Genres: Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance
Published by Simon and Schuster Audio
Released on October 2, 2018
Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
The Delight
I went in hoping to be captivated by a new series from J.R. Ward after attending Readers on he River in September of 2018. It just didn’t happen. I waited some time and finally started it on audiobook. It didn’t grab me so I don’t have a lot to say that delighted me.
Review
Ann has a chip on her shoulder. Her hero father passed away tragicaly, but he wasn’t really that great of a father to her. Her mother wants her to be the pretty little girl that Ann just doesn’t want a part of. A brother who has moved up the ranks faster than her, but he’s not that bad of a guy as you get to know. She comes across as masculine, hard asses, as far from being feminine as possible and just plain abrasive in personality. I never really warmed up to her character even after she rescues a stray dog.
Danny’s in love with Ann, but he also has his own issues. His twin brother, also a firefighter, dies and he isn’t taking it well. You know these men…dealing with grief, PTSD and all that crap is for sissies. He knows his love for Ann isn’t reciprocated, but he holds that torch pretty damn close.
Almost immediately the story goes into a scene that changes their lives. Tragic, survivable, but utterly life changing. So many things go wrong, so much guilt is felt and so much pain is distributed to many people in the story. This has lasting effects to the entire story and I almost gave up right at this point. It pissed me off. It devastated me. It also just plain made me want to smack all the characters upside the head for being so reckless and idiots.
And that is what set the tone for me for the rest of the story. I didn’t gain any respect, I lost probably most of my respect for Danny. I loved him early on, but I couldn’t continue to love who he had become. Ann I couldn’t stand from the beginning. I grew to have empathy and respect for her, but still, she just wasn’t someone I liked or would like to get to know.
Ann’s brother gets a lot of page time as well, and he was far more interesting to me than the main characters. There were a smattering of other side characters that all make up the story. Basically I decided all of the characters were just fucked up people. They needed love, money, respect, adrenaline rushes, family, no family, hatred, and stupidity. It all came down to a story I just didn’t enjoy. Didn’t feel had any sexy moments. Didn’t feel it was a group of characters I wanted to continue to grow and know.
The narrators were good, but at times also dry. I liked the gruffness of the mens voices along with accents to make you believe you were in the correct geographical area. Because it was such a long story with mutiple characters, there were four narrators, which was a first for me. I couldn’t tell you who did what voices, but I knew they were all different. Truthfully, I liked this approach, especially if you have more than two voices to a story.
So maybe I am being harsh, but this story just didn’t do it for me. J.R. Ward has some really good one liners, or even unique ways of describing situations and feelings. I love parts of how she writes, but the characters just weren’t what I hoped for or expected. It just didn’t do it for me.
Challenges Met
Review Writing Challenge #32
Audiobook Challenge #8
Try Something New Challenge #17 – Series
Literary Pickers #26 – Home Security
About J.R. Ward
J.R. Ward is the author of over thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. There are more than 15 million copies of Ward’s novels in print worldwide and they have been published in 25 different countries around the world.
After graduating from law school, Ward began working in healthcare in Boston and spent many years as Chief of Staff of one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation. She lives in the south with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. Writing has always been her passion and her idea of heaven is a whole day of nothing but her computer, her dog and her coffee pot.
Shari
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YIKES! This sounds like the making of a really good story, that sadly went wrong, and that’s the pits, because like yo, I’m a fan of JR Ward. Hugs, RO
I am hoping the series gets better!
It’s neat how this audiobook features multiple narrators. It’s too bad that the story didn’t work out for you.
I liked having the different voices to distinguish characters, but the story was just meh.
Yeah, Ann and Danny were no prizes, that’s for sure. I definitely want her brother’s story Like you, he did grab my attention.
Totally agree that Ann and Danny were no prizes. They never quite redeemed themselves.
I usually really like her books and this is on my wish list to read at some point so I hope I like it more than you did.
I am hit or miss lately with her books. She had a unique style of writing I like, but sometimes the stories get way to complicated or the characters just aren’t people I like.
I’ve super avoided this book. I am curious…but ugh…
I bought it hoping to get back to reading her books. Some of her BDB books were getting on my nerves because of 20 storylines going everywhere. This one didn’t have that problem. She just didn’t make the characters likable nor did she redeem them. She did redeem Ann more than Danny, but they just weren’t great people I would like to get to know.
well that sounds meh.. sorry it had so many unlikeable characters
you nailed it. Gotta like the characters or the story just isn’t good.
I did read this one and enjoyed it. It was my first Ward.
Then you might love her BDB series at least up to around book 7 or 8. Then it gets complicated really fast with too many storylines. Some of those books could have been several books to make it easier reading. The King – that book I ended up skipping anything that wasn’t directly to do with Beth and Wrath.
I haven’t read this author yet. I like the book cover though. It’s sad that it all went downhill, basically. I think it could have been good, but yeah ♀️ Great review!
Genesis @ Whispering Chapters
I am hit or miss with J.R. Ward. She has a unique style that comes through in her writing that I love, but it doesn’t save this book at all. I generally have to like the characters and they have so much baggage that it was hard to wade through to find the good person beneath it all. In the end I wasn’t sure there was enough to like to make it worth the effort. Hopefully it gets better and it suffers from the first book in the series kind of issues.