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Nell Hawthorne is in love with her life-long best friend, Kyle Calloway. Their young love is invincible and life is full of promise; then one night Kyle dies suddenly in a tragic accident and Nell is forever changed. She meets Kyle's older brother, Colton, for the first time at the funeral. They both struggle to move on with life as best they can. Years later, they meet again in New York City, and Colton realizes that Nell has never really gotten over Kyle's death. She seems to be harboring a deeply rooted pain, a heavy weight of guilt, and regret. He knows he shouldn't get involved, but he can't help himself.
McKenna Mason, a New York City attorney with a love of all things Prada, is on the run from a group of powerful, dangerous men. McKenna turns to a teenage crush, Will Ashton, for help in starting a new life in beautiful horse country. She finds that Will is now a handsome, successful race horse farm owner. As the old flame is ignited, complications are aplenty in the form of a nasty ex-wife, an ex-boyfriend intent on killing her, and a feisty race horse who refuses to race without a kiss. Can Will and McKenna cross the finish line together, and more importantly, alive?
After making a bad decision when she was very young, Kia Clementine finds herself in hell. Then, suddenly, within the time it takes for a shotgun to blast, her hell changes. Completely. Then, out of the blue, she sees Sampson Cooper, her celebrity crush. A man the whole world knows is decent. A man the world knows is loyal. A man the world knows is good. All of these very unlike her now dead husband. He's sitting at a table right next to hers.
In the aftermath of her financier husband's suicide, Emma Shay Compton's dream life is shattered. Richard Compton stole his clients' life savings to fund a lavish life in New York City, and, although she was never involved in the business, Emma bears the burden of her husband's crimes. She is left with nothing. Only one friend stands by her, a friend she's known since high school, who encourages her to come home to Sonoma County. But starting over isn't easy, and Sonoma is full of unhappy memories, too.
Grayson Coleman has just moved home to Butler, Vermont after spending years working for a high-powered law firm in Boston. He's looking for a simpler, less stressful existence in the sleepy little mountain town where he grew up with his siblings and Abbott cousins. Once the holidays are over, he plans to hang out a shingle and open a new general law practice. After helping to raise his seven younger siblings, the last thing on Grayson's mind is a family of his own.
When Christine Blacksworth's larger-than-life father is killed on an icy road in Magdalena, New York, 100 miles from the 'getaway' cabin he visited every month, she discovers a secret that threatens everything she's always held to be true. Her father has another family which includes a mistress and a daughter. Determined to uncover the truth behind her father's secret life, Christine heads to Magdalena, prepared to hate the people who have caused her to question everything she thought she knew about her father.
Nell Hawthorne is in love with her life-long best friend, Kyle Calloway. Their young love is invincible and life is full of promise; then one night Kyle dies suddenly in a tragic accident and Nell is forever changed. She meets Kyle's older brother, Colton, for the first time at the funeral. They both struggle to move on with life as best they can. Years later, they meet again in New York City, and Colton realizes that Nell has never really gotten over Kyle's death. She seems to be harboring a deeply rooted pain, a heavy weight of guilt, and regret. He knows he shouldn't get involved, but he can't help himself.
McKenna Mason, a New York City attorney with a love of all things Prada, is on the run from a group of powerful, dangerous men. McKenna turns to a teenage crush, Will Ashton, for help in starting a new life in beautiful horse country. She finds that Will is now a handsome, successful race horse farm owner. As the old flame is ignited, complications are aplenty in the form of a nasty ex-wife, an ex-boyfriend intent on killing her, and a feisty race horse who refuses to race without a kiss. Can Will and McKenna cross the finish line together, and more importantly, alive?
After making a bad decision when she was very young, Kia Clementine finds herself in hell. Then, suddenly, within the time it takes for a shotgun to blast, her hell changes. Completely. Then, out of the blue, she sees Sampson Cooper, her celebrity crush. A man the whole world knows is decent. A man the world knows is loyal. A man the world knows is good. All of these very unlike her now dead husband. He's sitting at a table right next to hers.
In the aftermath of her financier husband's suicide, Emma Shay Compton's dream life is shattered. Richard Compton stole his clients' life savings to fund a lavish life in New York City, and, although she was never involved in the business, Emma bears the burden of her husband's crimes. She is left with nothing. Only one friend stands by her, a friend she's known since high school, who encourages her to come home to Sonoma County. But starting over isn't easy, and Sonoma is full of unhappy memories, too.
Grayson Coleman has just moved home to Butler, Vermont after spending years working for a high-powered law firm in Boston. He's looking for a simpler, less stressful existence in the sleepy little mountain town where he grew up with his siblings and Abbott cousins. Once the holidays are over, he plans to hang out a shingle and open a new general law practice. After helping to raise his seven younger siblings, the last thing on Grayson's mind is a family of his own.
When Christine Blacksworth's larger-than-life father is killed on an icy road in Magdalena, New York, 100 miles from the 'getaway' cabin he visited every month, she discovers a secret that threatens everything she's always held to be true. Her father has another family which includes a mistress and a daughter. Determined to uncover the truth behind her father's secret life, Christine heads to Magdalena, prepared to hate the people who have caused her to question everything she thought she knew about her father.
