The View from Alameda Island

By: Robyn Carr

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

A poignant and powerful story about how one woman’s best intentions lead to the worst of situations and how love helps her to heal and ultimately triumph. 

From the outside looking in, Lauren Delaney has a life to envy - a successful career, a solid marriage to a prominent surgeon, and two beautiful daughters who are off to good colleges. But on her 24th wedding anniversary, Lauren makes a decision that will change everything. 

Lauren won’t pretend things are perfect anymore. She defies the controlling husband who has privately mistreated her throughout their marriage and files for divorce. And as she starts her new life, she meets a kindred spirit - a man who is also struggling with the decision to end his unhappy marriage. 

But Lauren’s husband wants his “perfect” life back, and his actions are shocking. Facing an uncertain future, Lauren discovers an inner strength she didn’t know she had as she fights for the love and happiness she deserves.

©2019 Robyn Carr (P)2019 Recorded Books

Happy Anniversary....lol

I have been through divorce so I could totally relate to this story. It was refreshing to hear a story about adults, divorcees, children, second chances, non virgins - REAL LIFE STUFF. I loved Therese and all of the voices she was able to do. Great book!

Robyn Carr is phoning it in

I fell in love with Carr's work and the romance genre when I read "Virgin River" eons ago. I have read/listened to almost every novel Carr has written, and while I didn't LOVE them all, I enjoyed them all at least to a 4 star level. Not this one.

It's trite, predictable and boring. It's as if she had some sort of RomanceNovel 2000 device. She plugged a few archetypes into a plot generator and set the pacing to "S" for sloooow and went off to do something else. When she came back, "The View from Alameda Island" was ready to download.

Everyone is rich.
Everyone is beautiful.
There are extremely nice rich, beautiful characters and there are extremely awful rich, beautiful characters.
There is our heroine, the cloyingly perfect bullied wife. perfect mother and perfect victim, Lauren.
There is the perfectly successful, evil surgeon husband.
And there is the cloyingly perfect "just-a-friend" neighbor, Beau, whom our heroine finds she can depend upon for everything her perfectly horrible husband is NOT.
Oh, and Beau has a perfectly horrible witch of a wife who periodically abandons him and his two perfect stepsons with whom he has a perfect relationship because... well... he's perfect!
They are both getting divorced and Lauren even has a perfect lawyer!
And there are her perfect daughters, the perfectly good one who sides with her and the perfectly selfish one who sides with dear old dad (but Lauren is a perfect mother so eventually even bad-daugher's perfection shows through.)

And if that hasn't strained your credulity enough, wait until you meet Father Tim, the perfect priest who makes a perfect exit from the priesthood because... well... being a priest isn't perfect enough for him!

And when stuff happens, you find yourself responding either with, "I saw THAT coming" or, "Oh, puhleeze!!" You may develop an eye-roll headache. You have been warned.

Robyn Carr has written some wonderful romances, but this is one I'm giving back to Audible. It's not worth the credit.

Formulaic

The challenge with Robyn Carr's books is that they are all read by the same narrator. Don't get me wrong: Therese Plummer is a good narrator, but her range of voices is very narrow which unfortunately highlights the reality that most of Robyn Carr's books are basically the same story, with names, locations and situations changed.

This story was not bad. Nor was it good. Some of it was so patently contrived and as to be laughable, with characters I wanted to like, but which ended up so stereotyped that all credibility was lost.

Ms. Carr can write a good story -- Four Friends is a good example -- but she tends to take the easy road and follow a formula which is very evident in this book. Hopefully she will soon reach a point where she no longer needs to churn out repetitive crap and can concentrate one really good book each year ... and choose a different narrator for each to help differentiate the stories.

Boring

I wanted to like this book. It had such good reviews. I am 3 hours in and I can't listen a minute more. This is one of the most boring books I have ever read! I wish I could stick with it to see if "maybe" it gets better but I just can't do it. This book was just not for me.

