#audiobookreview – Page 14 – Rosepoint Publishing

Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Book Blurb:

With everyone onboard harboring dark secrets and at least one person determined to make sure the airship doesn’t make the return trip, Flight of Dreams gives an utterly suspenseful, heart-wrenching explanation for one of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century.

On the evening of May 3, 1937, Emilie Imhof boards the Hindenburg. As the only female crew member, Emilie has access to the entire airship, from the lavish dining rooms and passenger suites to the gritty engine cars and control room. She hears everything, but with rumors circulating about bomb threats, Emilie’s focus is on maintaining a professional air…and keeping her own plans under wraps.

What Emilie can’t see is that everyone – from the dynamic vaudeville acrobat to the high-standing German officer – seems to be hiding something.

Giving free rein to countless theories of sabotage, charade, and mishap, Flight of Dreams takes us on the thrilling three-day transatlantic flight through the alternating perspectives of Emilie; Max, the ship’s navigator, who is sweet on her; Gertrud, a bold female journalist who’s been blacklisted in her native Germany; Werner, a 13-year-old cabin boy with a bad habit of sneaking up on people; and a brash American who’s never without a drink in his hand. Everyone knows more than they initially let on, and as the novel moves inexorably toward its tragic climax, the question of which of the passengers will survive the trip infuses every scene with a deliciously unbearable tension.

With enthralling atmospheric details that immediately transport and spellbinding plotting that would make Agatha Christie proud, Flight of Dreams will keep you guessing till the last minute. And, as The New York Times Book Review said of her last novel, “This book is more meticulously choreographed than a chorus line. It all pays off”.

My Review:

The best part of this audiobook was the authenticity of characters the author brought to her fiction account of what might have actually happened to set off the Hindenburg in a fiery explosion that crashed to the ground within thirty seconds. Of the ninety-seven persons aboard, there were sixty-two survivors, among whom were two boys named Werner, eight years (a passenger) and fourteen years (the cabin boy). The two dogs did not survive.

With the possible exception of today’s school children, is there anyone not familiar with the story of this amazing 1937 German sixteen-story hydrogen blimp that burned into a molten heap in a field in New Jersey?

The real reason for the explosion was never determined, however, theorizing a possible leaking gas cell.

That’s okay, as this riveting narrative captures people from the original passengers and crew and creates a possible scenario and a fascinating read. Atmospheric—of course. It cruised at an altitude of 650 feet but could reach about 1500 feet if needed and the descriptions of the interior, not just passenger areas, but crew quarters and engine compartments are detailed.

The author used passenger and crew names and if they survived in real life, they survived in her book.

Interesting to have the POVs of the main characters, their reason for being on the ship, hopes, and dreams. The cabin boy is especially engaging, as is a young woman attendant (the first on a dirigible). Not all are sympathetic and the suspicions, tensions ramp up with each chapter and each new POV.

The storyline as it progresses into the climax takes on a frenetic pace, particularly after the initial explosion. Heart in throat, it’s hoped one of your favorite characters (or person in real life) survives.

And it’s amazing any did. Sixty-two (twenty-three passengers, thirty-nine crewmen).

Hindenburg disaster - photo courtesy Wikipedia — Photo courtesy Wikipedia

I applaud the research that went into the book and loved the epilogue that explained many more details and specific reasons for the way she spun the novel. Whether you’re a fan of historical fiction or not, this is a gripping book, the examination of a zeppelin airship, its attempt to land following a local thunderstorm, and the reason why it was filled with highly flammable hydrogen. The Hindenburg disaster “marked the abrupt end of the airship era.”*

My second audiobook by this author, as good as the first The Frozen River. You can’t go wrong with either. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Thrillers, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B01AO8KUPM
Listening Length: 12 hrs 40 mins
Narrator: John Lee
Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Flight of Dreams [Amazon]

The Author: Ariel Lawhon is a critically acclaimed, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. She is the author of THE WIFE THE MAID AND THE MISTRESS, FLIGHT OF DREAMS, I WAS ANASTASIA and CODE NAME HELENE. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been Good Morning America, Library Reads, Indie Next, One Book One County, Amazon Spotlight, Costco, and Book of the Month Club selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. She splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

#ThhrowbackThursday

*Courtesy Wikipedia

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger – #AudiobookReview – #HistoricalFiction

Best Books of the Year 2023

Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2023)

Book Blurb:

On Memorial Day in Jewel, Minnesota, the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. The investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.

Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

My Review:

Oh my goodness. It’s a heavy one, this novel.

Memorial Day in the 50s in Jewel, Minnesota was several lifetimes ago. Men who returned from WWII and the recent Korean conflict are still working through their PTSD difficulties, assimilation back into society. It was a decade of violent memories, intolerance, and prejudices, and in this little community, as most, those who exploit and reap the spoils.

Main character Sheriff Brody Dern is one of the local decorated war heroes. Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran another but he returned with a Japanese wife who was recently fired by the Quinns before her employer, wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the river. While there is not a lot of loss felt by the residents, they immediately suspect Bluestone.

Many support characters among the well-developed main characters create a multi-layered picture of the townspeople, struggles, and dynamics. From bold, colorful depictions of the area to the emotions, tempers, and prejudices of the people, the storyline captures the suspense and tension of the investigation.

Certainly there are themes of discrimination and intolerance as well as the foil in the young boys subplot to throw the reader off. More than one twist here but all roads lead to a satisfactory conclusion and in the meantime, a study of human nature in the prose provides thoughtful reflection.

The author penned an immersive story with engaging characters—but you may have to hang in there long enough to enjoy it.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mysteries
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN-10: ‎ 198217921X
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1982179212
ASIN: B0BW1YTM96
Listening Length: 13 hrs 33 mins
Narrator: CJ Wilson
Publication Date: September 5, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: The River We Remember [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last five novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

“Ordinary Grace,” his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. “Manitou Canyon,” number fifteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in September 2016. Visit his website at http://www.williamkentkrueger.com.

Enjoy Your Sunday!

The Wager by David Grann – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Winner for Best History & Biography (2023)
Amazon Charts #11 this week

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

But then … six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang.

The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.

My Review:

Can a non-fiction historical book be as exciting and fast-paced as an action and adventure fiction novel? Yes!

This is a heavily researched, graphically detailed, narrative of the 1741 British warship that set out on a secret mission at a time when they were engaged in a war with Spain. Believed to have been sunk in a horrific storm off Patagonia, of the eighty-one original survivors of the sinking, thirty survivors washed up on the shores of Brazil followed six months later by three additional survivors in Chile.

Members of the crew lived in deplorable conditions, some shanghaied on board, only to face sleeping quarters consisting of filthy closely hung hammocks strung from rafters under the deck, contaminated water, rotting or little food and supplies. They endured disease, vermin, infections, and scurvy—the latter of which could have been alleviated had they simply taken on board citrus from an island stop.

The men who eventually made land, some 3,000 miles from their original castaway location were skeletal and near death. They had survived storms on their little Gerry-rigged boat, treacherous currents, lack of nautical location, thirst, cold, and starvation.

What glues the reader to the fast-paced, incredible journey are the little details, the stories of many of the colorful individuals who made up the crew, including the grandfather of the later acclaimed Lord Byron, then 14 years old. Facts regarding the ships, the jargon, and the beautifully described storms have your heart pounding and holding your breath repeatedly.

The survivors struggle with a division of sentiments as to how to proceed and tears at the fabric widen still further. There is deceit, treachery, theft, mutiny, and not wholly unexpected, murder.

When finally back in England, both sides tell very different stories.

The narrator on the audiobook (who does an amazing job) puts the reader squarely in the middle of the men, hanging on for dear life to the lines in raging seas or on the shipwreck island where food is gone and all resources (including native support) has been exhausted. It’s easy to become invested in many of the main characters, and to an extent support characters, and feel their loss if/when they succumb to conditions.

