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Sweet holiday short

Revisado: 12-08-24

This was exactly what I expected and I throughly enjoyed it. Sweet story. Likable characters. Great narrators!

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Relatable characters

Revisado: 10-09-24

Overall I really enjoyed this time-travel romance. The characters were fully fleshed and interesting. I cared about them—MCs and supporting cast alike. That’s important to me.

I struggled with the dual timelines a little because they were essentially the same timeline but different. I got lost a few times and had to pause and reorient myself, remind myself of the differences between the two and where we were in the story.

There’s a lot to root for and many reasons to listen.

The narration was great.

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Fun and relatable

Revisado: 08-01-24

If you like/love Dee MacDonald, you’ll like/love the Old Ducks. I was hoping this would compare well to MacDonald’s work and it does.

I enjoyed each of the characters very much. I hope in eight to ten years, when I would be their ages, I’ll be as fun-loving and independent as they are—as they came to see themselves and to want to be, anyway—by the end.

The setting was fantastic. I’d love to visit Rhodes.

There’s nothing complicated or very surprising in this book. It’s just light, relatable, comfortable reading. I’ll be going back for more of the Old Ducks and more from Please outside this series.

The narration was great.

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I'm up for the next in the series

Revisado: 07-08-24

I couldn't decide whether to round up or down because this was a solid 3.5 for me. I went ahead and rounded up because there's a lot to like.

I enjoyed the setting. I've listened to a lot of books set in Northern Ireland and Ireland, but few set in Scotland. I'm sure I'll seek out more now that I've read this.

The mystery of what happened to Isla and D.I. Duncan McAdam's search for the truth kept me interested and listening. I was invested in both Isla's and Duncan's stories, and neither disappointed me. I was glad I kept reading.

With that said, there were so many characters it was really hard to keep track of who everyone was and how they were all connected to Isla. I think the plethora of people was necessary for the story and probably also as foundational work for the series and the other books to come. It was just a lot to try to remember and keep track of. Maybe that would have been easier had I read it and not listened to it?

Angus King is such a pleasure to listen to--he was the main reason I picked up this book. I enjoyed it enough that I'll seek out the next in the series.

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Great short

Revisado: 07-05-24

Poignant story. Well-developed characters. Great narration. It was free but I would have happily paid for it.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 06-27-24

SPOILERS AHEAD

I was excited to read this book. I’d never heard of Deborah Samson and was eager to read her story. Going into it, I trusted that the bones of the story were as close to truth as Harmon could get them. I knew she’d have to fabricate the flesh to put on the bones, and that was fine.

I enjoyed this book. I thought Harmon handled the battle scenes and army life well. It seemed well researched and I felt engrossed in the story.

I was so happy when Deborah and Gen. John Patterson got together. He was a real person too. Deborah was really his aide. I trusted this part of the story—their marriage—because why wouldn’t I? Of course Harmon had to make up the conversations and the details of their daily life, but I fully believed they truly married.

Well, as the author tells us in her note, they didn’t.

Elizabeth Patterson didn’t die during the war; her husband wasn’t a widower. She outlived both John and Deborah.

Deborah married someone else and had two children with him and they adopted a third, an indentured servant (which is a wonderful thing, given Deborah’s early life as one.)

Here’s why all of this bothers me: Harmon makes a point of saying in her note that Deborah Samson’s life story deserved to be told. She should be remembered. I heartily agree. So why did Harmon CHANGE her life story?

Deborah’s story would have remained compelling if we had seen her navigate her life as Patterson’s aide without being discovered (for quite a while, anyway.) I would have cheered for her when she found love with her real husband after the war and went on to have kids. This fabricated romance was completely unnecessary and did a disservice to Deborah’s family and descendants. Harmon completely erased them from the story.

In addition, Elizabeth Patterson survived the war and raised her and John’s children’s pretty much alone. They remained married until his death and their children had children. How do you suppose they feel, given that Harmon rewrote their family history?

This is a good STORY. But I think Harmon should be ashamed of the twisted, untrue path she took to tell it given the goal she said she had for it.

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Trudged through it

Revisado: 06-22-24

I wanted to listen to this for a long time because the concept sounded so good. It went on sale and I bought it. Thank goodness for that. I’m glad I didn’t spend a credit on it.

The concept was good. Wren’s (and Sage and Evie’s) story was strong through almost all the book. (The ending seemed a bit far-fetched, but compared to Nicolette’s story, it was perfect.)

Nicolette’s story required so much suspension of disbelief that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stop rolling my eyes. It was a mess.

I enjoyed Lauren Ezzo’s narration for Wren. The other narrator, not so much. But that might not be fair, given Nicolette’s story—the narrative, the dialogue—was soooooooo bad.

I think I’m probably done buying anything from Minka Kent. This would have been two stars (maybe even one?) without Wren’s story.

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Enjoyable listen

Revisado: 06-20-24

I didn’t use to like an ensemble cast for audiobooks, but I’m starting to change my tune about that. This was well done.

It’s an intersecting, tragic story about which I knew nothing until now. I admire Catherine W. What she did took so much perseverance.

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I regret listening

Revisado: 06-18-24

If I hadn’t paid for this, I wouldn’t have finished it. Thank goodness for Julia Whalen, great as always.

This is one of those books that BEATS YOU OVER THE HEAD — OFTEN — with how hard everything is for women and how easy everything is for men. There aren’t any “always” situations in life. Not all women have hard lives. Not all men have easy lives. It was so tiring, this tirade of the author’s.

It had promise, but the concept was undermined by the author’s agenda. I won’t be reading anything else from this author. (As I’m typing this review on my phone in the Audible app, I can’t see the author’s name and I don’t remember it. That should probably tell you something too.)

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Enjoyable

Revisado: 06-10-24

Fast listen. Interesting story, if a little convoluted. Narration was really good. The guy that narrated Finn Pate went a little overboard, but it wasn’t horrible.

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