When Lightning Strikes

Whiskey Creek, Book 1

By: Brenda Novak

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Gail DeMarco left Whiskey Creek, California, to make a name for herself in Los Angeles. Her PR firm has accumulated a roster of A-list clients, including the biggest box office hit of all - sexy and unpredictable Simon O’Neal. But Simon, who’s just been through a turbulent divorce, is so busy self-destructing he won’t listen to anything she says. She drops him from her list - and he retaliates by taking the rest of her clients with him.

Desperate to save her company, Gail has to humble herself by making a deal with Simon. The one thing he wants is custody of his son, but that’s going to require a whole new image. He needs to marry some squeaky-clean girl who’ll drag him off to some small, obscure place like Whiskey Creek.... Gail’s the only one he can trust. She agrees to become his wife - reluctantly. But she isn’t reluctant because he’s too hard to like. It’s because he’s too hard not to love!

©2012 Brenda Novak (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Cute.

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

I'm not sure. It would depend on the person I was recommending it to because of one reasons. The story was wonderful and enjoyable, with chemistry and an interesting, sort of different and new plot. It kept me hooked and I couldn't wait to see how it ended. However, the ending...I have a lot of problems with. It felt rushed and like a second thought. Almost like "Oops! Deadline approaching, have to end this soon!" She introduces a huge problem right at the end and "solves" it (and almost every problem in the book) neatly right on the last paragraph. Too neatly. Too quickly and hardly believable. After learning all about the characters, it just felt like they would have needed more than one single half-day to handle the issue and problem she introduced. She and the characters needed a couple more chapters. I just really had a hard time with it. I'm hoping the next book in the series is a little better.

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

I enjoyed her style of narration and enjoyed all 10.5 hours of it. Both Simon and Gail were wonderfuly done.

Another great Series! I just love the characters!

Welcome to Whiskey Creek! The characters, the town, there's much to do and see and experience here... as an audio book it was a great listen!

Great story, bland narrator.

I love the story it’s great from beginning to end. I just had an issue with the narrator she gave no feeling into any character. She never got excited with her voice. She really had only one tone

Where's the Lightning?

For me this was just an "okay" storyline. It had the feel of a book written several years ago. It was just over plain vanilla.
Really good writers draw a story that has melody and it brings you in and draws around you. There is not all this dialog sounds like the characters are 2 wantabe psychiatrist talking to one another.
Narration: I've decided narration is just so personal that I'm not sure how to be fair about narration that is fine, professional but it just doesn't give the book life.
I have nothing against this narrator...maybe it's just the book.

Cute story, narrator too "breathy" for my taste

Any additional comments?

The story was cute, though I felt the ending was rushed. The pace of the rest of the book didn't seem to flow with the last chapter or two. Not totally unusual for this genre, I suppose. The narrator was too breathy for me, it made me feel the characters were constantly exasperated or at wits' end. I found it very distracting.

just average, predictable and a little slow

Enjoyed parts of this book, liked the strong heroine and ties to her family. Just felt there was a lot of 'self analysis' on the part of both main characters, which seemed to drag after a while. I also liked Simon. There wasn't a lot of depth to this plot. Glad I got it cheap. And I have no idea where the title, or the picture on the front, came from. Seem to be describing a different book. Not sure if I will continue with this series.

Surprisingly Good

Would you consider the audio edition of When Lightning Strikes to be better than the print version?

havent seen the printed version, but the audible was really good.

What was one of the most memorable moments of When Lightning Strikes?

the unexpectness of the events.

What about Amy Rubinate’s performance did you like?

was okay she sound older (no offense) just makes it a bit hard to get into the characters that way.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Life unexpectedly!

Whiskey Creek series!!

This was a great start to the beginning of Whiskey Creek. It was fun, light with a bit of drama that kept you in your toes! I honestly can't wait for Whiskey Creek book #3! I am loving this series so far!

Waste of a credit

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Probably young girls.

What was most disappointing about Brenda Novak’s story?

The story, seemed to keep repeating the same theme. I gave up before the second download, I just couldn't stand it any longer.

Narrators can ruin books

I often wonder who decides what narrator to use and how they decide it. I know the author, in most cases, has nothing to do with the choice and that many authors groan when they hear their book in audio. I groaned the whole time I listened to this book. Another good story ruined by a valley girl narrator.