• The Ideal Man

  • Buchanan-Renard-MacKenna, Book 9
  • By: Julie Garwood
  • Narrated by: Christina Traister
  • Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,763 ratings)

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The Ideal Man  By  cover art

The Ideal Man

By: Julie Garwood
Narrated by: Christina Traister
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Publisher's summary

Julie Garwood is among the most critically acclaimed - and popular - romance authors around, with 36 million copies of her books in print. And now, with The Ideal Man, Garwood is poised to expand that already huge audience.

Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby, she witnesses the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The only person to see the shooter’s face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation.

Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case. A no-nonsense lawman, he’s definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she’s attracted to him in a way she can’t explain.

Ellie heads home to Winston Falls, South Carolina, to attend her sister’s wedding. Shortly after she arrives, though, she receives a surprise visitor: Max Daniels. The Landrys have been captured, and she’ll be called to testify. But they’ve been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence - or disappear before they can take the stand. Max vows to be Ellie’s shadow until the trial, and it isn’t long before sparks fly....

©2011 Julie Garwood (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Ideal Man

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,019
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • S
  • 08-13-11

JULIE GARWOOD???

Ugh. I wanted to warn others who, like me, want a story-driven plot, not hour after hour of the characters' emotional angst. I don't know which was worse, the boring plot that was riddled with tons of mundane details and went in too many unnecessary directions, the boring characters who were almost immature in their existence and spent all their time in emotional distress instead of actually doing anything, or the boring monotonous narrator who's characters' voices sounded terribly similar. Really cannot believe this was a Julie Garwood story.

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24 people found this helpful

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

Maybe if I was 16

I downloaded this book because the ratings were so high. Usually that is a decent indicator. Not this time. This story is predictable, and written with little imagination - very superficial. The good characters are near perfect humans. The bad have little of interest in their flaws. All of which makes for a fantasy story that most do not relate to.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not up to her usual level

I am a huge Julie Garwood fan and i was so excited to hear she was coming out with another book. BUT this was not up to her past levels. I felt like she took two or three sections from some of her books and just put them together and then called it a new book.

I wouldn't buy this, but if you have an extra credit, it might be worth it.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Phoning It in

I've never thought Julie Garwood was a great writer, or even a particularly good one. But some of her books had interesting plots and enough suspense to keep me guessing. This one was blah. Just kind of dull. I finished it, but out of a sense of obligation - I paid for it - rather than out of any curiosity about the ending. I cannot recommend this. It has probably soured me on her books for good.

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10 people found this helpful

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

The Ideal Man

Once again Julie Garwood has blown me away with her talent. This book like all of her books is excellant. Her FBI thriller's are some of the best I have read to date. This one is the same from the first to the last. Way to go Julie on another hit.

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8 people found this helpful

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

An ok experience...

This story is just ok. I felt like the author wanted to write a long book and started going on and on describing every thing, place and feeling and then she got tired and wrote a sudden ending. The narrator was just ok also. It was very difficult to differentiate the characters since she used the same tone for all.

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7 people found this helpful

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

Garwood, Find a great reader and stay with it

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Garwood has talent, but readers are killing her work.

Would you be willing to try another book from Julie Garwood? Why or why not?

I like her work, always have. Yes, will continue to buy.

What three words best describe Christina Traister’s voice?

Not the not best. Her pace is not consistant, a better reader may have pulled this one out of the fire

Was The Ideal Man worth the listening time?

got this on the 5.95 sale, so Ok,but not worth a full credit

Any additional comments?

Ms Garwood, needs to find a good reader and stop skipping around. Natalie Ross could do it.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Want more like this

I have never read Julie Garwood, just because her genre is mostly historical romance, from what I've seen. But this summary appealed to me and I'm really enjoying it! I've also discovered a new narrator that I like. A good book can be ruined by a bad narrator, but Christina Traister does an excellent job. I hope this team will be doing more like this one!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Wish I could give it a minus 4 stars

What disappointed you about The Ideal Man?

Not sure where to start as it was all just soooo bad. The story line was empty. The writing over simplified. It seemed to me to be a soft Romance novel as no story was really pursued other than the lead male and female characters constantly swooning over each other in their thoughts. Their behavior in the various situations they found themselves in was completely improbable and they acted like teenagers instead of highly educated adults. It made me gag and I had to stop listening. There WAS a crime involved...I think...but the characters spent so much time thinking about the decor of her apartment or his clothes that they just never seemed to care about solving the crime. I was afraid it would just get even worse so I quit. It was a royal waste of time.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Probably something by Hilary Mantel. I know she can write.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator was probably ok. She just didn't have much to work with.

What character would you cut from The Ideal Man?

All of them

Any additional comments?

Don't waste your time or credits or money on this stinker.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Glued to the headset!

I enjoyed this book very much. I kept me wanting more and it was hard to put down the headset. The ending could possibly lead to Part 2?? I highly recommend!

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3 people found this helpful