Speak No Evil (Aldridge Sisters, #2) by Tanya Anne Crosby – Audiobook Review

Tags

5 stars, audiobook, Book Review, Charleston, creepy, dark, gothic, Julie McKay, romance, series, suspense, Tanya Anne Crosby

I rarely review audiobooks. I prefer to review e-books, which allow note-taking within the e-book.  I can’t do this with audiobooks. There have been a few I’ve reviewed. These are generally shorter, less time-consuming books.

Speak No Evil is an exception. It is in a genre that I rarely read, contemporary suspense/romance, so it made an impression. I just need to let you know how much I enjoyed this book. So today, something a little different….

About Speak No Evil by Tanya Anne Crosby

If you love a gripping Southern suspense, USA Today bestselling SPEAK NO EVIL is for you. Lifting the veil of secrecy on a grand Southern family in decline. New York Times bestselling author Tanya Anne Crosby explores the lives of Caroline, Augusta, and Savannah Aldridge, three sisters who share a dark past and an uncertain future…

After the death of their mother, a newspaper heiress, Caroline Aldridge steps up to head the paper. But a killer is making headlines, and Caroline may have unwittingly stepped into the crosshairs. Even as she mends the tattered bonds of sisterhood, a sinister force beyond their control may tear them apart forever…

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Review of Speak No Evil

Speak No Evil is not something I would normally read. I generally stick to SciFi and historical fiction. But I decided to pick up Speak No Evil because a) it is written by an author who’s historical fiction I enjoy and b) it was free (and still is as of when I am writing this.) Then I added on the audiobook for a very reasonable price.

Good decision. Speak No Evil is gothic and creepy. Maybe those are two words for the same thing, but I needed to write both of them. Dark, with a little bit of southern attitude too. Using genre terms, I would say romantic suspense, but all those other words are better descriptors.

First I want to review a bit of the blurb. “Lifting the veil of secrecy on a grand Southern family in decline.” Makes you think the plantation is going to hell. In reality, the Aldridge family has a complex and politically incorrect (former slave owners) history. But rather than decline, the family has evolved and adapted to the times. As for secrets, there are quite a few. That is what makes for a good story right?

Speak No Evil takes place around Charleston and Folly Beach, South Carolina, including the Aldridge’s Oyster Point Plantation. Southern living, including food, hot humid weather, coastal scenery and the area’s history are all part of the atmosphere of the story. Never having been in that part of the country, I soaked up the sights, sounds and sometimes smells of South Carolina just like a tourist.

There are three Aldridge sisters, but oldest sister Caroline is the focus of this book. Caroline broke up with Jack Shaw 10 years ago. Seeing him at her mom’s funeral did not bring back fond memories. Or did it? It soon becomes obvious that neither have forgotten their feelings for one another.

A murder may tear them apart again. As the detective in charge, Jack has a conflict of interest with Caroline who is digging for information to print in the paper. This ongoing conflict keeps them both arguing and making up for most of the book. Relationships are never easy.

The murderer is not identified, but the reader is treated to a third person perspective. This is where the description of creepy comes in. He or she may start having ordinary thoughts, but quickly they turn dark, judgmental and anticipatory. So – creepy. If you read the book, these sections are italicized.

Listening to the audiobook, you can’t hear italics, but you can sense the mood change. Overall, Julie McKay’s narration was well done and eventually led me to purchase the next audiobook in the series. Ms. Mckay’s voice makes me think she is of an age as the sisters Aldrige, so she is a good fit for the books.

You would think the book is about the murder mystery and the family secrets. And it is, but there is so much more. In Speak No Evil, for Caroline, the story is about her choosing who she wants to be, where she wants to be and who she wants in her life. One assumes each sister will get that opportunity in the Aldridge Sisters series, and I am looking forward to Augusta’s and Savannah’s stories.

Near the end of the book, the police investigation results in an arrest, but I have to tell you, I was really skeptical. But I don’t consider this to be a spoiler, because the book blurb for Tell No Lies suggests that the guilty party may still be out there. So, kind of a cliffhanger, but only sort of. No star-deductions from me on this one. Gothic, creepy, dark with southern attitude, Speak No Evil gets 5 stars!

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Links

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Since I am into this series, I will also leave you with blurbs from the 1st and 3rd books (click on cover for purchase link). I’ve already read (listened to) book 3, so now I am anxiously waiting for Savanna’s story.

Leave No Trace: The Final Moments of Florence W. Aldridge (Aldridge Sisters, #1)

Every event in a person’s life is connected. The state of our lives, at any given time, is the sum of everything we have done and everywhere we have been. Our next decision determines, not merely where our lives end, but who we become along the way. How far can one lost woman go to redeem herself by the time the clock stops ticking?

These are the final moments of Florence W. Aldridge…

Note: This is not a short story. It is a vignette, a snippet of time, meant to be used as a companion to SPEAK NO EVIL and Tell NO LIES. This book does not contain spoilers, so it can be read in advance of the books, but it does not stand alone.

Tell No Lies (Aldridge Sisters, #3)

Augusta Aldridge believes in Ian Patterson’s innocence, even after he was arrested for killing two young women. She was with him the night one of the crimes occurred, hidden in the shadows beneath a beachside pier, locked in a wild, unthinking embrace with a man whose dangerous fascination may have fatally lured other victims. Now that another body has been discovered, and a thirteen-year old boy has gone missing, the police suspect a copycat killer, but Augusta is certain they have the wrong man. She’s going to risk her reputation—and her life—to prove Ian’s innocence and save young Cody. But the clock is ticking…

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More Than Stardust (Wanted and Wired, #3) by Vivien Jackson – Review

Tags

5 stars, artificial intelligence, Book Review, romance, scifi, scifi romance, Vivien Jackson

About More Than Stardust by Vivien Jackson

She never wanted to be a god. She only wanted to be a girl.

