The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe - Audio Version

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc

by Jennifer Kincheloe

Audio Version

 

Anna Blanc is a spoiled, determined, oblivious,

observant socialite. She is the star of this story,

set in 1907 Los Angeles.

Anna Blanc wants to be a detective on the LAPD.

She is willing to do anything to get this job.

Turns out, she is a great detective.
Jennifer Kincheloe did a great job writing

this leading character. As well as the

whole cast. There is romance. I had a few moments

that I gasped in surprise and a couple of shocks.

I wont say any more about the story itself.

But I will say with great conviction,

this was the best audio book I have listened

to in a very long time. I listen to a lot of them.

I like most all of them. Some I like very very much.

And then, there is rarely, the story that is so

different. The characters, the situations, the

writing, describing the places....I can see

exactly the town Anna Blanc runs roughshod

over to solve the crime. I can see the people,

houses, wardrobes. Marvelous. It's a great story,

that is just written wonderfully well. But on top

of that, it is hilarious! Anna is so out there.

And you would want to be friends with her.

 Then, we get to the narration. Her name is

Moira Quirk. She did a fantastic job of the

whole story. She was Anna Blanc. Without

question. It was her. I can easily say that without
the dazzling and colorful voice of Moira Quirk,
Anna Blanc would not be the same brilliant story.

I would highly recommend this story if you enjoy

some laughs with your listen. If you like something

a little different here and there. If you love when

the narration is perfect for the story. And if you love

getting your moneys worth. Its almost 13 hours long.

But there is not one minute of slow time.

 

I bought my audio copy from Audible.com

Review by Lisa Hutson

 

 

 

 



All I Want by Jill Shalvis - audio version

All I Want

by Jill Shalvis

Audio Version

 

All I Want is book 7 of the Animal Magnetism series.

I could make this shortest review ever.

You simply cannot go wrong with a Jill Shalvis story.

There, that's it. No, seriously, her characters are always

fun and easy to read. They are real with flaws and

issues. In this story, Zoe is a pilot. Yes, not

necessarily someone you run into every day.

But she is also an animal lover. She is not afraid

of flying a plane. But she is afraid of trusting

anyone outside her very tiny circle.
Parker is a tough, bossy, determined, good looking

man. He is not afraid of being run over by a truck.

Or having a gun pointed straight at him. But he is

 afraid that his little sister, Amery, will get lost or hurt.

Parker is also afraid that Amery won't have the

fullest life possible. He is afraid that Zoe won't want

him as much as he wants her. 

Which all makes them the perfect couple of course.

 

 

The narration is terrific. Karen White has done a

number of Jills stories. She has a distinct voice.

And fits the stories and characters very well.All I Want is a fun, romantic read.  

 

When you put it all together, it makes a wonderful

audio story. I hope you will give it a try and

enjoy it as much as I did.

 

I bought my audio copy from Audible.com

Review by Lisa Hutson





Anything For You by Kristan Higgins - Audio Version

Anything For You

by Kristan Higgins

Anything For You is from the Blue Heron series.

Connor O'Rourke has been in love with Jessica Dunn

since they were 12 years old.
Connor has not had the easiest life. But really, he always

had his twin sister, Colleen. Their parents broke up.
Their mother did not take it well. Their dad started a

new family for himself.
Meanwhile, Jessica has been trying to survive. Taking care

 of her parents, herself and her little brother, Davey.

Davey suffers from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Only Jessica

can take care of him. At least, that's what she thinks.  

She never asks for help from anyone. Never.

That is hard for Connor to accept. He is the guy that takes

care of the people around him. Especially the women.

Its always been his fondest wish to take care of Jessica.

But Jessica is determined to take care of herself and Davey.

She struggles and strives to reach her goals.

With her own personal life being her last concern.

The story runs over a long span of time. The way its written

draws you in. Closer to the characters. Into their relationships.

You will find yourself cheering when the good things happen for

everyone. Then, of course, crying when the bad things happen.

The Holland clan. The O'Rourkes. Everyone from Manningsport

is in this story. Oh gosh, just thinking about this story makes

me smile and tear up a little bit.

I have to add, I have read quite a few Kristan Higgins stories.

I have always liked them. I feel like her writing style is

changing. The last two stories of hers have felt different.

More and deeper emotion. The characters are interesting

and real. Even the ones that aren't so likable are important

and you want to know about them.

Amy Rubinate is a wonderful narrator for Kristans books.

I have not listened to her for a while and as soon as she

started talking, it reminded me how great she does.

Review by Lisa Hutson

I bought my audio copy from Audible.com





The Color of Joy- audio version

The Color of Joy

by Julianne MacLean

Audio Version

Book #8 in The Color of Heaven series.

 I have listened to all the stories of this series.

