Audiobooks

The Edge of the Earth by Christina Schwarz (Audiobook)

April 18, 2013 by Darlene

The Edge of the Earth by Christina Schwarz is a stunning portrayal of life spent living in a lighthouse on a lonely and isolated area in the cliffs above Port Lucia, California back in 1897. I listened to the audio version of The Edge of the Earth narrated by Candace Thaxton and she did a wonderful job. She brought out the feelings of isolation and the desolation of the lighthouse much more than I think I would have gotten through reading a paper copy. I would certainly love to hear more books narrated by her in the future.

Trudy is a young woman living in 1897 Milwaukee but she doesn’t want the standard life of getting married and living a comfortable life like her parents. She wants adventure and to experience life. So when she meets Oskar it’s no wonder that she is attracted to him and his free spirit. When Oskar accepts a post at the lighthouse Trudy thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to live a very different life although even she ends up being surprised by how different.

Life at the lighthouse also includes the Crawley family and their three kids and Mrs. Crawley wastes no time in telling Trudy that life will be very different from her previously privileged existence. Trudy though has a side to her that always seems to propel her forward and it isn’t long before she’s actually enjoying her life out there. She spends time collecting marine samples, teaching the children, and investigating rumours of a mermaid. Soon enough Trudy starts to question her marriage as Oskar becomes more distant and more obsessed. Ultimately Trudy uncovers secrets that force her to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.

Christina Schwarz has very vividly described how life would have been manning a lighthouse in the 1800’s and I found it fascinating. I can’t imagine living a life of isolation like that but at the same time I’m drawn to it. With the audio version of The Edge of the Earth I felt as though I was standing on the cliffs looking out on the sea and feeling the wind whip around me. It was so well done that between the excellent storyline and the great narration I very much enjoyed the little over eight hours I spent immersed and captivated by this story!

Reading Group Guide
Buy at: Simon & Schuster, Audible, and iTunes

Be sure to check out my giveaway for a giveaway copy (book only) of The Edge of the Earth!

Review copy provided by the Publisher. No compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg (audio) & Giveaway (US Only – book)

April 15, 2013 by Darlene

I have been a fan of Elizabeth Berg since I first read Talk Before Sleep. It was a novel that deeply touched my heart and her newest Tapestry of Fortunes has done the same thing. I was lucky enough to find the audio through my library and it was fantastically narrated by Barbara Caruso. I really enjoyed the tone of her voice and it made listening to this wonderful story very pleasurable. Tapestry of Fortunes is a novel of the beauty of friendship and of revisiting your past to change your future.

Tapestry of Fortunes follows four women starting with Cece who is a motivational speaker. After the loss of her best friend she decides she needs a change and sells her home and moves in with three other women in a beautiful old home where she can get back to gardening. Already living there is the divorced Lise who owns the house and is struggling in her relationship with her daughter. Then we have Renie who seems to have the brashest personality but hidden in her are reasons for the walls she puts up. Last we have Joni, a chef who loves to cook but is having a harder and harder time dealing with her boss at work. At first when these women come together it seems a rocky path but it isn’t long before they are sharing deep secrets and their hopes and dreams. When they decide to go on a road trip it is unlikely that the realize just how much it will change their lives.

I liked these women and especially the bond of friendship they formed with each other. I liked the idea of revisiting your past and being able to mend past mistakes. Nothing earth shattering happens but it doesn’t have to. The magic is in the quietness of the novel and in the love and hope there is for the future. I really enjoyed it and if you’re a fan if Elizabeth Berg’s writing then I’m sure it’ll be a winner for you too. For those who haven’t experienced her stories yet, you should. She really is a beautifully gifted author.

Elizabeth’s website

Order Tapestry of Fortunes: Random House, Amazon, Amazon Canada, B&N, and IndieBound

GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US only)

I have one copy of Tapestry of Fortunes (book form) by Elizabeth Berg to share with my readers. To enter…

For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
For 2 entries follow my blog. If you already do let me know so I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
Tweet, like on Facebook, or Blog for 3 entries.

This giveaway is open to US residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, April 27/13. Good luck!

Source: Audio version obtained through library.

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The Supernaturals by David L. Golemon (Audiobook)

March 28, 2013 by Darlene

The Supernaturals by David L. Golemon was so good and so creepy! What first attracted me was this fantastic cover! I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jeffrey Kafer and I think he had the perfect voice to tell this scary tale. I love a good haunted house story so this was a perfect choice for me. I will admit to listening to it one night though and not having the best sleep ever so after that I resorted to finishing it up during the day. It starts out with a bang that drags you right in and the thrills and chills keep on coming right up to the end of the book. It was great!

