Against the Wall

By: Rebecca Zanetti

Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Surveying the proposed site for a high-end golf course should have been a breeze for spunky landscape architect Sophie Smith. But when this born-and-bred city girl is suddenly - and quite literally - swept off her feet by a sexy cowboy on horseback, she realizes that the country life has some serious (and seriously steamy!) possibilities. That is, until she finds out exactly who her smokin'-hot wrangler really is.

Cowboy and tribal lawyer Jake Lodge is desperately trying to block the development. And if that means playing hardball - and being every inch the shark lawyer - so be it. But Sophie is a distraction he didn't expect. A distraction that makes his blood burn.

Two different worlds. Two opposing sides. And when they finally give in to the exquisite temptation, the consequences will shake the foundations of both of their lives.

©2013 Rebecca Zanetti (P)2013 Tantor

"Liked It"

If you could sum up Against the Wall in three words, what would they be?

I enjoyed this book. Rebecca Zanetti is becoming a favorite author. I like reading books that have other things going on in addition to the love story. My favorites are the books that have action, drama and romance. They also need to include a good amount of sex. Romance books that don't have good sex, to me, are boring so I usually try to avoid those that don't. This book did pretty well covering all my requirements.This book was missing a little of the drama/action that I like which is why I only gave it four stars instead of 5. It was never boring though. I don't want to give anything away so I won't go into why. It's really not important because this is a good book and definitely worth a credit to listen to. I will definitely be looking to hear the stories for the other brothers.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Jake. You could just feel the sex appeal coming from him. He has a strong personality. Dominant without being overbearing with a good amount of sexy and romantic thrown in too.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I think this is the first book I've listened to that's been narrated by Ann Marie Lee. She did a pretty good job. Some narrators can ruin a book and others can make a "so-so" book really good. I'd say she falls in the middle. Like a lot of female readers, she struggles some with the male voices. They all tend to be pretty much the same. The way she drug out the word "sunshine" all the time kind of bugged me but not so much that it took away from the book. I would definitely listen to other books read by her. Her acting is really pretty good.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Huge Mistake of a Purchase

What disappointed you about Against the Wall?

To be fair to the author, I only listened to 45 minutes before jumping ship. I didn't like the narrator in the least. I could hear every intake of breath and it got on my last nerve!

What was most disappointing about Rebecca Zanetti’s story?

The awful narration aside, after 45 minutes I could tell this was gonna be another story that didn't have anything to say that I wanted to hear. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I've met a few real MEN that I've been attracted to, but never have I been blinded or obsessed by their muscles to the point I went completely stupid within 10 minutes of meeting them. Then again, I've never met George Strait....

How could the performance have been better?

The director should have caught the indrawn breaths ASAP and done whatever was necessary to fix the problem. I don't know if this is training issue that a narrator learns to overcome or an editiing issue. Overall, I feel this narrator's voice is best suited for children and young adult books. I can hear her captivating these audiences in a library setting.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

If the listener is looking for weightless fluff and doesn't mind cheesy - go for it.

Any additional comments?

In the introduction to the book the narrator is listed as Heather Smith, not Ann Marie Lee.

5 of 8 people found this review helpful

Usually love RZ but this one was not for me.

The story line had a lot of interesting and enjoyable characters but the plot was too slow and simple for me. It need a better bad guy. I fast forwarded expecting it to get more interesting but it never did.

Fun Series

This is a great series and very different from her other Paranormal Romance Series. This is a fun contemporary romance series with a Native American bent, centered around one family and their close friends. You will laugh and you will cry.
Stories are worth a credit, narration is excellent. For adults only.
Against the Wall
Under the Covers
Rising Assets
Over the Top

Good start to the series :)

3-3.5 stars

This was an enjoyable story. I liked Sophie and Jake and the secondary characters are pretty interesting as well. This is the first book I've read by this author but based on this I'm planning to read more of her work.

Sophie is a artist that works as a landscape designer that specializes in golf courses. She grew up poor and when her mom married a rich man, Sophie was shunted off to boarding school and grew up feeling unloved. Sophie has great artistic skill but does landscaping design because her mother convinced her she wasn't good enough to make a living off of her art. She now works for her Uncle whom she loves a lot. She's determined to do what she can to sell her latest golf course design because without it her Uncle's business may be in financial trouble.

Jake is a rancher and lawyer. He grew up in Montana and has no intentions of leaving. He was married years before and his wife died in an accident and left him with a daughter he adores. Jake is part of the local Indian tribe and works for the Tribal council. He and the tribe are opposed to the new golf course being brought in to the area due to concerns for the affects on the local environment.

Jake and Sophie meet for the first time when he and his brothers almost run her over with their horses but Jake has good reflexes and ends up saving her instead. Sophie isn't to thrilled with Jake's method of introduction but there is an attraction between them from the start. When Sophie finds out who Jake is and that he's going to be a big part of the opposition she's facing, Sophie realizes it's probably best to stay away from Jake as much as possible. Her task isn't made easy though because Jake's very interested in her and although he doesn't intend to fall for a city girl, he does want her and intends to tempt her in to a fling while she's in town. Sophie keeps getting pushed at Jake by most of the meddlesome townfolk, ending up alone with him multiple times for one reason or the other having to do with the golf course project. While they're alone Jake takes every advantage and tries to get Sophie to give in to the attraction.

Although Sophie is a relatively smart woman, she does end up ruled by her lust for Jake and they end up sleeping together. In the mean time, Sophie has been trying to gather as much support for the golf course as she can. She doesn't have a lot of success in that but the locals start liking her and she starts making friends and feeling at home. She even gets drawn in to a local project, designing a local park as a memorial for a beloved town member that died. There is some bad as some of the people that are opposing the development threaten Sophie, first with notes and then later with more dangerous means. Sophie and Jake have their fling but things become more serious between them both and the issues around the golf course and them being on opposing sides doesn't help things at all. The golf course issue gets resolved but there's still difficulties between Jake and Sophie as she's not convinced that he loves her and a plot device I don't particularly care for was used (view spoiler) which makes it even harder for Sophie to figure out if he loves her or just wants her to stick around for other reasons (view spoiler). There's some drama as they try to work things out and Sophie has to figure out what she really wants and what Jake really feels. They do get things worked out to a happy conclusion though and have a nice HEA.

This was a good story. I liked both Sophie and Jake and liked their story. I probably would have rated it higher if it weren't for the plot device I didn't like being used. Overall I liked the story though and the characters were interesting enough that I plan to read the next book in the series. I can't wait until Dawn (Jake's little sister) has her book with Hawk. It looks like an interesting story to be sure. :D

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great read..

What about Ann Marie Lee’s performance did you like?

Everything!!

Any additional comments?

This is not my usual kind of book but it sounded good so I bought it yesterday afternoon and finished it last evening. It did keep me entertained. The story was good and the sex was great and the characters, Jake. Sophie, Leila, Quinn, Dawn, Loni, Tom, Colton and Preston were all terrific and I think I might just go read Quinn's story now. I would definitely recommend this author. AND I listened to the book as I read! The narrator was awesome!

1 of 4 people found this review helpful

"JAKE"

Would you consider the audio edition of Against the Wall to be better than the print version?

yes & i have it on my kindle in print too

What other book might you compare Against the Wall to, and why?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ARGH

What about Ann Marie Lee’s performance did you like?

she got better as she went on

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

yes laugh in places

Any additional comments?

wish you would bring the other two books on audio so frustrating when you don't release other books in a series