liberally and don’t mind the plot wandering on random pancakes-are-awesome tangents, you’ll likely enjoy this quirky tale.
(No curse words, but more violence than story reviewed above.)
Audiobook Promotions …
Were on Audiobookcrave.com (which just went under). Ones with links are relisted at Audiobooksunleashed.com.
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) – not relisted yet
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
The Individual titles are available but not yet listed on an ad site
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
Sophie Valero doesn’t quite fit in with the Valero clan, but she is a retired cat burglar. Her sister stole something and now Sophie needs to find it to get the bad guys to back off. Micah Winter is a secret service agent who blames Sophie’s family for his brother’s death. Now he has to protect her from the mysterious people after her and the known enemies after him.
Additional Comments:
If you read the official blurb, you have essentially read the entire book.
It’s very much a typical romance book plot (ridiculous and far-fetched) but still fun.
The baby’s origin is storybook bizarre.
The switch from “I don’t like you” to “I can’t live without you” is super quick.
Clean romance. Pretty sure it sticks to foot massages and deep kisses. Though I will say a few of those foot massages have very awkward timing and locations…. middle of an investigation in a stranger’s office, not the right time.
Well performed. Characters were distinguishable and likeable.
The setup part and investigation unfolded in a meandering fashion.
The dialogue sounded realistic but repetitive, very very repetitive.
Conclusion:
If you are a fan of either the author or the narrator, you will probably like this. If you enjoy clean romance or romantic suspense you may also enjoy this.
Audiobook Promotions …
Were on Audiobookcrave.com (which just went under). Ones with links are relisted at Audiobooksunleashed.com.
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) – not relisted yet
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
The Individual titles are available but not yet listed on an ad site
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
this is not a bad account of this lady’s life, but it’s also not really a story.
It reads like what it is… a series of compiled journal entries. It’s not like a “dear diary” journal, it’s like a “my doctor wanted me to track how I was feeling” journal.
A good chunk of the book is a litany of the medications she’s on at any given time. Maybe I am being callous but I don’t care how many mgs of this or that she needed to take. Listing medications doesn’t really help understand what she went through and basically has 0 relevance unless you’re a doctor in training and want to know who has been prescribed in certain situations.
Conclusion:
If you have lupus and want to see one woman’s journey with the disease, it might be interesting for you. Or if you are a doctor in training. Or you’re just extremely curious… go for it.
Audiobook Promotions …
Were on Audiobookcrave.com (which just went under). Ones with links are relisted at Audiobooksunleashed.com.
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) – not relisted yet
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
The Individual titles are available but not yet listed on an ad site
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
If you’ve been on social media, watched the news, or talked to anybody in the last week and a half, you’re well-aware that the world has officially 100% gone nuts. Schools have closed. Restaurants are mostly take-out only. Grocery stores and banks are open. But a lot of businesses are struggling. Domestic flights are still happening (I think), but international travel has ground to a screeching halt.
What happened?
You can find all this info on the internet if you’re so inclined, but here’s a quick recap. A virus mutated from bats and passed to humans somewhere in China. Many people fell ill. China’s just starting to get a hold on the spread of the disease. It’s been declared a pandemic. The interconnectedness of the world means that flights and cruises carried people hither and thither.
Italy’s struggling. Its medical system is currently being overwhelmed. France and Spain are starting to lock down. Select places around the United States are moving to restrict people’s movement.
Goal: Stop the spread and flatten the curve. Things like this build exponentially, but we want to reach that peak, have it level off, and then drop as soon as possible. We do not want the entire world becoming Italy.
How’s it spreading?
Person to person. The problem is that people are different, so not everybody gets deathly ill. Most (experts say 80%ish) people get the equivalent of a mild cold, but that still means 1/5th of the people who get it have more severe symptoms. It’s a respiratory illness. Problem is, it’s darn hard to know who has it and who doesn’t since a mild fever, a cough, and shortness of breath could have about a dozen other causes too.
