In Your Dreams by Kristan Higgins

in your dreamsNarrated by Amy Rubinate

In Your Dreams is the next installment in Higgins’ Blue Heron series, based on a small fictional town of Manningsport in upstate New York where vineyards and wineries rule. Jack Holland is the proverbial prince of the town’s ruling family – his ancestors built the winery, and three generations of Hollands are still living and working the vineyards. He’s an all around great guy – loving brother and son, great looking, polite. His one big mistake was marrying Hadley Boudreaux, which he corrected by divorcing her less than a year later. His next big mistake, in his eyes, was not being able to save all four victims in a horrific winter accident, although he got them all out, and the last victim was still alive, if in a coma.

Emmaline Neal wasn’t born and raised in Manningsport – small towns are notorious for making a distinction between those with long ancestral lines and those who moved there after birth. She did go to high school there, and returned to live there after her overweight fiance threw her over for a Machiavellian personal trainer three years earlier. She has recently joined the police force (the police chief, Levi Cooper, was the hero of Book 1, The Best Man) and was there to witness Jack’s heroism. Emmaline needs a date for the upcoming nuptials of her former fiance and the trainer; Jack is everyone’s recommendation.

Higgins manages to take several awkward premises – I mean, what woman in her right mind would attend the wedding of her ex? – and create a heart-warming, laugh-and-cry-out-loud small town romance that is immensely compelling and had me staying up too late and slowing down my daily commute to keep listening. She sets up the greatest pun ever – the former fiance is Kevin Bates and his bride Naomi Norman (I’ll let you think about that one) – that delivers the funniest line in the book. Emmaline is also taking training in hostage negotiation, where she is honing her skills in empathetic listening and psychology, which she uses to great effect – and Higgins’ writes to great effect, letting us witness Emmaline’s inner thoughts as she works out what she should say out loud versus what she’s thinking in several situations throughout the story. Of course, I also have to mention Emmaline’s wonderful German Shepherd puppy Sarge and Jack’s cat Lazarus – two of my favorite Notable Pets in romance literature.

There were so many great, funny, touching moments in In Your Dreams. The two barely survive the wedding trip with their friendship on tenterhooks, having given in to mutual attraction/lust but now regretting the decision. Jack is still beating himself up over the fourth accident victim, still in a coma, and his beastly ex-wife, bless her heart, has returned to convince him they are still soulmates. Emmaline showcases her psychology background with a group of at-risk teens. The Holland family and other friends scheme to get the two back together, while the ex-wife does everything possible to keep them apart. I myself was on tenterhooks, wondering how they would ever resolve their feelings for each other.

I’ve voiced my disappointment in Amy Rubinate’s narrations of Kristan Higgins before. She reads the narrative with an unfocused, almost-whisper quality, as if she is recording in a library. It has seemed mechanical and almost monotone in previous books, and is only slightly improved here. Her character voices, however, are good and more focused, including the well-done southern accent for the ex-wife; she differentiates male from female well, and I was able to keep track of the various characters throughout. In earlier books, I felt her comic timing was off, and I think she did a much better job at comic delivery this time. Her pacing was also better – not as rushed as I felt it was in Book 1. By the time I got about 2/3 of the way in, her voice disappeared in the background and I only focused on the story, which is how it should be. It’s a welcome improvement, although I’m not sure if she improved during the recording, or the all-absorbing plot just pushed those thoughts out of my head. All in all, even improved, I still wanted more from the narrator for this wonderful story.

Melinda


Narration: B-

Book Content: A+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: None

Genre: Contemporary Romance (small town)

Publisher: Recorded Books

 

 

 

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