A Pound of Flesh by Sophie Jackson

Narrated by Grace Grant

Lovers of romantic tales that are spun together with inspirational and emotionally intense secondary plots will not want to miss A Pound of Flesh. Demonstrating a poignant example of redemption, it is sure to arouse both your sense of right and wrong as well as your compassion and conviction of the importance of second chances.

The only reason I didn’t rank this unique and stirring story an A, however, is that I felt that a few of its elements, particularly near the end of the story, were resolved just a little too quickly and perfectly to be completely believable and therefore merit a perfect score. However, this being my first experience with Sophie Jackson’s writing, I’m definitely intrigued with the powerful punch of her prose and I look forward to continuing a journey through her literary creations in An Ounce of Hope ( A Pound of Flesh 2) releasing in January 2016.

Kat Lane’s life was forever changed 15 years ago when she witnessed her own father’s brutal mugging and murder. She was only a child, but she will never forget how close she came to losing her own life. In fact, if it had not been for another child, a boy slightly older than herself, she likely would have also perished that day. This anonymous stranger, however, took it upon himself to not only find a way to get her away from the horrific scene, but also managed to get her help and back in the safe hands of her family.

Now an adult, Kat may have moved on with her life, but she can never forget that day. Still painfully plagued with guilt over leaving her father, the least she could do – much to her affluent mother’s chagrin – is pay heed to his final wish for her that she teach and make a difference for those that are less fortunate. Kat chooses to pay her “pound of flesh” by teaching at Arthur Kill Prison. While many would be scared to do so, Kat finds that her career is the one area where she can fully let go of the feelings from the past which perpetually haunt her.

At Arthur Kill Prison, she meets Wes Carter, an inmate that puzzles and yet thrills her unlike any other man. Known for his extreme anger issues, and yet strangely well read and manifesting a facility in literature analysis hinting at a well educated past, Wes is in danger of losing his opportunity for parole, until he is presented with the option of attending Ms. Lane’s literature class. His continued fights with the other inmates, however, make learning in a classroom impossible, and eventually lead to Kat, who can’t help but feel an unnatural and strangely familiar attraction to Wes, agreeing to tutor Wes one-on-one.

It is during these study sessions that their equally sad pasts begin to be revealed and the tie that connects them slowly is unraveled. Try though they might, however, the more time they spend together, the more their undeniable attraction to one another cannot be subdued. Soon they find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place – each needing the other in a way that no one else could fulfill, but knowing that any exploration of the next step in their forbidden love could undoubtedly lead to the end of their independent goals each has been striving for for as long as they can remember. Moreover, the eventual revealing of a terrible secret may completely change the playing field altogether.

Having previously listened to Grace Grant in a number of other Simon & Schuster audiobooks (see the AudioGals reviews for Ugly Love and When I’m Gone), I knew that her narration would be pleasing and adept. Ms. Grant definitely delivered as expected, and has a remarkable consistency across her various performances. Becaue she has a distinct sound, her characters all bear an uncanny resemblance to some of the characters of prior books, but still equally work for the new book.

In that regard, while Ms. Grant doesn’t use a large difference in inflection in her voices for each character, she nonetheless produces generally believable deeper male voices and slightly higher female voices. Moreover, while not imbuing her rendition with an overabundance of emotion, the bit that she does impart is sufficient to differentiate the disparate moods and tones in the various scenes. At no point did I have any difficulty following the story, and, in fact, Ms. Grant’s pleasing voice helped set the tone for a relaxing and captivating journey where her narration blended into the background allowing me to focus on the story.

All in all, New Adult romance lovers would be remiss to miss A Pound of Flesh. While you may have to suspend belief at a couple of points in the later chapters, the emotions and feelings that Ms. Jackson’s writing evokes are well worth the journey.

BJ

Narration: B+

Book Content: B+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Fighting

Genre: Contemporary Romance - New Adult

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

A Pound of Flesh was provided to AudioGals by Simon & Schuster for a review.