Gabriel Kennedy, a psychology professor, takes a group of his students to investigate an alleged haunted house called Summer Place. Things get out of hand and by the time all is said and done one of his students has gone missing. Of course Gabriel blames himself and his career ends up in a shambles. A few years later though he has a chance to go back to Summer Place and participate in a reality TV show that will be investigating the supposed ghostly hauntings. He really wants nothing to do with this and thinks it will end in nothing good but eventually agrees to participate.

Kelly is the producer of this highly popular ghost hunting TV series and she thinks that Summer Place will be the highlight of her career as she’s planning this event to broadcast live on Halloween night. For this to attract the audience she’s looking for though she needs Gabriel and is relieved to have him finally agree to come. She will do anything to make this show a success even to the point of setting things up but even she realizes quickly that Summer Place needs no help in the haunting department.

With everyone at Summer Place it isn’t long before the house comes alive once again feeding on people’s fears and this time it’s bent on destroying anything and everything. Gabriel along with his team The Supernaturals sets out, this time around, to find and destroy the evil that is Summer Place. The evil lurking in Summer Place is strong though and it knows that Gabriel’s team is a danger to it and will do anything to stop them.

This isn’t the type of book where you become attached to any characters or even relate to them. The whole appeal of the book is in the atmosphere of fear that it creates and this one excels at that. I love anything scary and this book freaked me out many times and I loved it. I do think the audio version really added to that because you get the ghostly voices and other such noises that go a long way in getting your heart beating a little faster. I really enjoyed this book and if you like to read or listen to creepy books you probably will to!

Source: Audiobook purchased by me.

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After the Rain by Karen White (Audiobook)

March 26, 2013 by Darlene

After thoroughly enjoying Falling Home by Karen White on audio (my review) I knew I wanted to listen to After the Rain as well despite having a review copy. There’s just something about an audiobook, especially one with a good narrator that really adds that extra special something to a good story. After the Rain was narrated by Meredith Orlow and she was great with the different voices and really bringing the emotions of the novel across to the audience. Often I find that a sequel doesn’t hold up to the first book but that’s not so in this case. After the Rain is a charming novel of hope and second chances and it was fantastic but then again I’ve come to expect nothing less from author Karen White.

Suzanne has been on her own since she was a teenager and now she’s on the run again. When she stops off in Walton, Georgia she has no intentions of staying but the community of Walton has a way of drawing a person into it and before long she finds herself being persuaded to stay a while. Her first encounter in Walton is with Joe Warner and it’s a memorable one especially as she makes a few blunders directed at his brood of six kids so needless to say they don’t get off on the right foot. However most of the people of Walton open their hearts to Suzanne and try as she might not to, she realizes that she is becoming very attached to a lot of them as well.

Suzanne hasn’t had much experience with children but she finds her heart going out to Joe’s kids especially his oldest daughter Maddie. Maddie is at a time in her life when not having a mother is really difficult but it’s not the only thing that brings the two together. Suzanne learns that Maddie loves to take pictures and wants to be a photographer much like Suzanne and she’s really talented too. Suzanne really wants to help her if she can and then of course there’s Joe and that undeniable attraction that the two of them have. Yet Suzanne can’t let herself fall into the trap that is Joe and the town of Walton – she just can’t. Plus she can’t risk hurting them and her heart at the same time. I’ll leave the story line there other than to say that that I loved how everything came together in this story as well as the unfolding of the little mystery of the necklace.

What I most loved about this book was getting to revisit the great people I first met in Falling Home. It was like getting together with old friends again and I loved every minute not to mention that Walton sounds like the absolute best place to live. The sense of family and community is so heartwarming. The characters are all great but one of my favorites has to be Ms. Lena. She’s one of the oldest ladies in Walton and her memory is far from the best most of the time but she’s absolutely hilarious with her romance novels and offhand remarks about hanky panky. You can’t help but love her to bits. I know I sure wouldn’t mind getting a chance to visit the fine folks of Walton again in the future! Once again I was wowed by the wonderful storytelling of Karen White and I’m now even more anxious to delve into her newest The Time Between which is due out this June!

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Falling Home by Karen White (Audiobook)

March 25, 2013 by Darlene

I am a huge fan of Karen White and I can’t believe it took me this long to read Falling Home but I can say that I absolutely loved it! I listened to the audio version narrated by Lyssa Browne and she does a fantastic job. Her tone and way of telling the story made me feel as though I was right there getting to know all the fine folks of Walton, Georgia. Karen White’s novels have a way of drawing me into the story from the first page and just not letting go. Falling Home is a novel that will bring laughter and tears but most of all it will remind you to treasure that which is important to you and that’s family and friends.

