Monday, December 12, 2016

Audiobook Review: Heartless by Winter Renshaw

Series:     Amato Brothers #1
Pub. Date:Oct. 18, 2016
Publisher:Tantor Audio
Narrators:Nelson Hobbs
Loretta Rawlins
Length:7 Hours 42 Min
Source:Publisher

This is my first read from Winter Renshaw, and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't read as much contemporary these days, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. 

Aidy Kincaid is a fashionable modern woman. She is a professional makeup artist working with her sister on their startup business, Glam to Go. It sounds like such a fun job, especially given my slight makeup addiction, so I was definitely digging Aidy. Right from the beginning she is obsessed with a journal detailing an adulterous love affair, which she she viewed as romantic and passionate. Having read the private thoughts from cover to cover, Aidy is ready to return the journal to where she found it, and hopes to catch a glimpse of the writer. What she didn't expect was to encounter a gorgeous but rude superstar... but it seemed like fate intervened to throw these two onto the same path numerous times over a span of a few days.  
As a professional baseball player, Alessio "Ace" Amato was living a charmed life. When he suffers a career-ending accident shortly after a personal loss, Ace became a bitter semi-recluse with a chip on his shoulder. and inability to trust other people. I had such a wonderful connection to Ace's character. I suspect a large part of that came from being a fastpitch softball pitcher myself, and one who suffered a career-ending injury. I got where Ace was coming from. I know how tedious physical therapy was and the frustration of your body not cooperating anymore. So I enjoyed watching Ace come back to himself after his injury, even if it took a woman to help him do it. (I'm just jealous that it was Aidy and not me!)

I know Aidy was frustrated that this random guy was accusing her of all manner of crazy antics, but I found it kinda funny. I guess when women regularly leave all manner of things on your front stoop, you aren't likely to believe the excuses the latest one provides. So the relationship between these two definitely starts off rocky with lots of accusations. Things do move forward pretty quickly, the entire book only taking place over a span of a few weeks... but I felt like the pacing worked well with the length of the book. I did feel like Aidy was somewhat obtuse when it came to the journal. She was never willing to take Ace's word for it, or even consider alternatives to the facts she had decided upon. She also committed one of my pet peeves when it comes to heroines... but I'm afraid that might be a spoiler so I will let you discover it for yourself.

The story had good secondary characters. Aidy's sister and nephew added a bit of realism and sweetness to the story, respectively. In addition, Ace is the eldest of five brothers, who will be future fodder for this series. As the Amato brothers are all successful in a variety of livelihoods, this series definitely has my interest going forward.  

The narrators did a really good job with this audiobook. Each narrator did a good job at conveying the appropriate emotion when it was required by the story. Loretta Rawlins portrayed a believable young and upcoming makeup artist, and Nelson Hobbs was a great broody hero. In the future I will not hesitate to pick up an audiobook featuring either of these narrators.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook that I received from the publisher, Tantor Audio.

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