Even people who do get ill eventually may not show symptoms right away. That means, they can carry this thing home to their families and their kids can carry it off to school to other kids who bring it home to their families, etc.
That’s why schools have shut down in many places. Kansas and one other state cancelled school for the rest of the year. Some have mandated no grades happen. New Jersey has mostly gone to virtual schooling where possible. I’m hearing some states aren’t even letting virtual school happen because it violates some fairness law (because not everybody has access to virtual learning). I swear, that level of stupidity (well, if some can’t learn, nobody should) is going to doom us. Also, official schooling should only be a small part of a person’s overall education. As we see now, life is one hell of a solid teacher. We just aren’t going to always like what it teaches us about ourselves and the world we live in.
How are people handling the crisis?
Oddly.
There’s a shortage of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and most kinds of dry goods as the panic takes a greater toll than the disease at the moment. People are people. Meaning, there are awesome acts of kindness and community building happening as people reach out to help each other. Flip side, there are also opportunistic jackals creating the shortages by trying to price gouge. (Incidentally, this particular hand sanitizer guy donated the supplies … just as the attorney general’s office moved to investigate him for price gouging. Ah, social media and the power of negative press.)
Flip side of that flip side, the reaction to that has been nuts too. The guy has received everything from hateful comments to death threats. Yeah, cause that’s the answer… (that was sarcasm, people.) The guy could be fined, but the consequences have already hit him hard. Ebay suspended his account. A storage place kicked him out. Under different circumstances, what he did would be considered smart business (buying up hand sanitizer and wipes when you know it’s likely to turn a profit). But panic makes people want to blame something. Unfortunately for this man, he now makes a convenient target for that frustration. For the record, I’m on the side of what he did was a low move in hindsight but pretty sure he’s learned that lesson back the heck off people.
Panic buying has also led to a shortage of meat, milk (in some places), and other basic goods. Some stores are responding by opening for the elderly only at certain times. Stores may also have to abide by 50 people limits passed down by government officials. Strange times we live in.
How are governments handling it?
The response is varied. And honestly, no matter what they do, they’ll bear some scorn from people for one reason or another. Side note that bears out this point: Audible did a promo thing that members in good standing could listen to 3 books within a certain timespan and earn $20 credit. Yesterday, besides virus news, all people complained about what the restrictions on the $20, not getting it yet, etc. (Seriously, complaints about getting $20!) Anyway, governments have mostly gone from: it’ll sort itself to large groups are banned to medium groups are banned to heck just stay away from everybody for 2 weeks.
How are schools handling it?
All over the board. Some can meet virtually, some can’t. Some are still grading the students. Mine is in this category for now, thank goodness. Others are leaving the educational opportunities to be enrichment only, in which case eternal boredom might be the only motivator to get them to participate.
Battle for the Mind
People around the US are still gathering. Mexico still held a large concert recently. Experts say we’re about 10 days behind Italy in terms of the infection.
All 50 states now have at least one confirmed case of the disease.
Many other diseases have swept over large portions of the world at various parts. We of the 2020 world being better connected and up on our social media get to wallow in reports more often than people in times past. Is the reaction overreaction? Maybe. But honestly, the world can’t really afford to underestimate this thing unless you want to go full-on “let’s let it whittle down the population.”
So, What Now?
Whether you believe the disease is a problem or not, it’s going to be a problem for many people. The disruption to normal way of life means everything from movie theaters close to you can’t run a pickup basketball game in many places. Less people out and about means many businesses will grind to a halt. That’s going to lead to layoffs and a general crunch on many family finances.
Conclusion:
My unsolicited advice … take all necessary precautions to stay healthy and stop the spread of disease (any disease), but don’t worry or panic. Enjoy the extra time with your family. Catch up on some rest. Get creative. Help out where you can. The world will right itself in time. Stores will re-open, movie theaters will release new stuff, toilet paper will be restocked, restaurants will let people eat in, and schools will re-open. (1920-1921 may be a bit of a hot mess staffing- and scheduling-wise if schools let kids stay back or move forward, but I digress.)