Cassie hasn’t spoken to her sister Harriet in fifteen years. Why you ask? Well it’s been fifteen years since her sister stole her fiance and married him herself. So at twenty years old Cassie packed up and left the only home she’d ever known in Walton, Georgia and moved herself to the big city of New York. She’s done well for herself too with a great career and a new fiance. All it takes though is one call from her sister telling her that her father is dying and Cassie knows that she has to make the trip back home to see him.

As she finds herself back in the sweltering heat of Walton and the ways of her people she can’t help but find herself being sucked back into life there. Of course there are her nieces and nephew, especially the eldest Maddie who so much like her that she has missed as well. It doesn’t hurt that her old childhood friend Sam is infuriatingly gorgeous and try as she might she can’t help but compare him to her fiance back in New York. As things heat up between them and Sam confesses his true feelings Cassie begins to reevaluate just what is important to her and what scares her the most is that it doesn’t at all point to that high powered job and gorgeous fiance of hers. Then, as events take a turn that Cassie could never have predicted, she knows that she must stay in Walton a little while longer.

This book is much more involved than what I’ve said here but to say more would ruin it for potential readers. Falling Home will take you on an emotional journey and this family will work it’s way into your heart so much so that you find yourself caring for them as if they were your own family. As always Karen’s novels are beautifully written and it is just that and her character development that manage to evoke such an emotional response from readers. You come away from this novel wanting to connect with those you love and telling them that you love them. It was an excellent book to listen to and I firmly think that it added so much more emotion for me listening to it. There is also a sequel which released recently called After the Rain and I’m listening to it now! Falling Home comes highly recommended by me as do all of Karen White’s books!

Source: Audiobook purchased by me.

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Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler (Audiobook)

March 21, 2013 by Darlene

Calling Me Home is the debut novel of Julie Kibler and what a fantastic book this was for me and I loved it! I listened to the audio version which was narrated by Bahni Turpin and Lorna Raver and boy did these two ever bring this story alive! Calling Me Home is an incredibly emotional novel of old family secrets, friendship, and forbidden love that will grab your heart and not let go. I was pulled in from the very first page and I laughed and cried my way through this amazing book – be sure to have some tissues at hand!

Dorrie has been doing eight-nine year old Isabelle’s hair for more years than she can count and over these years the two have become close. Still Dorrie is surprised when Isabelle asks her to go on a road trip with her to attend a funeral in Cincinnati but she cares about Isabelle, and with issues of her own at home that she’d like to get away from for a few days, agrees to take her. Little does Dorrie know that this journey with Isabelle will be one that changes both of their lives.

Isabelle grew up in Kentucky in the 1930’s. She was a headstrong girl with opinions of her own and a will to do what she wanted. As was common in the 30’s in Kentucky her family employed a black housekeeper whose son and daughter also did chores around the home. What wasn’t common at all was the young Isabelle falling in love with their housekeeper’s son Robert and he with her. This was a town that wasn’t tolerant of black people at all to the point of not allowing them out after dark. Isabelle wasn’t like that and her only dream was to marry Robert and have a family with him and she acts on those desires. The two of them risk everything to be together but of course it’s not meant to be and Isabelle is torn from Robert in a most terrible way. Her love for him though never dies and neither do the secrets that stem from their relationship…

Dorrie will admit to always having been curious about Isabelle’s past as it’s not something that Isabelle has readily shared so when Isabelle starts telling Dorrie about events in her past she is all ears and what she learns is enough to make her heart go out to this woman even more. With the novel alternating between the 1930’s in Kentucky to the present, Isabelle shares her journey through life with Dorrie and in the process helps Dorrie to sort out her own troubles with being a single parent and learning to trust and open her heart to love once again.

I don’t want to say much about Isabelle’s story because it really is one that needs to be experienced by the reader. I will say that her story broke my heart as did the reasons for it in the first place. I believe people – no matter their race or religion, or anything else that makes them supposedly different – are all the same. Whenever I read books that show the intolerance that people had and even now still have against others angers me. It makes me sad because our world would be a much more peaceful and happy one if acceptance was encouraged instead of intolerance. What I admired most about Isabelle was her belief that all people were the same and for her willingness to open her heart to people no matter what their race was.

Calling Me Home is truly a novel you don’t want to miss whether you read it or listen to it as I did. It will leave an imprint on your heart and it’s not a story to soon be forgotten as you move on to the next book. I finished listening to it a few weeks ago and can still clearly feel the emotions I experienced while listening to Isabelle’s story. I’m in awe of Julie’s storytelling ability and her knack for giving us characters that so truly and deeply make their way into our hearts. Even though the novel is quite sad at times, it is a beautiful novel well worth reading that will haunt you long after you turn the final page!

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