Lacey Terwilliger's shock and humiliation over her husband's philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike's company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of "administrative support" his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike's family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before one can say "instant urban legend", Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town and a media punch line....
Come hell or high water, Emmy Jo Massey will have a wedding. After three generations of Massey women with children out of wedlock, she wants the whole town of Hickory, Texas, to witness the legitimacy of her union with Logan Grady. But dream weddings aren't cheap. So she accepts a highly lucrative stint as a home health assistant to retired realtor, and town recluse, Seth Thomas - a decision her great-grandmother Tandy is dead-set against.
Evie and Leo met in foster care as children and formed a bond of friendship. As they grew, their bond turned to love, and they vowed to make a life together when they turned 18 and were no longer a part of the system.
When Andie tries to gain closure with her ex-husband, he asks one final favor of her. A distant cousin has died and left North the guardian of two orphans. When Andie meets the two children, she realizes the situation is much worse than she feared. Carter and Alice aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. Complicating matters is Andie’s fiancé’s suspicion that this is all a plan by North to get Andie back.
Chris "Shooter" Sullivan has returned to his hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota, to pick up the pieces of his life shattered by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He wants only to focus on holding what's left of his old unit together, running his garage where he builds custom bikes and cars, and pretending that his murdered father's motorcycle gang doesn't exist.
Between the urban bustle of Denver and the high-stress environment of a career in neurosurgery, Maggie Sullivan has hit a wall. When an emergency high-risk procedure results in the death of a teenager, Maggie finds herself in the middle of a lawsuit - and experiencing levels of anxiety she's never faced before. She knows she needs to slow down before she burns out completely, and the best place she can think to do that is Sullivan's Crossing.
Shelby Nichols is an average woman who is married to the only guy she ever fell for. Her life is organized and predictable, revolving around her husband and two children. All that changes the day she stops at the grocery store for some carrots. As the cashier rings up her purchases, a gunman is busy robbing the bank inside the store. When a customer grabs the robber's mask, he is shot and everyone runs for cover. Everyone except Shelby, who finds herself face to face with the killer.
Little else in life is as dangerous as fire jumping. Flying past towering pillars of smoke, parachuting down to the edge of an all-consuming blaze, shoveling and sawing for hours upon hours, days at a time, all to hold the line and push back against the raw power of Mother Nature. But there’s also little else as thrilling - at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are one of the most exclusive firefighting squads in the nation, and the job is in Rowan’s blood: her father is a legend in the field. She’s been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday.
Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a US congressman and captain of his university's hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family's public image. Forced to abandon her music career after the heartbreaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time, and volunteering in a homeless shelter.
Dawn Conners's parents are famous for finding historic treasures, but she has a knack for losing things - her job, her boyfriend, and now, her reputation. Thanks to a mud-slinging exposé, Dawn's late great-grandfather is assumed guilty of stealing silver from a century-old shipwreck. Hoping to clear his name, Dawn returns to Starlight Cove, her idyllic hometown on Lake Michigan, where the doomed vessel sleeps beneath the beam of a ramshackle lighthouse.
Luke Richardson has returned home after burying Natalie, his beloved wife of sixteen years, ready to face the hard job of raising their three children alone. But there's something he's not prepared for - a blue envelope with his name scrawled across the front in Natalie's handwriting, waiting for him on the floor of their suburban Michigan home.
Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive. The events that followed changed her life forever. Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance programmer, she works at home designing sophisticated security systems.
A deeply emotional tale about Sophie Duncan, a successful columnist whose world falls apart after her daughter's unexpected illness and her husband's shocking affair. When it seems nothing else could possibly go wrong, her car skids off an icy road and plunges into a frozen lake. There, in the cold, dark depths of the water a profound and extraordinary experience unlocks the surprising secrets from Sophie's past, and teaches her what it means to truly live...and love.
Full of surprising twists and turns and a near-death experience that will leave you breathless, this story is not to be missed.
Where does The Color of Heaven rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
One of the best. Not my normal cup of tea and I did get a little frustrated at first with the storytelling monologue type of reading. But the story did pull me in and I couldn't put it down. Even though I couldn't stop crying and wanted to stop listening I had to know how it ended.
What did you like best about this story?
The ending. It did have a happy ending.
What about Jennifer O'Donnell’s performance did you like?
She did a great job. The book was mainly from the writers point of view so other voices were limited. But when there were dialogs with other characters she did good with the voices.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I cried through about 70% of this one. It absolutely broke my heart. Just the tragedy that everyone in the story goes through makes you wonder how that much could happen to so many intertwined lives.
Any additional comments?
This book was so sad. I felt so sorry for the main character. The amount of hardship she had to face and then when it switched over to her mothers story and the tragedy she went though as well.....
14 of 14 people found this review helpful
Would you listen to The Color of Heaven again? Why?
Yes, I was so surprised by this novel. Loved the story, loved the main character. I was worried it would be too sad, but it was quite lovely.
What other book might you compare The Color of Heaven to and why?
?? Maybe the Knitting Circle.
