Narrated by Anadelle Waters
A Little Too Far
Containing one of the most original plots I have read or listened to in a long time, a comical undertone, plus an impressive narration by relative newcomer, Anadelle Waters, A Little Too Far was a fantastic surprise. In fact, I couldn’t put my earphones down! I love love triangles and intricate plots, and the more unpredictable, the better! A Little Too Far delivers on both fronts. Ms. Desrochers’ writing is so clever that, just when I thought I knew the answer to the love triangle, the plot would take another twist or turn, leaving me guessing again.
The story begins with Lexie Banks, a college junior, who has just broken up with her boyfriend of three years after catching him cheating. As is frequently the case when Lexie seeks a shoulder to cry on, she turns to her stepbrother, Trent. Trent and Lexie have been best friends since their early teens when their parents first got together.
Aided by a little alcohol, one thing leads to another, and as Trent is comforting Lexie, they end up spending a hot, passionate night together that causes both of them to recognize that they have been in love with each other for a long time. Once the alcohol haze lifts, however, they struggle with the morality of their love.
Before Lexie and Trent can resolve their moral dilemma, Lexie departs for Italy to complete a semester abroad to study art history. Upon her arrival, her first quest is to find a Catholic church where she can confess her sin. As part of her penance, Lexie is assigned the task of working with Reverend Alessandro Moretti to plan a series of art history lectures for at-risk youth.
Alessandro, who is in his early twenties and has recently taken a vow of celibacy, is just a few short months away from being ordained as a priest, a fact which surprises Lexie given his good looks and athletic build. While Lexie is anything short of a model Catholic, leading to many comical moments between the two, they nonetheless hit it off, and soon are quite inseparable. Their relationship starts innocently enough but soon leads to more personal shared moments that leave you questioning exactly where this “friendship” is going.
Who will Lexie choose? Her rock of a stepbrother, who she’s been secretly in love with for years, but a love that will undoubtedly destroy her family; or the sweet and caring Reverend Morretti, who will need to leave the Church, his life’s calling and passion, in order to claim her?
Unfortunately, there is one flaw in the performance/production of A Little Too Far. Specifically, you can frequently hear audible intakes of air before passages. While you may initially miss this issue, once detected it can become quite distracting. If you can tune this out however, the narration is immensely enjoyable.
I was greatly impressed with all other aspects of Anadelle Waters’ narration. Ms. Waters showed great skill, not just with the typical romance novel elements, including mastery of convincing female and male voices, the pace of the narration, and translation of emotion; but also with numerous elements that added great complexity to the performance, including producing convincing British, Italian, and French accents, as well as, narrating several passages in Italian and French. Ms. Waters even managed to give characters of a similar age and gender slightly different intonations, so as to make them distinguishable.
Ms. Waters’ portrayal of Lexie brought to life her youth and tortured introspection, and her delivery of Lexie’s numerous comedic passages were flawlessly timed to draw laughs. Trent, in turn, was expertly brought to life with a younger husky voice which evoked his passionate, protective nature. But perhaps the most impressive characterization was Alessandro’s, who spent his youth in New York, moved to Corsica in his teens, and now lives in Italy. Ms. Waters managed to produce the perfect mix of these accents, highlighting his diverse, mixed cultural background, as well as, his sweet and compassionate nature.
A Little Too Far is undoubtedly one of the best new adult contemporary romances I have listened to in a long time. Surprisingly, while the theme of this story is forbidden love, it was so refreshing that this novel was not just another romance about two broken individuals learning how to love again. Moreover, both the quality of the story and the narration (with the noted exception) are top notch. I highly recommend this listen to fans of this genre.
BJ
Narration: B-
Book Content: A-
Steam Factor: For your burning ears only
Violence: None
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harper Audio
A Little Too Far was provided to AudioGals for review by Harper Audio.
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