Author: Karina Halle
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Metal Blonde
Pub Date: June 13, 2015
Story Rating: 4 Stars
Narration Rating: 2.5 Stars
Our thoughts...
This is another solid showing by Karina Halle in the contemporary romance department. I appreciate how her characters deviate from the typical people we read about. Take Nicola Price, The Offer’s leading lady, for example. She’s a single mother working hard to provide for her little girl at all costs. She isn’t whiny, she isn’t selfish, and she isn’t blaming the world. She is strong, passionate, intelligent, and on a mission to raise her girl the right way. Halle’s characters tend to be flawed and aware which makes them easy to relate to.
The big moment of conflict and the subsequent resolution towards the end initially left me feeling like the resolution happened too fast, too easily. But then I really thought about it and realized I was wrong. I think, as a reader, I selfishly wanted it to last a little longer but if Halle had stretched it out I guarantee I would have been whining about it being stretched out for too long. I can be fickle like that. This is why Halle is a great writer; she knew what was right for these people and their situation and stayed true to them.
Now to the audiobook. I am not a fan of the narrators. I ended up reading more of it than listening because I was invested in the story but could only take the narration in small doses. Antony Ferguson pulls off a great Bram but his female voices sounded like southern belles (not California babes). Nicole Poole portrays Nicola well enough; her voice changes periodically throughout, changing Nicola’s personality a bit. Poole’s Bram is solid and her most impressive voice, but her portrayal of Nicola’s friends are all wrong, sounding more like snooty valley girls than the loving, smart, witty women that they are. It was all a bit distracting and annoying. The good moments were enjoyable but the rough voices threw me too far off course.
I definitely recommend this book, and the whole series (they’re all standalone novels) but I would pass on this particular audiobook. Next up I’m diving into the massive follow-up The Play, which centers on Kayla and Lachlan’s story.
The big moment of conflict and the subsequent resolution towards the end initially left me feeling like the resolution happened too fast, too easily. But then I really thought about it and realized I was wrong. I think, as a reader, I selfishly wanted it to last a little longer but if Halle had stretched it out I guarantee I would have been whining about it being stretched out for too long. I can be fickle like that. This is why Halle is a great writer; she knew what was right for these people and their situation and stayed true to them.
Now to the audiobook. I am not a fan of the narrators. I ended up reading more of it than listening because I was invested in the story but could only take the narration in small doses. Antony Ferguson pulls off a great Bram but his female voices sounded like southern belles (not California babes). Nicole Poole portrays Nicola well enough; her voice changes periodically throughout, changing Nicola’s personality a bit. Poole’s Bram is solid and her most impressive voice, but her portrayal of Nicola’s friends are all wrong, sounding more like snooty valley girls than the loving, smart, witty women that they are. It was all a bit distracting and annoying. The good moments were enjoyable but the rough voices threw me too far off course.
I definitely recommend this book, and the whole series (they’re all standalone novels) but I would pass on this particular audiobook. Next up I’m diving into the massive follow-up The Play, which centers on Kayla and Lachlan’s story.
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