At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske

Narrated by Teri Schnaubelt

At the Heart of It is set in the world of reality TV, aka “unscripted television”. Kate Geary is a TV producer who has pitched an idea for a new show to employer. She’s an unabashed fan of self-help guru Dr. Vivienne Brandt. Dr. Viv’s books changed Kate’s life and she hopes to bring Dr. Viv to the TV screens of viewers on a regular basis so that others can benefit from her expertise.

The book actually begins with a brief encounter between Kate and Jonah Porter when they meet at a theatre festival near Seattle. They have fun together and share some kisses but as Kate lives in LA and Jonah is from Seattle there seems to be no future in it.

So it is with some surprise that Jonah turns out to be Dr. Viv’s ex-husband and someone the network executives require to be part of the show. “Average Joe” had some witty and practical side bars in one of Dr. Viv’s books and the network thinks he will be a ratings winner. The whole idea is news to Jonah, who felt a bit demeaned by the Average Joe persona but the idea of spending time with Kate is alluring and besides, he has other reasons to be interested in coming on board.

I was a little worried that the setup would have Dr. Viv and Jonah pretending to still be married so I was relieved that Jonah stipulated he would do no such thing if he agreed to participate in the show. Because they would be working together and because Kate respects Dr. Viv so much, they do agree that nothing further can happen between them.

Their attraction is too much to be denied however.

The conflict was very well done. I didn’t know exactly how it could work out actually. Kate has to keep certain information confidential or else not only risk her job, but also risk being sued to the tune of a million dollars. The problem is, that information is something Jonah will not react well to. He’s effectively being set up by the show and Kate can do nothing about it except watch and wait for the inevitable fallout. Her ethical dilemma was authentic; she really couldn’t tell him. It doesn’t stop Jonah feeling betrayed when the big reveal occurs though.

There is also the thing about Kate being from LA and Jonah being based in Seattle which bothered me but it wasn’t a big deal in the book at all and as it turned out, didn’t seem to be much of an issue.

Dr. Viv is an interesting character. Sometimes she came across as somewhat manipulative but not always. She is a woman with flaws and blind spots like any other, but who genuinely wants to help the couples who come to her (and Jonah) for advice on the show. She is neither demonised or sainted and it was good to see. There is also some tension in the story as Kate wonders whether working together will rekindle the spark between Jonah and Vivienne but I wasn’t terribly concerned; it seemed pretty obvious to me where Jonah’s attractions lay.

The narration was very good. I listened to Teri Schnaubelt narrate The Last Move by Mary Burton a little while ago. That book was a little less successful for me mainly because it was too heavy on the suspense, with not enough romance to make me happy but I said then that Ms. Schnaubelt’s performance was high quality. As it happens, I think she is even better suited to contemporary romance. Tawna Fenske tends to write romance with a reasonable quotient of humour and Ms. Schnaubelt delivered those lines with great comedic timing.

I also liked her character voices; Jonah’s tones were deeper and easily recognisable and well distinguished from the rest of the cast. Dr. Viv had a smooth, slightly condescending tone which fit well with the ambiguity about her and helped to keep me guessing as to her motivations. The studio executive, Chase, sounded like the older, blustery, take-no-prisoners, insensitive guy he was. I liked the way she portrayed Kate as well.

Many of the Tawna Fenske books I’ve listened to have been narrated by Carly Robins, but I found Teri Schnaubelt a worthy alternative and I’d happily listen to more of her work.

Perhaps the conflict was resolved a little quickly given the genuine concerns built up by the text but overall, At the Heart of It was an entertaining and charming story. Plus, there are cats.

Kaetrin