Fifteen Minutes by Karen Kingsbury

Fifteen Minutes lg

Narrated by Kirby Heybourne

I love this job. Seriously. I get to listen to some of my favorite authors and then tell you why you should or shouldn’t listen as well. Once again, I was lucky enough to listen to and review a book by one of my favorite authors, Karen Kingsbury. I had been looking forward to the release of Fifteen Minutes and when I finally plugged in my headphones and started listening, I was in my place.

Mrs. Kingsbury’s books have amazing trailers (Fifteen Minutes trailer). I love meeting the main players and seeing how they interact with one another while a peek of what is in store plays on the screen. I love knowing what my characters look like. Weird maybe, but it helps to picture each as I listen. For instance, one of the characters, although not portrayed in the trailer, reminded me of Jennifer Hudson, so she remained Jennifer Hudson in my mind throughout the book.

We start with 23-year-old Zack Dylan who lives and works on a struggling horse farm in Kentucky. Zach has a passion for God. He also is a very talented musician who some compare to a young Elvis. The horse farm that has been in his family for years is in financial trouble due to some recent storms. They are on the brink of losing the farm and Zach feels that his God-given talent might be the answer to their problems.

Fifteen Minutes (think American Idol) just might be the way to get that done. Zach knows he is talented, but he attributes all his talent to the Lord. He feels God might be leading him to this show to be a light for Him and also help save the farm. His family, especially patriarch Grandpa Dan, isn’t too sure this is the road Zach should take. And then there is his girlfriend, and the girl he hopes to marry, Reese. She’s also uncertain it’s something Zach should do, but she too has an opportunity that could lead her in another direction for a while.

Zach makes the decision to go with the reluctant support of his family, but he is sure of his choice. Once he arrives, Zach almost immediately meets high school cheerleader Zoe Davis. She’s pretty, charming, and right away has an eye for Zach. What he doesn’t know is that the producers of Fifteen Minutes see chemistry between these two and plan to milk it for all it’s worth. When the fans get a taste of “Zach and Zoe”, they fall in love with a made-up story and only want more. With more and more pressure from the producers to mention God less and less and pair up with Zoe more and more, Zach finds himself to be in a place he never thought to be.

As with most of Mrs. Kingsbury novels, there are many other stories woven into Fifteen Minutes. We learn about Chandra Olsen (a.k.a. Jennifer Hudson in my mind), a former winner of Fifteen Minutes who has tasted the good and bad of fame and is tired of it. Fame has cost her something very dear and she feels her job as a judge on Fifteen Minutes is to warn someone of the dangers of fame; she quickly realizes that person is Zach. We also get a peek into the life of Kelly Morgan, the daughter of a preacher who is married to a man she no longer feels she loves. Kelly has children but spends most of her time with her younger boyfriend and at her job as a judge on Fifteen Minutes trying to hang on to her fame as she sees 40 approaching. This is a story of redemption in more ways than one.

When I first received my audio review copy, I was disappointed to discover the publisher had chosen a male narrator. I primarily listen to Inspirational Romance which usually means I’ll be hearing a female narrator – at least that is my personal experience. But then I realized Fifteen Minutes is told from a male’s point of view and found myself pleasantly surprised at Kirby Heyborne’s narration.

This is my first experience listening to a male narrator perform an entire book and Heyborne does it seamlessly. His vocalization of the female roles didn’t once make me think, “Ugh, this is a man speaking!” as I expected. The dialog flowed smoothly from male to female, young to old. I never once wondered about who was speaking in a conversation between two or more characters, especially when two females were conversing. That is big!

Fortunately, my review books to date have had excellent narrators but I have listened to some that made me cringe and I believe strongly that a narrator can make or break a book, even a well-written one. Mr. Heyborne’s voice is smooth and easy to listen to. He made me a believer that a male narrator can successfully deliver a book that is more geared towards women. After listening to Fifteen Minutes, I can honestly say I would love to hear another Kirby Heyborne narration. Before, I would have said, “Male narrator? No thanks”, and moved on.

Although I did enjoy listening to Fifteen Minutes, I have to say that it’s not one of my favorite Karen Kingsbury titles. I, like most romance readers, want that happy-ever-after ending and that’s not what you will find here. I was surprised to discover that this is categorized as Inspirational Romance as it definitely leans more towards General Inspirational Fiction.

In the end, my favorite part of the story didn’t even feature one of the main characters but rather Chandra Olsen. I adored her – she seemed real, especially in the light of her life in Hollywood.

Despite the lack of a typical romance ending, I recommend Fifteen Minutes. Mrs. Kingsbury is a remarkable writer and I will eagerly await her next novel, whenever that might be.

Katherine


Narration:  A

Book Content:  B

Steam Factor:  You can play it out loud

Violence:  None

Genre:  Inspirational Romance

Publisher:  Simon and Schuster Audio

 

Fifteen Minutes was provided to AudioGals for review by Simon and Schuster Audio.