Times Like These

De: Ana McKenzie

Narrado por: Isabelle Gordon

Merren Hardy is delighted when her thirst for new experiences turns into a holiday job for an attractive older woman. She's more than happy to be muse, model, assistant, and lover - especially lover - for brilliant and successful Bianca Graves. After all, Merren's smart with a big-picture view of the world and a practical streak wide enough to deal with Bianca's difficulties. She's a problem-solver. Except there's one problem Merren's never had to solve before - what happens when you fall in love with a woman who can't see you properly?

Bianca's an artist losing her sight, desperate to find a way to continue painting and keep her career and sense of identity. She needs more than a muse, more than a young woman to model for her. She needs someone to reach out and touch her when everything's going dark - and help her find the way back to her life. Which surely means Merren's too young, too different, worlds apart in experience. Bianca knows a summer fling at such a difficult time is one thing - but it can't go any further.

As it turns out, however - there's more than one way to be blind.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Ana McKenzie (P)2020 Tantor

Times Like These

Beautiful love story, could not put it down. Ana McKenzie with Isabelle Gordon will be my next purchase!

A suprising, beautiful listening experience!

I give all the credit for finding this book to a 2-for-1 Audible sale. Beyond reading the blurb I knew nothing about it and hadn't really known what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a unique, beautifully written and performed work.

Merren Hardy is a graduate student wanting to open herself up to new experiences. So she signs herself up to be a nude model for art classes to not only push the boundaries of her comfort zone, but to truly know what doing something like that would feel like. After doing it once, she is approached to fill in for a professional artist's usual model who is recovering from a broken leg. When Merren is greeted at the door by Bianca Graves, Merren is immediately entranced by her. She's initially a bit nervous, wondering how different it might feel to be a model for just one artist - especially one as stunningly beautiful as Bianca. But just like Merren, there is more to Bianca than meets the eye. She is suffering from progressive blindness and is desperate to find a way to continue to paint, which is not only her livelihood, but who she is. So she will need much more from Merren than modeling - but also help in figuring out how to re-learn to practice her craft and feel like she can truly live again.

The narration by Isabelle Gordon, a new narrator to me, was solid. As an American I can't vouch for the accents, but she certainly captured the torment and desperation of Bianca and the loving kindness of Merren.

After I finished the book I read that Ana McKenzie also writes as Lilly Hammond. Her book All I See is You is gorgeous. While these are the only two works I've experienced of hers so far, both have the thread of women facing - and overcoming - incredible challenges. I love a meatier romance and will certainly look out for more by this writer. Really impressive!

Superb

Wonderful, engaging story. Excellent characters and narration. A thrilling read with wonderful rhythms that draws you in and embraces your heart.

Sweet and Sexy

I really enjoyed this listen. I wasn't sure what exactly made this a "modern" lesbian romance because this is only the second lesbian novel I've listened to (the first being Patience & Sarah) and I'm still not entirely sure though I've listened, but I know it was worth the listen.

Merren is a university student who's into trying new things just for the experience. So when she meets Bianca, a renowned local artist with baggage, she's definitely interested in this experience. Bianca's baggage, however, is heavy: she's losing her sight and sense of who she is, while also still grieving somewhat for her wife who died in an accident. She believes Merren is just a summer thing, though with each day she realizes how much she relies on her. The chemistry between the two was definitely exciting and it was warming to see how Merren supports Bianca and (towards the end) how Bianca learns to both accept Merren's support and offer her own as well.

Initially, Bianca believes Merren is just your average university student. But it's hinted that this isn't so to both us and Bianca. Only later does it become clear that Merren isn't just a highly-intelligent person but Bianca's equal in terms of star power and significance. I didn't see that coming at all and that was a good twist. It does make certain situations in the book easier to understand too, though I will say that the cynic in me will scoff that that makes it all the more improbable in real life. But this is romance land so it works!

I also really liked the other female figures in the story: Merren's grandmother and mom and Bianca's neighbor Rita. All three are encouraging to both women about their struggles and pursuits. They're kind, straightforward and warm too. Plus Rita bonds with Merren over their shared intelligence and feels accepted for who she is in ways that others (like her mom) don't understand. It's kind of a sisterly relationship that I wanted a little more of. Also, I completely understand why Merren's always hungry at home. Her mom's cake sounded amazingly edible to someone who's gluten-sensitive like me.

I will say, though, that Merren didn't really have to learn too much compared to Bianca. However, it did appear to me that for someone who's so intelligent, Merren had issues comprehending Bianca's issues with asking for help and tech. It took advice from her grandmother to help with that. It was just Bianca who had a big epiphany about their relationship, not Merren. But maybe that was on purpose since Merren has strong and kind females in her life to guide her while Bianca pushed everyone away in the wake of her wife's premature death and her losing sight. Even Bianca tells Merren how lucky she is to have people like Olivia and Naomi in her life. Also, this is a tiny quibble, but it's not obvious the book's set in New Zealand until you hear certain names like Dunedin or references to the peninsula (which makes it not Australia, which is what you might think initially). That confused me at first until I looked it up. A quibble but something to note because I think most of us aren't familiar with New Zealand geography.

I also liked Isabelle Gordon's reading of this. I believe she's American but her New Zealand accents were spot-on to my ear. She also was good at putting the right amount of emotion into each character: whether it's despair, seduction, inquisitiveness, etc. That also helped with the more intimate scenes as well.

All in all, I loved listening to this and would definitely recommend it to those who like this genre. And it's a sweet story too.

Never judge a book by its cover!

Things are not always what they seem and neither are people. This is a beautiful story of humility, adapting and overcoming life's challenges, and love all rolled up in one. Bianca was dealt one blow when her wife died in a car accident and now five years later, she's losing her vision. Art is her life and she's not giving it up anytime soon, she's just needs a muse/model to help her to adjust her craft. That's where we have Merren, a college student looking for a temporary job during the holidays, something different from her already forward progressing endeavors. However, Merren isn't your typical college student and there's more to her than Bianca realizes because she's so frantic with having to adjust to a different way of living and painting. Merren will prove to be more than just a muse for Bianca's craft, she'll help open her up in other ways as well.

Love is not blind

Great love story. Enjoyed how they built the characters. Really enjoyed how the main character was able to cover come her emotional obstacles to find her ability to adapt to living fully again.

Excellent!

I loved Times Like These. I loved Merron and Bianca. I loved the relationship between the three women in Merron's family. A great story. Isabelle Gordon does a great job with the narration.

Outstanding

One of the best wlw stories I've heard. I rarely listen to books twice, but I'll keep this one in my library.

Beautiful. Thoughtful. Enchanting.

I happened upon this book by chance and I am so glad I did. Such a well written story that is worthy of 5 stars. The narrator does an excellent job of pulling you into every scene and capturing every emotion.

surprising!

I can’t believe this was buried and never shown in any relevant searches or suggested books, as someone who has read or listened to what I thought was everything in the genre. Bonus points for a non-AC narrator who was not annoying!