The author brilliantly builds the suspense, amps up the tension, while slipping in small tidbits of history. It’s true with many of these stories, rich in the telling, astonishing tales of human endurance. Sometimes, you just can’t make this stuff up.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Maritime History & Piracy, Great Britain History
Publisher: Random House Audio
ISBN-10: ‎ 0385534264
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0385534260
ASIN: B0B9T7F9RR
Listening Length: 8 hrs 28 min
Narrator: David Grann, Dion Graham
Publication Date: April 18, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links: The Wager [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK #1 Best Seller in Maritime Archaeology
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: DAVID GRANN is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine. He is the author of the critically acclaimed books “The Wager,” “The Lost City of Z,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the author of “The White Darkness” and the collection “The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession.” His book “Killers of the Flower Moon” was recently adapted into a film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro. Several of his other stories, including “The Lost City of Z” and “Old Man and the Gun,” have also been adapted into major motion pictures. His investigative reporting and storytelling have garnered several honors, including a George Polk Award and an Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Rosepoint Recommended-5 Stars

Being Henry by Henry Winkler – #AudiobookReview – Actor & Entertainer Biographies

The Fonz . . . and Beyond

Best Biographies & Memoirs

Winner for Best Humor (2023)

Rosepoint Rating: Five (BIG) Stars

Book Blurb:

This program is read by the author.

“Kindhearted and approachable Winkler shines in his narration of his memoir commemorating 50 years of showbiz work…An engaging and endearing memoir by a genuine Hollywood treasure whose work spans generations.”—Library Journal

From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole.

Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.

Since the glorious era of Happy Days fame, Henry has endeared himself to a new generation with roles in such adored shows as Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and Barry, where he’s been revealed as an actor with immense depth and pathos, a departure from the period of his life when he was so distinctly typecast as The Fonz, he could hardly find work.

Filled with profound heart, charm, and self-deprecating humor, Being Henry is a memoir about so much more than a life in Hollywood and the curse of stardom. It is a meaningful testament to the power of sharing truth and kindness and of finding fulfillment within yourself.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

My Review:

I love it when a well-known actor writes and narrates his own memoir. Who better to do “the Fonz” than Henry Winkler? So, yes, I was near that generation when it was easy to identify with that crowd, his character being iconic—the perfect “greaser.”

I was a fan before I listened to his self-deprecating audiobook; a bigger fan now. The man turned a type-cast character into the amazing role of a generous human being. His success actually becomes good for others.

As a cruelly dyslexic child of German Jewish parents who expected so much more from their son and never let him forget their disappointment, he managed to plod along with his ambitions and eventually do quite well with it. He finished high school and went on to Emerson College, eventually Yale.

Rather penurious, he carefully saved his money until he had $1,000 saved to go to Hollywood, as he was told that if he wanted to be known in the theatre, he could stay in New York but if he wanted to be known in the world, he’d need to move to LA. So, he did. And he stayed with friends, used their telephones, but managed to get a job within a week. You know where that led.

It was indeed difficult to emerge from the Fonz to play other parts, but he began to find those opportunities as well. He met his future wife, Stacy, with whom he has now been married for close to fifty years. He began writing books, collaborating on children’s books (thirty-nine), many about dyslexia. He and his wife work with troubled children and he has given “hundreds of these talks.”

He enjoys gardening—yeah—started with a descendant of the spider plant his aunt smuggled out of Germany. And dogs? He frequently spoke lovingly about his dogs. There is almost no industry name familiar to you that he hasn’t met, worked with, or counts as friends—and that includes Ron Howard, the lead, who he quickly eclipsed as the favorite on Happy Days.

So many stories. Such a storyteller!

And, you know, I might have sneered and said, oh come on, toot your horn some more. But I’m listening to his voice, and he sounds authentic, vulnerable, honest, kind, and sincere. His wife joins him in narrating a few short anecdotes and it’s interesting to note she’s a cancer survivor.

The man paid his dues—in spades. The audiobook is delightful; a road down memory lane of an amazing career. It’s fun, informative, immersive, and extremely entertaining. His success becomes a vehicle for the good he does, particularly for troubled children.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts. Wholly recommended!

Book Details:

Genre: Actor & Entertainer Biographies, Biographies of Celebrities & Entertainment Professionals, Memoirs
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0BX7DW8LM
Listening Length: 9 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Henry Winkler
Publication Date: October 31, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links: Being Henry [Amazon]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Henry Winkler is an actor, producer and director. He is probably most famous for his role as the Fonz in the 1970s US television sitcom, Happy Days. But if you ask him what he is most proud of, he would say, “Writing the Hank Zipzer books with my partner, Lin Oliver.”