Each story defines the importance of every person

in a different way. Every story has a moment when

the reader will gasp in awe. When things start to

come together.
Every person is important to so many others in

so many ways. None of us ever knows how many

people we effect. But Julianne MacLean will remind

you to live your life the best you can. Because you

are making a difference to someone else.

 Any given day. Every little choice.

All the moments that make up our lives

make a difference in someone else's life.

Riley and Lois are happy and in love.

Parenting two small children

and excitedly expecting their third one.

Jenn and Jake are expecting their

first child. Also happily in love.

But the two couples are very different.

You will find yourself conflicted reading

this story. As the tale winds up, its hard

to believe all that has happened.

Its a story of faith, love, trust,

forgiveness and the wonder of life.

I have enjoyed the audio version of this entire 

series. Sarah Naughton, Graham Halstead

and Samara Naeymi are the narrators of
Color of Joy. They did a great job.
I like audio books and I thoroughly enjoy

when they have more than one telling

the story. It adds depth and feeling to it.

The stories all wind and connect together.

But they are easily stand alone reads. You will

not miss anything by picking any story from

the series to start with.

I bought my copy of Color of Joy from Audible.com
Review by Lisa Hutson

The Color of the Season by Julianne MacLean

The Color of the Season

by Julianne MacLean

Audio version

This is book 8 of the Color of Heaven series.

I have been reading Julianne MacLean for so long.

Starting with her historical romance.
I have always liked her writing.

That includes this series.
The books in this series connect, one to the next

and then on in the stories. But, each one is easily

a stand alone story. They are inspirational, emotional

and thoughtful.
The Color of the Season is the story of Josh Wallace. A policeman.

He is a good guy. That keeps finding the wrong women.
As you can imagine, he finally finds the right one. But

he sure does have to go through a lot to get to her.

Is he brave enough to follow? Can he help a family

from his childhood to find their way? Is the whole

thing a dream?
It's a story that will set you to thinking on your

own life choices. Actually, every story in this

series does that.
I recommend just that, the whole series.
The audio versions are so well done. They often

have more than one narrator when the story calls

for it. Which is the case for this one.
Graham Halstead and Jennifer O'Donnell

do the narration for The Color of the Season.

 All the narration is very good. Easy to listen to.

Review by Lisa Hutson

 





If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins-Audio Version

If You Only Knew

by Kristan Higgins

I listened to the audio version of this story. Starting there,

it has to be noted that the narration was fabulous. It's the

story of two sisters. In brilliant fashion, they used two

narrators, Xe Sands and Amy Rubinate. This only added

to the pleasure of listening. They did a terrific job.

Having read a number of Kristan Higgins stories, I have

to start out saying, this one took her out of her own

comfort zone. Don't get me wrong, I love her comfort

zone. Her comfort zone is often my comfort zone.

 But this story strayed off from her normal style. At least,

it did for me. This is harder real life. The real life that

we normal people live. With deceit and anger. Not sure who

to trust. Low self esteem. Then, of course, you have your

sister. The one person on the planet you can share

everything with. Everything. The person you are always

sure it doing better than you are. The person you want to be

more like. Only of course, you find out their life isn't all you

thought it was. There is Kristans beautiful comedy too. You will
laugh as well as cry and worry.

This story took me up, down and all around. There

were moments that you could not figure out what she is

thinking. And you could not wait to find out. Jenny and

Rachel have a very interesting mother. We all know

someone with a mother like this. We also know people

that stay friendly with their ex husband. Everyone knows

that some people have the perfect marriage.

And then, none of it is true or good after all.

I highly recommend this story and especially in

the audio version. Such great writing

from Kristan Higgins to send off to the

fabulous narrators.

  And I will never look at a tree the same.

This review written by Lisa Hutson.

I bought the paperback and 

audio versions of this story.





Perfect For You by Kate Perry - Audio Version

Perfect For You

By Kate Perry

Audio Version

Book One of the Laurel Heights Series.

Greg Cavanaugh is a lawyer.

As far as Freya Godwin is concerned, that is the

worst thing on that planet one can be. The lowest

of the low. The worst of the worst.

She has a legitimate reason for feeling that way.

Freya also has a little sister, Anna.

Wanna guess what Anna wants to go to school to become?

The sisters parents died some time ago. They have always been

very close. Freya stepped in as pseudo  parent for Anna.

Freya has also lost touch with her muse. She has a big

job due very soon. And her muse is no where

to be seen or heard from. As often happens,

Freya is soon surprised with a new muse.

This is the back story and where the fun begins.

This is a fun group of characters making up a great love story.

The relationship with the sisters is concrete and very sweet.

The rest of the characters are so well written. I was not sure of

who Freya would end up with until the very end.  

The narration is pretty good. The story and the characters are

good enough that you won't even notice that it's not great.

I will definitely read some more from Kate Perry.   

The audio version runs about 5 hours 15 minutes.

Review by Lisa Hutson