Audiobook Promotions …
Were on Audiobookcrave.com (which just went under). Ones with links are relisted at Audiobooksunleashed.com.
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) – not relisted yet
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
The Individual titles are available but not yet listed on an ad site
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
I get that children’s stories often don’t make much sense, especially those in this style (legend/folk tale). Still, there should be some logic to them.
Disclaimer:
I am NOT the right target audience for these stories. Those more versed in children’s tales likely have a more practiced sense of suspension of disbelief.
Story by Story Mini-Reviews
2.5/5 Why the Sea is Salty (some titles may be slightly different because I heard the audiobook).
Lacked logic. So, the little mill is responsible, but if the sea captain chucked it overboard and nothing ever stopped it, then the entire sea and world would eventually be filled with salt. Also, if the brother knew of the fiasco with his own brother, you’d think he would have said something to the sea captain before letting that little mill out of his sight. And further back, if the little mill could do most anything, why were the dwarves working? Also, there should be a bigger emphasis on magic because mills grind stuff down to powder. They don’t conjure stuff.
2/5 Fox and Eagle story (definitely not the title, but I forget the title):
So, the Fox is harassing the Eagle and essentially asking her to throw down her children so he’ll go away. When she drops him off on the island, he tricks the sea creatures into helping him escape. Clever of him, but that’s not exactly the moral I’d want a kid coming away with. (If you’re being a bully and somebody fights back, just trick somebody else into doing your bidding.)
2/5 Beaver and Indian story (also certainly not the title):
An Indian chief visits talking beavers and falls in love with the daughter. He then proceeds to marry her. Oh, and by the way, the heavens smile down on the union and decide to turn the beaver daughter into a human woman. Not to delve into adult business, but there are certain really big issues I have with the initial idea of a man falling in love with a beaver in any story outside of shapeshifter romance – and it’s ridiculous enough there.)
3/5 The Swift Runner:
A deer wins a race. A rabbit is disqualified.
3/5 Brother Rabbit:
A rabbit helps and Indian find his way home.
3/5 The Bag of Winds:
Eolis (sorry about spelling); sailors set the bag of winds free. Cute but nonsensical
3/5 The Fairy Tree
Somebody ate Flora’s pet fish. She prayed for the fish to come back as a tree and it did.
2.5/5 Gray Mole and the Indian
So, this Indian is taking a gray mole home, but stops for a nap and gets scorched by the sun. Mad at the sun, he decides to set a snare for the sun. The mole becomes an accomplice. Sun’s not too pleased about this and takes his wrath out on mole…so the mole goes blind. Once again, not sure I’m fully behind the morals in this story.
2/5 Boy Who Cried Wolf (Original Story by Aesop)
Not sure what the official version is but it sounds pretty darn close to the original. I looked it up and it’s a public domain work, which means the author did nothing wrong, just shady.
3/5 The Lion’s Share
Donkey fox and lion go hunting
They kill a wolf… donkey divides the spoils evenly and gets killed. The fox chooses a different division. While not necessarily making sense the system and moral actually works here.
2.5/5 The Wolves and the Deer
Wolves eat deer. Okay… pretty straightforward. Bizarre.
3/5 The Frog’s Travels
Frogs travel from Tokyo and Keyoto. Look back and see where they came from .
3/5 The Merchant’s Caravan
Men traveling get lost… find water, get where they’re going.
2/5 The Bonfire in the Sea
Fish light a fire. Because it’s magic. That’s why the sea is warm.
2/5 Robinson Crusoe (original story by Daniel Defoe)
Boy ran away. Ship got hit by pirates. Ended up in Brazil. Kid end up shipwrecked. Plunders the ship. Lives on the island. Dude saves Friday. Get rescued. Note: This is a public domain work, so this is legal. However, it’s still shady to republish a story abbreviation under your own name.
Conclusion:
With the amount of moral issues I had with this book, I’d personally skip it. That said, the narrator did a lovely job, and I would check out other works she’s done.
