When Day Breaks by Maya Banks 

Narrated by Adam Paul

Sometimes you go into a listen with certain expectations. In the case of When Day Breaks, I was expecting a hardcore, suspenseful listen with, given many of Maya Banks’ prior works, a racier edge to the passion side. Unfortunately, when I discovered that I actually had something completely different, I was just never able to really warm up to what turned out to be more of a sweet romance bearing a slight resemblance to Beauty and the Beast with some light action and suspenseful scenes tying it all together. The one aspect of this audiobook that did leave me greatly impressed was the narration. This was my first experience with Adam Paul, and I will surely be looking for more of his works in the future.

As this is the ninth book in the KGI Novel series, it is worth noting that while there is some carry over of prior characters (listening to prior books will aid your understanding of particularly the secondary character), the romance aspect of this listen can be read on a complete, stand-alone basis. In that regard, the hero and heroine meet for the first time in this book and their relationship is fully resolved by the end.

Wounded in Afghanistan, Daryl “Swanny” Swanson joined The Kelly Group International (KGI) once he was discharged from the military. KGI is a group of mostly family members who run a covert, elite, mercenary business. Swanny, who was held hostage for a considerable period of time while he was in the military, was facially disfigured by his captors and still suffers from this tormented time. As a consequence, he doesn’t date much and is one of the few remaining KGI members who has not yet settled down. Instead he devotes himself to his KGI life of protecting others.

Eden is at the top of the modeling world. In super high demand, and approaching the ripe old age for a modeling career of mid-twenties, she is completely devoted to doing as many jobs as possible now while she is still at the height of her career. Not surprisingly, she hasn’t had much time for men. When her father insists that she take on extra security, following a near shooting, KGI is hired and she meets Swanny. Eden is instantly attracted to Swanny, and she just knows he is different from any other man she has ever met.

Swanny, in turn, is also obviously attracted to Eden, but just can’t understand why someone like her would be into him. Moreover, his first priority is her safety, and if he allows himself to get involved with her, it may jeopardize his focus. Eden, in turn, has been left in the dark by her family as to the real potential source of the danger, which leaves her in even greater peril, since she doesn’t grasp how dire the threats against her truly are. Can there possibly be a HEA in store for Swanny and Eden given these unusual circumstances?

Adam Paul showed great skill in his rendition of When Day Breaks. I had no trouble distinguishing the large cast. In particular, given the many male KGI members of a generally similar age, Mr. Paul does a great job of creating distinct voices for each. In Swanny’s case, he is described as having a southern accent, and Mr. Paul accurately lends Swanny just the right amount of southern charm, so that he is easily differentiated from the others. When you hear Swanny speak, you can really envision the slightly insecure, alpha hero whose mission is to protect.

Mr. Paul also creates believable female characters, albeit with slightly less differences in their intonations. Nonetheless, I was easily able to pick out Eden from the others. Moreover, Mr. Paul’s narration for Eden perfectly displayed her innocent and sweet disposition which completely matches how she is described in the book.

I also enjoyed how Mr. Paul varied his delivery depending on the type of scene being enacted. From the more action-filled parts to the romantic ones, you get a sense of what is to come from the changes in his speech pattern which helps to really bring the book to life.

While the narration was top-notch, I wish I had felt the same way about the story. If only the real world resembled this fairytale-like feeling romance. It was all just a little too perfect for me. From the 24-year-old, virgin super model heroine to her only ever having had eyes for the hero, I just couldn’t buy into this story ever really taking place in the real world. All that said, I did love the hero, even if he did carry on for a bit too long questioning whether the heroine’s motivations could be trusted given how beautiful she was and how deformed his scars had left him. Insecurities aside, which no doubt do have a basis in reality, I adored the alpha and gentlemanly way Swanny carried himself, and certainly was rooting for him to get his HEA.

If you like your romances with a good dose of optimism and idealism, and love it when the underdog wins, then When Day Breaks may just be a good choice for your next listen.

BJ

Narration:  A-

Book Content:  C

Steam Factor:  For your burning ears only

Violence:  Fighting

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Publisher:  Penguin Audio

When Day Breaks was provided to AudioGals by Penguin Audio for review.