Audio Book Challenge Update

This is my audio book challenge update. I’m a little late to the game but I must admit I love audiobooks more than I thought I would! So here are my listens even though it’s only three [so far] since this is my first time I'm going for a Newbie 1-6 titles. Here's what I have so far.

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand

Review: The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand

Expected Publication: June 16, 2015

Format: NetGalley & Audio Book via Hachette Audio

Publisher: Little Brown & Co.

Challenges: 2015 NG/EW and 2015 Audio

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Nantucket writer Madeline King couldn't have picked a worse time to have writer's block. Her deadline is looming, her bills are piling up, and inspiration is in short supply. Madeline's best friend Grace is hard at work transforming her garden into the envy of the island with the help of a ruggedly handsome landscape architect. Before she realizes it, Grace is on the verge of a decision that will irrevocably change her life. Could Grace's crisis be Madeline's salvation? As the gossip escalates, and the summer's explosive events come to a head, Grace and Madeline try desperately to set the record straight--but the truth might be even worse than rumor has it.

My Thoughts

First things first I love Elin Hilderbrand’s books! It’s not summer unless I read a book by her. The Rumor is everything a summer read should be. This one focuses on a set of friends Madeline and Grace who with their families are the subjects of rumors around town. However at times the truth is way worse than any rumor could ever be.

Madeline is a writer and she must come up with a draft or return her advance. She is suffering from major writers block but when her best friend Grace confesses to her she is having an affair she decides to use that as her book. Meanwhile as Grace is falling in love with a man who isn’t her husband, her husband is in serious financial trouble. Blind to the fact she must decide if she wants to leave her husband or follow her heart. The towns folk start rumors about Madeline and how they think she is the one having the affair with someone is close to her, they have no clue on how wrong they have it. When these rumors come to the surface and she is in danger of losing her family and friendship once Grace discovers she is writing her story for the whole world to know. I also love the second storyline that of their children. We get to see the children’s aspect of their lives and how they see their parents.

This book continues Elin Hilderbrand’s reign as the queen of the summer reads. It has everything that makes a great book, gossip lies love and relationships. We get to see how others might perceive us and then how things really are. Anyone can be a victim of rumors but its how we deal with them that really shows us what kind of person we are. This is definitely one I recommend everyone to read this summer, do yourself a favor and read this you will be highly entertained.

Blog Tour/Review/Giveaway Winner Announced:Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline; Read by George Newbern

Published: April 14, 2015

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: Audiobook via Macmillan Audio
Challenge: 2015 Audio Book Challenge

Rating: 5/5

Soundcloud Audioclip

Synopsis

Dr. Eric Parrish is the Chief of the Psychiatric Unit at Havemeyer General Hospital outside of Philadelphia. Recently separated from his wife Alice, he is doing his best as a single Dad to his seven-year-old daughter Hannah. His work seems to be going better than his home life, however. His unit at the hospital has just been named number two in the country and Eric has a devoted staff of doctors and nurses who are as caring as Eric is. But when he takes on a new patient, Eric's entire world begins to crumble. Seventeen-year-old Max has a terminally ill grandmother and is having trouble handling it. That, plus his OCD and violent thoughts about a girl he likes makes Max a high risk patient. Max can't turn off the mental rituals he needs to perform every fifteen minutes that keep him calm. With the pressure mounting, Max just might reach the breaking point. When the girl is found murdered, Max is nowhere to be found. Worried about Max, Eric goes looking for him and puts himself in danger of being seen as a "person of interest" himself. Next, one of his own staff turns on him in a trumped up charge of sexual harassment. Is this chaos all random? Or is someone systematically trying to destroy Eric's life?

My Thoughts

I must confess this is my first Lisa Scottoline experience however it wont be the last. Why haven’t I read her books before is beyond me but I love this book! Actually I was lucky enough to listen to the audiobook and it was amazing!

We begin with Dr. Eric Parrish is has been separated and is now trying to move on after he realizes his wife has with another man. All he wants is to be a good doctor and most importantly be the best father to his daughter Hannah. One day he meets Max who is a loner and who has OCD and is asked by his grandmother to see Dr. Parrish. Dr. Parrish agrees to see him and try to help but soon learns Max’s obsessed with a girl in town. Scared Max might hurt himself or the girl he finds out Max has gone missing after his grandmothers death, and to make matters worse Max’s obsession has been found dead also. On a mission to find Max Dr. Parrish knows in his heart Max didn’t do this. However do to a crazy set of circumstances Eric finds him a suspect in the murder and doesn’t know how this has happened. Is he being set up and if he is why?

This is one of those stories that will grip you from the beginning and will not let you go. I was listening as fast as I could cause I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I love a read that plays its cards close to the chest. Nowadays that is very hard to find but this one plays it out perfectly! You will shocked in the end when you found out what happens and who was behind it all. This might have been my first Lisa Scottoline experience but I know it will not be my last!

LISA SCOTTOLINE is a New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of twenty-one novels. She has served as President of Mystery Writers of America, and she is a weekly columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her columns have been collected in four books and optioned for television. She has 30 million copies of her books in print in the United States, and she has been published in thirty countries. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets.

GEORGE NEWBERN is a film and television actor best known for his roles in Father of the Bride and Scandal. A prominent voice-over performer and award winning narrator, Newbern’s previous audiobook credits include several novels by Carl Hiaasen and Seabiscuit by Lauren Hildebrand, among others.

And now the winner of a set of audiobooks by Lisa Scottoline is…

Julie Castro

Congrats! I will email you soon for your info!

Audiobook Review: The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Published: September 30, 2014

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Format: via Hachette Audio
Challenges: 2015 Audio Book Challenge

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Ira Levinson is in trouble. Ninety-one years old and stranded and injured after a car crash, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together - how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth can't possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.

A few miles away, at a local bull-riding event, a Wake Forest College senior's life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward -- even life and death - loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite . . . if the secret he's keeping doesn't destroy it first.

Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.

My Thoughts

This is one of my favorite Nicholas Sparks reads of all time! This was also my first venture into audiobooks and not knowing what I was in for I must say I was very pleased. I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to concentrate but it was actually the opposite, I wasn’t able to let go. I loved that it was a dual story of sorts, the story of Ira and Ruth then the story of Sophia and Luke. Both are opposite stories but the bottom line is of course love. I also enjoyed how you never knew how the stories would come together until the very end. Not knowing made it so worth it because I truly became invested in all the characters. I personally felt this one was one of Nicholas Starks’s best stories in a while. While I love all his books I felt that some past reads were the same old stories recycled over and over. However with this one it is different and such a breath of fresh air this one reminds me why I fell in love with Nicholas Sparks books!

You will fall in love with both couples for different reasons each one showing us what love is all about and how real love should be. You will be taken on a journey that not will only touch your heart but also your soul. I was lucky enough to listen to the audio books and I loved everything about it. The voices of Ron McLarty and January LaVoy really brought the characters alive. They sucked me in and I couldn’t get enough of the story. The story will soon be brought to life to the big screen and while I know many books lose a lot in the transformation but I’m hoping the true essence of the book will come across. Not to mention I’m really feeling the chemistry of the film’s stars Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood. So do yourself a favor and read then watch the movie, Nicholas Sparks has blessed us once again with the tale of love and loss and no one does it better than he does.