Narrated by Amy Rubinate
Kristan Higgins is one of my favorite authors for romantic comedy, touching relationships, and providing a much-needed escape from a frantic world. I got hooked on her when I read one of her novels about a family of firefighters (Just One of the Guys) and started following her blog. She has a way of drawing you into a story and into her life; she calls her husband (a firefighter) McIrish and is affectionately wry about life as a mother of two teenagers. Is it any wonder that we love her stories of struggle, humor, and happily-ever-after?
I looked forward to reading (and listening to) her latest book, Waiting On You. It contains some warmly familiar elements from her other stories – strong family ties between the heroine, her twin brother and her mother, and respect for an elderly grandfather, a dying friend and several adopted animals (four cats and two dogs, one of which is Rufus, a huge Irish Wolfhound mutt).
And then there is the romantic dilemma: a girl who thinks her first love broke her heart to marry someone else, and the man who feels that his soul mate left at the first sign of a struggle. Lucas Campbell is the sexy half-Puerto Rican pirate of a man who broke Colleen O’Rourke’s heart, and yet she is the epitome of an optimist who never stops filling her life with all kinds of love. What I love about this heroine is that she doesn’t (for a minute!) roll up and die. This feisty woman is the co-owner of a bar with her twin, Connor, and she invariably gives jobs to someone she thinks can be saved; she rescues animals; she visits her grandfather with dementia in the extended care facility; she nurtures her friends and family who don’t seem to meet society’s standards of beauty. Most of us can only dream to contribute in so many ways, yet Colleen never quite fills the hole left by Lucas.
Besides the anticipation and tension of the romance, Waiting on You is filled with charmingly entertaining subplots that make you smile. Colleen’s matchmaking attempts between misfits and her navigation of a singles event with her mother are among my favorite sections where both the narrator and the author have more fun (I often felt that the narrator enjoyed the humor more than the passion; her voice was much more believable during those passages).
Lucas is an engaging romantic figure and never more than when he comes home after his divorce to care for his dying uncle – the man that raised him as a son. Although his uncle places him in awkward position (“before I die find my son, your irresponsible cousin, a job and get me a divorce from my shrew of a wife”), Lucas manfully tries to grant his uncle’s dying wishes, while battling his attraction to Colleen.
Amy Rubinate narrates Waiting on You and does a decent job with inflections and pacing. She’s best in the funny parts (such as the ones where Colleen was match-making) and her emotions are right on the mark. Her voice seems a little flat or mechanical in tone at times, preventing me from totally submerging myself into the book. But to be fair, if I hadn’t come right from listening to Davina Porter, Xe Sands, and Nicholas Boulton, I doubt this would have bothered me. I was interested enough in the plot and, being a Kristan Higgin’s fan, I was soon drawn into the story. After a few times of stopping (to get out of the car) and re-starting the story, I found myself accustomed to Ms. Rubinate’s tone and enjoyed the audiobook.
This is a cute, heartwarming story that is a little like watching an old Jimmy Stewart movie – it is nice to escape and be a part of this small town, close-family, I-know-you-and-love-you-warts-and-all world.
Victoria
Narration: B-
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in (but close to “you can play it out loud”)
Violence: Minimal
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Waiting on You was provided to AudioGals for review by Blackstone Audio.
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