Audiobook review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Title: The Distance Between Us
Author: Kasie West
Narrator: Jorjeana Marie
Story rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Audio rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Overall rating: 5 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

MY THOUGHTS

Sometimes you open a book and know right away that you would fell in love with it. For me The Distance Between Us was perfect. It had all points that make a good contemporary for me.

• Realistic and likable heroine, which I instantly connected with. Caymen was one of the reasons why I loved this book so much. Her voice was so genuine. I also loved her sarcastic sense of humor.

• Hero, who was not only handsome and rich, but also kind and caring. I’ve told this before, but I repeat myself: there are a lot of books in YF genre where the love interest is a rude and arrogant jerk and much lesser books with caring and kind guys. Bad boys are definitely in trend. I personally don’t mind bad boys, but it’s good to have a “normal” hero, who treats heroine kindly. And Xander was just awesome.

• Swoon-worthy romance. Caymen and Xander’s relationship developed gradually (instant-love haters, you shouldn’t worry). The romance was so sweet. And “rich guy fell in love with poor girl” is one of my favorite kind of romances.

• It was a coming of age story at heart. Both Caymen and Xander dealt with family pressure and expectations. They both were at that point of their lives when they were not sure where they wanted to go from there. I’m sure many readers would relate, I sure did.

• Present family. I always prefer books that are not only all romance, but books where family plays a significant role. I liked Caymen’s relationship with her mother and we also see glimpses of Caymen’s family.

• Friends. Though Caymen’s relationship with her best friend was not main focus of the book, she was still very present.

• Kasie West writing is easy-flowing and engaging. It was my first book by this author and I’m looking forward to read more.

• The cover is gorgeous. I’m in love with it!

My thoughts about the audiobook

If you follow me, you probably know that this year I fell in love with Jorjeana Marie. She is my favorite female narrator for YA. Her narration is amazing and I can’t praise her enough. I highly recommend the audiobook.

Audiobook review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Title: I Was Here
Author: Gayle Forman
Narrator: Jorjeana Marie
Story rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Audio rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Overall rating: 3 of 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

Well, I can’t say that I haven’t been warned. Many of my friends were disappointed in this book. But it didn’t stop me. I’ve read and absolutely loved If I Stay and Where She Went. I added both of these books to my “true-book-love” shelf (I don’t do this easily). And I just wanted more of Gayle Forman’s writing. So I lowered my expectation a little and picked up I Was Here.

Aaaand I ended up disappointed like many of Gayle Forman’s fans. I had several issues with this book, and I’ll tell you later what they were.

This story is about Cody, whose best friend Meg killed herself. They were best friends forever in High School, and when after graduation Meg went to college and left Cody behind in their small town, they stayed in touch. Cody thought she knew everything about Meg. So it’s a shock when Meg ended her life. Meg’s parents asked Cody to go to Meg’s place and pack her things. When she got there she met Meg’s roommates, a boy Meg had a crush on and discovered a whole part of Meg’s life she knew nothing about. Later she found a cryptic file on Meg’s computer which can be a key to her death. So began Cody’s journey to finding the truth about Meg’s life and death and maybe about Cody herself.

And now about my issues.

• I wasn’t grieving with Cody. This book is about grieving; this book is about a girl who recently lost her best friend. I expected my heart to be broken. I expected to feel, to cry. Nothing. You know I’m a crier. I often cry over books, but there wasn’t a single tear from me while I was reading I Was Here. I know that Gayle Forman can write grieving. I couldn’t help myself but compare this book to If I Stay and Where She Went. I felt so much while reading those books, there was an avalanche of emotions.

• In truth it’s like I was cheated with I Was Here. Gayle Forman went with this formula: an average girl with tragic past meets a rock boy, who is arrogant womanizer with pretty eyes. He changes for her and of course he saves her. Sounds familiar? I’ve read this so many times before. I expected something unique from Gayle Forman.

• And finally my last but not least issue with this book. It has one of my pet peeves. I know it’s just my personal preference; probably many readers won’t be as annoyed as I was. Though one of my friends will definitely have the same feelings as I did (I’m looking at you Jeanne). The love interest had very beautiful and expressive eyes, and the author kept reminding this again and again. Nowadays authors often do this “eyes thing”. It seems heroes don’t have other parts of their body which deserve attention. It’s like Suzanne Collins started this trend with Finnick’s famous sea green eyes. Just to prove my point some quotes:

"I see that his eyes are impossibly blue"

"She’d also written about his eyes, so blue, she’d thought he wore contacts. I look at them now. They are weirdly blue"

"His eyes are a whole different color here, in the pale light of Meg’s room."

