Unraveled

By: Courtney Milan

Narrated by: Nicole Quinn

Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Smite Turner is renowned for his single-minded devotion to his duty as a magistrate. But behind his relentless focus lies not only a determination to do what is right, but the haunting secrets of his past - secrets that he is determined to hide, even if it means keeping everyone else at arm's length. Until the day an irresistible woman shows up as a witness in his courtroom.

Miranda Darling isn't in trouble - yet. But she's close enough that when Turner threatens her with imprisonment if she puts one foot wrong, she knows she should run in the other direction. And yet no matter how forbidding the man seems on the outside, she can't bring herself to leave. Instead, when he tries to push her away, she pushes right back - straight through his famous self-control, and into the heart of the passion that he has long hidden away.

©2011 Courtney Milan (P)2012 Courtney Milan

Lord Justice prevails

Smite Turner is cold and seemingly straight-laced. He serves as a magistrate and is duty bound to a fault. He carries a lot of baggage from the past and is unlikely to relinquish the memories to any one aside from his brother Mark who knows all.

Miranda Darling has stepped one too many times out of line and has caught the eye of Lord Justice. Try as she might to stay away from him and stay on the right side of the law, events around her force her to seek his help.

I wanted so much more from this book. I really wanted to like it because Smite was so intriguing in the last two books, but I didn't connect with the characters as well as the previous books. There was nothing more to Smite than what was glimpsed in the last two books and Miranda was not as likable nor did she have anything interesting about her like the other two females in the series. There were very little to no clever dialogues between the two main characters and the chemistry between them seemed not enough to sustain the romance they eventually had. Also, the main plot was flat and not well constructed.

Overall it was an okay read and if you've gotten through the first two books then this book would be a nice finish to the series.

Narration
Narrator: Nicole Quinn
Performance: 1/5
Speed: 1.5x
Quinn was terrible and I probably didn't like the book as much as I should've in part to her narration. She made the characters sound old and screechy. It was difficult to tell which were the male characters and which were the female characters because of the high pitched voices she used. She also read Richard Dullwimple's(sp?) voice as if her were daft and I get that some of the things he did were not honorable, but I believe Milan was trying to redeem him in the book in which case Quinn didn't help his cause.

My advice would be to stick with the same narrators in a series and even in a spin-off series because it helps with continuity. Unless, of course, your first narrator was awful, in which case you want to switch immediately because a narrator can make or break a book

Good Story, Poor Narration

Would you try another book from Courtney Milan and/or Nicole Quinn?

I've listened to and/or read several books by Courtney Milan and enjoyed them. This is my first book narrated by Nicole Quinn. I don't think I'll listen to another book narrated by Ms. Quinn. She read a good deal of the story as if teaching a first grader to read. Sometimes I wondered if was just bad "mixing" because there were times when Ms. Quinn's narration was very good. It was as if the narration she did one day was good, but the next day was very slow with breaks between each word. Sort................of......................like...............this.

Do you think Unraveled needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. I think this book closed out the series rather nicely.

Any additional comments?

I thought this book had a very good story. There is only one piece of the book I didn't like which was unbelievable - when Smite confronted The Protector. It would have been believable if The Protector would have ended up dead and not carried (literally) to jail.

I would recommend this book if the narration could simply be remastered so that Ms. Quinn's narration wasn't spoken like reading to a child. I thought Ms. Quinn did an pretty good job with the voices. Sometimes she wasn't consistent with the various character accents, but I could get past that. I think this narration could be corrected to be a good narration. At times, I increased the speed on my i-pod that the book was read and it was actually quite good. Something others might want to try.

ADORED Unraveled and LOVED the narration!

What did you love best about Unraveled?

The narration was so beautifully acted that it makes me want to start book all over again. I can’t speak to why the other reviews were so negative… I was rather shocked at that. I read / listened to the book via Immersion Reading and found the pace to be perfect. The author drew the characters gradually, sculpting their oddities and strengths, while the narrator brought the characters to life with her colorful voices (one always made me grin) and the velvet tones of Smite. I found this to be one of the best reads / listens in all the (many) historical romances I have discovered via immersion reading. Don’t be put off by reviewers… decide for yourself.

What other book might you compare Unraveled to and why?

