After the Rain by Renee Carlino

Narrated by Abby Craden and Kris Koscheski

After the Rain is the story of widow Avelina Belo and cardiac surgeon Nate Myers. They meet on a huge cattle ranch in Montana, and their lives will never be the same. But both Nate and Avelina have things to deal with before they can fully claim their HEA.

Avelina is young and impressionable when she moves to Montana to work alongside her husband. She is deliriously happy, finally feeling she belongs somewhere. When a freak accident occurs, she is forced to rethink everything she’s thought and felt for the past few years.

Nate hasn’t concentrated on much besides his career in quite a long time. When he was in med school, he didn’t hook up with women or attend parties the way his friends did. He studied instead, wanting nothing more than to follow in his very successful father’s footsteps. Once he’s hired by the hospital where his father works, Nate lives and breathes cardiac surgery even more. He can’t get to the top by slacking off. Then, something goes terribly wrong in the operating room, and Nate finds himself threatened with a malpractice suit.

Needing to get away from it all, Nate packs up and heads to Montana. His aunt and uncle work on a ranch there, and Nate has many happy memories of spending time there as a child. Maybe some time spent outdoors with animals will be just what he needs to clear his head and gain a new perspective.

In the years since her husband’s death, Avelina has basically closed herself off from the world. She still lives and works on the ranch, but she rarely smiles or laughs these days. She has given up barrel racing, and is existing rather than truly living. When Nate appears on the ranch, Avelina finds herself attracted to him, but her own guilt keeps her from acting on it.

For his part, Nate is struck by Avelina’s beauty and sadness. He knows her story and he feels sorry for her. But, even more than pity, he feels compelled to get to know this damaged young woman. Surely, her life doesn’t have to be over.

Narrators Abby Craden and Kris Koscheski are relatively new to me. I’ve listened to two of Ms. Craden’s other narrations, and one of Mr. Koscheski’s. Both are quite talented, but neither is on my list of favorite narrators.

Ms. Craden is quite good at making each and every character distinct. She uses slight accents and a variety of pitches and timbres so that dialogue tags are close to unnecessary. Her vocal range is wide enough to allow both male and female characters to be created in a believable manner.

I have one complaint, and it’s a pretty big one. Ms. Craden’s portrayal of Avelina was entirely too melodramatic for my taste. After the Rain is a story containing an array of emotions. The characters, especially Avelina, are struggling with deep personal issues. I wanted to relate to the heroine, as her story was quite compelling. However, due to Ms. Craden’s depiction, she seemed like nothing more than a spoiled teenager throwing countless temper tantrums. Every bit of emotion, no matter how it was written, was performed in an extreme way. This was very off-putting, and made it hard for me to want to finish the book.

Mr. Koscheski’s performance here was good in all the technical ways. His character differentiation was good, as was his pacing. Like Ms. Craden, he voiced both men and women in ways that sounded quite natural. His portrayal of Avelina was preferable to Ms. Craden’s, as it did not contain the melodrama.

I wish he had been able to show me Nate’s emotional growth. Over the course of the book, Nate changes in some very substantial ways. I knew it because of the text, and I think it could have been showcased in the narration as well. Sadly, Mr. Koscheski’s depiction of Nate never changed. He sounded the same at the end of the book as he had at the beginning. I must admit to being disappointed by this.

Renee Carlino created a heartbreaking story that showed us the way love can mend the broken places. Her characters are flawed, but relatable. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I’m sure I would have liked it more if the narrators had been different.

Shannon

Narration:  Abby Craden: C and Kris Koscheski: B-

Book Content:  B

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  Domestic

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

After the Rain was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.