MJG

ONE OF MY FAVORITE LISA KLEYPAS STORIES ... BUT ..

Revisado: 01-04-19

I adore ALL of Lisa Kleypas's historical romances. I think this is #2 right after "Dreaming of You" on my list of favorites. However ... the narrator pretty much ruined it for me. {{sigh}} Roslyn Landor did most of her other historicals ... and I wish she had narrated this one.

I've been looking for this title for AGES!! I don't understand why this one was never done before. I was happy to see it and listened to it, but the narrator rather ruined it for me.

Great story ... bad narrator.

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PAINFUL TO LISTEN TO ...

Revisado: 11-28-18

This is one of my very favorite Lisa Kleypas stories and have always wondered WHY it was eliminated from the series initially. I was so happy to see it available!! Woohoo!! Except ... the narration is terrible. I soldiered on ... but didn't enjoy it and never really got use to her voice. Chalk on a blackboard disturbing.

Don't know who chooses the narrator for these, but PLEASE go back to Rosalyn Landor!! I'd listen to her read the phone book, as they say.

Highly recommend the book ... just not this narrator.

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esto le resultó útil a 22 personas

MIGHT HAVE BEEN BETTER IF I JUST READ IT

Revisado: 08-17-16

This was a "just okay" story ... brought low by the narrator. I usually like Marie Force, but this one just didn't sit well with me.

And I definitely won't be purchasing more of the series. Holly Fielding has gone onto my "never purchase" list. Wow. The entire 9+ hours was done in such a hushed, boring monotone, I had a really hard time focusing my attention on the story. Dreadful.

NOT recommended.

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My First LH Cosway Story

Revisado: 07-14-16

I was so happy to see this on Audible, as it was the first book by LH Cosway that I read. SO unique and well done that I rushed to "follow" her (I assume it's a "her"!) so I didn't miss out on anything else she had written. I've since devoured all of her works and have never been disappointed.

I wish that more of Cosway's stories were on Audible! I'd definitely snap them up. As I said, so unique and well done. No cookie-cutter romance here!

My only complaint is the narrator. Viv / Nicholas is suppose to be from New Zealand but there was not even a _hint_ of a New Zealand accent. And so much of the story was pretty much just read to us in a monotone. Very disappointing.

Bad narrator notwithstanding ... highly recommended!

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Such a Disappointment!

Revisado: 01-21-16

I generally love Nilini Singh, but this story just kind of fell flat, for me. Nothing ever really _happens_!! You get to PART 2 (ooh, the excitement!) ... and then nothing ever really _happens._ Double disappointment. I loved Molly. I loved Fox. There just wasn't a story to go along with the characters.

The worst though — I generally also really like Justine O. Keef. Ummm ... Molly was suppose to be a Kiwi (as were her friends ...) Why no accent? None at all!! And when the scene shifted to Australia, the accent was there, but superbly AWFUL. (And I do mean laughable.) Authors, please hire narrators that can DO THE ACCENTS as you write them!!

Sorry ... can't recommend this one.

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Just Cannot Get "Into" It

Revisado: 11-27-15

I've tried five or six times to listen to this. Somewhere around chapter 5, I just lose interest and go to something that will hold my attention. As it has been said in other reviews, it really does appear to have been written for teens.

I really did try!

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"Partying Like It's 1885!" AND IT'S SO MUCH FUN!

Revisado: 06-02-15

Well, now ... I’ve tried watching reality shows on TV ... really, I have. Don’t like them. Period. However, Rosalind James is one of my favorite authors, so I thought I would give this book a try. Didn’t like it. Nope ... I LOVED it. I will admit that at first I got a little bit confused about who was who and who belonged with what other character, but once you got into the story, everything came together. (There is a list at the front of the ebook with all the characters and a bit about them, and that helped too. Go buy that first!)

You can get the synopsis of the story here and elsewhere, so I won’t get into that. I will say that I loved the burgeoning love interest between Myra and Gabe. Oh, Gabe! Can I have a Gabe? Ms. James writes such wonderful, upstanding heroes. They aren’t cookie-cutter and they are believable ... I guess that’s what makes them so wonderful. And her heroines, too. Just like real people and so relatable.

There were lots of characters to deal with, as I mentioned, but they were definitely NOT 2-dimensional, cookie-cutter characters. Each and every one of them seems real, with their own personalities and quirks and foibles. From the older gents and ladies (Stanley and Zara were absolute gems!) to the young crowd, every single one was limned perfectly.