Henry Winkler will celebrate 50 years of success in Hollywood this year and continues to be in demand as an actor, producer, and director. He co-stars as acting teacher Gene Cousineau on the hit HBO dark comedy, Barry. For this role, he won his first Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy as well as two Television Critics Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he was cast in 1973 in the iconic role of Arthur Fonzarelli, aka “The Fonz,” in the TV series Happy Days. During his 10 years on the popular sitcom, he won two Golden Globe Awards, was nominated three times for an Emmy Award and was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In recent years, Winkler appeared in a number of series, including Medical Police, Arrested Development, Children’s Hospital, Royal Pains, New Girl, and Parks and Recreation. He is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous children’s books, including Alien Superstar, A Trilogy andHank Zipzer the World’s Greatest Under-Achiever, a 28-book series inspired by Winkler’s own struggle with learning challenges. Of all the titles he has received, the ones he relishes most are husband, father and grandfather. Winkler and his wife, Stacey, have three children, Jed, Zoe and Max, and six grandchildren. They reside in Los Angeles with their two dogs.

Happy (Audiobook) Thursday

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon – #AudiobookReview – #HistoricalFiction

in Historical Fiction

Book Blurb:

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

My Review:

I love it when an audiobook hooks immediately. So hard to put that earbud down! This novel tells the story of Martha Ballard, an early eighteenth-century midwife, who (unusually) not only reads and writes (and thinks for herself!), but has also been educated in medical conditions as well as local herbal tinctures.

Now in her fifties, she has successfully delivered hundreds of babies, not losing one baby or mother by malpractice. So as her reputation precedes her, it is not entirely unusual for her to be called to the scene of a suspicious death to render a forensic opinion of a man found frozen in the Kennebec River. Most jump to what might be the obvious cause of death, but Martha notices a number of issues that would point otherwise.

Her opinion was immediately countered by a young male doctor new to the village with little experience and less competence. His narcissistic ego is disagreeable and creates a strong antagonist sure to be reviled.

I was really taken with Martha. She is intelligent, thoughtful, kind, as well as strong-willed and independent. She has, from the beginning, kept a diary detailing her practice, including births, deaths, and callouts, and the diary becomes a historical record of the woman and her accomplishments.

“Like all mothers, I have long since mastered the art of nursing joy at one breast and grief at the other.”

She befriended and treated many women assaulted or bullied at the hands of husbands or others who at the time thought of women as little more than chattel. She recently treated a rape victim who decided to prosecute the men involved causing a huge uproar in the village and surrounds and, again, in opposition to the new doctor. I often wondered how she managed to protect herself facing her own husband’s lack of protection with his absences.

So many laws then weighed heavily against the female populace, rules and regulations that kept her impotent to even testify unless her husband was present.

The book evokes an atmosphere that chillingly cloaks the people and the village in suspicion and mistrust. It’s winter, everyone seeking protection from the elements, closed in, lack of communication except for gossip and hearsay. The simplest tasks are taken to monumental proportions to accomplish. Martha sacrifices over and over her own security, warmth, and protection in her calls from patients. At this point in her life, she and her long-standing husband have only one child left in the home. I wondered more than once how she survived, admiring her courage especially at that time in history given her oppositional stance in the rape trial.

The author shared her discovery of the woman, her diaries, and beautifully blended fact with fiction. Most of her diary entries were simple and didn’t elaborate, but remarkable in the decades covered bestowing knowledge to those who came after.

It was well-plotted and fast-paced with an amazing MC. Obviously, lots of research! But I wondered if it pushed disbelief regarding the latitude given her. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Fiction, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0BXK3SRBL
Listening Length: 15 hrs 5 mins
Narrator: Ariel Lawhon, Jane Oppenheimer
Publication Date: December 5, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Frozen River [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Happy Thursday

Bayou Beloved by Lexi Blake – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Butterfly Bayou #6

Book Blurb:

When a woman returns home to Louisiana’s Butterfly Bayou, her high school crush finally notices she exists, in a small-town contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.

