Narrated by Emily Durante
Reviewed by Carrie
Tuesday Jones is the equivalent of a NASCAR gossip columnist, professionally known as Tuesday Talladega. As the story opens, she is at her father’s funeral overcome with emotion and loss. There she ends up crying on Daniel “Diesel” Lange’s broad shoulder. Diesel is a former driver now permanently sidelined with a damaged knee after a spectacular crash a few years earlier. There is insta-attraction between Diesel and Tuesday, of course, and from there the book could easily have gone down the well-worn path of hero and heroine becoming attached only to have one or the other pull back due to commitment phobia or have a “big misunderstanding.” McCarthy pulls a rabbit out of the hat in Slow Ride, however, and the reader ends up getting something much more realistic, and much more moving.
Tuesday and Diesel are both likable people, but more than that, both feel like someone I might know. There isn’t anything over-the-top about their good qualities or the annoying ones, although per usual they are both much better looking than average. I would love to see more heroines like Tuesday Jones in my contemporary romances. She is a sexually confident woman who isn’t shy or apologetic about it. Her sexual confidence is shown as a positive and there is never a hint that Tuesday should feel embarrassed by it. I also liked her talkative personality and her go-getter attitude. Narrator Emily Durante was perfect as Tuesday Jones. The slight southern accent was spot-on and Durante maintained it consistently throughout the book. Durante captures Tuesday’s energy, speech patterns, and personality. She even portrays the drunken Tuesday convincingly.
Diesel is Tuesday’s opposite in personality—quiet, calm, and unshakeable. He has a good sense of humor and an endearing insecurity about how to proceed with a serious relationship. McCarthy does such a good job writing the inner thoughts of both characters as well as their often funny dialog. She also writes scorching love scenes. Again Emily Durante’s skill as a narrator shines through. Her voice for Diesel is masculine and uniform throughout the book. She does a great job with the sex scenes as well. My only complaint with this narrator is her habit of giving a fake laugh (or sigh or cough) when the author puts it in the dialog tag. There is no way to make it sound real, and I would prefer the narrator not voice it. However, this truly is a minor complaint given the overall high quality of the narration.
Partway through Slow Ride I wondered when the conflict between the main characters would happen. The descriptions of them getting to know each other are definitely enjoyable, but a conflict is inevitable. Fearing a big misunderstanding, what I got was much more subtle and believable. Both Tuesday and Diesel have recently experienced traumatic events in their lives, but are they really healing or just hiding from their loss? Slow Ride doesn’t deal with the issues in any real depth, but the fact that McCarthy has her characters actually confront their issues is a huge step in the right direction.
Carrie
Narration: A-
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: For your burning ears only
Violence: None
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Tantor Audio