I loved all the plotting and scheming; all the gardening, and cooking, and canning and plowing, and ... well, just all of it. I still don’t think I like the TV shows, but when the proceedings are playing out inside my head, it’s a whole different thing. I also learned something, so that’s a plus. (I never thought about using a hair pin to pit cherries. Now, if I could just find somewhere that sells hairpins! Ha!)

I do admit to being a tiny bit disappointed in the narrator, Emma Taylor. (I suspect that it’s just because I am so spoiled with Ms. James’s narrator for her “Escape to New Zealand” series, Claire Bocking. Claire is an _amazing_ narrator.) This reading was just rather lackluster and unemotional in comparison. Not awful, but any means ...just not stellar. I’ve only heard her doing an English accent previously and she’s quite good at that. But, a solid 4-stars from me, for this title.

[“I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own."]

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The Backstory We've Been Waiting For!

Revisado: 04-16-15

I’m not usually a fan of novellas (the longer the better for my preferences) but as a fan of the “Escape to New Zealand” series, this was just fine. Better than fine. =)

With this title, we (finally!) get the back-story of the ‘old married couple’ that have been the backbone of most of the EtNZ stories, Hemi and Reka. How they met, how they parted, how they almost didn’t get together the second time ... yeah, all that.

Hemi was a bit full of himself when he first met Reka, having just been chosen to play for the All Blacks. Reka was coming off a bad relationship and needed to feel attractive and wanted and ... well, made a bad decision, especially since Hemi never followed up, never stayed in touch. But a few months down the road, and maybe it wasn’t a bad decision, as Hemi is back and has decided that now he wants to be the kind of guy that ‘sticks.’ A good guy. A guy that wants an all-in kind of relationship. Well Reka has a bit more spine at this juncture and he’s just gonna have to prove a few things first. (Go, Reka!!)

I loved watching Hemi and Reka get to their ‘happily ever after,’ and you can see the people they have become in the later books, as well. I’m so glad we got to find how they started out.

Recommended? No doubt about it!

[I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.]

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Stories + Narrator = KEEP GETTING BETTER!

Revisado: 03-31-15

If you’ve read any of my other reviews for this series, you know that (like a lot of other readers) the stories really piqued my interest ... and now love ... of rugby. And prompted me to set up a “New Zealand Vacation” fund, as Rosalind really shows us how gorgeous En Zed is and instills a fervent curiosity about a lesser-known country. (I’m getting close, folks! Yay!!) I can’t think of any other audiobooks I’ve listened to (or books that I’ve read) that have inspired that sort of ‘fan-dom.”

This story begins with Hugh Latimer just having one heck of a time. He’s just broken his hand, which takes him out of the line-up playing rugby for the All Blacks for the Northern Tour. That’s bad. No, that’s awful! And to make everything worse, he has to play parent to his two younger half-siblings who have been recently orphaned, as his aunt has decided to take a break from her custodial duties and travel to her native England. Well, we do learn to love Hugh, but this guy is bordering on clueless. He’s lucky to get himself places on time, never mind Amelia’s ballet lessons, Charlie’s rugby practice and ... oh! don’t even mention the grocery shopping. And hoovering ... with a cast on. He’s expected to do the hoovering, too!?!? (That’s vacuuming, for all you Yanks.)

Well, it’s hard to sleep with a cast on ... never mind worrying about all the aforementioned stuff. So, early one morning, Hugh feels like he’s just gotten to sleep, but he’s awaken by the next-door-neighbor wailing at the top of her lungs. This is just too much and he isn’t going to stand for it! He’s either going to rescue the old bag or get her to shut up. Except ... it’s not the old bag. Hugh has a new neighbor.

Okay ... with a set-up like that, you’ve got to know what happens next, right? =) So, go spend your credit!

Our narrator is the very, very talented Claire Bocking. You’ve got to know that she’s good with an Audie nomination under her belt for her very first audiobook (“Just This Once.”) [Way to go, Claire!] She just keeps getting better and better with these “Escape to New Zealand” stories. She’s funny, she makes you cry, her timing is impeccable, you never have to guess who’s talking ... well, I could go on and on. Just know that she really adds to the story and she’s wonderful!

Recommended? ABSOLUTELY!!


[I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.]

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Narrator Really Detracted From the Story

Revisado: 03-19-15

I read this on my Kindle a long time ago, but I couldn't even remember the story-line. To me it was only so-so. What bothered me about the audiobook is ... well, she just pretty much read the story. You couldn't discern _who_ was speaking. There was no "acting" involved at all. Ms. Fielding has a very pleasant voice, but she's not suited to being an audiobook narrator.

I can see that a lot of people really liked this story, but it was just blah for me and the reader didn't elevate it at all.

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