Beyond Doubt

Beyond Love Series #2

By: Karice Bolton

Narrated by: Valerie Gilbert

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Brandy Rhodes is about to enter law school, and everything is going according to plan...until she meets him - the one man in the universe who's off limits - her best friend's brother, Aaron.

Brandy knows enough to stay away from him, but as the pull becomes impossible to ignore, secrets and lies become part of Brandy's way of life. And she kind of likes it.

Aaron Sullivan has never been one to believe in love. His motto is quantity over quality, and that has suited him quite well. After all, love is an illusion and romance is another way to manipulate females into bed...until he met her - the one woman in the universe who calls his bluff and shows what love can be.

But as their love grows, Aaron's past begins to haunt his future, and right when she needs him the most, he makes a decision that will shatter her world.

And she just may not survive.

©2013 Karice Bolton (P)2015 Karice Bolton

Not My Cup of Tea

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. I wasn’t really a fan of this story. It just didn’t have any ‘oomph’ for me. There was nothing new or original.

Would you ever listen to anything by Karice Bolton again?

I'm not sure.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Valerie Gilbert is a good job narrating

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

Considering I wasn't a fan of this one, and I haven't read/listened to the first book, I don't really have anything to say for a follow-up. I'm sure there is one for Lilly's story though.

Any additional comments?

It seemed way too big of a coincidence, to me, that Gabby ended up with her long-lost brother’s best friend.

So she goes from giving a tour of the house to Aaron. They’re in the bedroom and making out. She wakes up inside the tent outside. Huh? Did I miss a part of the story? What would have made her overdrink? Considering she was paranoid that Gabby would know about her and Aaron? No sense there.

Brandy ends up in a bike accident and is aware the whole time. When Aaron’s on the phone with paramedics he tells them her eyes are closed and she’s not responding, yet Gabby is supposedly moving and has her eyes open. Obviously she’s unable to actually speak and just believes she is, but the moving bit? She turns her head to see the paramedic putting the IV in her arm. If she’s looking around, which she has to be doing to see everything going on…well, how is that possible? And after all that time she where no one realizes she’s aware she still has no clue that she was hurt in the accident? Of course, this is possible, I guess but the whole looking around part is questionable.

When did Gabby find out about Aaron and Brandy? Last thing I heard was Brandy had written a letter for Gabby and was planning on giving it to her and then suddenly, Gabby already knows.

So Aaron was going to China and had a female translator. After trying to convince Brandy not to leave (she was in her car), Aaron ends up referring to his translator as ‘babe.’ While I know jealousy is the first thin that popped into my head, I don’t believe Aaron would have wanted Brandy jealous if he cared that much about her. That was strange.

What ever happened to Jeff? Brandy was all getting texts, calls, flowers, and chocolate. She meets Jeff and then ends up finding out he was her stalker so…what happened? Obviously he was arrested but then nothing more was said. So what was the point of Jeff then?

Beyond Doubt

What did you like best about Beyond Doubt? What did you like least?

I got bored with the story maybe because I did not have the first book.i didn't feel connected to the characters. yes, they're nice but they do not have a good appeal to me.

Sexy, honorable & smart wind this billionaire in!

Any additional comments?

Brandy was a gal with two wonderful friends, Gabby and Lillian and a very supportive family. Gabby happened to be her boss in a large corporation, a corporation owned by Gabby’s family. The three of them had been in university together, but now were struggling in the real world. Brandy wanted to be a lawyer, but for the moment she had to work. She was quick on her feet, intelligent, with really great looks. The camaraderie between the girls was very warming – the perfect kind of friends to have.

Enter Aaron– Gabby’s brother who has been gone from the family since he was 18. Gabby had heard rumors about his womanizing, etc. and was afraid to let him back into her life. God knows what he’d been up to. Brandy, being the good friend she was, made a point in steering Aaron away from Gabby. Aaron kept seeking her out. Things get a little tricky when Brandy would prefer to sneak off with Aaron, however much she wanted her mind and body take the high way. Energy between them absolutely sizzled. She knew the type he was though. He was a player and no good for her. Brandy had a pretty good idea he was using her to get to Gabby. Was it working? Hmmm…

I picked up this book because of the narrator, Valerie Gilbert. She has written some of her own books, does narrations as well. Since her books were more like memoirs and sharing her thoughts, I got to know her well. I don’t know if Ms. Boulton created this story for Ms. Gilbert, or Ms. Gilbert hit upon the perfect story for the character resonates very strongly how I view Ms. Gilbert. And it is in first person! Ms. Gilbert is perfectly sarcastic, playing the part of Brandy who is full of snarky humor even about her own feelings, leaving me smirking throughout the listen. She narrates Brandy marvelously, particularly when Brandy talks to herself. I couldn’t help but respect her strength, her wisdom and her view of life.

Once Ms. Bolton’s story started heating up with emotions pulling at the hero and heroine, I was totally connected. Experiences Brandy and Aaron faced were heart-achingly real. There was realization of what could have been, learning life can change on a dime and trust is not always easy to grant. Then there is the lesson fear should not govern one’s life. Ms. Bolton left me most satisfied with her happy ever after. I shall look forward to the next in the series, Beyond Reason.

Beyond Doubt

Brandy meets hers best friends brother, that she did not even know existed. Their is an immediate attraction but she feels Aaron is off limits. As she fights the attraction strange things seem to start happening around her. It’s not always easy to recognize a threat when you can explain it away rationally and chose not to think of it that way.

The story is a lot of fun you get the romance with a bit of suspense. Valerie Gilbert does an awesome job on the narration. The only thing that bugged me about the story was that (unless I totally missed this) you don’t get a clear understanding of why Aaron’s mother left, because at first I thought she had died. Other than that this would totally be stand alone.