It’s a loooong weekend in my neck of the woods this week – in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, so that’s extra listening time for me! How about you? Got anything good on the go?
Here’s what the Gals have been listening to this week.
BJ
Narrated by Christina Traister
Caz
Narrated by Adam Gold
Kaetrin
Narrated by Gomez Pugh
Melinda
Narrated by Amanda Ronconi, Zachary Webber & full cast
May was a stressful month around here (nothing terrible, just stressful) so I chose books that would be mainly escapist fun. I mostly succeeded.
I finished the Paul Monroe series by A.E. Eisen (Felice Stevens) with Death Tells the Tale and enjoyed it. A “B/B-” series with narration by Kale Williams. Things work out a little too easily (there were some cheesy lines) and there were a few small plot holes, but the look at the police investigation methods and the sweet romance were enjoyable.
I also listened to the second Art of Murder book, The Monet Murders, by Josh Lanyon, narrated by Kale Williams. I didn’t love this book, although the murder mystery was well done. The push-me/pull-you “romance” doesn’t work for me and I wasn’t convinced of Sam’s angst or his feelings for Jason. Sam’s angst feels too convenient. It doesn’t look like they have things worked out by the end of book 4, and I’m not invested enough to continue at this point.
I listened to Trace by E. Davies, narrated by Greg Boudreaux. It’s book 4 in the Significant Brothers series. These are low angst stories made enjoyable by Boudreaux’s excellent narrations. I bought the 6 book set for $5 on sale at Audible, so if they aren’t stellar, I’m not losing anything.
Next was Seducing the Sorcerer by Lee Welch, narrated by Joel Leslie. Interestingly I found this gloomier and a bit heavier on audio, perhaps because Joel does such a good job setting the scene and evoking the emotions. Still a wonderful story.
Lastly I listened to All Fired Up by Jenn Burke, narrated by Tim Paige. While it was entertaining and kept my interest, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Not Dead yet series. Tim Paige does a good job and I’d listen to him again. I’d say he reminds me a bit of Kale Williams, which is not a bad thing at all. I honestly don’t know if I’ll continue with this series at this time, though.
Right now I’m listening to Fairview by Kim Feilding and really enjoying the story and the narration by Joel Leslie.
I’m quite invested in Sam & Jason at this point – book 5,The Movie Town Murders dropped unexpectedly this week, and I’m hovering between reading it as soon as I get a gap, or waiting for the audio. Its also not the last book in the series – it was going to be but JL announced recently that she had more story to tell
I’m sort of pleased you said that about the Lee Welch, because I also found the story didn’t work as well for me in audio. Nothing to do with the performance; there were just things – writing issues mainly – that stood out far more in audio than in print. (Review should be up in a couple of weeks.)
I’m not surprised Sam and Jason work better for you (and that’s not a insult). You enjoy the thorny relationship dynamics more than I do. I did muscle through the Adrien English books and was glad I did, although I wanted to throw Jake through a window right up until the last book! :-) I’ll wait to read your review (now you HAVE to review it!) before I make a decision.
About the Seducing the Sorcerer, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why it didn’t work quite as well for me on audio, especially given the excellent narration. I’ll look forward to your review.
BTW- I just finished Farview and you nailed it in your review: what a lovely book!