Excited by Her Bruises

In the first 2 books, I liked Zoe's best friend Rochelle - smart, sassy and independent. She didn't seem like the pathetic type who would allow a man to slap her around and not kick him to the curb. It's so annoying when an engaging female character becomes stupid the moment she meets an attractive man.

It was disturbing when Travis got excited by seeing the bruises he'd left on Rochelle's body during "rough sex". What kind of man enjoys knowing that he caused a lover pain? Travis was portrayed as a devoted son and brother, yet he casually hit the woman he claimed to love. Travis even lied to her father, swearing that he would never hurt her.

Except for several incidents of physical violence, the plot was an interesting mix of romance, family drama and suspense. Unfortunately, the happy ending was contrived and unrealistic, since Travis's actions didn't match his supposed character. Perhaps Rochelle should have asked Kayla (book 2) about the dangers of domestic abuse.

5 people found this helpful

Only So! So!

This one was not as good as the other two- Did not like Claire Blocking at all for this book. I enjoyed her so much in the Australia series but not this one. Some of the scenes in the book were to unbelievable.

4 people found this helpful

Don't these have a director?

The narrator pronounced Spokane wrong, multiple times. I could not get over it. shouldn't someone have noticed that in taping? Also, the detectives have east coast accents, in Idaho! I live in Idaho, it is a long way from the east coast. We have the standard American accent.

1 person found this helpful

Narration not as good as the first two

I loved how the first two in this series were narrated. I really like this book but the narration wasn’t my favorite. As a sibling of someone who abused prescription drugs I thought the author handled the topic well.

1 person found this helpful

Life in Paradise is quite a thrill ride

What made the experience of listening to Turn Me Loose the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed Claire Bocking's reading. She's very talented at making distinct voices and I could listen to her read all day. Also, I really like Rosalind James' chapter format. She doesn't use numbers, but titles each chapter appropriately.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Turn Me Loose?

The most memorable part was the ending where the suspense came in. I'm really glad that even though Rochelle had to work extra hard in her life to make up for her not going to college, she's still smart and she knows it. She figured out who the bad guy is and tried to stop him.

Which character – as performed by Claire Bocking – was your favorite?

I really lliked Travis. James has a way of writing perfectly imperfect male leads. They're great, but they went through a lot of drama and hardship to become that great person. I would definitely take Travis home to meet the folks (if he were real).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Overall, I really liked the story and most of the dialogue. I'm about the same age as the characters and some of the wording used made me cringey because it sounded a little like an older person trying to talk like a younger person. That and some of the decisions that the main character made (like going to a certain someone's house even though it is dangerous.... and doing it twice) were the only parts I didn't like about the book. Otherwise, it was a great story with great characters and scary bad guys. Romantic suspense is normally a different genre than I'm used to, but I'm really enjoying this series from James and I can't wait for more.

Any additional comments?

I received a copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review. The review here is my own and I was not obligated to write a positive review.

2 people found this helpful

Loved this book. Not your typical romance.

Any additional comments?

I liked this book. I am a romance genre fan and it is hard to stand out in the crowd. This one does. There was suspense and the resolution worked for me! I tend to shy away from too much suspense but this book walked the fine line perfectly. It had intrigue romance and humor.
It is third in the series, yet can easily be listened to alone or out of order. A lot of books say you can do that, but with this one it's true.
I don't like it when I am interested in a book, only to realize I need to read a slew of others before I can understand what's happening. Kudos to Ms. James for making that happen with Turn Me Loose.

The story focuses on Rochelle, who is assistant to the Dean of Engineering and Travis, a part time professor and tech mogul. They have a quick, intense encounter in the past and the heat is still apparent when they meet up again. But it is not just about their relationship. It covers a crime ring with a premise that I hadn't even thought of, yet it makes complete sense. Rochelle's sister Stacy has gotten herself into its web and the complexities are intriguing and very entertaining.

The ending was a surprise for me and I loved the relationship development as the characters grow throughout the book and finally reach the dramatic conclusion.

I listen to a lot of audio books and I am in awe of Claire Bocking. Each of her voices is distinct in tone, dialect and cadence. She does what other books would need 3 narrators to accomplish. She could read my bills and I would enjoy them.

It is a great book with outstanding and one I will probably listen to again, which is rare for me.

I received a free copy in return for an honest review. It would have only cost me $1.99 and I wish I had bought it so it wouldn't shade someone's opinion of my honest review.

2 people found this helpful

Amazing book under $8.00

In Turn Me Loose, we return to Paradise, Idaho for another suspense filled adventure.
We meet Rochelle (she also appeared in Books 1 & 2 of the series) a hard working 30 something who has pulled herself up by her bootstraps to make a good life for herself. She is also trying to help her college age sister, Stacey. Rochelle gets a shock when Travis, a one-night stand from 9 months earlier, appears in her life after promising to call and then disappearing.
There are two stories going in Turn Me Loose, there is the romance between Rochelle and Travis and a murder of a young woman in the community. Ms. James does a fantastic job of weaving the two story lines together and tying everything in with Rochelle's commitment to her family.
I enjoyed Rochelle as a character. She's a fantastic example of someone who battles the social stereotypes to carve out the life she wants. Life hasn't always been easy, but she is making progress to get where she wants to be. I also appreciated that even though her attraction to Travis was present from the moment he stepped into her office, she made him earn the second chance.
Travis is a fun guy and it was fantastic to watch him woo Rochelle and make the effort to do things right for her. He had some fantastic romantic gestures, both big and small.
The suspense story line is intriguing and keeps you guessing right until the very end. As we moved through the story, I think I had at least different theories on what was going on and I was completely wrong!
Turn Me Loose is a well written story with great characters and a good balance between romance and suspense so that both story lines are evenly represented. This is another great installment to the Paradise franchise!

Claire Bocking was very good with the delivery of most of the story. However, she did tend to pause for during the narration a lot which became a little annoying, but she still did a good job.

7 people found this helpful

solid story, not the best

it's been interesting reading the thrillers here instead of the author's contemporaries. her thriller muscles aren't quite as strong. Claire balking is not my favorite narrator either. still it was good entertainment.

Couldn’t really connect to any of the characters

I did not find this book interesting at all but I had hoped it would get better so, I listen to the whole book. The narrator made it super hard to listen to as well. I had to speed up the book to 1.2 so it was bearable to listen to. She sounded breathless almost after every sentences. It was so annoying. I could not connect with the characters. There are sex scenes and even that didn’t interest me. I usually like the murder mystery romance books but I guess I couldn’t get into it as much as I wanted to.

Not my favorite in the series

I have liked the character of Rochelle from the previous books in the series. I very much like that she is dedicated to her family; and I was so impressed with her mother and father as written. I was really disappointed that the author wrote Ro as TSTL when it came to confronting Lake et al. Too bad. I get that it can be consistent with her loyalty, but it was offset by the divorce, the dealing to Stacy, and the menace displayed at her previous visit. So, no. I had a hard time connecting with Travis the way he was written. Between these issues, this is not my favorite book in the series. I give the author a big thumbs up in including related topic information at the end of the book. Respect. Bocking does a decent job of narration.