Shades of Honor (Grayson Brothers, Book 1)

By: Wendy Lindstrom

Narrated by: Julia Motyka

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Wendy Lindstrom comes an unforgettable novel about love and family, honor and sacrifice, hope and healing....

She Planned to Marry Her Best Friend - Then His Brother Returned Home and Complicated Everything

Marrying her beloved friend, Kyle Grayson, will allow Evelyn Tucker to care for her ailing father and resurrect their failing business. But when Kyle’s older brother, Radford, returns home with his young daughter, it turns Evelyn’s life upside down. Radford has survived a gruesome war and has finally come back to work the family sawmill and make a home for his daughter. Evelyn is drawn to the deeply wounded man and withdrawn little girl, and she can't help reaching into Radford's darkness with her healing love. The undeniable spark between them ignites a love neither has known…and neither can embrace. Torn by her forbidden feelings for Radford and her desperate need to honor and protect Kyle, Evelyn faces an impossible dilemma and her greatest heartache.

Winner of the RITA award

“Awesome underlying emotional power.” (RT Book Reviews)

"A perfect ten...one story that should not be missed!" (Romance Reviews Today)

©2002 Wendy Lindstrom (P)2013 Wendy Lindstrom

Critic reviews

“Awesome underlying emotional power.” (Romantic Times)

If This is your Genre, This is your Series

Any additional comments?

Narration - Julia Motyka - Pretty Good

This Series is based around the Civil War time period. Radford is the eldest of four sons and has returned from war but following his father's funeral, he disappears again only to return years later with a 4 year old daughter.

Evelyn, (Tomboy) is engaged to his brother Kyle and while she still spends her days dressed in her dad's altered breeches, she's definitely become a woman while Radford was gone.

This is a sweet story, albeit a little melodramatic in parts (but that could be the narration a bit) The narrators Character voices are terrific, it's only her neutral narrator voice that carries a little drama.

Is there some Cheating in this? I'm gonna say technically, yes.

Did I shed some tears? I'm gonna say technically, yes. In fact, I did a little bit of sobbing at one point. (had to even blow my nose!!)

Radford's daughter Rebecca is adorable and I absolutely loved her all through the story.

I guess that's all I'm gonna say about it because otherwise I'll just give things away. I think if you like Wendy Lindstrom you'll enjoy this book.

If you like historical romance, you'll like this book

If you're looking for hot sex and a virgin deflowering? Well, the virginity get's disposed of, but this isn't a book with hot descriptive sex, so you may want to move along...

That's all!

Keeping it in the Family

Talk about a hot mess.You come home from fighting in the war,then leave when things get a bit hairy.Come back to find out that you p!ssed off one of your brothers royally after leaving him to carry the family business,then steal his fiancé,nearly beat him to a pulp and scare the crap out of your 4 year old daughter who has trust issues.Sounds more like a”modern”romance not a historical one.I guess they had some messed up stuff go down back then too.What a mountain to drill through.

Pleasant surprise !

What did you like best about this story?

I love that its a book about close family bonds and that the characters will be able to carry on in upcoming books. I am definitely a family person so I really enjoyed that.

What aspect of Julia Motyka’s performance would you have changed?

I can imagine how difficult it is to be a narrator and to try to please everyone. We all read, and hear our books, in different voices. The narrators try to find that voice and to make it one everyone can relate to. Julia Motyka wasn't the best narrator I've heard, but she wasn't the worst either. She struggled a little with the variety of voices, but it wasnt anything terrible. The only one that truly bugged me was the voice of William which changed towards the end of the book. She did a great job on his voice when he had a verbal struggle. All in all I'd listen to her again. If I saw she were the narrator I wouldn't turn away, but neither would I seek her out. I do hope to listen to the rest of the series so that ought to say aomething in her favor.

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

You know, surprisinly I did!! I got this book for free in exchange for a review. I am not a fan of leaving good reviews for something I dont like, and I really thought I'd be leaving a 'meh' kind of review. Turns out I genuinely liked the book!! I just finished it and I actually spend the last third of it trying to find things to to do around the house just so I could listen! Super glad I took the chance on listening to this one and look forward to the rest of the series!!

Any additional comments?

