The Photo by A J McDine Narrated by Tamsin Kennard
Lara, is a former photo journalist who gave up her career to become a wedding photographer, after sheThe Photo by A J McDine Narrated by Tamsin Kennard
Lara, is a former photo journalist who gave up her career to become a wedding photographer, after she suffered a personal tragedy which made her realize that stories like those she featured, added to the pain that the families of Victims were already suffering.
Ten years ago, her sister Isabelle, and her two twin nephews were killed, in what could only be assumed as a Murder-Suicide by Isabelle’s husband, Jason.
His body was never recovered.
His five year old daughter, Lily was left for dead by the murderer, but when the ambulance arrived, she was found to have a weak pulse. She is being raised by her grandmother and her Aunt Lara.
Lara would love to add “landscape photography” to her portfolio, and one day while going through photos she took on the beach, she spots a man in the background of one picture, which could only be her “brother in law”.
Lily, now fifteen, aspires to be an “influencer” so, without discussing it with her family, she posts a TIC TOC video, talking about the crime she lived through as a child and the new memories that have started to surface.
The timing could NOT be worse.
As disturbing things begin to happen, Lara begins to worry if Jason has returned to finish the job.
She teams up with both the DC from the case, Curtis Frampton and a former rival journalist, Johnny Nelson, in an attempt protect Lily, and locate her missing father.
This was a FAST PACED story which hooks you from the OPENING SCENE, told primarily from the first person POV of Lara, who is a smart, sympathetic protagonist.
AJ McDine’s prose is DELICIOUSLY descriptive, and it brings to life the characters, and their conversations as they go about their lives. I could easily envision what was happening as I listened to this story!
I enjoyed the narrator’s voice for the women, but all of the men sounded alike, so I really had to concentrate on who was with Lara when one of them was speaking with her.
ENTERTAINED from start to finish, and completely SURPRISED by the final twist- this is the kind of book which reminds me of why I love Goodreads so much.
This is the author’s seventh novel but US audiences were not familiar with this UK author until Bookouture brought her work to the US in April with her sixth novel, “The Baby”. It reached Amazon’s top 20 in the UK and the top 100 in the US. It’s great that readers around the World can share their favorite authors and books on one Global site.
Three positive reviews on the same day from GR friends, put THIS book and author on MY radar, and I decided that I just HAD TO READ IT NEXT!
Since this was an AUDIOBOOK listen, please excuse any errors with the spelling of character names as I wasn’t able to see the names in print.
McDine was a journalist and police press officer until she started writing Fiction. She lives in Kent in the UK with her husband, fellow thriller writer A J Wills, their two sons and three rescue cats.
AVAILABLE NOW! Highly recommended!
Thank You to Bookouture for the gifted Audiobook provided through the NetGalley Shelf. These are my candid opinions....more
Made For You by Jenna Satterthwaite Narrated (expertly) by Bailey Carr 11 hrs 51 minutes at 1x speed (I listened at 1.7x speed)
SO.MUCH.FUN
THEN:
After thMade For You by Jenna Satterthwaite Narrated (expertly) by Bailey Carr 11 hrs 51 minutes at 1x speed (I listened at 1.7x speed)
SO.MUCH.FUN
THEN:
After the first two Synths (Synthetic women) twins Christie and Chrystal became household names when their reality show “Keeping Up with the Synths” became a mega hit-the producers of “The Proposal” (The Bachelor clone) came up with a controversial new twist for the next season…
“Hi. My name is Julia. I’m a Synth. And I’m here to find love…”
Synth Julia Walden was designed to compete on The Proposal and win the heart of bachelor Josh LaSala. AND, she does. (not a spoiler-read the official synopsis)
SO.MANY.SURPRISES.
NOW:
It’s fifteen months later and Julia and Josh are married with a baby. But not everyone was on board with his choice. There are haters everywhere and it’s taking a toll on their marriage.
Can they survive now that the cameras have stopped rolling and REALITY has set in? Or will they become the latest casualty of the franchise?
Julia: “What was I made for, Love or Heartbreak? ...more
We all know that the TRUTH lies somewhere between HIS version, and HER version.
So what about when we have SEVEN versions of the truth?
WHO DO WE BELIEV We all know that the TRUTH lies somewhere between HIS version, and HER version.
So what about when we have SEVEN versions of the truth?
WHO DO WE BELIEVE?!
Laurel Thibodeau was found brutally murdered in her own home-asphyxiated with a plastic bag.
Foul Play is suspected so naturally the suspicion falls on Laurel’s husband, Simon, who had gambling debts that only her life insurance policy could fix.
But there are other rumors too . . .
The group of six friends gathered for Alice Stone’s fortieth birthday, all have theories-and something to hide.
And before this party draws to a close, one of these six will also be dead as motives of jealousy, revenge, adultery, and greed are all revealed.
The question becomes not who in this group might be capable of murder, but, rather, WHO ISN'T?
The Shrink, the Patient, The Cop, The Boyfriend, The Daughter, the Minister and even the DOG, will all share their version of the truth, one POV at a time.
I enjoyed listening for the subtle (and not so subtle) differences as we hear their recollections, but of course that does lead to some repetition, which some readers or listeners may not enjoy, especially when this Audible clocks in at 13 hours and 45 minutes at regular speed!
But, the FULL CAST of narrators kept me intrigued and I found my first book by Edwin Hill, quite entertaining!
When “T” is kind enough to let “C” know that he has sent his email to the wrong aValentine’s Day 2014
“One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance”
When “T” is kind enough to let “C” know that he has sent his email to the wrong address, he thanks her and wishes her a happy Valentine’s Day.
But, “C” is the “exception to the rule” so this email exchange isn’t the end, instead becoming an annual tradition, albeit a few rules: no pics, no real names, and nothing too personal-to keep things fun!
But as TEN years go by, they realize that they have actually become friends.
Is 2024 the year that they might finally meet in person?
“Christina Lauren’s The Exception to the Rule is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting and are included with your Amazon Prime subscription.”
I have tried this extremely popular writing duo before, but their writing was too YA for me. But this Valentine’s Day novella, with its two narrators reading aloud the annual emails was an almost perfect “meet cute” despite some YA dialogue, and it was definitely one of my favorites in this delightful holiday series! ...more
I was about to start “Everyone on This Train is a Suspect” when I realized that Ernest Cunningham was introSo, I am “late to the chalet” on this one!
I was about to start “Everyone on This Train is a Suspect” when I realized that Ernest Cunningham was introduced to us in this book, so I quickly downloaded this entertaining Audible so that we could be properly introduced.
Ernie explains that this story will be told in the “Golden Age style” of mysteries, where authors “play fair” and follow a strict set of rules which show their hand, instead of relying on what is up their sleeve, (twists and tricks) allowing us to solve the case-if we are clever enough. He promises to be “reliable” as he tells this tale to us in a conversational manner.
To prove his reliability he even shares which chapters the murders will occur in, promises no sex scenes and only one plot hole and provides (and refers back to) the “rules” that Ronald Knox wrote in 1929 so DO NOT SKIP the epigraph and prologue!! You will definitely want to be familiar with them and might enjoy seeing which “rules” are frequently ignored by many of our more modern writers! ☺️
Let’s begin:
The setting is the Sky Lodge Mountain Retreat, where attendance is mandatory for our family of murderers who have gathered together to welcome home Michael -who has just been released from jail. They are NOT a family of psychopaths-some are good, some are bad, and some are just unfortunate.
There’s a storm coming, because of course there is. (the author’s words not mine) ...more
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