Escape to New Zealand Boxed Set, Books 1-3

By: Rosalind James

Narrated by: Claire Bocking

Length: 27 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Three best-selling sweet and steamy New Zealand rugby romances: Just This Once (Audie nominee in Romance, 2015), Just Good Friends, and Just for Now.

Book One - Just This Once

Everyone needs to be rescued sometimes. Everyone but Hannah Montgomery, that is. She just needs a vacation: three weeks in New Zealand to sort out her life, figure out what she wants, seems just right. Oh, and to relax. She should definitely put that on the agenda. She certainly isn't looking for a sexy fling with a professional rugby player, no matter how attractive he is. Hannah doesn't do casual. But maybe just this once....

Book Two - Just Good Friends

Some bets were made to be lost. Kate Lamonica can't believe she's made a bet to be "just friends" with playboy star Koti James. New Zealand had seemed like the perfect escape from the stalker who'd threatened first her peace of mind, and then her life. She certainly doesn't need any more trouble. Why on Earth has she agreed to spend time with a Maori rugby player who's far too handsome and charming for his own good, and knows it? But there's more than one game Koti's good at playing.

Book Three - Just for Now

There's no place like home. For teacher Jenna McKnight, nothing spells "heartbreak" like finding her husband with somebody else - in her bed. It's clearly time to reinvent herself. A new body, a new city, and a new job later, she's done just that. The beautiful Auckland villa isn't really her home, though. Finn Douglas and his kids aren't really her family, however much she wishes they were. And playing house can be a dangerous game.

©2012 Rosalind James (P)2015 Rosalind James

Wonderful true pleasure

I wish audible would do more of these boxed sets. These stories were wonderful. I had to adjust to the narrator and it so worth she did a fabulous job. Insert applause. I thought there might not be enough story or character development. It there certainly was. I truly loved all three. Each was its own story. So worth the credit. Thank you !Lovely entertainment.

A Threepeat of Romance Wins !

Each of the three stories are so well written that you need not know anything about New Zealand or Rugby to thoroughly enjoy them.
The author has created three separate relationships around one team and one town. Even with this, each story is a stand alone novel. You need not read one to understand and enjoy the other.
I am now a Rugby fan after having read in such detail of the excitement and enjoyment in a game. Moreover, I now have a longing to visit New Zealand and see the wonderful places described in the novels.
You will NOT be disappointed in either of these novels.

Omi-Books 1-3 of New Zealand love

These stories are developed out of womens experiences. RJ takes a experience and creates a journey, with love, growth, sex, etc., to the final outcome. The Stories have moments of weakness, where the writing or the narration flows amateurish, but by hanging in there the listening experience becomes stronger.
Just this once: Hannah's story ,shes a workaholic, years of raising her brother and sister, and now she needs a vacation. She finds her love, a professional rugby player Drew
Just good friends; Kates story, she's running from a stalker in the states, that promises he will kill her. Hannah and Drew help her out, she finds her hero in Koti a mori rugby playing pretty boy
Just for now; Jenna story, she didn't have a good example to help her while growing up, she was in her moms way, Jenna marries badly to excape. and ends up finding her husband in bed with someone else, then she meets Finn a rugby player that needs a nanny for his two children. These stories are short a sweet and are worth the listen, through the Romance package.

A true escape and must-read- I LOVE this series!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you are reading this, you have discovered one of my favorite authors of romance. Ms. James is a master story-teller and weaves wonderful imagery and the flavor of the local environment into her tales. She had me hooked from the very first Escape to New Zealand story I read. I am so impressed with the details she writes into the background, scenery, the characters, everything really.

What did you like best about this story?

The descriptions of the geography and the New Zealand, in general are meticulous and compelling. All the imagery of such a beautiful country, and the mannerisms and local cultural references of the locals were fascinating. The author includes a helpful glossary of New Zealand local lingo and unique cultural references to help the reader connect to the story and the characters more deeply.
She brings strong female characters to life, all with interesting backgrounds. She brings these alpha-sexy rugby men to a unique place with their vulnerability and sweetness (sometimes hard-headed stubbornness) and writes tender love stories, all with wonderful scenery and imagery.

What does Claire Bocking bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Claire lends not just a voice to the characters, she brings them to life for me. The emotions she portrays are realistic and believable. I have rarely experienced such an authentic view into a story through a reading than through Claire Bocking's interpretation of Rosalind's books. She's lovely to listen to- very soothing and enjoyable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES, absolutely! I can't get enough of Escape to New Zealand, and have read everything Rosalind has written so far.

Any additional comments?

My full review: If you are reading this, you have discovered one of my favorite authors of romance. Ms. James is a master story-teller and weaves wonderful imagery and the flavor of the local environment into her tales. She had me hooked from the very first Escape to New Zealand story I read. I am so impressed with the details she writes into the background, scenery, the characters, everything really.
This book is part 1-3 of a series called Escape to New Zealand.
○ Book 1 - Just This Once - introduces us to Hannah and Drew. Hannah was an American on vacation in New Zealand, and she accidentally meets Drew on her first day out in the water and beach. He saved her from drowning and they fell in love. Then she goes home and Drew follows her back, and asks her to come home with him. Will Hannah make a life-changing decision to begin a new chapter in her life? Can she go out on a limb to make a gigantic leap of faith in her career and her life?
○ Book 2 - Just Good Friends - introduces Kate and Koti. Kate was American, feisty and smart, and a tiny statured woman against Koti, a huge, Maori rugby player, and one of the most handsome, charming, ladies men of the team. Kate and Koti make a bet that they can be "just friends" for six weeks without him coming onto her. Can she resist his charms? She was pretty vulnerable, having had an obsessive stalker and she still had a lot of fear and insecurity to overcome. She needed to learn to trust again and Koti's friendship was just the thing she needed.
○ Book 3 - Just For Now - introduces Jenna and Finn, who meet when Finn suddenly needs a nanny for his children and Jenna happens to meet one of the kids by chance. Finn thinks at first that she is a rugby groupie trying to get attention from him - but learns that she knows nothing about him and isn't interested in him that way. He hires her on the spot and quickly trust and friendship begin to form between the two. Can they resist the electrical sparks that fly between them?