Chloe, a self-aware, highly illegal nanorobotic artificial intelligence knows a thing or two about wanting.The growing Machine Rebellion wants her to become its god. The technocratic global Consortium wants to cage her, take her apart, and reverse-engineer her. Her family wants to keep her a secret. Her best friend Garrett wants her safe.

Chloe is a thing made of wants. And it’s time the world knew hers.

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Review of More Than Stardust

Not even a complete chapter into More Than Stardust, and I knew this was going to be one heck of a fun ride!

Readers of the series already know a little about Chloe and Garrett. These two characters have had smaller roles in the first two books, but I just knew they were cool people. After all, they are hanging out with Heron and company, or as Chloe and Garrett tend to think of that gang – their family.

Not related by blood, but by circumstances and actions, this gang has saved the world more than once. This time, Chloe starts the story with a bang by saving the world again, when unknown forces start attacking, well, everywhere. They mistake they made was attacking Chloe’s home.

An early crisis and resolution had me thinking, where is the story going from here? Well, you might as well know, there will be another opportunity to save the world, but along the way, Garrett and Chloe are going to get closer than they ever have. Yes – to what you are thinking….

I love the development of the relationship between Chloe and Garrett. Though they have been best friends for years, there is still so much to learn about each other, each confronting their own doubts and longings. An AI and a human. Can this really work out? So, going into this, I think we all know they are fated to be together. The really interesting part is how it all works.

So much imagination went into figuring out how to get Chloe and Garrett together, I would love to tell you about it, but that would take the fun out of reading. And just when you think the romance has worked out, something happens to spoil the fun.

The fun spoilers are the Consortium. The Consortium has a lot of plans and not only do they want Chloe, but they don’t want the rest of Chloe’s family (alive). Chloe is not going to be happy about that! A self-aware, highly illegal, nanorobotic, artificial intelligence who has Garrett, a pilot with killer techno-gearhead skills, for a friend will be a force for the Consortium to reckon with.

While the story belongs to both Chloe and Garrett, Chloe is the character who gets most of my attention. Chloe’s nanobite technology is both an asset and a liability, which just adds to the depth of the character and helps her to develop more human feelings. At times she is god-like and other times she is so very human.

I feel like this third book is the boldest in the Wanted and Wired series. I refer to Ms. Jackson’s writing style, which can be irreverent, quirky, unconventional, and just plain ungrammatical, reflecting how her characters think and act. I saw this in all three books, but this attitude blooms in More Than Stardust. It brings emotion to the story in a way complete sentences do not.

More Than Stardust can be read as standalone if you have not read the first two books in the series. But, really, I recommend all three, in whatever order you like, for lawless, lively and lovely adventures.

Many thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

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Pre-Order More Than Stardust (Releases July 9th):

 

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A Stranger’s Promise by Tarah Scott (Lords of Chance, #1) – Audiobook Review

Tags

5 stars, audiobook, Book Review, historical, Regency, romance, Stevie Zimmerman, Tarah Scott

About A Stranger’s Promise by Tarah Scott

Penniless and jilted, Charlotte Atchenson accepts a position as governess to Lord Alistair Cassilis ’s illegitimate children. When Eliza sets foot in the Scottish lord’s carriage, she faces the most dangerous foe a woman can face: a charming rogue. The danger is not only to her heart, however, but to her life, as well.

In an effort to deny her son’s illegitimate children, Alistair’s stepmother insists on a dour governess who will break their rebellious spirits. Alistair, however, decides that the pretty lass with a colorful French vocabulary who shows up in his stepmother’s drawing room is exactly what the children need. If the notion offends his stepmother, all the better. If the lass is what he needs…well, a man can’t ask for more. His stepmother doesn’t intend for Alistair to open his heart to her grandchildren, or the woman who cares for them. Her plans include forcing them onto the streets.

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Review of A Stranger’s Promise

I loved this story. It’s got all the good stuff you need in a romance set in the early nineteenth century. A lovely, intelligent heroine whose father left her penniless. A society that provide almost no support for a single woman. A need for a governess for two adorable children. At least they have potential to be adorable – they start out a little bratty. And a handsome Scottish lord for a hero.

You have the feeling that when Lord Alistair first met Charlotte, he immediately saw her potential. As a governess and as someone he very much wanted to get to know. But Charlotte only sees an employer. Well, a very handsome and personable employer.

Early in the story there is a scene with Alistair and Charlotte and some whiskey that was fun. Read by narrator Stevie Zimmerman, it was hilarious. Ms. Zimmerman’s interpretation of Alistair (with a lovely, slight Scottish accent) and Charlotte was delightful in this scene and in the entire book. Her rendition of the aggravating stepmother rounds out the cast quite nicely.

While Alistair’s stepmother tries to prove he is not the legitimate heir, Charlotte charms her way into the hearts of the children and Alistair. For someone with no experience as a governess, she is nicely inventive when it comes to getting what she wants from the children. Smart girl. And she knows French. Well, a few French words. Colorful words. Oh my! I did enjoy Charlotte’s delightful tendency to speak her mind. Which annoys the annoyingly well-bred society. But enchants all the people that really count.

A Stanger’s Promise is a truly delectable. Pure fun with a happy ending. What more can you ask for?

Thanks to the author who provided a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

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