Love on a Train

By: Colleen L. Donnelly

Narrated by: Amy Deuchler

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

The moment Martha noticed Raymond on the train, everything her mother warned against erupted - romantic notions, palpitating heart, the desire to write it all in a novel and tell the world.  

Martha lived and wrote that love story until the day Raymond handed her a sketch. “Want to see a picture of the girl I plan to marry?” The penciled profile resembled Martha… But when Raymond went away, she knew. She wasn’t the girl he planned to marry.  

David was her father’s apprentice, everything Martha’s mother said made a good husband - hardworking, no romantic tendencies, no tolerance for writing about it.  

Martha added a fictional happy ending to her and Raymond’s story and published it. Cleansed herself of romantic love, ready to marry David. Until a copy of her book appeared - full of sketches - Raymond’s version of their love story - drawings that enticed her heart to beat once again.  

©2016 Colleen L. Donnelly (P)2018 Colleen L. Donnelly

A Nostalgic Tale of Love and Heartache

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

What a sweet but also so real story... It perfectly describes the life and constrains of a woman growing up in a post-war society, facing the limitations imposed by conventions and family rules. It is an eye opener for those that feel entitled today to anything their hearts and minds desire and whose success is only limited by their aspirations. It is so refreshing to listen to a tale that is a clean love story, but also the pursuit of one's dreams against all odds. There are so many 'almost' moments in the book, which let us hope that one of them will finally be the eye opener, the 'carpe diem' opportunity, but they come and go and it seems that the inevitable is just that. Martha has her moment of glory when her book, her own love story, is published and achieves an unexpected success. But that seems to be the end of her writing career and love story. A more conventional life is ahead of her as dutiful wife and daughter. There is no room for aspirations, dreams, an artistic career. Martha has to be content with memories of a special encounter on a train with the man who could have fulfilled those dreams. Now the train is empty without him and Martha needs to go on and accept her destiny. Or does she?
Beautifully written and narrated, this audiobook will transport you back to a time when not everything was simpler, but in many ways, much more complicated and restricted for an ambitious female who dared to pursue her dreams of love, passion, and ambition.

Dramatic Love Story

I got this story via audiobook boom and this is my voluntary review. I enjoyed this story within a story although at times I wanted to tell someone to grow a spine. The daughter and the father. I am glad in the end both grew one and the story ended like it should have. I have never been a fan of someone else telling the other person who they should love and then plan and try to execute their life. I am so grateful for Karen and her finding love to show the heroine what love truly is. The mother could use a good kick in the rear end also. The narrator made the story complete.

Emotional Story!

This was beautifully written and I even smiled, cried, bit my nails and wanted to smack someone! Amy made you believe every word of it with her narration. This post-WW11 story is so heartfelt, you don’t want to miss it!

Love on a Train

I enjoyed this clean story from after WWII, describing thoughts of the times. The concept of not attracting attention is nothing new, but the thought of not marrying for love is something unimaginable for the time period. I did not like how chauvinistic some of the characters were, nor how willing Martha was to settle for David when Raymond had her heart. This story did not have the steam that many books have, but was appropriate for the time. The narrator did a good performance with the emotions. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. The author did a good job with the imagery and motivation and thought process in the book. I would listen to more books by this author and narrator in the future.

Fall in love on your way to work.

I liked this book. It held my attention and had some twists and turns. It had me saying don't do it(out loud)!! It shows the importance of a good friend, companionship and being able to laugh together. This was a great book and I will be happy to read it again and again. The narrator Amy Deuchler did a job. I will be on the look out for other books she has narrated.

Love on A Train

Love on a Train
: Colleen L. Donnelly

This is sort of a historical fiction set shortly after WWII. A young woman named Martha meets Raymond as she travels to work on a train. She becomes interested in him and writes a romance book about what could be. Her mother has other ideas, matching her up withe her father's apprentice. The book takes the listener on her journey to find herself and what she wants from life. A really good book about self discovery.



The narration was well done. The characters were well portrayed. Amy Deuchler is easy to listen to.



I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Sweet Historical Romance

This story was spellbounding! I've definitely never read anything like it before!
The narration was good! Animated when need be. Very well performed, but I thought all the male voices were disappointing in sound. Especially the preacher. He even sounded a bit haughty.
But this story is just soo good! I still had to give it 5 stars.

I smiled for a long time after reading this story.

Much of the setting takes place on a train just after World War II. The author did an excellent job of making the train come to life, but then, the hero and heroine do fall in love on the train. Martha is passionate about writing. That is why when she meets Raymond on the train and falls in love with him during their daily commute, she can’t help but write about it. She calls the book Love on a Train. Raymond is passionate about drawing pictures, which he uses to win her heart.

The conflict centers on Martha’s engagement to David, who her mother dubs, “A reliable husband.” But Martha can’t forget Raymond, who went off to get married. I felt glad I wasn’t born in this time when women had such little say. I loved the tension, the twists, and turns. The suspense kept building until I almost skipped through to the end. After I finished the story, I smiled for a long time after. I highly recommend this audiobook.

not for me

My rating is based on my enjoyment—or general lack there of—and the fact that I had to force myself to finish the book. The writing is solid and I'll even concede that the book within a book mechanism was clever (though occasionally repetitive). And the narrator did a good job with the audio version. However, I didn't enjoy the book.

I understand that it was supposed to be set just after the end of the world war and women of that time period had different responsibilities and restrictions. But my god, Martha was a doormat. She didn't stand up to her mother when they pushed her into an engagement she obviously didn't want. She didn't push pack when her fiancé (and mother) expected her to give up all of herself to be a wife. She somehow fell in love and thought to marry a man she met on the train, but apparently didn't actually know that well. She just went along with everything, internally hand wringing the whole time. And despite being obviously smart, she had NO AMBITION beyond getting married.

Then there was the fact that said man was already engaged to another and just disappeared for months without a word. But as soon as he shows up everything was forgiven and it's supposed to be a happy ending. Ummmm, no.

And Donnelly should seriously be fined for making the reading of a novel take weeks, dragging the plot out interminably and then, after hundreds of pages of 'should I or shouldn't I' marry him, having the decision and event (arguably the most interesting thing to happen in the book) happen off page, such that the reader is denied it.

I imagine this is just a case of wrong reader for the book. There will no doubt be some that enjoy this. But I did not. I was almost insulted by it.

Note: I received an audible code for the purpose of review. But I chose to listen and review it.

How does a woman navigate choosing who to marry?

A universal question that Colleen Donnelly sets post--WW2. Martha vacillates between her mother's mores and her own desire to marry for love. She creates a novel plot-line during that transitional time for women and incorporates train travel, bridge building, women beginning to drive cars as well as women working full-time, albeit our heroine is in a traditional female role. Donnelly presents the oppressive intensity imposed on a young woman to maintain the status quo of a stable marriage to a dependable man. Yet we engage with Martha's creative muse to write her story into a novel and are surprised when she seems to be walking the path her mother paves for her and puts away her writing. I kept wondering when Martha would take a stand for what she wanted. Character development deepens in the last chapters of the novel with new revelations from each of the main characters. I found it odd that there's no mention of David's response at the end.
It took awhile for me to settle into the story within the story and the repetition that presented.
Amy Deuchler, especially in the later chapters, effectively distinguishes the male characters. However, I was distracted by the too staccato and monotone inflection of the narration and main character. A smoother delivery would be to phrase words into thought-groupings, rather than punching each word at the same inflection.
I recommend lovers of historical fiction to listen to Love on a Train.
I requested a free copy of this audio book and here offer my honest review.

this was abit slow for my liking.

The narrator was great. she sounded as if the story was actually about her life.