Quaid Havery always planned to follow in his father’s footsteps. He went to law school and then came home to take over his dad’s legal practice. Being the only lawyer in small-town Papillon, Quaid is pretty sure he’s seen everything. After all, he was once asked to sue an alligator for defamation of character. He’s prepared for anything the town can throw at him, until he encounters Jayna Cardet. She’s gorgeous, smart, funny, and unlike any woman he’s met before….Except he has.

Jayna never thought she’d return to Papillon, but when her life gets turned around she must learn to live in the close-knit community again. She certainly never dreamed she would practice law in her little town, but she finds herself in the courtroom, and the opposing counsel is her former high school crush, Quaid. It wouldn’t be so bad if the man had developed a beer belly, but Quaid is more handsome than ever. And instead of ignoring her like he did in high school, he’s made it plain that he wants to get to know her.

Thus begins a courtship destined to end in a wedding or a war. Either way, the locals are popping some corn and eagerly awaiting the outcome.

My Review:

Another case for biting on the book because of the cover—a dog, of course. Still, once again I’d appreciate some kind of warning re content.

This is the MC moving back to her hometown of Papillon after her escape and vow never to return trope, including the old crush now looking just as fine as before, except that this time he’s looking back.

Jayna Cardet lived on the wrong side of the tracks but managed to go to law school. When she comes back to the small southern town, she discovers she’s on the other side of the courtroom from ex-crush, Quaid Havery, who was the only lawyer in town until she moved back. Her move is meant to be temporary. (She fled a high-powered firm in NY following a messy divorce.)

Of course, his childhood circumstances were better financially and he’s now enjoying a successful life in a town where he was born, grew up, and knows everyone. It’s a cushy life.

The small town setting is typical, everyone knows everyone and their business. Gossip is the major recreation and it makes for some interesting support characters. In addition to discovering they are opposing counsel, they also discover a contentious and steamy sparks-flying relationship.

Besides the case each is handling, both have major family issues and when they aren’t steaming up the windows, enjoy a lot of pillow talk. Having gotten his or her side of the problem, the other can view it dispassionately and share unbiased, helpful thoughts.

The case they are opposing is a hoot and probably what kept me reading despite the romance description that goes from Hallmark to X-rated pretty quick. Nooo, I don’t need the graphic details—I have an imagination—let me use it instead. Also, I got a little tired of her whining about how her plans were to leave town. Poor baby.

So, yes, if you enjoy hot and heavy in a fairly predictable storyline, you’ll enjoy this contemporary romance. The lawsuit is almost worth it. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
ASIN: B0BLJ87BFW
Listening Length: 8 hrs 53 mins
Narrator: Jessica Almasy
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Bayou Beloved [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.

For more information about her books, her appearances, and her wacky life, visit her Facebook page at AuthorLexiBlake.

Audiobooks! Listen, Not Read, the Most Recent #NYTimesBestseller #TuesdayBookBlog

#Audiobooks

It’s always a challenge to find a good audiobook and I must admit to choosing and getting fifteen minutes into the narration only to find I can’t stand the narrator, the pace, or the rude, crude, and socially unacceptable (at least to my generation) dialogue.

The good news is that my audiobooks (almost without exception) are downloaded from my local library and I’m neither required to review nor explain why I dnf’d it. The best part is that they can be enjoyed in the car, in your ear at the store, or in the kitchen on that little portable speaker.

So, to my surprise, trying to choose a book for my regular Thursday audiobook post, discovered I had a number of audiobooks backlogged to review (or not). Those I did finish ranged from literary fiction, crime fiction, police procedurals, medical, and legal thrillers, coming of age, to cozy mysteries.

Yeah, I even surprised myself.

I’ll go ahead and mention that of these seven, my favorite would be Michael Connelly’s The Crossing. The man can write—and never fails to capture and keep my attention. Still, you may find one here that captures your attention. I hope you do, so here, in no particular order:

The Keepsake: A Rizzoli and Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen. Rizzoli being a Boston homicide detective, Isles a medical examiner, are off on the mystery of what appears to be the switch of a recent body with that of a mummy in a local museum. This novel released in September, 2008 by Random House Audio and narrated by Deirdre Lovejoy is deemed a medical and forensic thriller. And btw, Rizzoli & Isles also happens to be a drama TV series that appeared between 2010-2016 starring Angie Harmon as Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Dr. Maura Isles. While I enjoyed to an extent, I did find my mind wandering a bit, but it is a unique storyline and I always appreciate medical and legal thrillers. 4 stars

I just read The Spy Coast by this author, her new series The Martini Club.