Like Unraveled, Courtney Milan draws wonderfully flawed yet thoroughly likable characters in her book The Governess Affair (The Brothers Sinister). I enjoyed that narration as well, but this narrator is my favorite.

Which scene was your favorite?

Some of the scenes with Dalrymple made me laugh out loud because the voice and acting was so spot on! But my favorite scenes surrounded Miranda drawing Smite out of his usual serious self. The repartee was very witty at times.

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

I laughed at Miranda’s brazen style with Smite… she is a lovely free spirit. And some of the scenes with Dalrymple were hilarious… but that has much to do with the skill of the narrator.

Any additional comments?

I am befuddled by the negative reviewers. Courtney creates such interesting and well-developed characters and they were brought to life by the artful narration… it makes me wonder whether people just want to be read to at a good clip, or if they take pleasure in timing, acting, and the color the narration brings to the story. I suppose we are all different!

Distracted by the narrator’s voice

I was completely distracted by the voice used for each male role. It seemed I was listening to someone who would best narrate a villain who had smoked two packs a day of cigarettes for a lifetime.

British munchkin yoda

I am so disappointed in this audio version of Unraveled. I liked reading the book a lot, but this narrator was simply unlistenable (is that a word?) to me. I don't know how to describe her voice -- British Munchkin with a bit of Yoda thrown in??

Everyone's tastes vary, so I'm sure that others will enjoy her narration.

If you haven't read the Turner trilogy, I recommend it. All three novels are excellent!

Am I insane? I loved this narrator...

Where does Unraveled rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very highly indeed. However, one should not drive while listening to that little scene right at the end of the opera (fans self vigorously).

What other book might you compare Unraveled to and why?

Any Courtney Milan book, I expect--I have come to look forward to her intensity and excellent writing, and occasional thunderbolts of humor. I also compare her work to that of Lois McMaster Bujold, who can make you laugh and break your heart in the same chapter.

What about Nicole Quinn’s performance did you like?

The different voices were especially good, though Ash's (the Duke's) voice and Dalrymple's voice were fairly close if they were in the same conversation.

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

Too intense for that, and also, I have this horrible thing called a day job that would keep me from doing it, alas.

Any additional comments?

Now I will have to spend money on all the other books in the series. My poor Visa!

Milan does not gloss over the dark side in her books

Another well written story that doesn't hide the grim prospects for a young woman on her own in 19th Century Bristol. Her hero has been damaged by a childhood filled with trauma. They manage to come together in a tale filled with surprising humor and tense moments.
While I mostly enjoyed the narrator's gravelly voice, her mispronunciation of gaol (not gowel, it should be jail), grated on my nerves.

Can’t listen anymore

The narrator sounds like an old wicked witch. Ruins the entire book. Most the time I can get past a bad narrator but this lady is horrible. Reminds me of “ bubble bubble toil and trouble”

Lovely Story, Wrong Narrator

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

I so wanted to enjoy this. But the narrator was so slow...
it.

was.

like.

listening.

to.

some...one.

read.

something.

like.

this.

So...the time I spent trying to listen to this just made me feel a little crazy.

What did you like best about this story?

I like tortured heroes. This story has a great one. I like Courtney Milan and I like this series and this book...just had to read it with my eyes instead of my ears.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Distractingly odd, grating, and just flat-out unpleasant voices that would have been awesome for narrating the Munchkinland bit from "Oz" or something to do with Hobbits, but not so much for a romance novel.

Terribly long pauses between words, an odd pronunciation of the word "gaol," (a British spelling of "jail") which came up rather often. It's supposed to be a homophone of "jail," but the narrator kept saying something like "gowel" and it became conspicuous and quite irritating after a while.

ALL THAT BEING SAID: She had a very nice voice for the hero. But I won't buy anything with this narrator again.

Did Unraveled inspire you to do anything?

It inspired me to regret purchasing this audiobook.

Very poor narrator

Would you try another book from Courtney Milan and/or Nicole Quinn?

I would try another book from Courtney Milan as long as it was not narrated by Quinn

What other book might you compare Unraveled to and why?

Not sure there is a comparison.

Would you be willing to try another one of Nicole Quinn’s performances?

Definitely not, slow to the point of being boring

Was Unraveled worth the listening time?

The book yes but hampered by the narrator.