The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood

Narrated by Christina Traister

You know how they accuse some legislators of crafting policy via pollsters and focus groups? Well, The Ideal Man is Julie Garwood writing via focus groups. If you poll women on what they like in a heroine and a hero in a romance novel, Ellie Sullivan and Max Daniels caricatures should come up on top.

Ellie was a genius child prodigy (solving complex math problems at age 5) and grew up the apple of academic Daddy’s eye, complicating her relationships with her (more regular) sisters and mother. In her tweens, Ellie became a victim of a crazy psycho stalker, was violently assaulted to within an inch of her life, and had to leave home, further complicating her family relationships. Despite all this, she is now a well-adjusted brilliant drop-dead gorgeous nationally renowned trauma surgeon.

To top all that, Ellie’s just become a crucial FBI witness. The novel begins with Ellie out for a run after a grueling residency shift. Suddenly, international gunrunners who just happen to be wanted by the FBI run past her (yes, with all this running around you would think the plot would be less flat). The Landrys are slick and have a history of scaring off or making witnesses disappear and, since Ellie is the only person who can now identify them, the FBI Agent in charge of the investigation vows to keep her safe until the trial, even follow her to her hometown.

Hero FBI Agent-in-charge Max Daniels is no shortie in the smarts and “full of character” department either. He is, of course, alpha-male authoritative, built, tall, dark, handsome, an FBI agent trained as a lawyer from Vanderbilt Law School, all after overcoming being orphaned as a young boy and roaming the streets, who presumably overcame that by lovingly being raised by African-American foster parents. He even has a pro-ball-playing adoptive brother and Ellie just happens a big fan girl of said brother.

Only focus groups could come up with two characters with backgrounds like Max’s and Ellie’s. It’s so incredible that I had to keep listening so I could find out what other little detail, family drama, or not-so-suspenseful plot point would get piled on. For sheer entertainment, it was a steal at the $5.00 Audible sale!

Christina Traister’s narration didn’t enhance nor detract from my enjoyment of the story and character profiles. Her distinctive portrayal of the characters was adequate although there were a few conversations (between two male FBI agents for example) where it was hard to distinguish who was talking. Traister generally differentiates her gender voices by pitch, so you’d have to listen harder when two males or the sisters are talking.

On the other hand, the lack of clear differentiation isn’t so frequent that it interferes with the story. The dialogue itself often comes across as choppy (due more to Garwood’s writing than to any flaws in narration), particularly when Ellie is interacting with her sisters and mother. While Ellie’s interactions with her family sound so affected, Christina Traister’s depiction of the hero and heroine did sound natural (despite their incredible backgrounds).

Overall The Ideal Man was an amusing listen.

Meg

Narration:  B-

Book Content:  C

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my ear buds in

Violence:  Fighting

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Publisher:  Brilliance Audio