Virginia Brown (1) (1947–)

If you're up for comedy mystery, this is your book!

You MUST have a sense of humor if you plan to dive into a Memphis-based mystery in which the main character, Harley Jean Davidson, yes, she is named after a motorcycle, has an Elvis-impersonating father named Yogi, a mom, named Diva, who talks to spirit guides and the family dog, King (named after the King of Rock and Roll) is nabbed.

This is simply a fun, purely entertaining read - light, easy to put down and pick up again if you have small bits of time to read or are interrupted often.

I volunteered to listen to this book when the main narrator offered it on Goodreads with no review necessary. I was surprised that a review was not being asked, but I now understand. Getting the book "out there" is the hard part because once it is begun, you don't want to not finish the book(even if you find it a fairly predictable conclusion). There is plenty of entertainment to keep your interest to the end.

I have a great preference for audiobooks as I find narrators add so much more to a story than my internal reading voice. Not only do narrators read all of the words (you laugh, but I am sure I am not alone, when I am carried by a story, to find that I skim to get to the highlight of scenes), but experienced narrators capture the appropriate tone in their voice as well as the correct accent called for by the author. My inner reading voice doesn't do accents well, and tags for the verbal tone of a character often come after the dialogue. It is not overly helpful to read the dialogue, and then read that the words were spoken with laughter or with tears or in a whisper or with a shakey voice. Good narrators and good preparation, though, allow for the dialogue to be spoken with the intended emotion. Furthermore, I enjoy multiple narrators when the author writes their story with multiple points of view, though, good narrators can read more than one POV well, even when the POVs include both genders.

In this case, I am moved by the story to post this review, though not particularly moved by the narrators' performance to seek the next books in audio form. I recommend this book, but have caution to communicate about the audiobook form.

The book is told from one POV, Harley Jean, read by Karen Commins. When the story comes to male dialogue, Drew Commins, Karen's husband, speaks the dialogue rather than Karen. His narration seemed forced and stilted. I believe Karen should have been the sole narrator as the book is written in one POV -- the male voice for male dialogue was not seamless, but actually a bit of a distraction as it did not sound as natural as the lead narrator.… (mere)

As I read this delightful Historical Romance, I was impressed by the level of historical detail that surrounded the main story. Notable events, people and political intrigue at the time were included in the conversations and the plot which made this book much more interesting. The American heroine, Alyssa, and her twin brother have just discovered that their deceased father was heir to an earldom and they are now left under the guidance of the Duke of Deverell. Both chafe under this directive and concoct an interesting plan to get freedom from the life planned for them. As Alyssa meets the Duke and begins to fall for him, things get more complicated and the romance that ensues is difficult and full of misunderstandings. Deverell is not always likable but it seemed to fit his station and as his life changed for the better, so does his treatment of others. At times the book drags, especially as the misunderstanding begin to pile up but I liked the characters and the well-written historical details. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.… (mere)