500 Miles From You

500 Miles From You by Jenny Colgan

Published:  June 2020 – Harper Audio

Borrowed from my library via Libby App

Description:  

Lissa, is a nurse in a gritty, hectic London neighborhood. Always terribly competent and good at keeping it all together, she’s been suffering quietly with PTSD after helping to save the victim of a shocking crime. Her supervisor quietly arranges for Lissa to spend a few months doing a much less demanding job in the little town of Kirrinfeif in the Scottish Highlands, hoping that the change of scenery will help her heal. Lissa will be swapping places with Cormack, an Army veteran who’s Kirrinfeif’s easygoing nurse/paramedic/all-purpose medical man. Lissa’s never experienced small-town life, and Cormack’s never spent more than a day in a big city, but it seems like a swap that would do them both some good.

In London, the gentle Cormack is a fish out of the water; in Kirrinfief, the dynamic Lissa finds it hard to adjust to the quiet. But these two strangers are now in constant contact, taking over each other’s patients, endlessly emailing about anything and everything. Lissa and Cormack discover a new depth of feeling…for their profession and for each other.

But what will happen when Lissa and Cormack finally meet…?  (publisher)

My take:  Two nurses, he’s from Scotland and she’s from London, change places and jobs for three months. She’s never lived in a small town and he hasn’t spent much time in the big city. Themes of loss and PTSD figure strongly in the novel. Jenny Colgan’s characters are warm, sympathetic and believable. I wanted to keep reading about Cormac and Lissa. This is the third in a series but can stand alone.  Recommended, especially on audio.

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Sweet Little Lies by Jill Shalvis (audiobook)

• Title:  Sweet Little Lies
• Series:  Heartbreaker Bay #1
• Author:  Jill Shalvis
• Genre:  Contemporary Romance
• Narrator:  Karen White
• Time:  9 hrs. 35 mins.
• Published:  June 2016 – Harper Audio
• Source:  Publisher

Publisher’s description: Choose the one guy you can’t have….

As captain of a San Francisco Bay tour boat, Pru can handle rough seas – the hard part is life on dry land. Pru loves her new apartment and her neighbors; problem is, she’s in danger of stumbling into love with Mr. Right for Anybody but Her. 

Fall for him – hard…

Pub owner Finn O’Riley is six-foot-plus of hardworking hottie who always makes time for his friends. When Pru becomes one of them, she discovers how amazing it feels to be on the receiving end of that deep green gaze. But when a freak accident involving darts (don’t ask) leads to shirtless first aid, things rush way past the friend zone. Fast. 

And then tell him the truth.

Pru only wants Finn to be happy; it’s what she wishes for at the historic fountain that’s supposed to grant her heart’s desire. But wanting him for herself is a different story – because Pru’s been keeping a secret that could change everything….

My take:   Sweet Little Lies is book one in the Heartbreaker Bay series by Jill Shalvis. It is set in San Francisco, more specifically an apartment building (a renovated warehouse) with a ground floor pub and a courtyard fountain that just might grant wishes. We’re introduced to several characters who live in the building or frequent the pub so it’s easy to imagine possible future books in the series. This book is about Pru, a tour boat captain, and Finn, owner of the pub.

Pru and Finn strike up an instant friendship that escalates quickly. The reader discovers that Pru has a secret – a big one – and the longer she waits, the harder it will be to tell Finn.

Finn gave up a lot several years ago when he was left to raise his little brother. Now the two of them own the pub but it seems Finn does most of the work. Pru is a welcome distraction for Finn.

I enjoyed the story even though the “big secret” trope is not a favorite. Jill Shalvis used humor and her usual fun dialogue along with a dose of drama to form a good start to her new series. It’s a sweet, sexy (you might want to use ear buds for some scenes) and funny novel. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Karen White did a fine job with the narration. I liked how she voiced each character and I had no trouble determining who was speaking. One particular scene involving a character who experienced possible food-poisoning had me laughing – all thanks to White’s delivery and Shalvis’s words, of course.

Recommended to fans of Jill Shalvis, contemporary romance and Karen White.

The Hurricane Sisters (audiobook) by Dorothea Benton Frank

• Title:  The Hurricane Sisters
• Author:  Dorothea Benton Frank
• Narrator:  Robin Miles
• Genre:  Women’s Fiction
• Published:  June 2014 – Harper Audio
• Source:  Purchased

Synopsis:  Once again Dorothea Benton Frank takes us deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry on a tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a road toward happiness that is hard earned. There we meet three generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie Pringle, at 80, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she’s dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in the classic maelstrom of being middle-aged and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz’s beautiful 20-something daughter, Ashley, whose dreamy ambitions of her unlikely future keeps them all at odds. The Lowcountry has endured its share of war and bloodshed like the rest of the South, but this storm season we watch Maisie, Liz, and, Ashley deal with challenges that demand they face the truth about themselves. After a terrible confrontation they are forced to rise to forgiveness, but can they establish a new order for the future of them all? This is the often hilarious, sometimes sobering, but always entertaining story of how these unforgettable women became The Hurricane Sisters.  (publisher)

My take:  I thought The Hurricane Sisters quite different in tone compared to The Last Original Wife but I still liked it. Some eccentricities aside, the Waters family is not that different from a lot of families. They accept and protect their own but sometimes they aren’t so nice to each other. Underneath it all they love each other and will defend them to the end.

At the forefront of the novel are the rather naive Ashley, her long-suffering mother Liz, and the matriarch Maisie who doesn’t tiptoe around anyone. Big secrets figure into the plot but rest assured all will be dealt with by the last page.

The Hurricane Sisters is just the second book by Dorothea Benton Frank I’ve read. I look forward to catching up with her backlist.

As in The Last Original Wife, Robin Miles’ narration was  great and made the book even more enjoyable. I loved her performance.