More Than Memories

By: Kristen James

Narrated by: Karen Krause

Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Molly Anderson returns “home” to a town she doesn't remember, hoping it will spark a memory. She meets Trent Williams, a Ridge City police detective, and something else definitely sparks. Not only does he know her, Trent takes on her case and promises to do everything he can to solve it. He wants to know why she left town, with her parents, but without a word to anyone. She doesn't remember that life. She can only tell him she knew her parents briefly before they died…or were murdered, she's not sure. She hopes regaining her memory will help answer that question.

Trent has his own secrets, but they have a mystery to solve. As they work together, and Molly meets their old friends, she realizes her relationship with Trent went deeper than memories. In fact, she grew up in Ridge City, even though her parents had said they lived there just a few years. How could she have forgotten her lifelong friend and love? Has he really been looking for her - waiting for her - for the last four years? Can she love him again if she doesn't remember him? There's also the possibility that she did something awful - and maybe that's why she's afraid to remember her old life. Molly knows she wants Trent now, but the truth might destroy their love.

©2011 Kristen James (P)2014 Kristen James

It’s a good thing it was short

The narration was abysmal. I turned up the speed to get through it. The story line was ok and might have kept the reader’s attention if there were better narration.

Entertaining

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

If a friend was looking for a light, distracting read, I would recommend it. But only in audiobook format. I think I would get a little bored without the narration.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The only thing I dislike about the romance genre in general is the lack of believability, so I suppose I would have liked the story to be a little more believable. However, when compared to other romance novels, it was pretty typical. And you don't read romance for realism! It was a fun distraction!

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

Karen's narration was perfect in that it supported the story and didn't distract from it. I was pulled into the lives of Molly and Trent, and it was easy to forget that it was only one person reading all of the characters. There was no confusion as she switched between voices, and it was very realistic (or as realistic as a female reading a male character can be!).

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

I don't know about being moved, but I will say that I particularly liked the mystery component of the story. It made the romance less cheesy and more important.

Any additional comments?

Overall, it was an ok story. Listening to it in audiobook form allowed me to just escape into the fantasy world for a bit. It was a fun distraction!

Narrator voice

The narrator sounds like a robot. Very hard to listen to because of this. Very hard to follow since her tone is so flat.

Narrated by a robot?

I’m 15 minutes in and I want to keep listening but I don’t know if I will make it. The narrator is awful. Very robotic no emotion at all.

Had potential

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I thought the story jumped into the main part of the plot without a lot of explanation.

Would you ever listen to anything by Kristen James again?

Probably not.

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

Karen Krause did a good job of distinguishing the male and female voices in her narration.

Any additional comments?

I thought of the plot of the books sounded interesting but the execution of the writing just didn't pull me into the story.

Just ok

Story line was eh. Narration was awful. Choppy, flat and boring. will remember not to listen to any audible books narrated by Karen Krauss.

It took a lot to continue

I like the storyline very much, however the narrator was awlful. I hope you have replaced her in future publications

Narrator choice was not appropriate.

The author very generously gave me a code to download this performance for free.

I remembered why I don't usually ask for review copies within ten minutes of starting this book. Okay, within five minutes.

I will say that I think the book is probably better than the performance. But then again, I honestly don't know.

So here is the scoop. The narrator's voice is very old and robotic. The characters are young. They are portrayed as being young and attractive, but their voices don't convey that.
There are a lot of times where I **think** the character is speaking aloud, but then come to find out that it was introspection.
There are times when the words/narrative show lightheartedness and fun, but it seems the narrator chooses those times to speak slowly and robotically, lifeless.

The female protag literally says, "I am happy," but the narrator makes it sound like she is saying, "I need my third root canal of the week."

The various male characters are virtually indistinguishable. But then again, so are the female characters.

And here is the scoop on the story. It is honestly hard to separate the narration from the story. I don't know if my immediate dislike of the narration kept me from just allowing me to immerse myself in the story. I had a basic issue with the setup of the story. No spoilers here. But there are continuity issues and, again, a lot of procedural things that just did not ring true.
But I will say the villains are all evil; the good people are all gold. The heroine is oftentimes a Mary Sue; the hero, totally clueless.

The ending of the book was a bit over the top, and unbelievable.

On a positive note for the narrator, her voice for the evil other woman-wannabe really makes her seem evil.

If this had not been given to me, I probably would not have finished it.

Terribly flat narration

The story might be ok. Hard to tell with the flat narration. Wish I had listened to a preview before purchasing.

Lacks emotion and stilted narration

I really wanted to like this story because I'm a total sap for couples with a past history. Unfortunately, the writer failed to keep my emotions and heart fully engaged. As I continued to listen, hoping the author would make it worth my time, I realized that probably wasn't going to happen due to the jarring performance by the narrator. Her stilted style interrupted the flow. Conversations sounded mechanical rather than meaningful and grew worse with each passing sentence.

I'd recommend saving your credit for better entertainment.