Stealing the Preacher

By: Karen Witemeyer

Narrated by: Cynthia Darlow

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A cowboy who wants to be a preacher... An outlaw's daughter who wants to change his mind...

On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of Texas, Crockett Archer can't believe it when he's forced off the train by an outlaw and presented to the man's daughter as the preacher she requested for her birthday. He's determined to escape - which would be much easier if he could stop thinking about Joanna Robbins and her unexpected request.

For months, Joanna had prayed for a minister. A man to breathe life back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. But just when it seems her prayers have been answered, it turns out the parson is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett he ended up right where he was supposed to be?

With her signature blend of humor, history, and lively western romance, two-time RITA Award finalist and best-selling author Karen Witemeyer delivers a Texas love story sure to steal your heart.

©2013 Karen Witemeyer (P)2013 Recorded Books

Great if you can get past the dreadful narrator

l have only been listening to audible books for a few months and I marvel at the talent of some of the narrators who can give life to the characters not only by using both masculine and feminine voices but by creating different voices for each character. Unfortunately this narrator had none of that talent. All the voices sounded pretty much the same. Another review warned of this, but I have become quite a fan of Karen Witemeyer's uplifting novels. Her stories are interesting and compelling. She helps the reader to feel the emotions and passion of the characters without crossing that line of good and chaste behavior. The story was wonderful. This helped me get past the nasal gravely voice but the most painful moments were when the narrator sang hymns. I loved the hymns but the voice was disturbing at best. If you are able to read the printed version, you might enjoy that more.

Fantastic story!

This was a delightful story that I couldn't stop listening to. The person that read the story did an excellent job, very entertaining with the way she used such wonderful expression I felt like I was right there in the story with her. This book had everything you would want in it.

Love this book

This was an amazing story of God's love and how even the hardest of men can change their ways and turn to Him.

Loved this one

Really enjoyed listening to this story. Both the author and the narrator are great. The Archer brothers are awesome. I loved how Crockett returned to give Joanna a sermon for her birthday when he was told not to continue on for his interview.

An engaging book!

Loved it. THIS was one of those books that I couldn't stop listening to. I felt the narrator did a wonderful job, and the story itself was continually offering surprises. Well done!

SUPERB!!!!!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Stealing the Preacher to be better than the print version?

I DONT KNOW I DIDNT READ THE BOOK

What was one of the most memorable moments of Stealing the Preacher?

WHEN THE ACCEPTED GOD INTO HIS LIFE

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

NO I HAVEN'T

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

YES

Any additional comments?

SHE IS A GREAT WRITER, STORYLINES ARE EXCELLENT, AND THE NARRATOR WAS SO GOOD, I WANT TO READ ANY BOOK SHE NARRATES, AND I LOVE THE FACT THE BOOKS ARE GOD BASED.

Excellent read

This is an excellent book well worth my time. Looking forward to reading more books by this author.

I throughly enjoyed it. Loved the weaving of the gospel and God throughout the tale.

Everything was exceptional done. The characters were engaging and well voiced and acted. It very much held my interest and I could see everything in my minds eye.

Best yet!

What made the experience of listening to Stealing the Preacher the most enjoyable?

This follow up to Short Straw Bride captured Crockett Archer's personality perfectly. There wasn't conflict and misunderstanding between the main characters (Joanna and Crockett) throughout most of the story as in many romances. When issues came up they were dealt with fairly quickly and both characters were appropriately open about their feelings. So much more realistic than waiting until the end of the story for their feelings to be known to each other.
The challenge of Joanna's father's struggle with faith was realistic and not too preachy.

I love all of Karen Witemeyer's story to date. After listening to each one I've purchased the print copies for my personal library.

What didn’t you like about Cynthia Darlow’s performance?

The reader's voice was too old for the characters and didn't capture the nuances of their characters. There wasn't enough delineation between the voices to distinguish the characters and the voices were inconsistent - each character did not sound the same each time.

Most of the men sounded like cheesy characters in an old western and the women's voices weren't as soft as I'd expected.

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

When Crockett almost immediately pegged Holly's character and consistently rebuffed her advances. In many books the male leads don't recognize the scheming behind the nature of some of the women which leads to distracting conflict with the main female lead, which generally doesn't add much to the story.

Any additional comments?

Although I didn't enjoy this particular narration I would recommend all of Karen Witemyer's books! They have a great message without being overly preachy or sanctimonious.

lighthearted

Very cute story. Between the story line and the performance , I caught myself having a few laugh out loud moments. I really enjoyed it.