Currently Playing for the Gals – The First in a Series

Woman listening

 

Every week or so, we’ll be letting you know what we are listening to. You will continue to see Brenda, Melinda, and my phone icons with our latest listens on the right side bar but we thought you would enjoy seeing what all of us – there are now twelve of us – are listening to on a regular basis.

 

 

CazUncertain Magic by Laura Kinsale

Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

MeganThankless in Death by JD Robb

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

ShannonBranded by Abby Ketner

Narrated by Jorjeana Marie

Diana – Meet the Earl at Midnight by Gina Conkle

Narrated by Marian Hussey

BJ – Veiled Innocence by Ella Frank

Narrated by Chelsea Hatfield Harding

JessicaCarnal Gift by Pamela Clare

Narrated by Kaleo Griffith

Kaetrin –  Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Narrated by Liisa Ivary

VictoriaThe Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda

Brenda – Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Narrated by Renee Raudman

Melinda – Carolina Home by Virginia Kantra

Narrated by Sophie Eastlake

LeaOut of Control by Suzanne Brockmann

Narrated by Patrick Lawlor and Melanie Ewbank

Carrie – She’s listening to Christmas carols!

 

We’d love to know what you are listening to too!

Lea Hensley

 

14 thoughts on “Currently Playing for the Gals – The First in a Series

    1. I’ve been thinking about that series. How’s that going so far? The reviews I’ve seen have been all over so I’m not sure I’ll enjoy it.

      1. I’m enjoying it. The narrator isn’t great with accents, but enjoys using them. Other than that, the narration is good. I’ve just taken as it is. I’m also enjoying the story. With book one, I had issues with the female MC, but she isn’t nearly as stuck up in this book.

  1. I finished Carolina Home last night and started Carolina Girl this morning – I’m obsessed with hearing Sophie Eastlake reading this series! I have Caroline Blues on the TBR. And yes I also read them all on Kindle.

    1. I really enjoyed the books. I’ll have to pick up the audiobooks if the narrator is that good!

    2. I tried reading one of the Dare Island books a couple of years ago and gave up. Don’t know if I was in the wrong mood or what. However, after hearing all these favorable reports, I’m definitely trying the series in audio format.

  2. YES! I love these kinds of posts!

    I am listening to “Burn For Me” by Ilona Andrews, narrated by Renee Raudman. The Andrews’ are auto-buys and Renee is hands down one of the best. That said I’m not really loving the audio of BFM, but I was also ambivalent about the print version. MAYBE SPOILERS AHEAD……little ones to be sure…………….

    The heroine, Nevada Baylor is the narrator of this story, so it’s first person POV. That’s okay but I’m not always on-board with Nevada’s POV . We didn’t click as protagonist to reader. One of my nitpicks is that she spends too much time “mental lusting” for the hero and that is something that always bugs me. I realize that this is a romance as opposed to UF, but excessive “mental lusting” is tedious in any genre IMO.

    Houston, the city where it all unfolds isn’t very interesting as Atlanta is in the Kate Daniels series. The “magic people” and world building is a little thin IMO. And the thing that bothers me the most, which is why I don’t read a lot of PNR/UF is the body count. When the high body count is monsters, well that isn’t as unsettling for me as when it’s humans. This book has a high human body count and most of the killing is done by the H/h.

    Despite their first meet which is terrifying, Nevada is attracted to the hero who’s name is Mad Rogan. Rogan is way over the top in his violence and in his disconnectedness for torture and murder…..not very romantic or sexy in my mind, so the mental lusting for him by Nevada creeps me out more than it bothers me like it does in historicals. Rogan does have his moments, but all in all I found him unbelievable as the “good guy”. He’s a narcissist and very wealthy….he’s like a magical cross between J.D. Robb’s Roarke and Janet Evanovich’s Ranger but with a lack of conscience. Maybe in the next book I’ll be convinced that “he’s just misunderstood”, or that he’s redeemable by his relationship with Nevada and her family. Fingers crossed!

    Nevada is a hard working P.I. who’s between a rock and a hard place. She is compelled to take a job (or lose everything) that she would never do if given a choice (which is another trope I don’t care for). As a kick-ass heroine she’s not very charismatic, though she is very courageous and loyal. She complains and lectures….to everyone! The Baylor family have vast age differences and are eccentric and down on their luck and seem to be just keeping their head above water financially. What is unusual is the presence of a mother and a grandmother, most of the time the heroines of novels like this are orphans. There’s a few Baylor teenagers who are interested in social media and a few “Perils of Pauline” type incidents that seem to happen, but not a lot of substance to the family characters.

    The villain and his “mission” is very cartoonish…..enough said!

    Renee as a narrator is always good, but there are too many Southern accents in this for my taste. They’re hard to pull off. I have never lived in a southern state, and I am not an authority on regional Southern dialects, but it’s like a bad Scots accent. I know it when I hear it and it hurts my ears. The hero’s unlike-ability is emphasized by his voice, tone and accent. Too many characters have that stereotypical “good ole boy” accent…..don’t like it.
    Sometimes in the past Renee has mispronounced words….mostly cultural terms. In this book I was glad that she pronounced Shiva correctly, because in another book it drove me crazy when she didn’t. Just a little thing, but mispronunciation is one of my pet-peeves in audio books.

    Some of the characters’ voices are amazing! A scene in the bayou is full of quirky ones that Renee does so well. Peaches and Bug are terrific!

    I find that sometimes an okay book can be more enjoyable with a good narrator….in this case not so much. I’m three quarters of the way through and know how it ends…..so I could easily stop, I’ll listen to the rest, but I don’t really recommend it and I won’t read/listen to it again. As always my response is personal and I’ll admit some of my buttons were pushed in BFM and that really has nothing to do with the writing or the narration. The writing “is” good and the reader “is” good, just not my cup of tea this time around.

    Next up I’m listening to Sherri Thomas’s “His at Night” read by my beloved Kate Reading. Thanks for the post…..I hope we can do this monthly and get more people to comment. It’s such a good way to find out what listeners recommend. I will definitely be getting the Virginia Kantra Carolina audio-books. Love Sophie Eastlake…. what a great combo!

    1. I have known about Sophie Eastlake for a couple of years and have thought of her as sufficient to the task. However, lately I’ve been listening to some of her contemporaries and I now place her in the excellent category. So impressed with her latest releases.

  3. The Christmas carols have finally ended. I’m now picking up Seeing Red by Jill Shalvis. My New Year’s Resolution is to get through at least one audiobook a month. Sad, isn’t it? I used to listen to two or more in a week. If I could just listen while I worked………

    Anyhoo! I’m sorely missing all my reading and listening time and miss all you gals here. Here’s to hoping I can be a more reliable reviewer in 2015!

    Carrie

      1. Aw! Thank you! Hopefully Seeing Red will be up soon. I also have a couple you might could use if I find the time to write them. I’ll let you know. ;-)

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