What about Jennifer O'Donnell’s performance did you like?
She seemed to tell the story as though it happened to her.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I almost did....all in one day....Saturday Chores.
Any additional comments?
I was out of audible credits and found this on sale. So pleased.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. It was a good heartwarming story that makes you feel all kinds of emotions.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Color of Heaven?
When Matt comes back.
Would you be willing to try another one of Jennifer O'Donnell’s performances?
Her voice was hard from me to get used to. It almost seemed over performed and I also had to turn it up extra loud for some parts because she spoke too softly. It would all depend on how badly I wanted to hear the book.
Any additional comments?
Just a sweet, sad, happy and well rounded story.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I don't regret reading this book, but it was a bit sappy. I am glad that iTunes allows you to skip to the next chapter. I did that a lot during the Cora/Peter/Matt stories. It was an easy listen, the story was interesting, but it didn't keep me engaged all the time. It's one of those books that I don't regret reading, but others are better.
The narrator was not very good, however. There were times when she spoke in such a soft voice, I had to turn up the volume. (Wouldn't you think that those producing the recording would fix this?) This is probably a better read in print format.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I don't know where to start to explain why this is so bad. Maybe a list...
1. OMG, the narration! Ms. O'Donnell made me shout at my IPod. Seriously! She breaks into whispering at key scenes. It's maddening. I listen when I'm doing other things - driving, cooking, gardening, etc. - and her voice would get softer and softer and softer until the words would begin to run together like a low frequency vibration, rather than actual speech. So I'd stop what I was doing, wipe my hands if working, turn up the volume and go back to work. Then someone "else" would speak in a normal tone and I'm frantically reaching for the volume to back it down to avoid permanent hearing loss. It was maddening. (I've since apologized to my IPod.)
I suppose that might have been OK if she'd at least had a nice variety of voices. She didn't. Sara sounded like Cora who sounded like Jen who sounded like Sara. Michael sounded like Matt who sounded like Peter who sounded like ... well you get the idea. She could begin with slight differences, but the voices all quickly returned to her "baseline" man and her "baseline" woman.
2. The story started strong and the scenes during Megan's illness (when I could hear the whispering!) were very moving. Sara's year following Megan's death seemed correctly imagined. But when the whole frozen lake thing began, I felt thoroughly manipulated. This plot device was simply cheap. Instead of working through the challenges and mysteries her main character faced in the real world, the author did the "Poof! Magic will fix it!" miracle solution.
3. Even if you accept the "miracle" part, her story line was full of the unbelievable and I started to get a hint of what was coming when Sara's perfect, amazing, 10-year fairy-tale, he's-my-best-friend, flawless marriage to perfect Michael went completely to hell and it was ALL HIS FAULT!
4. The Cora/Peter/Matt subplot was much too long and much too contrived to be believable ... in a novel that had enough "unbelievable" to qualify as science fiction.
There's more, but this awful novel doesn't deserve any more of my time - and NONE of yours.
19 of 22 people found this review helpful
What did you like best about this story?
The unveiling of the events was strategic and clever. At the end all of the pieces fell into place and left me feeling warm and optimistic.
What about Jennifer O'Donnell’s performance did you like?
At first the pace seems to be too slow. As the story continues you realize that if the reading was faster if would change the tone and mood of the novel.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Would you try another book from Julianne MacLean and/or Jennifer O'Donnell?
don't think so
Would you ever listen to anything by Julianne MacLean again?
probably not
How could the performance have been better?
Ms. O'Donnell's voice hit a raw nerve with me. Her cadence made what "might have been" a book worth listening to a "NOT" -- ouch!
6 of 7 people found this review helpful
What made the experience of listening to The Color of Heaven the most enjoyable?
Jennifer O'Donnell's narration with her subtle inflections and emotive exposition. The dialog was nuanced and she knew how to get out of the way of the story.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Color of Heaven?
The plunge into the frozen lake scene. I found myself holding my breath I was so immersed in the story and what the protagonist was going through.
What about Jennifer O'Donnell’s performance did you like?
Her characters are well voiced and she really captured the emotional tone. I found myself near tears several times.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes!
Any additional comments?
More please!
8 of 10 people found this review helpful
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The narrator spoke in a breathy whisper that was difficult to listen to. In addition, when she read male characters, she spoke in a normal tone of voice, thus causing the volume to shoot up. Since I listen to books in my car over bluetooth, I leaned forward straining to hear things then had to rear back in my seat to keep from being deafened.
Who was your favorite character and why?
My favorite character was Matt. I felt that he was authentic.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
See above. She was difficult to comprehend most of the time.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
No. The story is interesting, but I can't really see it as a movie.
11 of 15 people found this review helpful
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Perhaps a light beach read for those who aren't looking for sophisticated writing or compelling storyline.
What was most disappointing about Julianne MacLean’s story?
The characters were not terribly compelling and the story narrators (the characters, not the audiobook narrators) seemed forced to try to round out the story with extraneous observations that did nothing to further the storyline or build the characters.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
The narrator's depiction of male speakers was so forced as to be distracting and didn't help the character development.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this book it kept me hooked till the last minute. Going to look at this authors other work