"His eyes, this time, look like the color of a sky after sunset, almost violet. I’ve never seen someone whose eyes change colors, like some mood ring to the soul."

"His eyes go wide. They’re an electric shade of blue now, or maybe it’s just the reflected glow of the TV."

"He looks at me. And those eyes. I have to look away."

"His eyes, they change, like a traffic light going from green to yellow."

"I look at him. His eyes, like the skin under them, seem bruised."

"His eyes, a soft blue, like the empty swimming pool outside, widen in surprise."

"I take him in. His eyes are violet this morning, almost bruised; they match the purplish skin under them."

Despite my disappointment I gave I Was Here 3 Stars which is a positive rating for me, and it means that it was a solid read. Two things saved this book for me: Gayle Forman’s gorgeous writing and fantastic narration by Jorjeana Marie.

Gayle Forman writes so beautifully, that after one book I wanted more, and more, and more. My GR friend Thomas said in his review that Gayle Forman’s writing has “water-like quality”. I can’t agree more.

My thoughts about the audiobook

I went for the audio version of I Was Here because of my friend Arlene from Waves of Fiction. She went on some book event where Jorjeana Marie read chapters from this book. When Arlene told that she was blown away by her performance, I knew that I want to listen to audiobook. And I’m so glad I did it. Jorjeana Marie is very talented narrator; I’m very impressed by her performance. I definitely want to listen more of her works.

All in all I Was Here is not a bad book, but it didn’t live up to the level I was expecting from Gayle Forman. In truth I don’t know whom to recommend this book. If you haven’t read anything by this author, I recommend start with If I Stay and Where She Went. If you love Gayle Forman’s writing as much as I do, I’m sure you would read her latest book no matter what.

AUDIO SAMPLE:

Audiobook review: Where She Went (If I Stay #2) by Gayle Forman

Title: Where She Went (If I Stay #2)
Author: Gayle Forman
Narrator: Dan Bittner
Story rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Audio rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Overall rating: 5 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY
It's been three years since the devastating accident...three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future—and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

MY THOUGHTS

Gayle Forman writes such beautiful and heartbreaking stories. I loved this book even more than If I Stay. I fell in love with Adam. I don’t remember the last time when I was so connected with a male character. I applaud Gayle Forman for creating such a strong and genuine voice.

What this book is about? I can tell you it’s about a heartbroken rock-star. And formally it is, but Adam is so far from your stereotypical hero.

I felt so much, my heart broke for Adam, and of course I cried, and I hoped… It was a very intense reading for me. It’s amazing how the author managed to pack into a short book such enormous emotional punch. It almost knocked me down.

My thoughts about the audiobook

I loved the audiobook, and I’m totally biased. You see, Dan Bittner is my favorite male narrator, and I would love anything, narrated by him. I have a huge crush on his voice. So, yes, I highly recommend the audiobook.

Where She Went is a beautifully-written emotional story and Adam is amazing character. If you haven’t read this duology yet, please, do it now.

AUDIO SAMPLE:

Audiobook review: If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay (If I Stay #1)
Author: Gayle Forman
Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Story rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Audio rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Overall rating: 5 of 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

If I Stay by Gayle Forman was on my to-be-read shelf for a long-long time. Many of my friends have read and highly praised it. I don’t have a good reason why I haven’t picked it up sooner. I guess it just stayed buried under new releases. Then the movie was released, and everyone was talking about this book again. And again I stayed away. It looks like I just needed a good push to finally read it. For me such a push was a reading challenge. So I’ve finally read it. Now I’m mad at myself for waiting so long, because I loved this book. It ended up on “my-true-book-love” shelf, and I don’t give up a spot there easily.

This story is unique. What genre is it? Probably contemporary with a touch of paranormal. Such books often don’t work or me. I prefer my stories to be solid contemporaries without any paranormal distractions or paranormal novels with werewolves, vampires and other creatures. But everything worked wonderfully in this case.

Mia and her family got into a car crush. Then something strange happened, she didn’t die, she became a ghost. This book consists of Mia’s present, her memories about her parents, friends and her boyfriend Adam.

Before I started If I Stay I worried about its size. It is rather short book. It’s not an easy task to make well-developed characters, interesting plot and genuine emotions in a short format. I shouldn’t have been worried. Gayle Forman managed it all. If I Stay is so emotionally charged; I’m in awe with author’s talent. It was like I was there with Mia. I felt her confusion, her grieve, her hopes and her despair.

Gayle Forman’s writing is beautiful. Not too flourish, but easy-flowing, lyrical and emotional. I want more and more and more of her words. She takes mundane moments and transforms them into something emotionally charged and moving.

And the romance. This Romance… I loved Mia and Adam together. They are both musicians and it added something special. Music is a big part of this book. It helps us to understand characters better. Since both Adam and Mia are musicians, it’s easier for them to express themselves through music. They met thanks to music, it stayed with them, and at the end (the most crucial scene in the book) it was also music.

I planned to watch a movie, but now I’m not sure about it. I loved the book so much; I don’t think the movie can reach this level of emotions for me.

My thoughts about the audiobook

This audiobook is narrated by Kirsten Potter, and she is one of my favorite narrators. She brings so much to the story. I’m not sure she is the best choice for this particular audiobook, though. Mia is seventeen, Kirsten Potter just doesn’t sound like a 17 years old girl; her voice is older and more mature. But despite this I still recommend the audiobook, because her performance is amazing. She perfectly captured Mia’s emotions and really brought this character to life.

If I Stay is a beautiful emotional and unique story about choices, about family and friendship and love. I highly recommend it.

AUDIO SAMPLE:

Audiobook review: One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Title: One Plus One
Author: Jojo Moyes
Narrators: Elizabeth Bower, Ben Elliot, Nicola Stanton, Steven France
Story rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Audio rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Overall rating: 5 of 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

I’ve read this book two months ago and it still stays in my thoughts. Not in a way “this book broke my heart, and I’m still picking up pieces”, but in a way “this book made me happy and put a smile on my face”.

One Plus One is the most lighthearted and funniest book by Jojo Moyes I’ve read so far. It reminded me of Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty in that sense that Jojo Moyes manages to tell us about sad, depressing things in such light, full of hope manner that reader never feels overwhelmed by negative emotions.

But this book is not all fun. Yes, there were many comical moments, but there also were heartbreaking scenes, which made me tear up.

What this book is about? Two years ago Jess’s husband suffered depression and went to live with his mother. She raises their daughter Tanzie and her stepson Nicky alone, working low paid jobs and trying to meet ends. Now her Goth stepson is bullied and her math genius daughter has a chance to go to a private math school on a scholarship, but Jess can’t afford even this small payment. Their last desperate chance is a Math Olympiad where Tanzie can win needed sum of money. The only problem, it takes place in Scotland, and they need to get there. This is where Ed comes to rescue; he offered to ride them to Olympiad. Ed is a technology millionaire, whose life recently came apart. He faces major legal problems. This is how this road trip for Jess, Ed, Nicky, Tanzie and Norman (their big and stinky dog) begins.

As all Jojo Moyes’s books, One Plus One is very character-driven story. The author brought to life such interesting complex characters. Jess, Ed, Nicky, Tanzie, each of them has their own personality, their own voice, and the audio format only added to this difference. They are so imperfectly real.

Jess was such a sunny and full of life heroine. Her motto was "Good things happen to good people. You just have to keep faith." Her life was hard but she was so optimistic. It was heartbreaking to see how she at one point lost her believe in goodness. I wanted to hug her and I was happy that Ed was with her.

What surprised me the most was the romance. It was sweet, touching and unexpectedly full of eroticism and passion.

“As they drove she kept stealing looks at him. She found she couldn’t see his hands without picturing them on her skin, that soft mop of hair travelling slowly down her bare stomach. She thought about the smell of him, the tough muscle and the smooth skin of him.”

Despite wonderful romance, One Plus One is more family and character’s growth book. Jojo Moyes masterfully pictures different types of relationship here: Jess and Tanzie, Jess and Nicky, fantastic sibling bound between Tanzie and Nicky, Ed’s relationship with his family, with his father. I was especially touched by Nicky and Tanzie, there were so much love, caring and support between them.

