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Erin

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  • helpful vote
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For older readers (60+)

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-11-24

This book was okay, but it wasn't that interesting. I think readers over the age of 60 might identify with it and enjoy it most. Most of the book is set in eras very different from today, when people declared love and got married after 2 dates. They didnt even know each other and elevated 'like' to 'love'. For me, the story was too plain. Nothing much happens, there's no mystery, or intrigue. I finished the book, but wouldn't read more from this author.

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The Locked Door Audiobook By Freida McFadden cover art

The voice

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-04-24

The book/story were good, I did not like the narrator's voice though. It's like she scream speaks, and they just turned her volume down. My ears were popping the entire book, her voice is harsh, and she over-enunciates every word. At times you can hear that she has a softer voice, and she should really use that tone to narrate, not this theater-projecting tone.

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Great read

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-07-24

Yes, there are horrifically graphic parts. Just about the worst acts you could possibly imagine. But it's captivating, unpredictable, well written, and the narrator is perfect. If you can handle graphic torture and still enjoy the book, then you might enjoy this book. Just remember, it's fiction.

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Cute short story.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-07-23

I enjoyed this short story and you probably will too. Seems it is linked to at least one other book: Shut Up and Kiss Me, which takes place after this book.

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Good book

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-25-23

This was a good book and I would recommend it. I had a hard time getting through it and had to keep taking breaks from it for a few days at a time. For whatever reason, it really moved me and made me feel all the feelings the characters were feeling. I was really sad and crying for days. It reminded me of times in my life when I had those emotions during other situations in my own relationship. I just had to take breaks to get over those overwhelming feelings. And then of course I had to tell my husband of 20 years why I was so upset. We've been through a lot over the decades and we're different people now. He's great and just held me and apologized (again) for his actions in the past that made me feel that way. But yeah, good book!

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I only wish the stories were longer.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-21-23

Like other reviewers, I only wish the stories were longer. The Colonist's Wife was a good story. Romance novels are often very similar, and I get tired of the same old themes and tropes. This story had a bit of sci-fi and was more interesting to me. Heart's a Mess was good too. The author managed to be as compelling, and I had all the feelings, even in the short time frame. The narrator was fabulous, as she always is.

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I enjoyed it

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-19-23

I liked this book. It really got me in all kinds of feelings. There was enough suspense and interest, and it's not a goody two shoes romance. The narrator was great, as always.

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WOW, amazing book.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-11-23

This book was fabulous. It was the most passionate book I've read in a while, and I read more than 200 books a year. It was very emotionally engaging and I loved it so much!!!! Some books are just better than others at being completely immersive and this book really did it for me!

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Good read

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-11-23

This was a good book, but it was hard for me, and I expected that. If you have experienced infertility you should think carefully before reading this book. The title and beginning of the book are obvious that this book is all about having a baby, so it's no surprise. I enjoyed the book, and I thought I could handle it, but I couldn't. I'm 44 now, with unexplained infertility. My husband and I spent more than a decade going through fertility treatments and trying to have a child. Month after month, year after year. Hopes and grief and so many medications, medical procedures, and we tried everything we could afford. My eggs are likely the problem, but we couldn't afford IVF to be sure that was the cause (it certainly isn't my husband). IVF is still outrageously expensive as most insurance does not cover fertility treatments. One single try, in one single month, is more than $20,000. I need donor eggs, and that doubles the cost. Surrogacy is $80,000 on top of that, although I would have tried to carry the baby myself first, if I had been so lucky, and we weren't. We would have been happy to adopt, but we couldn't. People think anyone can adopt a child, and it's really not that easy, and plenty expensive as well. It doesn't matter how many children need homes, they don't just hand them out to good people that want one. I didn't want to try foster care, I don't think I could have handled getting attached and then having to let them go. We were still "trying" when COVID started and COVID ended up being the end of the road. It was a long time before doctors were willing to do any medically unnecessary visits/procedures. I say "trying" because the doctors don't actually let you try for as long as you want. My doctors stopped helping after 2 years. They say if it hasn't happened in 2 years of fertility treatments, then it's not going to, and they won't let you take medications or offer any medical assistance after years of failure. All we could really do is track my cycle and try at home, which never worked, and we stopped even that much with COVID. Pregnancy alone was unlikely when I started trying at 31, and by 41 it was kind of crazy to hope for a miracle, so I had to let the last shred of hope go. The grief though, that stays forever. It's honestly more grief than people I have loved and then died. I was raised in an abusive home, and all I ever wanted in this life was to make my own family. My whole life I've seen happy families, not perfect families, I wasn't hoping for that, but I wanted to be a mother that loved her child(ren) and I wanted them to know without a doubt, that they were absolutely loved. When I was 23 I met a boy online and we fell in love over the phone (yeah, before cell phones, and 20 years ago the long distance phone bill was like $600+ a month). In the middle of the night I escaped the abuse and moved myself from Wisconsin to Alaska, and I never looked back. 20 years later we're still together, married, but it's still only the two of us. His small family has been cordial and kind (just his mother and brother), but never welcoming and has never felt like family to me. So yeah, I knew it was going to be hard to read this book, but it wasn't until the end that I was devastated and depressed again. I know these romance novels are intended to be all sunshine and rainbows, where the most negative or realistic situations are usually over silly miscommunications. I know romance novels have to have the "happy every after" ending of marriage and babies so that readers feel all warm, fuzzy, and fulfilled at the end. An epilogue with children down the line is easier than a whole book about about babies. I know what's what the author chooses to write, but I wish someone was writing something more real for the rest of us that have really struggled. In this book I wish it had been harder for them to get pregnant. I wish it had touched on the monthly emotional roller-coaster of hope, then grief, then intentional hope (because you have to force yourself to have hope, even knowing it just results in a larger fall into grief), and riding that wave for 6 months...a year.... The toll it takes on a relationship. The pain of watching everyone around you progress in their lives while you're still standing back at the starting line, getting farther and farther behind. The reality that this society is entirely built around families and this singular life purpose. The pain of feeling like you're missing out on everything, every single day of your life. Constantly missing these experiences that you'll never get to have. I wish this book had done something...anything...more than an easy walk.

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Delayed Gratification Audiobook By Lauren Blakely cover art

Mislabeled on Audible

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-31-23

Audible has this book labeled as 2.5, but it's really 1.5. It even has a teaser chapter of book 2, so it is LEGIT BOOK 1.5. I read it after 2, which doesn't break the storyline, but some parts of book 2 would have made a lot more sense if I'd read this one first.

I enjoy their love story and it's a cute book.

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