Audiobook Review: Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger
Pen Pal
Author: J.T. Geissinger
Narrators:
Tara Langella
Troy Duran
Published: August 16, 2022
Audiobook: 8 hours 12 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: July 18-22, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Audiobook Description:
The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary, and contained a single sentence:
I’ll wait forever if I have to.
It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.
Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?
You.
I told the mystery man he had the wrong girl. He said he didn’t. I said we’d never met, but he said I was wrong.
We went back and forth, exchanging letters every week that grew increasingly more intimate. Then one day, the letters stopped. When I found out why, it was already too late: Dante was at my doorstep.
And nothing on earth could have prepared me for what happened next.
Jessica’s Review:
I have to say that going in that this book is way outside of my genre of choice and I knew that going in. I have two friends who have read it and loved it (That’s you Suleika and April!) and I knew there is a huge twist that I was curious about. There are trigger warnings that a reader should to be prepared for with this book which are on the author’s website, and I will share here:
Explicit language
Graphic sex/Power Play dynamics
Detailed descriptions of death and grief
Miscarriage
Domestic Violence
Mental Illness
Another thing I want to share is that the book is extremely different from the provided book description. The letter writing is a tiny portion of the book, there is a love story that is the main focus.
As I have said in the past, I like ‘sweet romances’ and Pen Pal is extremely far from that. There is definitely graphic sex and power play dynamics here! Honestly, it became too much for me and I found myself skipping through the sex scenes. I really wanted to know what this ‘huge twist’ was. Was the read worth it in the end for me? YES! OMG, that twist! And then the Epilogue! If the sex hadn’t been that intense and the books description more on track to what the novel actually is, then this would have been a 5-star read for me! This is saying a lot from a non-smut reader!
Both narrators did a great job with their portrayals.
I would have never picked this one up on my own but it was free on my Audible, so I grabbed it. Will I read anymore books by Geissinger? No, as she is outside of my genre. If you are a smart reader and take head with the trigger warnings and are prepared for a different book than the impression of what the book descriptions says, you might just enjoy this one!
An Advanced Listening Copy Review of Switched by Sarah Ready
Switched
Series: Ghosted #2
Author: Sarah Ready
Narrators:
Kelsey Navarro Foster
James Anderson Foster
To Be Published: February 20, 2024
Audiobook: 10 hours 12 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: February 2-12, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Description:
For Serena Otaki, free-spirited Californian, life is simple. She loves smashing atoms at The Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. She loves Star Trek, spicy tofu, and her cat, Captain Purrk. She loves her messy (slob-fest) apartment, her chaotic brand of organizing, and staying permanently, happily unattached.
Life is perfect. She has one true love—physics.
Loving a man isn’t in her future.
For Henry Joules, uptight Brit, life is simple. He loves making analog black holes, drinking piping hot tea, and organizing his pencil tray. He loves his family, red meat, and obsessively cleaning his spotless apartment.
Life is perfect. He has many loves—physics, family, friends. He can’t wait to find the woman of his dreams.
Love and marriage are in his future.
One perfect night Serena and Henry meet. Sparks fly, particles collide, the universe comes to a halt, and…
It was a mistake.
They’re too different.
It won’t work.
Love isn’t in their future.
Until an electric storm causes an unexpected event at the particle collider and suddenly—they’ve switched.
Serena is in Henry’s body.
Henry is in Serena’s body.
And both life and love are suddenly very, very complicated.
Jessica’s Review:
Wow, Jessica listened to another romance novel and really enjoyed it! This is the second in the Ghosted series. It isn’t necessary to have read Ghosted before this one because Jillian and Daniel’s story is mentioned in Switched, but I really do recommend it! Their story also continues since Switched happens after Ghosted. So far in this series we have extremely smart FMCs (female main characters) with STEM careers, that are also nerdy but adorable. It’s great to have strong female characters with this type of career!
To be honest, I wasn’t really interested in the book until Serena and Henry switched bodies. I think it was a ‘me’ thing with some things going on in my life. But once that switch happened the book took off for me.
Switched is very entertaining and hilarious at times. We see what happens when you are not just in another person’s body, but someone of the opposite gender! Both Serena and Henry have experiences as the opposite sex. And really, we do see that women really are the stronger gender! Full on hilarity ensues, I just don’t want to say what as a minor spoiler. We do have a small amount of spice that I could have done without. Remember…. I’ve figured out that I seem to be a ‘fade to black’/ ‘behind closed door’ romance reader.
Here are some of the tropes we have in Switched:
Fake Dating
One Night Stand
Forced Proximity
We have two narrators: Kelsey Navarro Foster and James Anderson Foster, who are married in ‘real life’! Kelsey did a fabulous job! She really captured everything with the characters down to the ‘bad English accent’ with Serena attempting to be Henry. James only narrated for one chapter, and for that I was thankful as his voice for this chapter did not work for me.
Sarah Ready is an author I discovered last year and Switched is the third book I have listened to from her, and I have enjoyed them all! She’s an author I plan to read/listen to more. And with a third book in the Ghosted series coming out in July, I am ready for another book from her! And for one who doesn’t really read much romance, that is saying something! And let me just say that the covers of the books in this series… It’s very tempting for me to want physical copies of them because they are just… Gorgeous!
Many thanks to the publisher for having these audiobooks available to listen to and reviewing!
Pre-Order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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ALC Review: Her Husband’s Mistake by Daniel Hurst
Her Husband’s Mistake
Author: Daniel Hurst
Narrators:
Tamsin Kennard
Nathaniel Priestley
To Be Published: September 30, 2023
Audiobook: 5 Hours 36 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: September 18-19, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Audiobook Description:
A week in New York with my family should be the trip of a lifetime–yet I’ve been on edge the whole time because fifteen years ago, when we were living in this city, my husband did something that ripped our lives apart. I swore I would never come back, but he insisted. As we stroll along the Hudson River, drinking coffee in the sunshine, anyone would think we’re the perfect family. But the truth is far more complicated.
Jessica’s Review:
I am pasting the Goodreads book description for this review as the book’s description everywhere else gives to much plot away for this short book! This was also the book description I read, so I wasn’t spoiled if I had read the book description elsewhere I would have been.
Jack and Lorna are from the UK originally and were living in New York until Jack did something and they suddenly left and returned to the UK with their young children. They vowed to never return until… Fast forward fifteen years with their children turning 18 and 21… big birthdays!!! Guess what both kids want??? A trip to NYC!! Knowing their kids wouldn’t stop mentioning a NYC trip Jack and Lorna decide to give that gift to them. And now we have this book and what happens!
Her Husband’s Mistake is my second book by Daniel Hurst that I have listened to this year and I have enjoyed both. He is an author I will look out for! This one was very short coming in at 5.5 hours long and so it moves the entire time! Get ready for a roller coaster of intensity with this one!
Jack and Lorna were not very likeable for me, but the kids were. So much happens so quickly it’s a book you don’t want to put down! And it even went in a direction that I would not have guessed was going to happen! I was shocked: I actually had to relisten to that chapter when I got to a certain point in the audiobook!
The narrators did a good job with their narrations, I did like Tamsin Kennard’s voice more than Nathaniel Priestley.
Many thanks to the publisher Bookoutoure Audio for granting me an alc to listen to and review! I enjoyed this very quick listen!
Preorder Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK