Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: The Palisade
SERIES: Lavender Shores #1
AUTHOR: Rosalind Abel
NARRATOR: Kirt Graves
PUBLISHER: Wings of Ink Publications
LENGTH: 7 hours, 20 minutes
RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2017
BLURB:
Confident businessman Joel Rhodes sees the small California town of Lavender Shores as nothing more than a business opportunity and a final stepping stone to the position he’s been working toward his entire life. It was supposed to be just one night in town to close the deal, and sleeping with one of the local men, no matter how gorgeous, meant nothing more than a few hours of fun.
Andrew Kelly is perfectly content with the life he has in his hometown. So much so that the only thing missing is someone to share it with. Going to bed with a tourist was never meant to be the answer to his dreams, just a beautiful distraction. He could get back to looking for Mr. Right the next day.
Both Andrew’s and Joel’s worlds are turned upside down when a few hours of pleasure get extended to a couple of days. Even that shouldn’t have been a big deal. You can’t fall in love in that amount of time. That isn’t how it works. However, if destinies collide, a few short days may be all it takes to find your soul mate. Even so, when secrets and motivations get tangled, fate may do nothing more than leave two hearts in pieces.
STORY REVIEW:
This one hit the spot for me. It was romantic and sweet and left me feeling gooey inside.
I felt like “The Palisade” really set up this series. It established the town of Lavender shores and its rules. Even more importantly, it set up the atmosphere and the personality of the town and its inhabitants. I loved how spunky and fun the founding families were. It added humor to a potentially overly sweet tale. I am already in love with this town and can’t wait for the next story!
I also felt like there was a great set up for the main character of the next story. He was a small enough player not to distract from the main romance, but large enough to pique my interest and allow me to make a connection. Man Ireally want to know what’s going on in Gilbert’s head!
I enjoyed the romance. It was light on the angst but still had enough tension to cut the sweetness. It was very easy to see the stupid decisions coming and I kind of sympathized with those mistakes because I know that family is never easy especially when you just want them to love you for who you are. It is ridiculously hard not to keep yearning for parental approval even after it’s clear it’ll never happen. So while this story could have been annoying, I felt it was realistic enough to overcome that hurdle.
I think my favorite part was how real these men were. While this was basically instant love and super romantic, these men were still humans and had flaws and were absolutely not perfect. They laughed at and with each other and they kept secrets because it’s natural not to want to admit to flaws or hurt someone else. I could see myself and my experiences in them and so I was totally invested in this story.
NARRATION REVIEW:
I think Kirt Graves did a fantastic job capturing the town and the people in this story. He isn’t as prolific with the accents and voices as some narrators, but he nailed the atmosphere and the personalities and the emotions. That to me is the most important part of a narration and I loved listening to this one. I hope he carries this series forward.
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