My thoughts about the audiobook

Narration was very good. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to a multiple narration and I forgot how wonderful it is when each character has their own voice. There were four narrators, each for Jess, Ed, Nicky and Tanzie and they’d done a great job bringing these characters to life. I also liked that Nicky and Tanzie sounded like a teenage boy and a girl. I find it very annoying when a young character is performed by a narrator with an “old” voice.

One Plus One ended up on my favorite shelf. I highly recommend it to those who love character driven stories about family and love.

Audiobook mini-review: Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #4)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Narrator: Dan Bittner and Emma Galvin
My rating: 4 of 5 Stars
My rating of Narration: 5 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY (from Goodreads)

found.
Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.
Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes...but what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.
Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.

MY THOUGHTS

This review is a little spoilerish if you haven’t read previous books in this series.

I’ve listened to the audio version of the whole series and it’s very well done. There are four narrators, each for Sam, Grace, Cole and Isabel; each of them made an amazing job bringing these characters to life. I know most of YA-lovers have already read this series, but if you decide to reread this series I highly recommend the audiobooks. Actually I remember Maggie Stiefvater herself said in one of her interviews that she was pleased how the audio had turned out.

I loved Sinner! Though my favorite in this series is the second book Linger, Sinner is close behind.

For those of you who haven’t read Sinner yet, this book is about Isabel, who moved back to LA, and Cole, who came there to record an album and be on reality show.

There are several reasons this installment worked for me.

1. This book reads almost as a contemporary.

You see, I’m a contemporary girl. I always prefer good contemporary to paranormal or fantasy, though I often venture to these genres and I’m happy when I can find some gems, hidden there. Anyway, back to Sinner. Paranormal aspect of it is practically nonexistent. In previous books “shapeshifting equal losing yourself” was in the front; Sam’s struggles to stay himself had profound effect on readers. In Sinner Cole’s shifting to a wolf is a way to run from reality, like drugs or alcohol. And his ability to control his shifting, to become a wolf when he wants it, only accentuates this similarity to drugs. I’m rumbling here, I hope you get what I’m trying to say.

2. Romance with a celebrity is my favorite trope.

I have a soft spot for famous heroes in my books. Give me an actor or a rock star who fall in love with a noncelebrity heroine and I’m a happy girl. But Maggie Stiefvater is Maggie Stiefvater, of course she took this usual trope about a tortured famous rock star and an average girl and made it into something beautiful, unexpected and wonderful.

3. Cole and Isabel’s relationship was intense.

Cole and Isabel were very intense characters and their relationship was explosive. I don’t mean only their sexual interactions, though compare to previous books there was definitely more this stuff in Sinner and these scenes between Cole and Isabel were hot.

Both Cole and Isabel are unstable persons, so while reading this book I was constantly nervous, in anticipation of someone’s breakdown or some disaster happening. I can say that I wanted this intensity and instability in previous installments. I loved Sam and Grace, but I wanted some angst.

I don’t know why, but I find very difficult to write a proper review on Maggie Stiefvater’s books, and I see that this attempt is no better than the previous. But I hope I was able to convey my love for this author, who writes beautiful and strange stories with amazing characters, which would stay with you for a long time.

Audiobook Mini-review: After the Night by Linda Howard

Title: After the Night
Author: Linda Howard
My rating: 3.5 - 4 of 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

Faith Devlin was a poor girl from the wrong side of the road. Since early age she had a crush on Gray Rouillard, son of the rich and powerful man of the town. After his father disappeared with Faith’s mother, leaving behind his family and his money, Gray was enraged and hated every remained in town Devlin, Faith included. He threw them all out of the town. Twelve years later Faith returned to her hometown to finally find out what happened to Gray’s father all those years ago.

Faith was such a strong and likable heroine. She had been through so much but she didn’t break. She had achieved a lot in life. Despite hardships she stayed kind and kind-hearted person. As for Gray I can see why some readers had problems with this character, but if you like alpha-heroes, he would be right up your alley. He was rude and possessive, but at the same time as their relationship with Faith progressed we see his caring and more vulnerable side. Romance was steamy and Linda Howard wrote some hot scenes here.