Silent Night, Deadly Night: A Year-Round Christmas Mystery, Book 4 by Vicki Delany. My annual bow to a Christmas cozy. Yes, I got it because of the promise of a dog, a Saint Bernard, on the cover. And he is included in the storyline. It’s categorized as an animal cozy, released in March, 2023 by Tantor Audio narrated by Amy Deuchler. This one is about the protagonist’s mother throwing a reunion for her college buddies and the unexpected and suspicious death of one at a potluck. Perhaps this would be better read than listened to—the narration really got on my nerves. 3.5 stars

Betrayal: A Robin Lockwood Novel, Book 7 by Phillip Margolin. An author and series I enjoy, also read Murder at Black Oaks last year. This audiobook is narrated by Thérèse Plummer and was just released November 7, 2023 by Macmillan Audio. It is classified as a legal or crime thriller. Because the protagonist is now a prominent defense attorney in Portland but was a rising MMA fighter, I have a little difficulty identifying with her. She takes on the case of a fighter up for the death of an opponent following a fight in which she took a performance-enhancing drug. I liked it, but I’m not in love. 4 stars

The Crossing: Harry Bosch, Book 18 by Michael Connelly also an Amazon Editors’ pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. Since Bosch’s ostensible retirement from the LAPD, the novels have been borrowing from another Connelly series, his half-brother defense attorney Mickey Haller. I love the Haller series and with the Bosch series narrated by none other than Titus Welliver, does it get any better than that? This audiobook released in November, 2015 by Hachette Audio. Of course, it’s a police procedural, crime fiction genre but I’d say if Haller’s in it, would also be a legal thriller as well. So 5 stars both for novel and narrator. Of course, there is a Bosch: Legacy TV series starring Titus Welliver developed by Michael Connelly, Tom Bernardo and Eric Overmyer. “Bosch: Legacy season 2 continues plot lines from season 1 and then uses The Crossing (2015) as the main storyline.” https://www.michaelconnelly.com/bosch-tv/

I last read Desert Star, a Renee Ballard book in March this year. Another good Connelly series.

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, an Amazon Editors’ pick for Best Literature & Fiction. This is a short audiobook (6 hrs 13 mins), but packs a punch. Narrated by Kevin Wilson, and Ginnifer Goodwin it was released last November 2022 and is a Southern Fiction, Coming of Age Fiction novel. Wow. Once again, the critics loved it, but the general reading public is divided between 4 and 5 stars. It began rather slowly. I got hooked on what started a fascinating look into what can happen with “word of mouth.” Rumor. Stories. Pretty soon they don’t even resemble the original chronicle. These are kids. The full story may be exposed twenty years later. It’s an exploration of imagination and interpretation. I enjoyed it. So, 4.5 stars—but I can understand the slow start.

Endangered Species: Anna Pigeon by Nevada Barr released on May 5, 2022, and narrated by Cindy Williams, published by Phoenix Books. Yes, I do believe that is Cindy Williams, the actress who died in January this year at the age of 75. This audiobook is a real shorty at only 2 hrs 46 mins. That’s good, as Cindy, bless her heart, definitely could not replace Barbara Rosenblat who totally sells the part of Anna Pigeon, the US park ranger. I’ve always enjoyed this series and I enjoyed this location storyline as well—picture-perfect but isolated Cumberland Island off Georgia–just not as much as usual. A plane crash on the island is the result of sabotage. A victim and—collateral damage? 4 stars

In September, this year, I listened to A Superior Death. The series is a good one and I can always find another I haven’t read/heard before.

Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin, narrated by Julia Atwood. It was released last October, 2022 by Dreamscape Media, LLC and is a police procedural mystery. Yes, there’s a dog—Huck. Corporate lawyer Ava Burch gave up the big city to move near Big Bend National Park (Texas). She grew up raising search and rescue dogs. Her dog catches some attention when he finds an abandoned campsite that leads to a cold case. Those who are familiar with my preferences know I’m not big on romances. This one morphs into a romance when she meets Grant Wycoff. Not my cup of tea. Those who enjoy that play of tension and release might very well love it. I signed up for a police procedural. 3.5 stars

I’m currently listening to None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell. Listed as Amazon’s #1 Best Seller in Women Sleuth Mysteries, it also has a mixed review by regular readers like you and me. Not quite sure why it’s classified as a women’s sleuth mystery, but guess we’ll both find out when I review it on Thursday, December 7.

What about the audiobooks listed above. Find one that interests you? Have you already read or listened to one? What did you think? I’d love to know.

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris – #Audiobook Review – #TBT

Teachers’ pick

Book Blurb:

A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes the story behind the picture is worth a thousand more.

2 CHILDREN FOR SALE.

In 1931, near Philadelphia, ambitious reporter Ellis Reed photographs the gut-wrenching sign posted beside a pair of siblings on a farmhouse porch. With the help of newspaper secretary Lily Palmer, Ellis writes an article to accompany the photo. Capturing the hardships of American families during the Great Depression, the feature story generates national attention and Ellis’s career skyrockets.

But the piece also leads to consequences more devastating than he and Lily ever imagined – and it will risk everything they value to unravel the mystery and set things right.

Inspired by a newspaper photo that stunned readers throughout the country, Sold on a Monday is a powerful novel of ambition, redemption, love, and family.

My Review:

Okay, if you want to cry foul, I’ll understand. It’s not fair to come in third or fourth on the same theme and be discounted because it’s become so familiar. I get it.

And really, when the CE read The Ways We Hide last year, he loved the writing style and the storyline (historical fiction but not this premise).

The narrative begins with a sign that journalist Ellis Reed comes across in his search for a story. He takes a picture of two children on a porch with a for sale next to them. Then he doesn’t think too much more about it until Lillian Palmer working for the same newspaper sees the photo and it grabs her. She has a four-year-old herself, and single and struggling, can identify the heartbreak that must have ensued with the decision.

Lillian shows the picture to their editor who feels it could be built into a good topical story—it’s 1931 after all—and everyone can speak to the desperation the Great Depression has spawned. The problem is, the photo is destroyed. It’s the quest for getting another shot of the kids that starts the whole ball rolling with the discovery that the kids are gone. Sold?

I was listening to the audiobook. The plot was familiar and the pace was slowed somewhat by the relationship between Ellis and Lillian. While they pursued the whereabouts of the children, they made a few gut-wrenching discoveries, something all too true at the time. (Guess I could identify just a little here as my own mother was taken to an orphanage when my grandparents found themselves unable to care for two young girls. My mother’s experience was one that left her a bit embittered the rest of her life.)

I confess there were times when I felt more of an emotional connection than others regarding the children, but never really did fully engage with either the male or female MCs. As usual, I felt the romance in some part let down the main thrust of the story. Who were the kids? What happened to their mother? Where did the kids go? Not so young they didn’t remember their circumstances—how are they coping?

The author does paint a circumspect picture of life during those depression years. There were some interesting support characters and for the most part a good ebb and flow of tempo. The conclusion pulled most strings together and provided a happy resolution for the budding couple.

This novel was a book club choice for the quarter. I didn’t tie it to the review the CE wrote last year at first, although it was apparent from the blurb that it would mirror Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours and Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds both of which I loved.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library for the club read. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mysteries, Family Life Fiction, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN-10: ‎ 1492663999
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1492663997
ASIN: B07GL3G1DX
Listening Length: 9 hrs 48 mins
Narrator: Brian Hutchison
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Sold on a Monday [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

The Author: KRISTINA MCMORRIS is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of two novellas and six historical novels, including the million-copy bestseller SOLD ON A MONDAY. The recipient of more than twenty national literary awards, she previously hosted weekly TV shows for Warner Bros. and an ABC affiliate, beginning at age nine with an Emmy Award-winning program, and owned a wedding-and-event-planning company until she had far surpassed her limit of “Y.M.C.A.” and chicken dances. Kristina lives near Portland, Oregon, where she somehow manages to be fully deficient of a green thumb and not own a single umbrella. For more, visit KristinaMcMorris.com.