A Gentle Rain

By: Deborah Smith

Narrated by: Suzy Harbulak

Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

A Connecticut heiress learns she's adopted and travels to northern Florida "cracker" cattle ranch to find her birth parents. There she also finds unexpected romance with the ranch's owner.

©2007 Deborah Smith (P)2012 BelleBooks, Inc.

Narrator

This narrator deserves 5 cringes. She needs to learn the language of Floridians. The audio itself is very poor quality as well. Story is good, so if you can tolerate all the mispronunciations, you’re good to go.

A wonderful Story

A Gentle Rain was a great story with endless entertainment of each character. The presentation, storyline, characters and narration was amazing. Loved it!!

I'm glad I hung in there

Any additional comments?

The book started out so slow and confusing with all the people in this story, I thought I may have wasted a credit. I kept listening and I am so glad I did. I really liked the charachters and I do mean charachters. Kara found out she was adioted and set out to find her birth parents. What she found was clearly unexpected. The story was sometimes sad, sweet and sometimes funny and it left me with a good happily ever after feeling.

Simple but entertaining

The story is not very deep but is enjoyable. It is well written. The narrator is a little dramatic and her accents are more Georgia than Florida. All in all it makes for a pleasant listen. It's worth a credit.

What a surprise!

What did you love best about A Gentle Rain?

It is a wonderful story about live, love, and triumph. I love the descriptions of Florida; she does an excellent job with the landscapes and wildlife. The characters will stay in my mind for many years to come.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Gentle Rain?

When Karen is walking Estreya around the barrels in the moonlight and talking to her about Ben will stay in my memory.

What does Suzy Harbulak bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Suzy's voice especially as Karen takes you right inside her head. I have become literally addicted to audio books. It is the best of both world; I can continue to do my two favorite hobbies at the same time. I can sew and enjoy a new book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I listened to this book late in the evening and immediately started it in the morning. I just finished it and felt it was important to write a review.

Any additional comments?

I live in SW FL and am drawn to books set in FL. I also am a retired special needs teacher and was moved by the author's sensitivity and insight into each character.

Pretty Sweet

Where does A Gentle Rain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Probably around the middle. I mean it was a good book for sure, but I have read/listened to a lot and this one isn't my favorite.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Gentle Rain?

Probably when everyone learned the truth about "Karen."

Have you listened to any of Suzy Harbulak’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not but I like her perspective on things. I like that she made people with disabilities a big part of her story and showed how beautiful they are too. It was quite touching and very sweet.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"At the heart of it...."

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think the narration was great and the story was very tender. If you are looking for something a little different, then I would definitely recommend this.

Very Entertaining Story

What did you love best about A Gentle Rain?

A Gentle Rain is a good, easy listen - very entertaining.

What other book might you compare A Gentle Rain to and why?

N/A

What about Suzy Harbulak’s performance did you like?

Very good reader for this book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

N/A

Any additional comments?

Worth the credit!

Sweet, Sentimental and Very Good

In the last few years due to my daughter's influence I've become the reader/ listener of chick lit. This is one of those girly romance novels that I've been led to and shockingly have come to enjoy. This just happens to be one of the best of those.
Heiress Cara Winterbrooke's parents die in a small plane crash. Going through the remnants of their papers she finds her adoption papers and suddenly everything she thought she was has changed. So she researches her heredity finds her birth parents and heads to Florida to find, and get to know them.
A runaway mare arranges the initial meeting with them as well as the man she'll eventually marry. I suppose I should have given a spoiler alert there but is it really necessary; a romance novel is a romance novel when it comes to the basics? The horse that belongs to a local rancher charges across the road causing Cara to wreck her car. She's found by Ben a rancher who helps her dissuade a couple of local wrecker drivers of questionable ethics who want both her car and probably her body.
As it turns out Ben is the owner of the ranch where her developmentally delayed parents live and work. Ben was also once the Lucadore and Telenovella star known as El Diablo Americana whom Cara had a huge crush on throughout her adolescence. Many tender moments heartwarming exchanges, adventures and romance follow. If not for the author it could have easily been just another cliche loaded romance.
In this case though the author creates characters that you actually care about either in a positive or negative manner of Billie Letts and Carl Hiaasen. The good hearted people like Karen, Ben, Lilly or Matt wind their way into your heart. The scenes that could easily come off as over the top Hollywood saccharine instead find their way into your heart.
There are many more plot details that I haven't touched on; I'll leave those to the listeners to discover on their own. If you want to listen to this audio with someone I would recommend that you do it with someone you share a connection with. This was a special experience in connection for myself and my daughter. Our story resembles this one in certain aspects and listening to it was a great experience.

One of my favorite performances

Where does A Gentle Rain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

My favorite audio books are kept on my computer and are listened to when the mood is right. THIS book stays on my computer, my iPad, and my phone.
I listen to it over and over.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Gentle Rain?

Kara is a strong female character. She was raised in a considerably non-traditional way and isn't afraid to take a stand for justice and the rights of those less fortunate than herself. I especially enjoyed her taking over the "pirate" poker party and holding hostage a pair of Manolo Blahniks.

What does Suzy Harbulak bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator was spot on with depicting each character. I was worried, at the very beginning, that I would not care for her narrative, but she brought each character to life in a way that made me want to know them.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I want to move next door to this group and become friends. I want to sit on the porch and watch Gator doing nothing. I want to listen to Mr Darcy say "I mean that in a good way!" And I would really like to be as patient and tolerant of others as these characters are. (Well, except for the mean girl, of course.)

Any additional comments?

The end of the narrative is always a sad moment for me. I want to know how these "people" are doing and what has happened in their lives since I last visited.

So funny!

Loved this book with the different handicapped characters on the farm and their love and devotion to people who care for them. Laugh-out-loud-funny and sweet!