Audiobooks

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins (Audiobook)

September 24, 2015 by Darlene

In a Nutshell

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins is a heart warming and wonderful novel. It’s a novel of sisters and the bond they share, family secrets, and the joys and triumphs of everyday life.

Audio Thoughts

When a novel is narrated by two of my favorite narrators how could I not be excited. If You Only Knew is narrated by Xe Sands and Amy Rubinate and I’ve listened to both ladies many times. They are fantastic in bringing their characters lives and emotions to the reader in such a realistic way that you feel that you are a part of the story they are telling. These two were excellent choices for this book!

Reflections

Jenny designs wedding dresses and has so much passion for it and yet her personal life is lagging. She’s divorced but still a part of her ex’s life. He’s remarried and with a new baby and while they always try to make her a part of their lives she’s come to realize that this isn’t the best way for her to move forward with her own life. So Jenny makes the move back to her hometown where she can spend more time with her sister Rachel and hopefully make a new life for herself…maybe with her gorgeous landlord. Then there is Rachel who seems to have it all. The perfect marriage, triplets, a beautiful home – everything Jenny wants. However appearances can be deceiving and Rachel finds her perfect life crumbling because of a cheating husband and her indecision on whether to keep him or not. Jenny’s opinion is to throw him to the wolves but Jenny has been keeping a secret of her own … for a very long time.

Fancy It or Not

I really enjoyed this audiobook. Of course fantastic narrators help but a story has to be good too and this one is. While I was more than occasionally frustrated with both Jenny and Rachel I still loved them both and the bond they shared was enviable. Recommended for fans of women’s fiction and book clubs – between children, family, divorce, and infidelity – there is certainly no shortage of topics for discussion.

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Source: Digital review copy provided by the publisher. Audiobook personal copy. No compensation was received.

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Finders Keepers by Stephen King (Audiobook)

September 23, 2015 by Darlene

In a Nutshell

Having listened to Mr. Mercedes a while back I knew that I had to listen to Finders Keepers as well and I was quite literally entranced. Stephen King has a way of telling a story that captures his audience and doesn’t let go. I adore his books and listening to them just adds to the overall creepiness for me. Finders Keepers brings back a familiar trio from Mr. Mercedes and once again they set about trying to solve a mystery before a crazed killer can continue to terrorize everything in his path.

Audio Thoughts

Will Patton narrates Finders Keepers and he does a phenomenal job. I think he’s perfect for King novels. He adds a lot of drama but it never feels overdone and he’s great with distinguishing different characters and such. He’s a favorite of mine and when I see he is the narrator I smile because I know I’m going to enjoy the story even more.

Reflections

In the opening of the novel we have Morris, a man obsessed with an author and upset with said author for not writing a story as he thought he should. He robs him and comes out with never before published journals and a lot of cash – he also ends up in jail for something else. Upon getting out years later he heads for the spot where he had hidden his booty only to find it gone and it’s gone because a young boy, Peter, had found it. The money runs out over the years and Peter is left with the journals and he knows they are worth a pretty penny but he can’t figure out how to sell them without being found out. It isn’t long though before the criminal and the boy’s lives intertwine and danger lurks at every turn. Throw in our trio of Hodges, Jerome, and Holly (who I love) and the tension really heats up. I could not stop listening – at all!

Fancy It or Not

Absolutely loved it! I wouldn’t say this book falls into horror really. It’s more a crime thriller I think but either way it was fantastic and the audio production couldn’t be better. There’s one more book to come and I for one can’t wait to get my hands – or my ears – on it! Highly recommended for King fans or anyone who enjoys a good crime thriller.

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Buy: Simon & Schusster, Audible

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. No compensation was received.

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Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey & Giveaway (US/Canada)

September 22, 2015 by Darlene

In a Nutshell

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey is a beautiful debut novel that is actually based on a real abandoned apartment in Paris. With its blend of history, romance, mystery, and let’s not forget the magical setting of Paris this book is sure to please readers. Seriously who wouldn’t want to inherit a Belle Époque apartment in the ninth arrondissement? I know I would!

Audio Thoughts

This is a wonderful audiobook narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith who is one of my favorite narrators. Any book I’ve listened to that she’s narrated has been so well done and Paris Time Capsule is no different. She really captured the ‘feel’ of Paris for me.

Reflections

Cat Jordan is a photographer just about to set out on her life with her boyfriend. That is until she receives a package in the mail from Paris and learns that she has inherited the estate of a Isabelle de Florian, a complete stranger to her. Completely mystified she travels to Paris and finds that she has inherited an abandoned Belle Époque apartment in the ninth arrondissement and it’s in perfect order. However upon speaking to Isabelle’s family Cat finds that she just can’t accept someone else’s inheritance like this even though they insist she does. Instead she sets out to find out who Isabelle de Florian was, why she abandoned the apartment, and why she would ever leave the apartment to Cat instead of her own family. As Cat explores more she finds that maybe her life in New York wasn’t all that she thought it was. What she knows is that she needs to figure out just what it is she wants for her future.

Fancy It or Not

I loved this book especially in audio. Books that take place in Paris always hold an attraction for me and this one had such a great story to go along with it about the actual true story of an abandoned apartment. The author does a wonderful job of blending history and fiction in a story I know will enchant readers as it did me. Highly recommended!

