Narrated by Helen Wick
Julia Harper is a pseudonym for author Elizabeth Hoyt, so you know why I asked to review Once and Always. In case you don’t know, her historical romances under the Hoyt name are fantastic. I downloaded the book and prepared for a thrilling listen.
Maisa Burnsey has (once again) been pulled over by police officer Sam West. All she wants is to relax on the lake and visit her uncle in the small town of Coot Lake, Minnesota. She knows she wasn’t speeding; he’s just getting back at her for sneaking out on him after the night they spent together last year.
Maisa knows Sam wants an explanation of why she left but she knows they don’t have a future—he’s a cop and her family has ties to the Russian mob. Of course, she can’t tell him why they can’t be together but he should know by her avoidance of him that she doesn’t want anything permanent. However, a group of mafia types rolls into town on the heels of a big snowstorm, and Maisa has to stop running away from Sam and finally tell him the truth.
As I mentioned above, I assumed I would enjoy Once and Always because I enjoy Hoyt’s historical romances. Wrong! It took me literally twenty days to finish and it’s only around nine hours long. The plot reminds me too much of the movie Fargo(which I did not enjoy), with an underlying dark and dangerous tone. The characters, again like the plot, came across as too gritty, although I (grudgingly) admit they were three-dimensional. Maisa herself says she can be “cranky and a bitch” and I totally agree. Sam is just as bad a character as Maisa being too robotic for me to connect to him.
For a new-to-me narrator, Helen Wick is impressive in this book. She possesses a good grasp of the tone and pacing and pulls off snarky very well. The range of accents she acts out —Eastern European, Russian, Minnesotan, clipped East Coast, Native American—all seem authentic. I could close my eyes and know what character was speaking and when. Unfortunately her vocal choice for Sam was too good, if you know what I mean. His robotic character comes through clearly, sounding exactly like I imagined him, monotone and not at all sexy. This is sad as I listen to audiobooks in part to hear the characterization of the hero and if he’s not sexy, it breaks a book for me.
I can’t help but compare my experience here with my previous Hoyt experiences. That background is, after all, the reason I chose Once and Always for review. There’s clearly a difference in the tone when comparing the writing of Harper and Hoyt, which surprises me. I assume an author’s “voice” is her own no matter the genre but Once and Always proves me wrong. I still plan to enjoy as many Hoyt titles as I can but the Harper ones will get shoved to the back of my TBR pile. They are not my cup of tea.
Diana
Narration: B
Book Content: C
Steam Factor: For your burning ears only
Violence: Escalated fighting
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Once and Always was provided to AudioGals by Hachette Audio for review.
The print edition was a DNF for me the minute the Russian mob was suggested…..in Minnesota.
Thanks for the review.
Kind of off topic because it isn’t just Elizabeh Hoyt but what good does it do the author to have an alias for other types of books if the original name is in such large font compared to the alias name? I see this all the time and just don’t get the marketing concept. Do they hope it eventually takes off like the Nora Roberts/JD Robb thing?