Audiobook Promotions …
If any of the links are broken (not sure what’s up with Audiobook Crave as of 3/7/20), please email me your interest in the book, I’ll see what codes are left.
Feb Promos on Audiobook Crave.com (requires email sign in):
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1)
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
(Alternately, the individual titles can be found on Audiobook Crave
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles on Audiobook Crave (but buried deep):
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
Four years after her husband’s death, Maddie Kincaid is still reeling, but she moves on enough to hire a carpenter. Enter perfect male specimen who’s sweet, good with his hands, and available.
Additional Comments:
Content Warnings: Contains some casual cursing, some scenes that go a hair beyond sweet kissing but not quite to describing the deed, and at least one scene that semi-glorifies getting drunk to the point of senselessness. (That didn’t make sense to me given the characters past and more recent history with drunks…) All that said, it’s a relatively clean romance book.
Contained some great bits of humor.
Narration worked very well. Narrator had a great voice and distinguished the characters well.
Main Characters 4/5: Maddie kind of ticked me off sometimes, just because of stupid assumptions she makes and conclusions she jumps to. My very limited time in the romance genre tells me that’s a normal trope though. Caleb’s perfect, so unrealistic but nice.
Side Characters 4/5: TJ’s adorable but also perfect. The dog pirate is carefully flawed, ugly but lovable. Rena (or was it Brena – sorry, I couldn’t quite get spelling from the narrator’s rendition of the name) is by far my favorite side character. At the point where I was wanting to slap the main character, she had some very choice words for her that satisfied that need. Jack’s lingering ghost (not literally; it’s not that kind of story; his presence) got tedious.
Dialogue sounded realistic!
Side characters had plenty of character to add flavor to the mix.
Jack’s last message which I shall not reveal fit the story well, but is also unlikely to have happened. People might keep notes around, but they don’t obsess to this degree over a stranger.
From the numerous references to the Braves, I’m guessing this is set in Georgia. So, I suppose the misguided baseball adoration can be forgiven.
Conclusion:
Highly recommended if you enjoy romance stories. Even if you don’t, you may like this sometimes overly sweet Southern tale of love.
Audiobook Promotions …
If any of the links are broken (not sure what’s up with Audiobook Crave as of 3/7/20), please email me your interest in the book, I’ll see what codes are left.
Feb Promos on Audiobook Crave.com (requires email sign in):
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1)
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
(Alternately, the individual titles can be found on Audiobook Crave
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles on Audiobook Crave (but buried deep):
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
(Narration was fine, story had some serious sense issues.)
A rather complicated, convoluted tale of a woman who was abused as a teenager, grows up to marry a cheater, and finally finds the strength to stand on her own (with a friend, of course).
Additional Comments:
Plot 2.5/5: The series of events falls in the average range. There’s a twist at the end that simply tells you the scatter-brained omniscient narrator has been unreliable this whole time.
Dialogue 2/5: Highly stilted and overly formal. Didn’t sound realistic at all.
Writing Mechanics and Word Choice 2/5: Awkward and bizarre. As a friend put it, you’d almost have to listen twice to get heads and tails of what the heck is happening. Part of the confusion might just be the medium. This may not have been a great book choice for the audio format because there’s no indication of section breaks. Consequently, you get random characters doing their thing then end up hearing a completely different set of characters in a new situation quite regularly.
Characters 2.5/5: Nobody’s likeable. Everybody has an excuse for their bad behavior. Most of the husbands beat on their wives or cheat because that’s all they know or that’s just the way life works. (Their fathers must have been a poor example.) Their behavior is bizarre too. This woman barely meets a guy and is throwing herself at him with abandon because he’s so sweet. (Maybe there are women that stupid, but after being mentally and physically abused by her husband to the point where she basically goes into the equivalent of witness protection … I would hope the character earned a few bits of sense from her horrific experiences.)
Side commentary: Not sure I can get behind the subtle messages in here either. When things are going well, the young women are put together and skinny and attractive. When things spiral out of control, they let themselves go becoming fat and unattractive. Part of getting on the right track is working their way back to attractive bodies.