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

I love Robyn Carr and all of her books. This wasn't my favorite because things felt a little far fetched in the drama department. I love that the characters are mature and I always like seeing characters that are having a rough time persevere and come out better in the end which this couple does. In the end it was enjoyable and had a very happy ending.

The narration as always is Therese Plummer who I adore so of course she was amazing.

Realistic-sometimes warm, sometimes thrilling!

Robyn Carr at her best here. Her main character Lauren realizes she has made a kind of "pact with a devil" when she had married successful, but abusive husband surgeon Jack. As always, I loved reading about the personal courage, fortitude and of friendships/family
along the way that enriches and supports Lauren as she gets herself out.
Also loved a parallel story with the man she meets, and gains support from, who is also
living through similar, (and sometimes dangerous) challenges. Loved the adult chidren's character's here as well, and the wonderful, honest dialog all around. Very satisfying, and well earned ending!
As a Bay Area native, am delighted about mentions of the pleasures of going on the Alameda ferry, and other great local references. Actually thought the narrator did an excellent job. But please, editors-let her know that Alameda starts with a
Short a sound as in alligator? The current version will drive everyone who crazy who hears it mispronounced,( who listens to the audio version).
Otherwise a really great read!

So winey

I felt bad for the main characters. They had so much unbelievable drama going on. it was a very winey story.

This is a don’t miss selection

Fully developed characters in an interesting story. Leaves room fo a sequel. One of Robyn Carr’s best.

Terrible!

I love Robyn Carr's books, generally... This was TERRIBLE! I will be returning it. Her Virgin River and Thunder Ridge series were incredible and I couldn't put them down, so I sought out everything else she wrote and couldn't wait to start a new book. I have hardly enjoyed any of her standalone books and felt like Blue Skies was a flight manual, but this one was like an abusive husband and wife manual. I actually took a break and read something else and then came back to suffer through to finish and see if it had a happy ending or not. Waste of time.
Don't bother to waste your time or money!! If I could rate it zero stars I would. Please Robyn, write something like Virgin River again!!!
Therese Plummer did a great narration as always, so at least that was a saving grace.

So predictable

Basically a romance novel, characters are two dimensional, they are either perfect or evil.
Knew exactly where this story was going.

It’s how life can be

The book is like a slow cooked homemade stew that tastes really good at the end. Having been through much myself, I could relate and enjoy a story like this now better than some years ago.

Lovely book

Just perfect
Really poignant and heartfelt
Really recommend. Could not stop listening .
Please do listen

Audible free book

Glad I didn’t pay for this book really predictable and slushy story line. Not for me

Just ok.

If it wasn’t for the narrator I probably would’ve given up. If you’re going through a divorce I suggest you skip this book.

Very good story.

I really enjoyed this story, a very good author. The characters and narrator were very good.

Not bad

It's not my usual genre. It was a bit I don't know... Innocent...nice...
But that said it addressed an important issue well.
We could all use a Beau in our lives but hate the name!

Another great story

Thoroughly enjoyed this story, having just finished the Sullivans Crossing series, this narrator is great and brings the story to life.

Very enjoyable

Loved the story and narrator. My first book from this author and I will now listen to another book I’ve already downloaded. Hopefully the new book’s story line is as interesting!

all a bit too pat

Lauren is just simply so, so, so and let's put in another so, lovely, You've never met anyone who is as lovely as Lauren, and you never will, except on the pages of a novel like this. She's sweet and mild and neglected. Oh let's not forget how beautiful she is too. Of course she is beautiful, because this is a book full of simple characters, not challenged by any depth. Beau, her romantic interest, is - surprise surprise - tall, good looking, really kind, etc etc et boring cetera.
Not sure if I can continue past the first couple of chapters. Not much credit is given to the reader as most of the situations are cringingly self-explanatory, but then generously explained. Yawn.
The narrator does her best, but puts a little too much enthusiasm on the important words. So we know if we should be REALLY surprised or not.
Next, please.

Great

Loved this book. I am a fan of Robyn Carr. Now to find another one as good