Taking the Reins

The Rosewoods, Book 1

By: Katrina Abbott

Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon

Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Brooklyn Prescott (if that's even her real name) is the new girl at The Rosewood Academy for Academic Excellence, now that she's moved back to the States after two years living in London. Rosewood, a boarding school for children of the rich and famous and known for its celebutantes, is missing just one element important to any junior's education: boys. But luckily for Brooklyn, and the rest of the Rosewood girls, there's a boys' boarding school, The Westwood Academy, just a few miles away.

On her very first day, Brooklyn meets Will, a gorgeous and flirty boy on campus to help with move in. But is he who she thinks he is? And what about Brady, the cute stable boy? Or Jared, the former child actor with his grown-up good looks who can always make her laugh? As Brooklyn settles in at Rosewood, she's faced with new friends, new challenges and new opportunities to make herself into the girl she always wanted to be. Whoever that might be.

Taking the Reins is the first installment of The Rosewoods, an exciting new young adult series for listeners who love fun, flirty love stories.

©2014 Katrina Abbott (P)2017 Katrina Abbott

Great New Fun Teen/YA Series

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was interesting and the characters likable. This is a Teen/YA Series which is one of my favorite genres. I'm young at heart!!!

The narrator did a great job bringing the story to life. Her intonation was great and it was easy to differentiate between characters.

I'm looking forward to Katrina's next book in this series. This was a great start to a new series.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

fabulous listen

I was gifted this audio ARC for a honest and unbiased review from the author/narrator.
Katrina Abbott did an outstanding job writing this YA book. It seems to be one of my favorite genre's.
Ann Marie Gideon did a great job bringing the story to life. Her narrative voice was great and it was easy to differentiate between each character.
Highly recommend this Audio Book.

FUN!!!

I enjoyed this book very much. I like really like Brooklyn Prescott and her story this far. I like the romance, chaos and joy of being young. I can't wait to listen to another in the series.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Taking the Reins

Would you try another book from Katrina Abbott and/or Ann Marie Gideon?

Yes

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was alright.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Ann Marie Gideon?

Sure, the narration on this book was ok

Could you see Taking the Reins being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No, I don't see this ever becoming a movie

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the
author, narrator, or publisher.

Welcome to Rosewood!

With a name like Brooklyn Prescott, you'd expect the new student at The Rosewood Academy for Academic Excellence to be selfish, spoiled, and pretentious. Luckily for us, she's just the opposite, she's warm, down to earth, and eager to be accepted. Brooklyn is used to being the new girl at school as her family moves often for her father's job, but she's never been able to make close friends. When she arrives at her new all-girl academy, she vows to try to be more outgoing and fun. She gets the chance right away as she meets Will, a gorgeous guy from the nearby Westwood all-boys school. She also meets two other boys she's immediately attracted to, Brady in the school stables, and Jared at the school dance.

There's not too much drama in this first book in the Rosewoods series, it's more about introducing us to the characters and their everyday life. I like the girls and their friendships feel real, it's nice to read a YA novel with no mean girl. Their conversations and the situations they get themselves into had me smiling through most of the book.

Brooklyn is plain old boy crazy, she goes into mental raptures over every male in her vicinity. I get the impression that she'll fall for a hitching post if you spray a bit of cologne on it. It doesn't help that every single boy in the book is incredibly hot and smells like a mix of leather, wood, and pure sex. Not a pair of sticky out ears, acne spots, or bad breath among them.

The narrator was a good choice, she put just the tiniest touch of a British accent in Brooklyn's voice, and her pace was perfect. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

A great start to a fun YA series

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

Yes, I would recommend this to friends ranging from junior high/high school to friends in their 20's. It's a fun, well written YA novel that reminded me a bit of Gossip Girl without the sex, drugs and ridiculous scandals. Everyone is kind and likable and it's a great start to the series. It's like a little bit more mature and current Sweet Valley High.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I enjoyed the main character, Brooklyn the most, as she is the main character and you get to know her the best through her character development.

What does Ann Marie Gideon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ann Marie Gideon did a very good job narrating, in my opinion. She brought the characters to life with their various voices and reading the book just wouldn't have had the same affect.

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

This is book one in a series. It introduced a lot of the main characters and set things up for future novels, and because of this, it never really grabbed me and made me want to binge listen, but I was perfectly happy to listen to it when driving or doing the dishes, etc. So while I didn't want to listen to it all in one sitting, I would imagine that the next books in the series will move much faster.

Any additional comments?

I would absolutely recommend this novel to my age appropriate friends. It was a fun story and I enjoy the whole setting and group of students.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Rosewoods Stick Together

I really enjoyed this quick, easy to listen book. The main character, Brooklyn Prescott, moves from London to be a student at Rosewood Academy, where her roommate, Emmie is fabulously wealthy, but doesn't let it go to her head. Emmie's personality and giving nature, makes you love her immediately. There is a little bit of humor with the "underwear raid" and other items such as teenage crushes, that just make you want to go back in time and be 17 again. Speaking of crushes, I am all for Brady, being the right man for her-but we shall see. Looking forward to book 2!


I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Rosewood Sisterhood

This was a great start to a new series! Brooklyn is a new student at The Rosewood Academy for the rich and famous trying to reinvent herself and is ultimately bummed that it’s an all girls school. When she finds out that The Westwood Academy, an all boys school, is a few miles down the road her hope returns and her adventure begins. I really enjoyed that the first few chapters were spent on character description so we got to know Brooklyn, her new classmates and boys from the other school, and how she was feeling at Rosewood Academy. I loved the friendship throughout the story and the adventures that they went on along with their everyday lives as teenagers. This book was filled with romance, angst, likable characters, twists and turns, and many laughable moments. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Brooklyn and her friends!
Ann did a wonderful job with this narration! She really brought Brooklyn and the rest of the characters to life with her performance. I loved the different voices that she gave each character and the transition between them was flawless.
*I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

A great start to an elite boarding school series

We find ourselves looking at a new school for the main character. Brooklyn, an American returning from some time in England, starts a new boarding school experience.
The teenage, boy mad girls, attending this all girl education institution, has their male fixes, with hunky Teachers, other facility, and other boy students at the close by all male school.
A "clean" read, although childish pranks and crushes are the main subjects, as is common in this age group.

This entertaining story kept me going ohh and ahh!

For some odd reason, when I read the synopsis of this book I thought of Gossip Girl and immediately requested a copy so that I could review it. well, the storyline certainly does not disappoint and the characters are larger than life. What made me enjoy this book even more was the narrator, Ann Marie Gideon. Her voice is soothing and I loved how she brought the characters to life for me via her voice changes. This entertaining story kept me going ohh and ahh throughout the entire listen. I look forward to more stories from Katrina Abbott and to more audio listening featuring Ms. Gideon. -YA/NA Book Divas

{I requested a copy for reviewing purposes and made no guarantee of a favorable review. The opinions contained herein are unbiased and my own,}