Sunsets and Shades

By: Erica Lee

Narrated by: Jessica Renfro

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

Kinsley Scott is a lesbian romance author who doesn’t actually believe in love. While her alter ego, Laurel Lake, loves happy endings and epic love stories, Kinsley has a more cynical view of the world. 

Grace Harper is a hopeless romantic hanging on every word of the lesbian romance novels she reads. She believes her happy ending is right around the corner if she can just move on from the ex who cheated on her. When Grace's childhood best friend, Leah, suggests that she comes to Philly to get space from her ex, it seems like the perfect opportunity to start over, especially since Leah's roommate is none other than Laurel Lake - Grace's favorite romance author. 

Grace quickly learns that people aren't always how they appear online and is disappointed to find that Kinsley Scott is nothing like Laurel Lake. She's rude and vulgar and, unfortunately, irresistibly sexy. There is also much more to her than meets the eye, and as the two grow closer, her tough exterior is quickly stripped away, revealing much more than Grace ever bargained for.

©2019 Erica Lee (P)2019 Erica Lee

Afraid the narration took away from the experience

This is an example of a time when I really wish I'd read the book itself and not listened to the audiobook. Though in general Renfro did a good job with many of the voices, the one she used for Kinsley didn't fit her at all and every time she spoke, it annoyed the hell out of me. She was voiced as a cocky, smart-ass masculine-seeming jock, when she is described as beautiful and skirt wearing - turning heads everywhere she went. And because Kinsley is such a self-described "asshole" anyway, it made her all the worse for me. I couldn't stand her 90% of the time and was sad that sweet Grace fell so hard for yet another woman who didn't treat her the way she deserved to be treated. Yes - there were occasional sweet moments but mostly it was a lot of Kinsley saying how much she wanted sex and nothing more with Grace, when supposedly she was harboring feelings for her. This got much harder to swallow when Grace did a really beautiful, supportive thing for Kinsley and still - she was treated badly. Nearer the end Kinsley had an opportunity to be a grown-up and fess up to her feelings, but nope - she had to be hurtful. Again. Though at the VERY end (and in the epilogue) we finally get a HEA (which is not a spoiler - that's how romances generally end) I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have if Kinsley hadn't been so horrible throughout much of the story.
I'm giving it three stars because I believe I would have had at least something of a different opinion reading the book itself without the strange Kinsley voice (though the issues with her behavior still would have been there.) I realize that stories about people that have been deeply hurt in the past will have a lot of denial when a potential new love interest comes into their lives, but good grief - this one went overboard on the nastiness for me. I want to give Erica Lee's work another try - but will stick to a paperback or e-book next time.

You can't fight fate

Grace and Kinsley are to very strong characters with some unfinished old feeling they need to get past. I can't help but be a litle frustrated with Kinsley writing romance stories and being so against love. I know she was hurt in the past and I'm glad Grace called her out on her it. Both moms in this story are sweet and funny. I would never trust Becky again after she dumped Grace who is a sweetheart. I always enjoy Erica Lee's books. Her stories are so true to life with all the feeling that go with it. Jessica did a great job narrating this book.

Healing The Wounds

Kinsley Scott is a lesbian author with HEA endings. Grace Harper is a romantic who catches her girlfriend in bed with her friend and is heartbroken. Leah, her best friend, invites her to spend the summer in Philadelphia to put distance between her ex. The cynic and the romantic clash from the beginning. Can two women connect and begin again? Erotic romance and story. Good performance. Recommend.

Love it!

The story was so great, kind of a peak into the lives of our favorite authors but fictionalized. Absolutely fantastic narration. The story flows so flawlessly it felt more like I was watching a movie rather than listening to a book.

Heartwarming

Kinsley is a bit of a jerk. She hides behind the walls she built for herself to save her from pain, not realizing that she has created her own prison. Grace comes along and shatters those walls, but Kinsley is too afraid to leave her prison. Ultimately Grace's love leads Kinsley through many breakthroughs and it's absolutely beautiful. Fair warning though. The Narrator reads a bit slowly, but speeding up the track helps.

Jerk

Boy do I wish I could slap Kinsley around at times, if you are looking for a story with a great couple dynamic this is it. How do you recover from true heartbreak, we all have our own way. Good story and side characters and very well narrated.

Cute story

This was an OK book, the story was cute, I like the characters. Narration was OK when she narrated Kanzy but I didn’t like it when she narrated Grace.

Not a bad story...but...

Cringe worthy grammar...whether the editor or the author is at fault...the use of I and me after a preposition was so wrong so many times. That's so basic!!!

Nice one

I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I mean, it looked fun and sweet, and it’s all that, but I was also caught by surprise at how well-written it is.

Kinsley Scott doesn’t believe in love, which doesn’t stop her from being a successful romance author under the name Laurel Lake. Grace Harper is a fan, and also happens to be Kinsley’s roommate Leah’s childhood best friend. When her cheating girlfriend breaks her heart, Grace, needing a change of scenery, accepts Leah’s invitation to spend a few days (or more) at her place in Philadelphia. She soon finds out her idol isn’t all she seems to be on social media and in her writing. Kinsley and Grace are polar opposite. So of course they fall in love, without realizing it.

Learn to love again

Kinsley is a woman that doesn’t believe in love or fairytales and you soon find out it’s because she has had her heart broken in the past and has yet to overcome her heartbreak.

Then comes along grace a small town teacher that believes in happy ever afters and fairytale endings even though she has just gotten her own heartbroken.

Can love concur all obstacles for them and give them the happy ending they deserve.

The book was well written and narrated, would listen to another book by them.