The Girl Most Likely

Class of '85 Reunion Series

De: Jana Richards

Narrado por: Leigh Linley

Cara McLeod, the girl most likely to have the perfect marriage, is now divorced and, in her own words, "fat, frumpy, and over forty." The thought of facing former classmates - and the ex-husband who dumped her - at her high school reunion terrifies her. Cajoled into attending by her kids and her best friend, Cara enlists help at the gym to lose weight and look great for the reunion. Personal trainer Finn Cooper is more than willing to help - but does he have to be so to-die-for gorgeous?

Finn thinks Cara is perfect just the way she is. She's everything he wants in a woman, except for one thing - she can't get past the fact that he's eight years younger. To Finn, age and weight are just numbers. But can he convince Cara the numbers she worries about add up to only one thing for him - love?

©2011 Jana Richards (P)2018 Jana Richards

It's an okay audiobook

Good audio book. Don't think I'll relisten to it
Four star. I think just reading it on your own is better than listening to it. But it's still a good book no matter what.

The Girl most likely

This was a very good book.I liked it a lot! Cara was the girl most likely to do a lot in high school.Now she has two daugters and is divorced.Her mom is a toxic monster,always telling Cara how ashamed she is of her.Caras 25th reunion is coming up,her ex is going.Can a hot gym instructor get her in shape? Leigh Linley was a great narrator. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'

Super cute story

I really enjoyed this story. Although the author's idea of overweight is a bit skewed, the story was super sweet and I enjoyed the back and forth. I really connected with the characters and couldn't wait to find out if it had the happy ending that I was expecting.

Great Contemporary Romance

This is a fairly short story with only 4 hours of listening time. The author did an excellent job developing the characters and they were so real and relatable.

Narration was excellent and brought the story to life.

I really enjoyed getting to know Cara and Finn. They are very different than most fictional romance characters. Both great people that are brought together by chance and there is an instant attraction but because of the age difference Cara tries to ignore their chemistry.

It is nice to listen to a story where the main guy is not a total loser and player! Finn definitely won my heart. The story is so well written and captivating. I absolutely loved the way things wrapped up at the end.

“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review”

Addictive

Absolutely loved this as an audiobook. I this is my first romance. I usually listen to Cozy mysteries or mythology.

Cara has never moved on from her divorce. She’s has two beautiful daughters but feels her life isn’t going on a direction. Lucky for her one man is about to change everything.

Her class reunion is coming up and she wants to look good. Finn is a guy who she meets at work and he ends up helping her. He’s younger, fitters and easy on the eye. Cara doesn’t see the things he sees in her. Finn is about to help her make everything fall into place.

ARC. My review is my own and honest.

A tale most likely to make you feel not so old

I know a few (young!) women in the late 20s who bemoan how old they're getting, so regardless of one's age, there are aspects of this story that will strike a chord with many. Who among us doesn't yearn to look like we did back when, especially when it seems that maturity favors some more than others? Cara doesn't want to go to her high school reunion because her rotten ex will be there with his younger, slimmer fling. Her life sucks anyway, so she has nothing she wants to share with anyone. The ever-so-gorgeous trainer, though, keeps trying to convince her she has what it takes to shape both her body and her destiny, and the sultry looks he occasionally sends her are enough to send her into total confusion.

The Girl Most Likely is a quick, fun, romance that proves that what you've got combined with a little effort and a little change of attitude are more than enough to see you to the winners' podium. The story takes place in the U.S., but the author and narrator's Canadian ties come through in some of their word choices and inflections and only add to the story's charm. When I finished the book, I moved quickly on to another, but I've since found myself thinking of the book with a smile and hoping that everything continued to work out for Cara and Finn and the kids. I requested and received a complimentary copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this review.

Enjoyable Story, Relatable Characters

The Girl Most Likely is about a forty-something ex-cheerleader housewife who is dumped by her high school jock husband and left to raise her two daughters alone. As her 25th high school reunion approaches she begins to feel dismayed about her 25 pound weight gain over the years and questions whether to go to the reunion where her ex-husband will be with his young, thin girlfriend. Through a series of fortuitous circumstances she is introduced to a hunky trainer, eight years her junior, who helps her lose weight and get in shape before the reunion. Romance ensues.

I enjoy older woman/younger man romances so was looking forward to this listen. The relationship between the two characters is believable, although I thought the hero fell for the heroine way too quickly...that felt rushed. Her doubts about their relationship were generally understandable and her own "forty something, midlife" doubts were relatable. I was discouraged, though that she made such a big deal about a 25 lb weight gain. While perhaps not ideal, that is not that much weight and I thought the story put too much negative emphasis on "bad" weight. Perhaps 50 lbs...but not 25. She also very unrealistically sought to lose 25 lbs in 6 weeks. Not only is that unlikely but it is also unhealthy. A poor message to send.

