Narrated by Cristina Panfilio
In Charmed, widower Boone Sawyer and his daughter Jessie have just moved to Monterey in search of a fresh start. Boone has uprooted everything Jessie knows to get away from helpful but meddlesome family members. When Jessie goes chasing after her new puppy, she runs into their new neighbor Anastasia. Ana, a member of the magical Donovan clan, is instantly captivated with the curious child and her unruly animal. Unfortunately, Ana isn’t as enamored of Jessie’s father with his taciturn and brusque manner.
Boone has been burned before by women befriending Jessie, only to discover they did so to get close to him. He’s afraid Ana is just another gold digger. However, as Anna sets him firmly in his place, Boone becomes charmed and intrigued. It’s not every day a woman is interested in his child more than him.
If I had to pick a figure to represent Romancelandia, I think Nora Roberts would be the first person that came to my mind. Her stories are romantic and real and always leave the reader with a satisfying happily ever after. Charmed, and the rest of the Donovan Legacy series, are some of my personal favorites, combining those qualities of love and heart with elements of magic. This story was truly a charming listen, with the characters light and romantic and funny. Nothing particularly heavy or deep about it, it was pure indulgent entertainment and I loved it.
Cristina Panfilio was a new-to-me narrator, and having previously read the book, I was able to focus solely on her performance. Altogether, this was not a disappointing listen. I believed Panfilio captured the fae quality of Anna and the precociousness of Jessie very well. Her female characters were her strongest points, their male counterpoints not so much so. The men, while not sounding alike, were presented as much younger than they were supposed to be and mostly tended to sound the same, either comically Irish or really cocky.
None of the characters, save Anna and Jessie, sounded as I had imagined them in my mind based on the other books in this series. In my mind, Morgana was elegant and fiery but here she was portrayed as ethereally as Ana was. Panfilio’s performance of Irish brogues was also disappointing. Both the males and females tended to sound alike with faint lilts that didn’t sound authentic. While I wasn’t a fan of certain aspects of the narration, it wasn’t so displeasing that it ruined the story. I was able to sit back and remember why I fell in love with the Donovan family.
[section label=’Audiobook Information’ anchor=’Audiobook Information’]
Diana
AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION
TITLE: Charmed
AUTHOR: Nora Roberts
NARRATED BY: Cristina Panfilio
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
STEAM FACTOR: Glad I had my earbuds in
REVIEWER: Diana [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IEGJ28S/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy Charmed by Nora Roberts on Amazon[/button]
