mmmm...not a big Susie Breck fan

I love Nora Roberts. she's my all time favorite author! this story was, of course, perfect. I love how Nora writes for women who are yearning to discover themselves. I can't wait to finish this trilogy.

Susie Breck on the other hand.... not a fan. she did a great job, but her voice is so generic and almost fake. I enjoy narrators that have a flow and read the book like they are telling a story about something that happened with them that day. Brecks reads a book, and it is almost annoying. her accents are annoying to listen to sometimes especially when it came to her characterization of male characters and young characters.

32 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Wonderful!

Would you consider the audio edition of Blue Dahlia to be better than the print version?

I've never read the printed version of Blue Dahlia. I did however love the audio version!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked Luke and the children. Luke is charming and has his own style.

What about Susie Breck’s performance did you like?

She was fabulous! I thought she did a brilliant job with the different characters voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to this book every chance I got for 2 days. Its Halloween and this book was a wonderful way to get into the spirit!

Any additional comments?

Loved it! I can't wait to listen to the next ones in the series. Usually Nora Roberts can be a little tame in the sex scenes but this book has some detail but not enough to be offensive. Wonderful!

22 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Great Story, Excellent Narrator

This series is one of my favorites from Nora Roberts, and Susie Breck makes listening a major treat! Within the range of western Tennessee accents, she gives each character a distinctly different voice, and even the laughs and giggles stay true to the age and voice of the characters.

17 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Story great, reader has never been south

Would you listen to Blue Dahlia again? Why?

No. The narrator was simply awful, with her totally inaccurate and annoying southern accents. Ugh!

What didn’t you like about Susie Breck’s performance?

As above, her accents are awful and quite distracting.

12 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Totally enjoyable

It has been so lovely listening to this story. So much so I am downloading the second in this trilogy. Well spoken, lovely characters. Hope you enjoy it too.

11 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

I want to grow a garden

It grips you from the get go and gets you into the lives of the characters.

The Harper bride is a bit scary but you do get to feel for her and want to assist the characters to find her past!

good read, good listen - always the best.

Thank you Nora!

11 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

entertaining but doesn't captivate

Any additional comments?

The male character is easily seduced with minimal encouragement and the love is found in an astoundingly quick time. I like the ghost in the story. Perhaps the most complicated character in the book. :)

9 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Hate the Narrator

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different narrator, she speaks so fast that you cannot absorb what is being said.

What didn’t you like about Susie Breck’s performance?

Everything!!!!!!!!

8 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Great Start To A new Series

The book starts out with a bang. Stella Rothchild is a wife and stay-at-home mother of two. When her husband dies quite suddenly, Stella feels uprooted and unsure of how she can move on. The only thing that gets her through the two years following her husband's death is her two sons, Gavin and Luke. With the intent of starting anew, Stella packs up her family and moves closer to her father and step-mother in Memphis.

After finding the perfect job for her obsessive organizational personality, Stella is determined to make a place for herself at In the Garden nursery. The fact that she admires and likes her boss is an added bonus. Though at first leery of her boss, Roz Harper's request that her family live in Harper House, Stella soon finds herself and her boys fitting right in. Hired by Roz to take over the business aspect of In the Garden, Stella is eager and willing to implement a new system that will help business run smoother. The only thing that does not run smoothly is her relationship with Logan Kitridge, Roz's Landscape Designer who has an aversion to people who are as rigidly organized and uptight as Stella.

Logan Kitridge had been happy working for Roz, until she hired Stella Rothchild. Stella was such his polar opposite that he was mystified by his attraction to her. Things that were at first annoying to him, he now found amusing. However, if he wants a future with Stella, there are several obstacles to overcome. One is her nervousness over committing; the other is the Harper Ghost.

The Harper Ghost who has been known for generations as "The Bride" seems like a benign presence. When Stella first hears singing in her son's room, her analytical mind cannot comprehend the idea of a ghost. When she mentions it to the other people in the house, she is relieved to realize that she is not losing her mind, nor is she crazy. As Stella and Logan grow closer, The Bride reacts badly. Stella isn't about to let a ghost tell her how to live her life, nor is she going to let a ghost keep her from her children.

The first book of the IN THE GARDEN trilogy shows great promise that this will be a great series. The dynamic between Logan and Stella is very amusing at times, and touching at others. Throw in a ghost and some family secrets and you have a great start to a new series.

6 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

predictable but still very good

I really enjoyed Blue Dahlia. The story is about a woman who lost her husband at a young age and had to take care of her two children on her own. She moves to Tennessee where she was born to be closer to her dad and stepmom. The story is about her journey and the people she meets and learns to lean on. It took a little while to get going but it turned out to be really good. I enjoyed the narrator, since I am from Tennessee the accent is not perfect but close enough not to be annoying. This is only the third Nora Roberts series I have read/listened to the first two were the Key Trilogy and the Bride Quartet and I enjoyed both of those as well. I can see from these three series that Nora Roberts likes to write about strong independent women who have other strong independent women in their lives as support and family. The love parts are predictable but still very good and you don't seem to mind that you know what is going to happen because you get invested in the story and the people in the story. I have just downloaded the second book in this series Black Rose and cannot wait for my ride home from work to start it.

6 les gens ont trouvé cela utile