Lonely Magnolia

By: John Isaac Jones

Narrated by: Tom Zainea

Length: 1 hr and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A shy, lonely computer genius tries to find love in the digital age. He would never be the same! The story of Pygmalion for the 21st century!

©2017 John I. Jones (P)2017 John I. Jones

Finding love in a digital age.

This is a unique story from an author I am enjoying recently. This is maybe my favorite payoff of his so far. How do I say much more without giving away too much?!

There are so many ways this story could have gone, and I was very pleased where it went. It made for a brilliant listening experience.

The narrator did a great job.

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

Lonely Magnolia

The twist that I didn't see coming...

Online dating was something Dr. Wingate had never considered in the past but he was willing to give it a try. Is it possible to find your perfect mate online?

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

Lonely Magnolia

A very interesting short story, with some unexpected twists at the end. Well written, interesting story,

A short story with a twist!

This is a short story about a man who recently retired from a successful career in the tech industry and decides he's ready to find love again. Turning to an internet dating service, he begins the dance of online courtship until the time to meet his new found love arrives and he travels to meet her.

I thought the story was good and the character was well written as all the characters in Mr. Jones' stories are. But, I found the conclusion to be unsatisfactory and while it had a nice twist, I didn't feel what I had invested in the character matched the ending and left me wondering if I had missed something. I'm still looking for an overlying juxtaposition that makes the ending seem natural, but I can't find one. I also didn't really find the compelling moral that all Mr Jones' stories end with, which I really like. This one just seemed flat and, meh.

I was given this audio book for free in exchange for this unbiased review.

Another pertinent, but sad story on humanity

This is another short story bu John Isaac Jones which touches on several aspects of our humanity we can all fall victim to if we are not aware of the depravity of some of those among us. Struggles with loneliness, aging, boredom, and depression are a few of the things that leave us vulnerable to being deceived. Technology has opened a world of information to us, brought the world right into our homes. Unfortunately, it comes with a cost; one of which is it leaves your door open to those that would intentionally do harm. One should not be naive when entering the world-wide-web; especially not if earnestly in search of happiness and companionship,

Sadly, the story of the main character is a reality in today's cyber world. It is easy for people to hide behind their keyboard and pretend to be someone they are not and lead an vulnerable person down a dead end road. Having dealt in the high-tech arena for over 30-years, I could quickly determine pretty much where the story was headed, so although there was no twist to the ending, it was a bit of an extreme case. The one slight glitch in the story itself is it seemed a bit unlikely a computer genius, as the main character was described as being, would fall into such a trap. That being said, substitute an average person into the story and you have an all too frequent scenario which occurs. Let this story serve as a warning to anyone looking to enter into any type of online relationship . . . there are many out there that are ready to live a phony life online, often at the expense of others.

Once again, the narration in these stories is superb and only serves to enhance the listen. I would recommend this title to those that enjoy short, tight, real life based stories, A review copy of this audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in return for this unbiased review. If you found this review helpful, please take a moment to click yes below.

short but interesting

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

This was a short but interesting take on how disconnected and isolated society has become with the Internet and social media replacing basic human interaction.

I didn’t see it coming!

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed every story I have listened to by John I. Jones, this one is my favorite! I absolutely loved it! I loved the ending because it was so unexpected. Usually, I relate to Mr. Jones’ stories because they bring about a sense of nostalgia; this story, however, is quite the opposite and is more relatable to today’s technological age. It’s a great story that is very well told. The excellent narration just made it that much better! Definitely worth the listen. I received a review copy at my request and voluntarily reviewed.

Online Dating and Computer Savvy Billionaires

John Isaac Jones gives another interesting short story. It tells the story of a Bill Gates type character - a computer genius, who created the software that runs most of the worlds computers and became rich doing it - eventually retiring and wanting to settle down with a lady. After struggling to find anyone in real life, he turns to online dating to find the perfect woman. And it appears he has.

But appearances can be deceiving.

Tom Zainea narrates well. Clear, well paced and easy to follow. He does good work, I was very happy with his performance.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Interesting short story but a bit depressing!

I wasn't certain what I was getting into when I picked up this book. The publisher's summary is a short 3 sentences but seemed intriguing enough to listen to even though I had no clue what "Pygmalion" even was (and didn't bother looking it up until after finishing). At just over an hour duration though I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot!

The story itself was short but sweet. I was interested enough in the story after the first chapter where I wanted to keep listening and a couple chapters in I already had an idea of where it was heading (which turned out to be right, but also wrong!).

Great narration by Tom Zainea, I can honestly say that I would have no problem picking other books with this narrator.

*** Don't read the next sentence if you don't want to spoil the end. ***

If you're okay with not having a "happy ending" then I'd definitely give this 1 hour novella a try, otherwise you might want to pass.

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

Interesting Listen

Computer genius Dr. Carl Wingate has spent his life programming software and shaping the digital world. A widower in his 50s, Carl tries to find love again but no one sparks his interest. When his daughter suggests online dating, Carl decides to join Southern Singles and meets a special woman with the handle Lonely Magnolia.

This is a clever short story about technology and love. You could take this as a commentary on the detached way we as a modern society make friends and start relationships online. Or you can just enjoy it for the interesting listen that it is. I expected it to end differently, but John Isaac Jones is always unexpected. The narration was immersive and fit the story well. It's a good way to spend an hour, and worth the listen.