The last fifth of the book takes a weird Christian turn. Let me be clear, I’m a Christian. I have zero issues with such themes being included in a book, but it was odd to have most of the book have not one hint of Christian themes and then boom everybody’s getting right with God.
Kathleen Li does a decent job with the narration, but as usual, I had to speed it up to reach a comfortable listening pace.
Content Warnings: a lot of talk of violence and rape. Nothing’s described in great detail, but there are quite a few really disturbing scenes, including one where a character dang near gets beaten to death on top of sexual abuse. Some language.
Conclusion:
If you like complicated tales of revenge and redemption, this is a candidate for you.
Audiobook Promotions …
Feb Promos on Audiobook Crave.com (requires email sign in):
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1)
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
(Alternately, the individual titles can be found on Audiobook Crave
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles on Audiobook Crave (but buried deep):
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
Jack Cunningham (Ben Afleck), has some hard life stuff happen to him, and doesn’t exactly cope with it well. He becomes a raging alcoholic. Then, he gets the chance to become the head coach for his alma matter, a Catholic high school.
Additional Comments:
The trailer focuses on the struggling alcoholic coaching the boys basketball team aspect and doesn’t really touch on the other family drama aspects.
The movie feels like it was based on a true story. I guess the generic plot is basic enough to be applicable to several people’s lives.
Ben Afleck’s performance was indeed stellar.
Humor (4/5): There isn’t much of it in here, but I enjoyed a few touches. The funniest part to me was Kenny’s punishment when it’s revealed that he’s a romantic player as well as a basketball one.
There are certainly some tear-worthy moments.
Plot (4/5): Predictable but satisfying all the same. Some parts dragged out, but it got the point across.
Ending (4/5): While not everything is tied up in a neat little bow by the end, you get the feeling that things are well on their way to a better track for Jack.
Content Warnings: Quite a few instances of adult language. I think the f-bomb is dropped 3 times in the first 3 minutes.
Conclusion:
I’m not really a huge fan of the genre, but I enjoyed the movie.
Audiobook Promotions …
If any of the links are broken (not sure what’s up with Audiobook Crave as of 3/7/20), please email me your interest in the book, I’ll see what codes are left.
Feb Promos on Audiobook Crave.com (requires email sign in):
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1)
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
(Alternately, the individual titles can be found on Audiobook Crave
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles on Audiobook Crave (but buried deep):
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
A girl with a rare blood disease (not sure it’s ever specified) has an imaginary friend.
Additional Comments:
The story has a short story feel, but it’s on the long side for that.
Narration was well done.
I think I heard a different story by Joseph Barone (Prestigium), and I liked that much better.
I believe much of the story was meant be an epic journey of self-discovery, but it kind of sounded like a cycle of kid feels ill, kid chats up her imaginary friend or vice versa, mother worries, father tries to build stuff to deal with his worry, and kid goes on dream adventures with the imaginary friend.
The grandfather had great presence for a side character. He might be my favorite side character.
The book’s point of view made it a tad difficult to follow the family relationships.
It’s been less than a week, and I don’t remember the kid’s name. Had to look it up. Lily Fiore is a pretty name.
The town names were a tad over the top in terms of symbolism: Lily used to live in Reverie. She now lives in Salvation.
Conclusion:
Ha, my main problem with the story might be in the blurb: the book is existential. This poor author has no idea of my history with that horrible existential book about a guy who’s a bug (The Metamorphosis). (Story ticked me off in high school.) Guess I’m just not wired for existential journey things. If you like that sort of thing, check this out. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it. I just don’t like the style.
Cover from Audible
Audiobook Promotions …
Feb Promos on Audiobook Crave.com (requires email sign in):
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1)
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)
Devya’s Children Series Links:
Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.
Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:
Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
(Alternately, the individual titles can be found on Audiobook Crave
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)
Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller
Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes
Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy
The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery
Other titles on Audiobook Crave (but buried deep):
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller
