Blithe Images

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

No one captures a perfect picture of a couple finding one another quite like Nora Roberts, the #1 New York Times bestselling “word artist” (Los Angeles Daily News), who focuses on the intense passion that develops between a model and the man captivated by her in Blithe Images.

Mode Magazine is one of New York City’s premier fashion glossies and Hilary Baxter has just been contracted as one of their models. The culture shock she experiences between her small-town Kansas life and the glamour of the Big Apple is nothing compared to the thrill she gets when Mode’s charismatic publisher Bret Bardoff takes a personal interest in guiding her career. Unable to resist Bret’s seductive allure, Hilary’s infatuation turns into love—a love she hopes is strong enough for Bret to see the person behind the beauty.

©1982 Nora Roberts. (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

1982 Nora Classic

Ms Whelan Male voice deepen after 2014. So it’s not her best at 2011, but this is a good classic story that still leaves you feeling good when Miss Roberts first wrote Harlequin romances. Our heroine has Great, moral virtues. They don’t make them like this anymore. Pity! Our hero is genuine and again they don’t make them like this anymore either.
Where my comments of help?

Short and Entertaining

3.5 Stars ⭐️ Hilary Baxter is a successful model from Kansas living in New York City. She met Bret Bardoff at a photoshoot and he immediately wanted her. He hires her for 6 months for magazine campaign, and he pursues her. She falls in love with him. They fight a lot, which is pretty much like foreplay. There really isn’t any character growth and the book vibed with its 1982 publishing. Bret is kind of a jerk, but he loves to push Hilary’s buttons. He did have some morals though. Hilary just got annoyed a lot. Blithe Images is a short, no spice romance that was entertaining.

Disappointing

This is a very forgettable book. The worst Nora roberts book I have ever listened to. Characters barely fleshed out. Storyline so predictable. Don’t bother

This book did not age well

I didn’t realize when I downloaded that this was first published in 1982. This book does not age well. The male interest is a pushy misogynist whose only redeeming quality is that he’s rich. He’s very Christian Grey without the kink or caring qualities. The lead girl somehow thinks she’s in love with him after he throws a fit when she stops him from having sex with her during making out. There is a whole paragraph of him saying that “if you kiss a guy like that there are certain expectations of where it is going to lead”. Apparently No does not mean no to this guy or makes her a tease for responding to any physical attention. Especially considering the current lack of women’s rights in the US right now I could not finish this book. The narration must have been in Julia’s early days too as the voice is very different from books you hear her read now. She is my favorite narrator which is why I downloaded this book but this was my least favorite performance combined with a very poor book.