The following is a SPOILER so stop reading if you don't want to know anything.....SPOILER.....Ok so I get that Radford falls in love with his brother Kyles fiancee. Evelyn saw Kyle as more of a best friend and hadn't realized the difference between marrying for that reason, vs actually falling in love. So thats cool, stuff happens. There were TONS of other storyline choices that the author could have taken to make the transition, I have no clue why she opted to take the route of cheating!!!! Why!?! Why why why!?! I ended up honestly kind of disgusted with the behavior. She could have had the Kyle and Evelyn realizing their love was a friend love instead of making her and Radford cheaters!! When they finally got married I kind of tuned it out because I was so turned off by the cheating. Hopefully in the following books she will a) make us feel a bit better about that behavior in Kykes story, and b) Never go the cheating route again!! Authors... Cheating sucks in real life, we don't want it in our romance novels!!!!

A deeply moving story, beautifully narrated

What did you love best about Shades of Honor?

Every unforgettable character came to vivid life for me.

What did you like best about this story?

The scenes were rich in emotion.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Evelyn helps Radford face his inner demons. I also loved every scene with Grandpa and Rebecca.

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

I laughed and cried--it's truly a powerful story.

Any additional comments?

I loved experiencing Shades of Honor as an audio book. I felt as if I got to enjoy a great performance as well as a great book!

writing and narrating at their finest

the perfect combination of a well written story and a perfect narration. I cried and smiled and laughed, I could not have asked for more.

Great start for a series

Julia Motyka did a very good job separating all the various characters, was able to picture them in my mind as the book continued! Am looking forward to beginning book 2!

Loved!!!

Beautiful, heart-breaking story. Not sure i was going to like at first but i did. It’s a love story that will break your hart and put it back together again. Highly recommend.

Honor, Love and Family

Would you listen to Shades of Honor again? Why?

I love listening to Shades of Honor. The story was an emotional journey to true love and acceptance of our past pain. The story of Radford and Evelyn was a tearful trip, but well worth it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shades of Honor?

When Radford's daughter, Rebecca, asked Evelyn if she would be her "momma". The hope and love in those words brought tears to my eyes.

What about Julia Motyka’s performance did you like?

Julia Motyka gave a flawless reading. She made me feel the emotions and desire of the characters.

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

The death of Evelyn's father, William, broke my heart as did Rebecca's reaction to the news.

Sweet and Well Written

Wendy Lindstrom has a captivating and eloquent writing style that pulls you into this story with ease. Descriptive and well defined characters paired with a realistic storyline make for a truly enjoyable historical romance.

Julia Motyka's narration was articulate and alluring. She is one of the better narrators I've listen too who can truly differentiate between her narrator's voice and the characters. She made it an enjoyable listen.

Overall, a sweet and mild novel I would recommend to lovers of historical romance.

This audiobook was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

AudioBook Review

I was excited to return to the United States for an historic romance, and Wendy Lindstrom brings a Civil War era story into this romance involving two brothers. Post-civil wartime settings and ideals are well defined, and the people are lovely: hard working, hopeful and above all, looking to start anew with the new definition of their country. The story is also not a story of people with money and grand aspirations: it is of the ordinary people with their own humbler hopes and dreams as we follow their lives.

Evelyn is going to marry her childhood friend Kyle Grayson: she isn’t dreaming of passion and soul mates, the war put end to dreams of that sort. Respect, friendship and a kinship from their long acquaintance is perfectly fine. I liked her attitude of making the best with what you have, and the real regard and friendship between her and Kyle was well defined and nearly palpable.

But then, in walks Radford after the war and a family estrangement, and the whole story went left for me. I saw the very well developed and defined character, and I believed in the attraction between he and Evelyn, I just couldn’t get past the whole “brother’ thing. I was hoping for some real reason, a real purpose to his returning to patch things up and diving right in to devastate the family all over again, and I couldn’t find it. Sometimes, and most especially in the 1870’s, I couldn’t see the pressure from society allowing it to happen. And, I will say that Evelyn wasn’t particularly indecisive or spineless, but I didn’t see her as a particularly bold woman either.

It was, other than the disappointment with the twist in the romance, a well-crafted romance that was more compelling for its setting and surrounding characters and world than for the main hero and heroine.

The narration in this book were from Julia Motyka, and this is not my first encounter with her work. While I find her voice pleasing, she needs to dial it back in her emotional (and often over-emotional) enhancements. This was not a story set at Tara, but I swear she was channeling Scarlett in one of her infamous drama queen moments more often than not. Her over-reach in several passages starkly contrasted with passages that were perfectly balanced and performed, and made for a very uneven listen.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title via AudioBook Jukebox for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.