Blueprints

A Novel

By: Barbara Delinsky

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Blueprints is the story of two strong women - Caroline MacAfee, a skilled carpenter; and her daughter, Jamie, a talented architect. The day after her 56th birthday, Caroline is told the network wants Jamie to replace her as the host on Gut It!, their family-based home construction TV show. The resulting rift couldn't come at a worse time. For Jamie life changes overnight when, soon after learning of the host shift, her father and his new wife die in a car accident that orphans their two-year-old son. Accustomed to organization and planning, she is now grappling with a toddler who misses his parents, a fiancé who doesn't want the child, a staggering new attraction, and a work challenge that, if botched, could undermine the future of both MacAfee Homes and Gut It!

For Caroline, hosting Gut It! is part of her identity. Facing its loss, she feels betrayed by her daughter and old in the eyes of the world. When her ex-husband dies, she is thrust into the role of caregiver to his aging father. And then there's Dean, a longtime friend whose efforts to seduce her awaken desires that have been dormant for so long that she feels foreign to herself.

"Who am I?" both women ask as the blueprints they've built their lives around suddenly need revising. While loyalties shift, decisions hover, and new relationships tempt, their challenge comes not only in remaking themselves but in rebuilding their relationship with each other.

©2015 Barbara Delinsky (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Siri as the narrator!

This isn't a bad story. Not the best Delinsky but not the worst. However it IS the worst audio performance I have ever heard. Seriously I thought it was an auto bot. A computer reading it! Yuck! What a way to ruin a book.

Wonderful!!!!

What made the experience of listening to Blueprints the most enjoyable?

I loved this book. The characters were so real and believable. The story could of been any young couple struggle for love

What other book might you compare Blueprints to and why?

I thought Salt Air was great but this one was better. I love Barbara Delinsky and the way she writes.

Have you listened to any of Amy Rubinate’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Amy was great in her presentation. She really bought these characters to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Jamie fallen in love with Chip? So believable.

Any additional comments?

Waiting for the next best seller.

Shallow story with poor narration

This was one of the worst books I've ever listened to. I wasn't looking for a brilliant work of literature either...just wanted a fun beach read for summer. The story and characters were totally shallow and one dimensional. The narration had a strange robotic quality to it that was annoying. If I wasn't such an obsessive "finish what you start" type of person, I would've shut it down after two chapters. Don't waste your time or your credits on this one!

Narrator was too dramatic !

The narrator was distracting on this book. She should have read it more relaxed and with less effort!

Stubborn Not Strong

I loved the idea of a book about Caroline (mother 56) & Jamie (daughter 29) who were close friends. However, I thought both women were too fast to believe the worst of the other.

When Jamie's father suddenly dies, Caroline rushes to help another family member rather than her child. In what world would a mother not put her daughter first when grieving? The women found time to become romantically involved with men yet no time to support each other.

There were cute moments as Jamie learned to care for her half brother but too many times when Caroline & Jamie were too stubborn or proud to communicate. I was frustrated when they acted more like teens than mature adults, which made this book less than entertaining for me.

Very choppy but entertaining

This was basically a really good story. It was really hard to follow on audible, maybe the actual book would have been better. The story lines jumped around a lot and scenes weren't finished. I had to rewind quite a bit to make sure i didn't miss something. All I could think of when reading this was the HGTV show, Good Bones. The show with the mother and daughter. LOL.

Did not care for the narration but I hate the hurt the feelings of actual people who do this for a living. It seems such a trite observation.

Glad I bought it, it was great escapism.

Great mother-daughter story

Have always loved B.D. stories. Loved this one addressing women's feelings of aging. Well done! Also very well read. Enjoyed narration.

Blueprints

Way to much time spent on descriptions in this book. Also alot of unnecessary information. I found myself fast forwarding alot and also turning up the speed. The 2 main male characters were out of a fairytale, very non believable. I did not find a single character to bond with.

Loved the story, hated the audio

Would you try another book from Barbara Delinsky and/or Amy Rubinate?

Barbara yes Amy NO

Any additional comments?

I really liked this story but had a huge issue with the narrator. I listened to this book on audible and had it not been for the fact that I really wanted to hear the story out, and that I had paid for it, I would have quit after the first 5 minutes of the audio book. The narrator sounded like an automated computer voice that droned on and on. It was a total turn off. I had to remind myself of how much I like the author to just get myself through the awful audio. Aside from that, the story was amazing. It struck home several times as I am very close to my daughter and saw how I could have done some of the same things that happened. I would recommend this book very highly, but would adamantly suggest not to listen on audible. It's so not an experience I would want anyone else to have to endure.

Loved It!!!

Great story! I wanted the story to keep going. I remember why I like Barbara Delinsky's books. This would be a great book for a movie (if they would not rewrite the book). Amy Rubinate did another great job in her performance.