Narrated by Maia Guest
This is the 4th in the Tall, Dark and Dangerous (aka TDD) series, Brockmann’s first series featuring Navy SEALs. First off, spoiler-ish, it’s the Secret Baby plot. And, the heroine Melody is not only keeping it secret, she’s stubbornly refusing to even have anything to do with “Cowboy” Jones. And she pissed me off.
See, she’s always assumed she’d marry some everyday, average guy – maybe an accountant. He’d be some guy whose biggest risk might be mowing the lawn on weekends. And it’s because she figures (although she fell in love with Cowboy when he rescued her from a hostage situation in MakeBelievakia seven months ago) she’s too ordinary for him.
Of course, Cowboy has thought of nothing but the six days they spent together, boinking like bunnies after her rescue*. So much that – in spite of his rogue-ish reputation – he’s never even looked at another woman since those six days, seven months ago.
My opinion of the story hasn’t changed since I first read the book several years ago – Melody was needlessly and relentlessly stupid about Jones, the SEAL who knocked her up after rescuing her from terrorists. But I liked the narrator Maia Guest’s treatment of the characters, and – maybe it’s the moon – found myself weepy near the end when even he gives up on himself and her, and walks away. You might recognize this narrator’s voice from an orange juice commercial (posted on her website) or one of the 11 romance audiobooks she has recorded. It’s a nice, average-age, average range narration. She doesn’t do much to differentiate the various voices, more of a reader than an actor in this narration.
This is another of those frothy bits of fluff – short and sweet and satisfying (except for when you want to strangle the stubbornly stupid heroine). Yeah, he comes back and they finally get married and have a HEA – what did you think?? It’s not romance unless they get the HEA!
*Yeah, I know boinking like bunnies is all I would do after a dramatic hostage situation.
Melinda
Narration: B-
Content: C
Steam Factor: Glad I had my ear buds in
Violence: Fighting – there were terrorists
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises
*Brockmann’s TDH books aren’t favorites of mine, but I absolutely love her Troubleshooters books. Unfortunately, many of those books were narrated by Renee Raudman, who I cannot stand. I particularly hate her “Generic Old Man” voice, which is inexplicably southern and stupid-sounding. The book will describe someone as being from, oh, Maine or France or whatever, and there she is with her Southern Dumbass voice. I’ve grown to hate her narrations so much that I’ll avoid books narrated by her, even if I think I would otherwise enjoy them. She’s my audiobook kryptonite.
I feel better now. Thanks!