I liked After the Night, but unfortunately it wasn’t 5 Star read for me. Why? Two reasons. Firstly I guested early in the book who was the “bad guy”. I don’t know, maybe I’ve read too many romantic suspense… I like when the author keeps me on my toes, when I suspect everyone and have no idea who the killer is until the end. So this definitely took some of my enjoyment. My second issue was with the ending. After the scene where the culprit was revealed, I expected the author would wrap up the book. Instead she continued to drag the story telling us many insignificant and unnecessary details like what clothes the heroine had bought.

I’ve listened to the audiobook narrated by Natalie Ross. I love this narrator; she brings so much to the book. She masterfully delivers distinct female voices as well as male ones. I have only two small complaints, and they are so weird, that I’m sure you won’t have them. First one: Natalie Ross has such a melodic throaty beautiful voice; it’s like music to me. So I constantly was in situation when I was listening HOW she was saying words, not what words she was saying. It was like blackouts for several minutes. So I have to concentrate more while listening to this audiobook. My second issue is that my first experience with Natalie Ross was Fever series by Karen Marie Moning (which I absolutely loved), where she brilliantly narrated main character Mac. I was so impressed by her work (I’m still impressed), now when I start listening a new book narrated by Natalie Ross, during first several minutes I hear Mac from Fever. I just couldn’t help myself. It’s only first several minutes but it continues to happen again and again.

Despite some qualms I enjoyed After the Night very much and recommend it to all romantic suspense lovers. Linda Howard delivered amazing steamy romance, strong heroine and hot alpha hero. After the Night was my first book by Linda Howard and it was a positive experience. I plan to check out her backlist.

Audiobook Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Narrator: Caroline Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 Stars
My rating of Narration: 5 of 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to read a book by Liane Moriarty. Big Little Lies is brilliant. The author brings to life these amazing complex characters and masterfully dissects marriage, motherhood, friendship and many other important topics. It doesn’t matter if you are married, divorced, or single; if you have children or not; if you work full time or you are staying at home; you will find something for you in this book. Read it.

I’ve listened to an audio version and I highly recommend it. The narrator Caroline Lee made such an amazing job here. I think she added a lot to the story. The only downside of audio was that I couldn’t highlight passages I loved; and believe me there were plenty of them.

I loved Liane Moriarty’s writing style and audio format allowed me to appreciate it more. She writes about serious things (it’s a book about a murder after all), but her writing is easy and funny.

Big Little Lies follows lives of three women, who live in one small town and those children attend the same kindergarten. Madeline is a force of nature. She deals with her ex-husband, teenage daughter and school politics with a smile. Gorgeous Celeste has a life from a magazine cover: handsome rich loving husband, two little sons, and big beautiful house. But nothing is like it seems from the first sight. Jane is a quiet and shy young single mother whose past hides painful memories. These three women couldn’t be more different but they form a friendship.

My favorite character is Madeline. She is such an energetic optimistic person. She is strong and honest, she thrives on fights and never back down. She is so caring and loyal to her friends. I wish I had such a friend in my life. Raising a teenager is not an easy task on its own, but having your ex-husband and his new family living in the same area, and trying to be civil and supportive when he participates in their daughters life despite that he abandoned them? Not an easy task.

Celeste’s storyline was like watching a wreck. You know what’s coming but can’t look away. It also made me question how much I really know about people around me, even my close friends. We all are so quick to post our smiling photos and happy updates on social networks, but who knows what happens behind the closed doors?

Jane was another story. It’s obvious that something happened to her in the past. She is broken and lonely. As her story revealed, I sympathized with her. I was so happy to see how she gradually changes.

Big Little Lies is a very character-driven story. Little happens in terms of plot. The pace is slow and there is a lot of mundane life of characters. For me the beauty of this book was in these everyday events and thoughts.

So many things in this book resonated with me. I connected with these heroines on so many levels. There were sad and ugly things like Jane’s past and Celeste’s present and there were happy and filled with hope moments like Jane’s new love and Madeline’s relationship with her husband. Like in real life.

I was especially punched by this whole suburban community scene. All this judgment, talking behind someone’s back. Community expectations and community pressure. How often does a woman, a mother make her decisions thinking about what her neighbors would say, not what is best for her and her family? Though I live in another country in the big city I recognized so many patterns in my life.

