Rocket Man

Roll of the Dice, Book 1

By: Melanie Greene

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Serena Colby wants one thing. Dillon Hamilton wants everything.

Steady, focused graphic artist Serena has her life perfectly planned out. After a childhood being moved from one place to another, she craves the permanence of a home that's hers and hers alone. And everything is lining up just right. That is, until disruptive copywriter Dillon comes blasting into her workplace and spins her personal life out of control.

Serena tries to draw boundaries, but the gorgeous Dillon has a much sexier script for their lives in mind. He's pulled towards Serena's orbit, quickly ranking her sexiest skirts and memorizing the scent of her locally sourced organic shampoo. Serena struggles to remain unmoved by Dillon's kinetic charm, even as she relishes their chats about their mutual passion, the Houston Rockets.

Though order-loving Serena shies away from Dillon's messy complications, she can't escape her fantasies. When Dillon's determined pursuit leaves Serena breathless, it might just be 'all systems are go' for Rocket Man.

©2014 Melanie Greene (P)2015 Melanie Greene

Great story not so great narrator

Any additional comments?

The story "Rocket Man" was a very good story. I was not crazy for the Narrator though. She sounded like she was trying too hard to read the book sexy. The story had great interaction between the characters and the sex scenes were not too over the top. Note: I received this book through Librarything in exchange for an honest review.

Awesome debut novel!

What did you love best about Rocket Man?

The dialogue written by Melanie Greene was outstanding! It really was as if you were eavesdropping. The story was great. There was just the right amount of details given to give you a clear picture in your mind, but not enough to bog you down.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dillon was probably my favorite character. He was so honest right from the start and fought so hard to make it work with Serena on her terms. He finally just laid it all out on the table for her and made her see that she had to give to the relationship, too.

Which character – as performed by Amy Rubinate – was your favorite?

Serena was great as performed by Amy Rubinate. Amy Rubinate was perfect at giving Serena's voice an edge to portray her intelligence, show sarcasm in her comments, showcase her sense of humor, but also show her vulnerability and uncertainty at times.

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

This was actually a really long book. Having said that, I wasn't anxious about the length or getting to the end, because the story line and the performance was just so good.

Any additional comments?

I think I enjoyed this book as much as any I've read for quite some time. The story and the performance were both very well done. Going to look for more from both Melanie Greene and Amy Rubinate!

A Long Listen that Feels Like a Long Listen

I am a sucker for romance in just about any form, though I prefer contemporary romance that is not New Adult -- I'm no longer a New Adult myself and prefer smarter, more experienced, thoughtful women with more common sense than often found in NA. Ms Greene provides those qualities in her MCs in this book! I would categorize this as romantic comedy. While the banter isn't necessarily laugh-out-loud funny, the overall tone remains light throughout the story, even in the serious heart-to-heart moments.

I received this book in audio form from the author in exchange for a review. As I listened rather than read, I cannot comment on the book's state of edit, but can only assume the grammar, punctuation, etc is in a "finished" state based on what the narrator read.

Please refer to the book blurb or other reviewers' synopses if you wish to learn about the story summary. This review is spoiler-free and focuses on the audio book format.

The audio book is 12 1/2 hours in length and is narrated by Amy Rubinate. It took me at least 2-3 hours to "get used" to the narrator performance as her characters' voices have only slight differences, one character's voice being barely distinguishable from another, especially within a gender -- the male voices sound identical and the female voices sound identical. Initially, I even had a difficult time distinguishing the male main character's voice from the female main character's voice. I think my challenges in hearing the subtle voice differences is why this good story felt like a long listen. There are instances peppered throughout the book in which our female MC "thought" and then "spoke" without the narrator using her voice to distinguish -- this is something a reader can see by way of quotation marks and possible italicized thought words, but the listener cannot and, thus, must rely on the narrator's voice whether it is by way of change in pitch, or simply giving a MC an "internal" voice that sounds different than their "spoken" voice.

By the second half of the story, either I figured out the understated differences or I just went with the flow of the book to let the words sort themselves out. This isn't a reason to pass on book, author or narrator -- just know that this narrator doesn't "perform", per se, but "reads". Her voice is fine, her pace is good, the production of the audio book is good, too. There are no extraneous noises or tinny, empty-room sound to the recording.

This is the first book of a four-series. The series will continue with at least three more stories bringing into the spotlight the three college friends of Serena. As of this review, this book is followed by a novella, bringing a secondary character, a work colleague, from this first book into the forefront. As of today, this novella is available in Kindle form for no charge. Yes, I have snatched a copy and look forward to reading Janice and Miquel's story.

Utterly charming contemporary romance!

This book was great fun-- two leads, both well-developed, with obvious chemistry and realistic emotional obstacles keeping them apart. I can't wait to read more Melanie Greene!