See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson

Narrated by Kathleen Early

I first read See Jane Score in print several years ago as part of my quest to read all 100 of the current All About Romance Top 100 Romance Novels*. It was my first Gibson, and I’ve long since glommed and totally caught up. The combination of hunky sports hero and smart heroine is priceless; I also like the way Gibson creates strong non-romance relationships in her stories, such as between Jane and her best friend and between Luc and his sister.

Luc is a goalie for the Seattle Chinooks, recently recovered from knee surgery and pain meds addiction, and recently awarded custody of his teenaged half-sister whose mother died. He has a reputation with journalists who’ve detailed not only his addiction, but his exploits with women, most of which apparently is fabricated. He does not like journalists!

Jane is a journalist. Jane’s mother died of breast cancer when Jane was six, and her father raised her alone. As a result, without a woman’s influence, she’s not much interested in dressing up or wearing makeup. She only wears black and gray because she doesn’t know how to match colors. She’s definitely not a girly-girl, she’s short and not well endowed – totally not Luc’s type.

Jane gets offered a position writing a sports column about the Chinooks and traveling with them for the season. She isn’t a sports writer and doesn’t know hockey – she’s chosen because she writes a popular dating column, and they’re hoping to attract more fans. However, the team does not want a woman traveling with them, so they get her fired. Jane decides to deliver a blistering good-bye speech, right before their first win – and now they are doing everything they can to get Jane, their good luck charm, back.

For some reason he can’t figure out, Luc is attracted to the short woman who wears dark colors and no makeup. But after her speech gives them a win, he makes a bargain with her – although he rarely gives interviews, he’ll give her one if she’ll come back on the road with the team and deliver her speech before every game. Then it’s game on between Jane and Luc!

There’s an additional story line that opens the book: The Life of Honey Pie, a very popular article in a men’s magazine. This serializes the exploits of Honey Pie, a woman who shags her men – and there are many – into a coma, regularly. It’s not a spoiler for you the listener to learn that only two people know who writes Honey Pie: author Jane, and her editor. It’s unfortunate for Jane, then, that she manages to inject a few personal experiences into Honey Pie’s life…

When I first read See Jane Score way back when, I was initially a little disappointed. I was comparing her in my mind to Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Susan Andersen. We don’t get as much from Luc’s point of view as those authors typically give their heroes, and I wanted more. But after a reread, I realized I wasn’t giving it a fair chance – she did spend a little more time in Jane’s head, but I missed some key components, like how Jane unknowingly sabotages her own relationships. This is why I like to reread books, to get below the first layer of the story where I often find more to love about it. And it’s why I love to read AND listen to a book, to get even more.

Now about the narration. I’ve critiqued Early’s narration before, and there is no change. She’s close but no cigar. She has a pleasant tone to her voice, both in dialogue and narrative. She doesn’t make much differentiation among the characters, but it’s enough to keep them sorted. She gives Luc the slightest lowering of pitch, and often imbues his voice with a roughness, sometimes described in the narrative, that assists in creating his character. Most of the time she read dialogue well enough. Her fatal flaw? The annoying vocal tic of micro pauses. She throws in a million tiny pauses, sometimes just a slight catch, sometimes a full stop, in places that completely interrupt the flow of words and it throws me totally out of the story, over and over and over. It creates an unnatural pacing and rhythm, and often seems to emphasize the wrong word or words in the sentence, even changing the meaning. She is not the worst narrator I have ever heard – I’m sure there are fans who think her performance is good, or good enough. But I have heard better and I know the difference. I strongly feel that an author like Rachel Gibson and a book that the romance world places in the Top 100 deserve the best delivery available. This was not that delivery. Close – but no cigar.

*The print book is currently at #63 in the 2013 Top 100.

Melinda

Narration: C+

Book Content: A+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: None (hockey not counted – all action stays on the ice)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Blackstone Audio