Bad Narration - AGAIN

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The narration of this book is awful. The first book of this trilogy was narrated by the same individual and it received many reviews indicating poor narration. I had really hoped that there would be a change in narrator. The female characters all sound alike and are so nasal sounding that it is extremely hard to listen to. It is really unfair to the author to have her book represented in such a poor manner.

How could the performance have been better?

Get a new narrator.

22 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Oh so sugar sweet romance....not for everyone

This is a sugary sweet romance story with a little too much real life for me. There were some funny moments, some interesting characters (Ryder) and a ghost for a little mystery. However, I found the everyday life of "building" the Inn boring. Too much focus on remodeling, shelves, mirrors and light fixtures. At times I felt like I was listening to "This Old House" (BORING)

I liked the narrator (personal preference) and didn't feel as though he took away from the story.

I will listen to the next book in this trilogy because it's Ryder's story and I really found him to be the most interesting character. Let's just hope it's less about light fixtures and crown molding.

18 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Speed up your MP3 Player!

I really enjoyed this story. The narration was driving me INSANE - he speaks so slowly and deliberately. Then I found the setting to speed up the audiobook playback to faster. WHAT a relief, I am actually enjoying the story now. His female voices are still poor, in fact all the characters sound very similar except Ryder. Too bad this is Owen's story. I like the family, I like the locale, and I like the pets; seems like you often have dogs in a Nora story! As are most of her trilogies, these are romances so the relationships are the main focus of the story. It is interesting because there are some story arcs that span all three books and others that complete within each volume.

The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy is also very unusual, in that Boonsboro is a real town and the businesses named really exist and are actually owned by Nora Roberts and/or her family. They rehabbed the historic inn, had a terrible fire while it was under construction and had to start over. You can actually go and stay in the rooms, which are all named after famous fictional couples, although I suspect the ghost in the Elizabeth & Darcy room is a literary device! I also thought it was great fun that they have an Eve & Roarke room, the husband and wife team that is featured in 40+ Eve Dallas stories by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb (my all-time FAVORITE series, with fantastic narration by Susan Erickson; what a joy they are to listen to!)

Turn the Page Bookstore is owned by the Roberts and it is where all her book signings take place, in fact it is the only bookstore to offered books signed by the Nora. Vesta Pizza is real and really offers room service to the Inn, and Gifts Inn Boonsboro is real too. If you go to Nora's website there is a link to the bookstore and Inn.

I think it is fun that she used her actual experiences of going through the rehab, setting her fictional characters against a true setting. But I think I would like it better if Nora was open about her connection to these businesses. Without the open acknowledgement, it smacks a bit of a sneaky marketing ploy. I wouldn't mind if she was up front about the connection. Perhaps there will be an acknowledgement at the end of the third book when it comes out.

Still, I am enjoying the series very much and will probably listen again, now that I found out how to set my audiobook playback to FASTER! Sure wish we did not have to wait so long for the final installment!

18 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Great continuation of series.

Would you listen to The Last Boyfriend again? Why?

Yes!!! I've already listened to it twice, in spite of the narrator. It's nice to hear a man speak the male part.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He's not the best at female or children's voices.

8 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

If you have trouble sleeping... GO FOR THIS

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Those who have insomnia and need help sleeping... this is for you.

What was most disappointing about Nora Roberts’s story?

There was NO story, I am not sure. No plot, not mystery (Unless you count the ghost). I think it was supose to be a romance but it was just blah. BORING

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of MacLeod Andrews?

I actually did not mind the narrator but he really did not have much work with so not much to mess up

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Exhaustion

6 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Sweet, funny and beautiful

The story of Owen and Avery overall is a beautiful story of self discovery, acceptance and at the end of the day love. It had a few places that were slow and you wanted to say come on but the heart of the story was strong enough to pull you on through. The unsuspected moments of laughter were timely and absolutely on the mark. As the middle book in the trilogy I thought at times I might not make it to the last book. But I did and not to give the wrong impression; I guess I will offer this as a way of trying to explain. This is a glass of wine, slow rain, lazy couch book reading day. Comfort reading.

4 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Not as good as the first book in the trilogy.

This was not a bad book. It is sweet and frothy. I don't feel that I wasted my credit. However, there just wasn't very much plot. A novel needs some source of tension for the protagonist to interact with. In the first book in the series, there was the romance thread and the stalker thread. This novel has the romance thread, but it doesn't have a second thread with any substance. There is a second thread, but I don't want to provide spoilers to the Very limited tension this creates. I have a somewhat analogous problem in my past, and I don't feel like Roberts dealt with it in a very realistic way. I can't go into it more deeply without spoilers, so I'll just have to leave it at that.

So anyway, the upshot of this lack of a real problem in the plot is that Roberts has to find other ways to fill the word count. She fills it with lots of girly stuff: trying on wedding dresses, decorating the hotel, putting on makeup, etc. etc. etc. Like I said, I mildly enjoyed this book because I'm a girl. I cannot in any way imagine a man finishing this book without someone offering him a BIG bribe to do so.

We know that Roberts can still write a book which is not dominated by alcohol consumption because "The Witness" just came out recently and I didn't think there was more boozing in that book than most people would find ordinary. But I guess when the plot is thin and Roberts is searching for something to fill up the blank pages, her mind just goes automatically to booze. "It's starting to snow! How exciting! Let's have a drink while we watch!" "I'm really tired and I had a bad day. I'm going to have a beer." "We finished the carpentry on the hotel; let's celebrate with champagne." "We finished moving the furniture into the hotel; let's celebrate with champagne." "We just had the hotel's grand opening; let's have champagne." Her entire Bride quartet was full of this over-abundance of booze, and others of her more recent books are the same. She needs to get a good alpha reader to help her root this distraction out of her stories. All it does for me is leave me feeling pity for her apparent struggle with alcoholism.

4 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Just ok

Would you try another book from Nora Roberts and/or MacLeod Andrews?

I have several Nora Roberts that I absolutely LOVE, so yes on Nora Robert. No on MacLeod Andrews.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Just ok with male voices (in a limited amount) but Absolutely BRUTAL on women and children voices. Nasal whining voices on every woman and child. Just BRUTAL

Could you see The Last Boyfriend being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

NO

Any additional comments?

Only half way thru this book and not sure yet I can finish. Authors, if you have any input on narrators, PLEASE think about how your story is being narrated or mutilated.

3 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Nothing special

The story was ok. I got this book on sale so when I run out of things to read I fall back on my unread books. Can't say it was terrible but the story did not bind me to the book either. Ok characters and the usual slightly more than desired amount of mind ramble put in there by Nora Roberts was what I expected however, if I could go back I would not purchase this one.

3 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

So Slow...Lack of Plot and Dragging Narration.

The book lacks tension, aside from the ghost which is not mentioned in the blurb. I avoid ghost books and I enjoy romance novels that have something that drives the plot. This tells the slow boring story of old friends who start dating and run into zero bumps or hurdles. Multiply this by the incredibly slow narration, and you've got for one boring book. In fact, I fell asleep twice while listening to this book.

I'm really disappointed because I usually really like Nora Roberts, and in theory, I enjoyed the characters, but that's not enough to make me ever listen to this story again.

3 les gens ont trouvé cela utile