Audiobook Review of Embattled Hearts by J.M. Madden

One of the things that can turn a reader off  while listening to an audio book is the narration. Is the narrators cadence smooth and words pronounced correctly? One of my personal pet peeves is when certain syllables in words are over exaggerated or  overemphasized.
 I found the narration of this book by Eric G. Dove to be amazing! This book has been brought to life by his smooth reading style and even speaking cadence.  Author JM Madden writes in a manner that hooks you from the first sentence...she gets you invested in the characters and her writing style pulls you to read more of the book than you actually have time for (my poor family has had to order take out more than once). THIS is where audiobooks are such a wonderful change of pace for me. 
This story of John Palmer and Shannon Murphy is filled with excitement, lust, mystery and one heck of a storyline that ends in an HEA. Ms Madden writes in a manner that doesn't glamorize or patronize our wounded heroes, but in fact brings them into real life situations and shows that feel as if they are every bit as real as me or you, they have hopes of finding real love and fears about being accepted/rejected because their physical scars. John Palmer with his broody nature is one of my favorite characters and listening to this book really brought his persona and personal issues into real perspective. 
I give this Audiobook 5 stars 
Below is my review from 2016


Embattled Hearts by J.M. Madden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

John Palmer is a combat modified Marine who's one of the three owners if Lost and Found detective agency. Shannon Murphy is the office manager who fantasizes about about the possibilities of a romantic relationship with one of her bosses -John Palmer.
John is still carrying a lot of resentment about the accident that ended his military career. He's been fantasizing about the possibility of Shannon ever needing a man like him. He feels as if he could be enough and she wonders if he would let her into his heart.
Trust me, you'll laugh, cry and fall in love with all of the guys from the Lost and Found agency! You'll get hooked on the series and look forward to the stories of each of the men and women getting their much deserved HEA!

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Review of Take A Piece of My Heart by Diane Rose Duffy (audible)

I was gifted this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Jennifer Bossio's narration of this book was spot on perfection! 

This is my extended review

Kara was a wonderful character to get to know and we get to know her through a series of diary entries. Kara went with her heart when she chose to be with bad boy Danny. She spends years in an abusive relationship. As I read this book, it mirrored the life of one of my girlfriends from when I was in my twenties. It was heartbreaking to read or in my case to listen to Kara tell of her abuse. She's a victim of domestic violence and had been for years and only she can get herself out of this vicious cycle as she no longer has any friends but one.

 She loves with her whole heart and you'll see that throughout the entire book. We see Kara experience many ups and downs and we meet a wide cast of characters as Kara pieces together her new life. Poor Kara, every time we think that shes found something good, something else happens and she gets the proverbial rug pulled out from under her more than once, but shes resilient. There are so many twists and turns in this book that I don't want to give anything away. 

I think that writing this book as a series of journal entries was a brilliant idea. It gives us a unique perspective of how our main character Kara thinks. The ending was fantastic and it made my heart leap for joy!

Just believe me when I say that you will enjoy this book. It'll make you mad, it'll make you gasp and it'll even make you cry. But in the end everything comes together! In a way, Diane Rose Duffy took a piece of my own heart with this book.
Buy it! Read it! Review it! Share it with your Friends!
www.CaliforniaGirlinMA.blogspot.com Take a Piece of My Heart by Diane Rose Duffy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was gifted this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Jennifer Bossio's narration of this book was spot on perfection!

Kara was a wonderful character to get to know and we get to know her through a series of diary entries. She's a victim of domestic violence and had been for years. She loves with her whole heart and you'll see that throughout the entire book. We see Kara experience many ups and downs and we meet a wide cast of character as Kara pieces together her life. Poor Kara has had the proverbial rug pulled out from under her more than once, but shes resilient. There are so many twists and turns in this book that I don't want to give anything away.
I think that writing this book as a series of journal entries was a brilliant idea. It gives us a unique perspective of how our main character Kara thinks.

Just believe me when I say that you will enjoy this book. It'll make you mad, it'll make you gasp and it'll even make you cry. But in the end everything comes together. In a way, Diane Rose Duffy took a piece of my heart.
Buy it! Read it! Review it! Share it with your Friends!


View all my reviews