The Name Curse

By: Brooke Burroughs

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese, Lauren Ezzo

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

In this flirty wilderness adventure by the author of The Marriage Code, two hikers who drive each other crazy discover they might have a lot to learn from one another about navigating life, love, and living up to family expectations.

Ever since her father died, Bernie’s life has been stagnant. When concerned friends and family suggest she join a hike through Alaska to gain new perspective, Bernie reluctantly agrees to go, even though she’s never been the adventurous type, unlike her namesake, Great-Aunt Bernice.

Matthew is a struggling screenwriter who needs a week off the grid to gain some inspiration for a new project and to process the reappearance of his absent father.

When the two meet at the trailhead, it’s annoyance at first sight. He’s dismayed to discover that he’ll have to share a tent with Bernie, who doesn’t know the first thing about camping, while she finds he’s a little too into “roughing it” to be a reasonable human being. But as they’re forced to hike through the wilderness together, their relationship becomes a surprising source of empathy and inspiration…and maybe other feelings too. Can the two adversaries find the path to breaking the curse of family expectations - and each other?

©2021 by Brooke Burroughs. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Super cute story

A really cute story, I really liked the narrators voices for each character. Really brought them to life.

Cute Alaskan camping love story

Laugh out loud story. LA writer meets Portland women stuck in place, until her mother buys a Groupon for a week camping trip for her. Problem, she isn't outdoorsie. Fun read.

Like the story, but the narrators...

I always feel bad leaving a critical review, but I wish I would have seen more people saying this before I jumped in. I am partway through chapter 7 and am really looking the story so far, but I cannot stand the two narrators. The female narrator sounds like she's British and trying to do an American accent poorly (she's not), and it's really distracting. And the male narrator just had an odd interpretation of the text that makes his character a little unlikeable. I also really don't like both of their opposite sex character voices. This may just be a personal opinion, and they may be totally fine for others, but I figured I would share my experience. Anyway, I've just purchased the paperback and plan to read that instead.

Great story

Pros: This was a great story but predictable. If you need a good light read with fun characters this is it.

Cons: The female Narrator sounded way too old for this character and her male voice was far from desirable. The male narrator was also too old and over acted but his female voice was much more tolerable than the actual female. The entire time I felt like I was listening to a story about 2 60 year olds rather than 20 somethings.

Still enjoyable if you can try not to focus on the voices, but it would have been a better read.

Good Romance

The Name Curse is romantic without being pornographic. I didn’t feel like a voyeur and dirty while enjoying the love story of Bernice and Matthew.