Narrated by Cristina Panfilio
Suddenly Single is book four in Julia London’s Lake Haven series. I have enjoyed all of the books and I love Cristina Panfilio’s narration (that she is attached to a project is enough in itself to have me wanting to listen) so I was really excited when I stumbled across this one at Audible.
This book is one for all those listeners who love a curmugeonly hero. Edan Mackenzie is the innkeeper and owner of the Cassian Inn in Lake Haven. The inn is on the unfashionable south side of the lake; the wealthy folks from New York tend to stay at the fancier resort in East Beach.
Edan’s fiancé left him three months earlier to go back to Scotland (from where they both hail) and he’s been moping ever since. He has a plan; he will close the inn, sell up and return to Scotland to win Audra back. He has two final bookings and that will be his final commitment to guests, then he’s gone.
Then Jenny Turner arrives. She doesn’t have a booking. She ignores the giant “closed” sign on the door and breezes on in. And she talks. And talks and talks and talks. The woman doesn’t stop talking. Edan is a man of few words. Jenny more than makes up for this however.
Jenny is at loose ends. Her father has a new girlfriend and doesn’t need her to look after him anymore (he has Parkinson’s Disease). Jenny was travelling with a loser and when said loser cheated on her, she dumped him. Now she’s stranded in Lake Haven. It’s late at night, she has no car and there is no public transport. If she can’t sweet talk Edan into letting her a room, she will have to sleep on the bench outside the inn.
Jenny’s father is wealthy. She is fortunate to have had the privilege of being able to take her time to work out what she wants to do with her life even though she’s 29. That’s not to say she hasn’t tried. She just hasn’t found anything that’s stuck yet. She’s not lazy and, even though appearances might say otherwise, she’s not actually flighty. She’s just looking for ‘her niche’.
Jenny finds herself drawn to Edan, to the Cassian Inn and to Lake Haven. She begins to feel at home. Like, maybe she’s finally found the place for her, the person for her. But Edan is leaving. Right?
I was uncomfortable about some of the representation of hoarding (Jenny’s father) in the book but otherwise, enjoyed Suddenly Single very much. Jenny is a whirlwind. She’s funny and kind and self-deprecating – and extremely talkative. She is not a fan of silence and tends to fill it any way she can. Folks warm to Jenny quickly – she fits just about anywhere, with her friendly charm and easy small talk (as this is a skill I do not share, I kind of envy Jenny).
It’s not a wonder Edan is bowled over by her. Suddenly, he’s rethinking all his plans.
There is a kinda-sorta vaguely croaky/husky quality to Cristina Panfilio’s voice that I just love to listen to and she completely delivers with the characterisation of Jenny. The timing of her sentences, the tone and the vibe are so completely on point.
However, I have to say that Scottish accents aren’t exactly Ms. Panfilio’s forte. I could hear her concentrating on getting the accent right. There was a deliberateness to most every word Edan or any of the other three or so Scottish characters in the book said. It wasn’t a terrible Scottish accent but it was really not great either. I got used to it and my sense was that deliberate concentration on the accent eased off later in the book so that Edan’s character shone through a little more.
I’m not convinced that modern Scottish people actually say “bonny lass” unironically and I also don’t think “dinna” and “doona” are commonly used – they’d seem more fitting in a historical novel rather than a contemporary. But Jenny was so much fun I could overlook those small issues. While not my favourite instalment in the Lake Haven series, it nevertheless did not disappoint.
Kaetrin
Buy Suddenly Single by Julia London on Amazon
