A Matter of Trust by Radclyffe

A Matter of TrustNarrated by Betsy Zajko

A Matter of Trust is the story of Michael Lassiter and JT Sloan, two women who are drawn together as they fight for control of a company in the midst of the heartache wrought by divorce.

Michael Lassiter has had enough. She has finally realized that a marriage based on convenience is not for her. She deserves more out of life. She needs help though. Her husband won’t let her go without a fight, and Michael knows he won’t be fighting to keep her. Instead, he wants control of the theoretical design firm they formed together. Michael knows very little about internet security, but, in a field where money is made online, her interests must be protected.

Enter JT Sloan, Michael’s opposite in every imaginable way. A consummate player, Sloan is drawn to Michael’s quiet dignity and unconventional beauty, but a woman like Michael wouldn’t want anything to do with her. Sloan has built walls around her heart, and, while she’s content with a large number of one night stands, she steers clear of any kind of emotional attachment. Sure, she has friends, but friendship is as far as it goes.

Days pass, and Sloan becomes more and more involved in Michael’s life as she tightens the security around her company. Sloan tries not to care too much for Michael, but the fact of the matter is she wants to get to know her better. Will friendship really be enough, or do these damaged souls dare to dream of something more?

I’ve read several of Radclyffe’s other books in print, and have greatly enjoyed them. Unfortunately, A Matter of Trust didn’t pull me in. Each character had a few likable traits, but nothing that made them seem real to me. Sloan, in particular, seemed like the stereotypical butch lesbian. The author provided a bit of back story to explain Sloan’s callus behavior, but it fell flat, seeming more like an excuse than explanation, and since Sloan is one of the heroines, my dislike for her impacted my ability to fully immerse myself in the story.

Narrator Betsy Zajko, a new-to-me narrator, performed poorly here. She did manage to voice each character distinctly, but her interpretations rarely matched my mental picture of the character in question. Jason, for example, is a straight man who lives part of his life as a woman. His Jasmine persona is a real and necessary part of who he is. Jason is a complicated character, who isn’t fully masculine or feminine. From the way he was written, I pictured him sounding rather androgynous. Apparently, Ms. Zajko had something different in mind. She made him sound like a simpering gay guy. He spoke with a perpetual whine, which made it really hard for me to warm up to him. I could sympathize with him, but that was as far as it went.

There were several points in the narration where it honestly sounded like Ms. Zajko was on autopilot. Her narration droned on and on, rarely changing inflection. This happened more with the general narrative than the dialogue, but I did notice it once or twice when characters interacted with one another. The story isn’t overly long, but, listening to this monotonous recitation, made the seven and a half hours crawl for me. Ms. Zajko isn’t a narrator I plan to listen to again.

Shannon


Narration: D

Book Content: C

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Minimal

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Audible Studios

A Matter of Trust was provided to AudioGals by Audible Studios for a review.

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