The structure of this book is unusual. Between the parts of main story we have the parts where neighbors and witnesses are questioned. At first it was a little confusing and overwhelming, all these short comments from so many people, but as the story progressed I begin to like it. It’s a great illustration on how community thrives on rumors.

The author keeps the readers glued to the pages not only with the fascinating and complex characters, but also with the mystery and suspense elements. We don’t know what happened with Jane, why she is the way she is. At first we have no clue what is wrong with Celeste. And finally there was a murder. From the start we know that there was a murder at the school Trivia Night, but we don’t know what happened and even who was murdered. The author gives the readers little snippets of information and gradually we can see the big picture. Big Little Lies is not a murder mystery in its classic meaning, this aspect made the book more interesting.

I’m not sure I can make this wonderful book any justice. I highly recommend it. Especially in audio.

Audiobook Review: Chill Factor by Sandra Brown

Title: Chill Factor
Author: Sandra Brown
Narrator: Stephen Lang
Publication date: September 29th 2005
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
My rating: 4 of 5 Stars
My rating of Narration: 5 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY (from Goodreads)
Five women are missing from the sleepy mountain town of Cleary, North Carolina, and a blue ribbon has been left near where each woman was last seen. Lilly Martin has returned to Cleary to close the sale of her cabin. But when her car skids and strikes a stranger, Ben Tierney, as he emerges from the woods, they've no choice but to wait out a brutal blizzard in the cabin. And as the hours of their confinement mount, Lilly wonders if the greater threat to her safety isn't the storm, but the stranger beside her...

MY THOUGHTS

I am a big fan of Sandra Brown. I don’t even glance at blurbs before requesting her books. To this moment I’ve read 34 of her novels. To my shame I haven’t written a single review on any of them. I just… I thought that everyone knows about Sandra Brown and either like her books or not. So I was really surprised when I realized that several of my GR friends haven’t read her novels and only now they begin to discover this author. Now I’m going to write reviews on Sandra Browns books because she writes amazing mystery thrillers with steamy romance. And Chill Factor is not an exception.

Women have been disappearing lately in Cleary, a little town in North Carolina, and a blue ribbon has been left near where each woman was last seen. Our heroine Lilly Martin came to Cleary to say final good-bye to her ex-husband and to close the sale of the cabin. On her way down the mountain through the storm Lilly’s car skids and strikes a man. They have no choice but to return to the cabin. The injured man is Ben Tierney, whom Lilly met a year ago during kayaking. They had an undeniable attraction, but she was still married then. Now attraction is still there, but the more time she spends with him, the more she becomes convinced he's the serial killer. Also we meet town citizens, many of which are hiding secrets. So maybe one of them is the culprit after all?

This book reminded me of Mean Streak by Sandra Brown where main characters also are stranded in a remote cabin and the hero is the suspect. So if you loved Mean Streak you will definitely love Chill Factor. Another her book that comes to mind is French Silk. Only in that case the hero is District Attorney and the heroine is the main suspect of a murder.

Chill Factor kept me on the edge of my seat. You may think that after reading so many Sandra Brown’s books I would guess who the killer is. But no, I was suspecting everyone. The other her book which kept me guessing and second guessing everybody so intently until the very end was Hello, Darkness.

Chill Factor is more character driven rather than action driven story. And I like it. I usually prefer psychological aspect; action-packed books are not really my thing.

And as always the romance was so great. The chemistry between main characters was palpable. Sandra Brown definitely knows how to write an intense and delicious romance.

We meet a great cast of second characters in Chill Factor; all of them are town citizens. I don’t want to give any spoilers, so I just say that almost everyone is hiding something. There are many secrets which are revealing by the end of the book. Though the main story is about Lilly and Tierney, there are several interesting subplots here.

I admit I read (or rather listen) Sandra Brown’s books mostly for entertainment, but in this book she also delivers some important messages. The author raises serious topics such as the loss of a child, what it means to be a good parent.

So if you love psychological thrillers with a romance and haven’t read any books by Sandra Brown, you should definitely try Chill Factor. You wouldn’t be disappointed.

PS. I prefer to listen to Sandra Browns books in audio. While my favorite narrator of her books is Victor Slezak, Stephen Lang makes really great job here.