Setting / foreground/background
The descriptions of the geography and the New Zealand, in general are meticulous and compelling. All the imagery of such a beautiful country, and the mannerisms and local cultural references of the locals were fascinating. The author includes a helpful glossary of New Zealand local lingo and unique cultural references to help the reader connect to the story and the characters more deeply.
She brings strong female characters to life, all with interesting backgrounds. She brings these alpha-sexy rugby men to a unique place with their vulnerability and sweetness (sometimes hard-headed stubbornness) and writes tender love stories, all with wonderful scenery and imagery.

I fell in love with the characters and the setting of the book immediately. The characters were absolutely genuinely heartwarming and lovely to read about, very realistically drawn and compelling the reader to cheer them on.Our Heroines are sweet, a bit naïve, but are strong, independent, yet vulnerable, memorable females.

Our Heroes are everything we love in a good hero: strong, manly, sexy, emotionally sensitive but not afraid to take a strong stand for their convictions. They are not the classically handsome guy, but ruggedly good-looking and charming, yet not bad on the eyes. They are leaders and well-respected by their teammates and families, as well as their kiwi sport fans all throughout NZ. I felt that the characters were strong and had complex emotions and back-stories that were interesting.

I received a free copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own

A boxed treat.

After reading Hannah and Drew's story previously in book one, getting to listen to it was even more enjoyable. I love the way Hannah took such a huge chance on love, all the while, still keeping her independance in the beginning. Drew is just an all round good guy and who doesn't love good guy.
Rosalind has again treated us to some sweet reads with plenty of steam.

Just good friends, book two, Kate and Koti are my favourite Escape to New Zealand couple, Koti is cheeky and charming with a soft underside, that Kate seems to bring out the best of. Oh and did I mention, he's a real hottie. Kate is feisty and vulnerable all rolled into one.
I love the way Rosalind shares her love of New Zealand in this book and others, with the wonderful descriptions taking you to far away places, on my next travels to NZ I will be keeping an eye out for all of the wonderful places we hear about in Rosalind's stories.
Clair Bocking did an awesome job of narrating again. Well done ladies.
As I have previously reviewed book three at an earlier stage, i will not add another to this review.

"I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.”
Cheers Michelle in Australia.

Very entertaining books

I personally liked the first two best, the three of them have good story lines, good sexy scenes and enough of them to entertain but not too much to feel like it is crossing the line into porn however, I found the last book to be a total cliche, the female character much too submissive.
I wouldn't hesitate to visit New Zealand now and I even google the haka and rugby players; couldn't help myself, I had to see how the real thing looks like so I can better imagine the characters, hahaha

Beautiful stories with a superb narration

I loved these stories but especially the narration. Claire makes perfect voices and accents for all the characters.

Can't wait to visit NewZealand now!

Having listened to a book written by Rosalind James previously that I really enjoyed, I was looking for another book by her and came across this series about the NewZealands "All Black" Rugby team set in a romance setting. I knew nothing about Rugby or NewZealand and couldn't imagine how I would like these books but the reviews were very good so I thought I'd give them a try and bought the first boxed set. It was great! I felt like I really got a good feel for the different personalities and the stories of the meetings of each of the couples with the inherent problems that would go along with being a well known, well loved sports icon. Each of them were totally individual between the different books. So much so that I just bought the next box set of books 4-6 and finished book 4 last night. There is crossover of characters from one book to another but not so much so that each book could not stand on it's on merit. That being said though, I think the series would be much more enjoyable if read in order. I might mention that I am 62 years old and enjoy a wide variety of books. So if you're considering whether it's possible to make a series like this interesting, I can attest, it is. I've done some research about NewZealand looking at pictures and can't wait to visit this beautiful country. I read about the "All Black" Rugby team and about the history of the country and found it to be fascinating. Rosalind James and her books may have done more for NewZealand tourism than any Chamber of Commerce could have. It certainly has put it at the top of my list of places I'd love to visit.

The beginning of a great series!

Where does Escape to New Zealand Boxed Set, Books 1-3 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I fell in love with the Escape to New Zealand Books quickly - and the first three are at the absolute top of my list, so having them all on audio book together is GREAT!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love Kate and Koti - and hearing them interact instead of just reading them brings them even more to life

Which character – as performed by Claire Bocking – was your favorite?

Claire does a great job at voicing the children in book 3 - it really sounds like listening to adorable little children!

Any additional comments?

received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Nice, easy listenreading

I listenread these books very pleasantly. Good scenery, learnt about the Allblacks - never heard before and it was so interesting, some sex, some family, some suspense, light, easy and pleasant. I don't regret buying and spending time over the 3 books.