The hero was likeable and he was so sweet with the heroine's daughters. His history made him more than a pretty face and explained some of the relationship/attraction between the two main characters.

Overall, the story sent a message of increased self esteem, taking charge of one's life, making meaningful relationships and allowing oneself to love. At times these messages came across a bit preachy but I enjoyed the listen non-the-less. One point, however, bothered me. The heroine has an issue with her mother who is uber critical and demeaning. The relationship is described as toxic and eventually the heroine cuts her mother out of her life. This was concerning. It is important to remove toxic people from your life but her mother was her only family and I thought this could have been handled differently than totally stopping contact with her very abruptly and never even giving her mom a chance to change. Or perhaps the toxic person could have been someone other than her mother. Cutting family ties is hard but there are often ways to manage things without just giving up totally. I understood the message about getting rid of toxic people but did not like that it was the mother. Mom's are often portrayed as the "evil" one and I did not like that message.

The narrator had a lovely, soothing voice and I enjoyed listening to her. Her narration, however, came across as just that, a narration, not a performance of the book. This is not necessarily bad, many books do this, just what it was. She had little variation of voices of characters, more changes in inflection, and her male voices were nothing like male. I would get other books with her as a narrator, just be prepared for the delivery style. Listen to a sample to make sure you like her style.

At just over 4 hours, this was an overall enjoyable, fairly quick, listen and I am glad I listened to it. It was nice way to spend a roadtrip and I liked listening to a love story where the characters were flawed and closer to my own age and not just some 20 something beautiful girl/handsome man. I would listen to more stories by this author.

***Note - I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my own unbiased review.

The Girl Most Likely

Jana Richards has written a winner with The Girl Most Likely. I had the pleasure of listening to the audio version of this book. Leigh Linley's performance made the book even more fun and delightful. I could not help but giggle throughout this short story. Cara is one character that I could relate to and I believe so many other readers would too.
I am giving The Girl Most Likely a well deserved five plus stars. I loved it and highly recommend it.
I received the audio version of this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

Insecurities of a middle-aged woman

The Girl Most Likely is probably one of the most relatable audiobooks I have ever listened too! I'm 37 years old and might be weighing more than I did when I graduated high school. The things that bothered Cara don't bother me as much as they did her. I feel like we all change after 20 years. We've had kids, if we can. We've packed on more pounds or at least we don't like where our weight is sitting. The breasts no longer sit as high as they did 25 years ago.

I think seeing the ex with a younger woman would be was would get me. I would want to stick it to him. You know, look at what you're missing buddy. Yeah' his 25 year old girl friend might have breasts 3 inches higher than mine but older women have a different confidence. They have a bit more understanding of life and dare I say we know what's happening between the sheets! So obviously Finn knows what's up!!

Anyways, sorry I got a bit hung up on Cara and her inner battle to be comfortable in her skin and with who she is. I loved Finn and I'm so happy the author made him a real man and not just some body builder man of gym perfection. He's had his own struggles and really seems to respect Cara for wanting to fix what shes unhappy with. What starts as a friendship builds into more but they still have that deep rooted friendship that helps them talk through their personal fears and struggles.

The narration was done by Leigh Linley. I felt she did fine with Cara but Finn wasn't the best. There was also a slight echo sound to the sound. It was a bit distracting. Really though, seeing this narrators name on another audiobook wouldn't turn me off from the story. I enjoyed it for the most part.

High school reunions!

What do you do when it's almost time for your high school reunion? Cara is faced with this now, a little overweight and sure to see her ex-husband with his new flame. She decides it's time to get into shape. When attending class, she is attracted to her trainer, Finn. Several years younger and eye candy for all, there is no way something can happen between them, after all, why would he be interested in her? Finn is a man of substance. When he meets Cara, he doesn't see the insecure woman that she is, but he sees her! When things start to fall apart, what will Finn do? Run like the wind and find his harem at the gym? What will happen when Cara goes to the reunion? I loved this book. It's my first by Jana Richards and I think it hits close to home. We all have insecurities, and this one plays on things everyone can relate to. She is a real character, and I could feel her indecision and frustration. Finn is amazing. I love his ability to see through the facade people put up, and in his line of work, I would think he has to have that eye. It's a great love story, one I truly enjoyed.

Narration by Leigh Linley was great. It's the first time I have heard her, and I thought she captured the essence of the characters perfectly. She tapped into Cara like she knows exactly her feelings, added great children voices and pulls off Finn with ease. This is a fun, and easy listen and I will look for more of both of Jana and Leigh's work.