Bone Deep

By: Bonnie Dee

Narrated by: Natasha Soudek

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Love sees deep below the surface.

In the aftermath of WWII, widowed Sarah is dragged to a carnival by friends where she's riveted by the unearthly gaze of the tattooed man in the freak show. When this sensitive soul hides in her hayloft after escaping imprisonment by the evil carnival owner, Sarah shelters Tom on her farm. Deeply drawn to the quiet yet powerfully magnetic man, Sarah fights her attraction while learning about his mysterious past and gentle nature.

When a child goes missing, Tom uses his psychic gift to find her, but his assistance doesn't stop the locals' mistrust of such an exotic stranger. Small-town prejudice tears the lovers apart and a very real threat from the carnival owner endangers them both. Can Tom and Sarah rise above obstacles of fear and hatred to create the family both have always craved?

©2012 Bonnie Dee (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Delightful subversion of expected tropes

This is my second Bonnie Dee book and I definitely want to read all her books. Dee's characters have a way of winning my heart and making me feel like my heart will break if the couple lose each other.
I love that Sarah was so strong and capable. We hear far too often about strong female characters that too often wind up just being "feisty" and needed a man to rescue them by the end, while the male lead is too often an alpha male stereotype who is possessive and even smothering of his woman. Thankfully this book subverts those tropes to explore more unique and interesting dynamics.
Sarah is a lonely young widow, but she is quite capable of taking care of herself. More than that, it's she who is the protector to Tom, a tattooed man from a 1940s "freak show" who escapes from a lifetime of abuse. The love they grows between them is sweet and touching.
While there is a villain to confront the true adversary they must overcome is small town prejudice which is something many people can relate to. Highly recommended.

4 people found this helpful

Wrong voice for story

Any additional comments?

This is such an amazing tale, has all the parts we need for a beautiful love story.
Heartbroken woman, grieving over the death of a beloved husband. A man that was brought up broken, together they make a life, one they find bitter and difficult. But worth the ending.
The narrator, for me just didn't hot the points that needed to be made. And that turned the whole story off for me.
This is one you need to read, for sure.

2 people found this helpful

narrator is not great

I haven't yet finished the book and will update when I have, but I had to make a note about the narrator. Narrators in general should not take an Ambien and benedryl cocktail before recording. The delivery is miserably slow and plodding. I ended up having to stop listening through Alexa and use the audible app instead. why? Because the audible app offers a speed option. I found that increasing the speed to 1.4x makes the narrator sound like a normal person.

1 person found this helpful

Great book despite narrator

This was a sweet and funny book but the narrator was way to deliberate and slow.

1 person found this helpful

Bone Deep

'Bone Deep' was a sweet romance - and when I say 'sweet' I don't mean that it is a 'clean' romance. Because it is definitely not that. I know the author was trying to create conflict within the story but I thought somethings got wrapped up a little too conveniently, and also, I did not care for the sound of the narrator's voice. There were a few times that I was going to switch off the audiobook, but I will concede that I was quite intrigued to see how the story would end.

My wish list:

- I wish the author would get a re-recording of the audiobook done, with a different narrator.
- I wish the author would consider a re-release of the book, with a revision and fleshing out of Tony's character
- Not every story deserves an epilogue, but this one requires an epilogue, or a sequel.

1 person found this helpful

Corny

I dislike this story from start to finish. the readers were horrid and that ruined the story for me.

LOVED IT!!

I really enjoyed this! The story was a great romantic steamy love story. It wasn't the usual story line. Performance was beautifully done. Easy to follow the voices she gave each character.

she was frustrating

She frustrated me with her plain ignorance. I know the era was challenging but she made their time harder.

bleh narrator

story was heartbreaking get a bit uplifting also. narrator sounded like she was on drugs.Read very slowly and almost slurred her words.

Cute

The story was cute and inspiring if not a bit slow (really slow-like had to speed up to almost 100). Seeing through the facade, accepting people, and kindness are all over the place. Not my usual read but it kept me interested and entertained.

Addictive story - speed narration up to x 1.25

I couldn't seem to stop listening to this story and it hooked me completely. Felt like escapism! Didn't sleep much as I just wanted to stay engrossed in the story. Definitely speed the narration up to x 1.25 as it was far too slow before - sounded natural once I changed the speed, and I believed the characters were talking which is always a sign of decent narrator.