Other tour stops with TLC Book Tours
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Buy: Amazon, Audible

GIVEAWAY – OPEN TO US & CANADIAN RESIDENTS
1 copy up for giveaway
*CLICK HERE* and fill out the form to enter
Draw Date October 7/15

Source: Digital review copy provided by the publisher. Audiobook personal copy. No compensation was received.

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The Only Ones by Carola Dibbell (Audiobook)

September 21, 2015 by Darlene

In a Nutshell

The Only Ones by Carola Dibbell is a novel that takes place in a post-pandemic world. It is a novel about surviving in a very different world where diseases rage through communities and the fate of the human race is in question as fertility is highly compromised. It is a unique look at a dystopian world and the ways and lengths that people will go just to make it through another day.

Audio Thoughts

Fantastic. The book is read by Sasha Dunbrooke and she does a beyond awesome job. She truly brought this story and its characters to life!

Reflections

Inez, the narrator of our story, is one of those rare people who are immune to all the diseases. Because she is immune she offers herself up as a test subject to make money to survive day to day. She’s hired one day to provide genetic material to another woman who desperately wants a child but in the end the client changes her mind and Inez is left with the child – a child who is essentially a clone of herself. The book then follows Inez and Ani as Inez does everything within her power to give Ani the life she herself never had while, at the same time, always struggling never to reveal just what Ani actually is. I loved this about Inez since she really never knew love herself yet tried in every way to show Ani how much she meant to her.

Fancy It or Not

I did indeed really like this book. It’s unique because yes it’s a dystopian world but the author took a different approach with it being a world so ruined by disease. While the story was a little slow to start for me when it took off I could not stop listening to it and I was completely drawn into this world so different from the one we have, yet really not so unbelievable as to think it could never happen. Recommended for fans of dystopian fiction!

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Author links: Website
Buy: ListenUp Audiobooks, Audible

Source: Audiobook provided by ListenUp Audiobooks for an honest review. No compensation was received.

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The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs by Matthew Dicks (Audiobook)

September 17, 2015 by Darlene

In a Nutshell

A She Reads Books of Fall Selection…

Caroline Jacobs is a wife, mother, and a complete pushover … until one day she bursts out with a not so nice four letter word in the middle of a school meeting stunning everyone especially her husband and daughter. This wonderful novel is about a woman trying to reinvent herself and her relationship with her teenage daughter by delving into her past.

Reflections

When Caroline finally speaks up it leaves her remembering all the times in her past that she didn’t. The one incident that Caroline feels has impacted her life all the way to adulthood was when she was a teenager and she was humiliated and deserted by her so called best friend. Now, more than twenty years later, Caroline feels the need to confront this friend and she decides to take her daughter along on the road trip. While Caroline is trying to sort out her feelings and her past and figure out what the perfect comeback to her old friend should be her daughter is keeping busy at every turn showing her mother how it should be done or even slyly doing it behind her back.

Did I Fancy It or Not

I really enjoyed this audio (length 7 hrs, 17 mins) narrated by Cynthia Hopkins who does a fantastic job with both the characters and the story. This book shows us how bullying has effects that last well into adulthood and many times shape who we are. I also liked the mother/daughter aspect of this novel and how they were able to begin to build a new relationship together. I think this is a perfect book club selection with lots to talk about. Highly recommended!

Check out the thoughts of other She Reads Members
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Buy: Audible, Amazon

Source: Digital review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. Audiobook personal copy. No compensation was received.

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The Uninvited by Cat Winters

August 19, 2015 by Darlene

The Uninvited by Cat Winters is a haunting and powerful novel of love in unexpected places, of loss, and of moving forward. I was swept to another time and place in this novel that is set during the time period of The Great Influenza of 1918.

Twenty-five year old Ivy has always had the ability to see the ghosts of loved ones. It’s a gift she dreads as these appearances of ghosts are always uninvited and always signal the death of someone to come. With the flu epidemic raging Ivy is struck down but she pulls through. Upon being well enough to get out of bed Ivy is horrified to learn that her father and brother have killed a young German man in town apparently to avenge the death of Ivy’s brother.

Ivy can’t live in the same house with her father and brother anymore so she leaves home. She’s shocked to see how much devastation the flu has caused. Finding lodging with May, a young war widow, Ivy struggles to get her life in order. First on her list is to somehow make amends to the living brother of the one that her brother and father killed. Aside from that she works relentlessly with the Red Cross to transport the sick to the hospital. Ivy is shocked to see the hatred towards the Germans in her community and it seems nobody is safe anymore. Still she finds that she is drawn to the murdered German’s brother and she decides to live life as she wants since there may not be a tomorrow. Unfortunately Ivy begins to see more and more of the uninvited and she’s terrified for those close to her waiting for another to die…but there are secrets being kept. Secrets that have the power to change everything for Ivy.

This story is greatly enriched by all the historical elements. Being a historical fiction fan I really appreciated that side of the story and being a fan of the paranormal that side of the story intrigued me as well. So The Uninvited was a winner for me and the twist at the end had the power to surprise even me who usually has everything figured out. I listed to the audiobook which is narrated by Emily Woo Zeller who does a fantastic job. I really enjoyed listening to her and the effort she put into really bringing out the power and emotion of this tale were great.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction/ghost stories. I loved it, so much so that I already picked up a couple more of the author’s novels. Highly recommended!

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Buy: Amazon, B&N, IndieBound, Audible

Source: Digital copy received from the publisher in return for an honest review. Audiobook personal copy. No compensation was received.

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