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.

A sweet story...

... of discovering yourself in the place you least expected to. I did enjoy this book - it's the story of a girl who deposits herself into a life that she is completely unfamiliar with and discovers that she is right where she needs to be.

Narrator was good.

Wonderful book

Would you listen to A Gentle Rain again? Why?

Yes I would definitely listen again. As a matter of fact I plan to listen again, something I rarely do.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Can't decide. Ben. Perhaps Cara. Or perhaps Lily. Ben because he cared so much about other people and he sacrificed so much to help others. Cara because she was so good and kind. Lily because she never forgot her baby.

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

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Very unusual story. Full of love. A romance yet with no detailed sex scenes.

A sweet story!

What did you love best about A Gentle Rain?

The premise of a rancher who treats developmentally delayed people as valued, loved, normal. The book has everything money can't buy and everything i'd do if I hit the lottery!

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

Karen's bird, Mr. Darcy taking to the young man with Down Syndrome and the love and humor between everyone on the ranch. Loved Mac & Lilly and their obsessions with daisies! Loved Joey and his happy ending!

Which scene was your favorite?

When Karen verbally sparred with the rich evil spoiled brat, Tammy Jackson.

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

A story of love and finding the way home...

Any additional comments?

Love Deborah Smith. This has been my favorite so far!

A story that deserves a better recording

Thiis is a moving, corky and sweet story with characters that one comes to care about. One thing that ruins this audiobook is the very bad audio editing. From no pauses in between chapters to clear differences in volume in places where one would guess sections were re-recorded or added. The reader isn't too clear in voicing the male vs female characters so it can get confusing.

I would rate with ten stars for everything

Would you consider the audio edition of A Gentle Rain to be better than the print version?

Didn't read the print version but this was an awesome novel. The narration was sublime, the story more than first rate.

Who was your favorite character and why?

All of the character's were so special.

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

If she truly did all of the characters herself, she should get an award, she brought the story to life. I will be looking her up in other novels. Thank you Suzy!!!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Joey made it through, special.

Much better than the sample led me to believe

I am so glad I took a chance on this book. I started and stopped listening twice before I realized what a gem this book was. Hang in there and get past the first few chapters with the heroine's haughty diction and you will find she is not as pretentious as she sounds. The characters become so real and sweet that you just want to gather them all up and be part of their family. And by the end you will be laughing crying and cheering for all of them. How can you not cheer for 60 year old mermaids, old nags needing salvation from the dog food factory and the the mentally disabled who remind us how simple love and kindness can be despite how mean the world can be to them. Well worth the listen.

A Sweet Read that held my attention.

It has a collection of characters that just seem to be perfect together on a ranch. Everyone has a job and love is the resounding message. I laughed a lot.

2nd Review from the same Author

I love Deborah Smith for bringing out the fun and humor side of living with autism. The difficult task of caring and loving autistic family member comes with true sacrifice and wealth of accomplishments and heart warming rewards.

Ben is a true hero. What a loving brother and caring soul. Though he had moments of "what could have been", he never regretted choosing his brother even knowing his condition. In fact, he created what seems to others could be a dysfunctional family ranch but he went and won the biggest applause for his ranch. Thanks to the stubborn belief of his charges, he would have never met his reward, Cara.

I went and burst out laughing during the purchase of a good for "dog food" horse, can't help but be touched over the reasons of daisy designs and white painted stones about Cara, and be encouraged and hopeful over the challenges dealing with autisms.

It's an inspiring story mated with good narration. The few times the narrator gets the voices cloudy for me is an oversight. In the end, Gentle Rain is among the treasures in my library.

hard to follow the reader

the reader didn't change the tone from female to male which made following who was talking difficult Should have used a male voice for the male parts and it would have been so much better..a good story and good book.

Enjoyable and thought provoking.

This book is part social science and part romance with good character development and a complex plot. While there are certain elements that border on the unbelievable and unreal for the most part it is a heartwarming story of love, human compassion and the value of the individual regardless of wealth, intellect and social status. I hesitated before I spent the credit but I'm glad I did. I truly enjoyed it.