Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Summer Son
AUTHOR: Anna Martin
NARRATOR: R.L. Davis
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: February 13, 2015
LENGTH: 5 hours, 51 minutes
BLURB:
Ellis Broad never imagined he would end up a single father before he turned twenty-nine. Then again, most of his expectations for the future evaporated when his husband of three years filed for divorce, leaving Ellis as their six-month-old son Harrison’s only parent. After the divorce Ellis hides, working from home on his small graphic design business so he can be a full-time dad. He succeeds until Zane Hadlin stumbles into his life.
Zane is everything Ellis desires and everything he fears at the same time. A former gang member from the wrong side of the tracks, Zane turned his life around after his older brother was killed in a shooting. Now an artist, Zane shows Ellis a path back into the world and all he’s been missing out on.
The only problem is, Ellis’s ex-husband hasn’t quite gone for good, and his digging into Zane’s past could drag up secrets no one is prepared to deal with.
REVIEW:
I’ve been a fan of Anna Martin’s ever since I read Signs a few years back. So when I came across this audiobook I needed to read it. Summer Son is definitely on the fluffier side of the scale but not overly so.
Ellis Broad is trying to start over with his six-month old son Harris. Having recently been dumped by his husband he’s not really looking for someone new. He’s not looking at all to be honest. His life is Harris and making their new lives work. But his best friend convinces him to go out one evening… an evening where he just happens to meet Zane.
Ellis and Zane’s relationship seemed a bit too easy and too quick. They went from first meet, to serious relationship in one breath. In the next they were living together and fighting Ellis’ ex for custody of Harris. Way too much insta-love to be really believable. Especially considering that Ellis had a young son. Their relationship was a bit too easy. There was no real building to it or a solid foundation, it just suddenly was.
Then there was Zane’s past. After all these years it suddenly comes back to cause trouble – and his pas as such was a too far-fetched for my liking. Mostly it all added up to cause drama for the sake of it, as a plot device. It didn’t feel genuine for me.
On the other hand, this audiobook was mostly uncomplicated and a quick and nice read or listen when you are in the mood for something sweet. And if you, unlike me in this case, don’t overanalyse it and take it for what it is – it’s definitely worth the read. And you will have a good time with these guys and the family they’ve created.
Summer Son seems to be the only audio book R.L. Davis has recorded and it was very well done. It wasn’t always perfect but it was definitely enjoyable. He has great pacing and enunciation and, my personal favourite, he adds feelings to his narration – he lives it. I loved his accent for Linda the lawyer, it was great and added so much to the feel of the book.
However, there were a few noticeable issues with the audio recording itself. Re-takes are a fact of life or at least in the recording business (wouldn’t it have been great if you could have re-takes on other things as well?) but I digress, anyway there are always re-takes and parts or sentences were re-recorded, but in this audiobook they were at times painfully obvious. Where the tone and voice didn’t match the rest of it. It’s strange to have part of a sentence sounding completely different from the rest. It’s not a huge mistake, and it’s also a fairly common one, but it’s something the listener will notice.
All in all, I did have a nice time listening to this book, and would love to listen to more by both Martin and Davis.
RATING: 
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