It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

It Happened One Wedding lgNarrated by Karen White

It Happened One Wedding is the epitome of everything I love about romance audiobooks. It’s a stellar story by Julie James rendered with perfect delivery by Karen White. James has such a way with effervescent dialogue, engaging characters, realistic emotions ranging from humor to grief – it’s the whole package in contemporary romance. No small town, everybody-knows-everybody stuff here – her heroines are motivated, successful professionals in the primes of their lives, living the urban dream. They have it all – great careers, supportive family and friends – except Mr. Right. Sidney Sinclair is one such character, with a slight twist. She’s involved in her sister’s upcoming wedding plans which unfortunately mimic her own plans, dashed 6 months earlier when she discovered her fiancé was cheating on her. She has two goals: one, to help her sister realize her dream wedding, and two, to attend with Mr. Right as a date. She doesn’t realize the irony of having a 34-item checklist for the perfect man. When the groom’s brother makes the moves on her, she immediately eliminates him from competition because he fails the number one criteria: he admits he’s not ready for a committed relationship.

James’ followers will recognize FBI Special Agent Vaughn Roberts from the FBI/US Attorney series – in the prime of his career, he meets every other criteria on Sidney’s list. He is settled in his work life, he has friends who are already committed, and he fills out a suit better than any other man she’s met. He even gives her tips about men’s behaviors via text while she’s on dates with her Mr. Right candidates! It just takes a come-to-Jesus moment for Vaughn to realize the feelings he is experiencing with Sidney are real and worthy of serious exploration beyond sex-buddy status.

Two things I enjoyed in this story were revisiting lots of JJ’s previous characters and that she ramped up the heat in the bedroom a little. Okay, a lot! Wow – she’s come a long way from the practically PG Just the Sexiest Man Alive. Sidney and Vaughn give in to their shared lust long before they are ready to admit to any other feelings beyond tolerance. It seemed as though they both were relaxed and open about the sexual side of their friends-with-benefits relationship, perhaps because the connection was so deep and visceral. They managed to convince themselves that there was nothing more to it, and I found it a refreshing take on relationship building. Over the several weeks of wedding planning, being thrust together by their siblings allowed them to develop a sincere friendship in spite of their rocky and funny Meet Not-So-Cute (totally trademarked in this story). The funny moments – he gives her sex-buddy etiquette lessons and she offers tips on his wardrobe – had me smiling and laughing all the way through.

Once again, Karen White’s dead-on delivery enhances an already A+ level story. She gives it just the right dry tone for Sidney’s sarcasm, and voices the youthful exuberance of Sidney’s sister and Vaughn’s brother, so in love Sidney wonders when woodland animals will start winding around their ankles in tribute to Disney cartoons. White doesn’t have a particularly deep voice for the men, but she uses a lower pitch as well as a change in tone to differentiate genders. I was pleased to hear the slight Irish brogue for Vaughn’s mother – it was endearing and real and just right. While she doesn’t pile on the accents, you can hear a flat, Midwestern tone in the Chicago natives, with a small echo of lower-middle-class in the dialogue with the rogue cops. She uses hints of accents to imply characters, rather than whacking us over the head with Acting with a capital A. I know a criticism of her narration has been a perceived repeated pattern or rhythm, but try as I might, I didn’t sense it here. And kudos to her perfect delivery of James’ heated up bedroom scenes, too – no breathy gushing here, but interpreted with enough emotion to relay the budding feelings, as well as using the author’s voice tags to good effect.

As Sidney and Vaughn allow their friendship to grow, we feel it not only with James’ words but also in White’s delivery – and the ending, with Etta James’ At Last echoing in my head, was romance at its finest. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love with them all. Thank you, Julie and Karen, for making my whole weekend. Maybe my whole year.

Melinda


Narration: A+

Book Content: A+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in – she’s heating it up!

Violence: None – ok, he’s an FBI agent and guns are drawn, but… no spoilers here

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio

 

 

 

While Tantor Audio agreed to provide a review copy of It Happened One Wedding, I just couldn’t wait for the review copy to arrive so I purchased mine at Audible.com.

12 thoughts on “It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

  1. It’s such a gift when someone not only enjoys work that I’m proud of, but is able to articulate that pleasure so beautifully!
    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I won the lottery when I was cast to narrate JTSMA and I thank those lucky stars for the opportunity to record Julie’s books (which somehow do get better every time). And thanks to AudioGals for all I’ve learned from your very constructive criticism. Over the past few years, I’ve learned that romance audiobooks are an art unto themselves.
    Thank you!

  2. I received this one for review but I’ve not started the series yet. I have the audio for book but I was wondering if I could easily start with this one first?

    I love Karen White’s narration.

  3. Yes, this works totally as a stand-alone. Although characters from other books appear, you don’t need to know their backstories at all – they don’t affect this storyline. However, I recommend you read them all as soon as possible!!

  4. I love the Julie James/Karen White combo……I’m taking them on vacation with me next month!

    1. I don’t know how you can wait! It’s so much fun! Brenda and I both laughed all the way through (when we were going “Awwww” or tearing up, that is…)

      1. My husband and I are going on a two week vacation, without our sons! I can wait.

  5. Wow, what a stellar review! Based on your recommendation Melinda, I’m adding this one to my to listen list!

  6. I read this book over the weekend and really enjoyed it, hit all the best notes for a contemporary romance, in my opinion. I’ll definitely be getting the audiobook – pretty much anything Karen White narrates is an auto-buy for me when it is in the romance genre. I love her work on Jill Shalvis’s Animal Magnetism series as well.

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