Audiobook Review: The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald
The Night Olivia Fell
Author: Christina McDonald
Narrators:
Kelly Burke
Laurel Lefkow
Published: February 5, 2019
Audiobook: 10 hours 45 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: January 6-16, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
A search for the truth. A lifetime of lies.
In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: Her teenage daughter, Olivia, has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain-dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists.
When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?
Christina McDonald weaves a suspenseful and heart-wrenching tale of hidden relationships, devastating lies, and the power of a mother’s love. With flashbacks of Olivia’s own resolve to uncover family secrets, this taut and emotional novel asks: How well do you know your children? And how well do they know you?
Jessica’s Review:
This book showcases how strong the mother/child bond is: So much so that it won’t be for all readers who are triggered by severe injury to a teenage daughter. I’m not a parent but I could feel the emotion that Abi felt as she was determined to find out what happened to Olivia. This is because I have very close friends with children (younger and older) that I love and would be devastated if this happened to them.
Abi Knight get the call that no parent ever wants to receive: “Your daughter is in the hospital.” Then she later finds out her daughter is brain-dead… and pregnant. The doctors are required by state law to keep Olivia on life support until the baby arrives. And for Abi, this will be several months of anguish. Olivia did not tell Abi that she was pregnant.
This was a good novel! We have povs from both Oilvia and Abi and over the course of the novel find out who the baby’s father is, what happened to Olivia, and more. This is a mystery/ suspense with a bit of political intrigue added in to the mix.
The novel goes into the secrets that both Abi and Olivia are keeping. I did not figure it out but finding out who was responsible was a bit anticlimactic for me. I was expecting more than what happened. But Abi’s emotions and determination were the main focus for me. Towards the ending the book does get emotional, as the reader already knows the direction the story will go in. I can see some mothers ugly crying at the ending. And yes, it was emotional!
Both narrators did a great job. I am not sure which narrator voiced Abi and which voiced Olivia, but they were exceptional in their portrayals.
This was my first novel by McDonald and I will be reading/ listening to more by her!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Cover Reveals for the Greek Retreat Trilogy by Stephanie Wood
Today I am helping in three cover reveals… Yes, there are three as this is a trilogy of novels! They are for the upcoming Greek Retreat Trilogy by Stephanie Wood. The novels are coming out March 20th, May 22nd, and August 21st! They are titled: Adorable April Afternoons, Joyful June Journeys, and Sweet September Surprises. The Greek Retreat is a trilogy of standalone tales full of sunshine, surprises and love.
Now let’s find out about the books and see what the covers look like!!!!
Adorable April Afternoons
To Be Published: March 30, 2025
Pre-order links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Description:
Jessica is escaping to the Greek Retreat to discover if running away from a broken engagement really can lead to a happy ever after. She doesn’t believe life works that way, but her future could depend on it.
The Greek island of Kynos is an idyllic hideaway, offering its visitors the space and time needed to truly appreciate the traditional hospitality. The locals are always friendly and ready to entertain their guests, while the daily activities offer many different ways to explore the island and its heritage.
Jessica is hoping The Retreat will provide everything she needs in order to plan for a successful future, but has she left it too late?
Here is the cover:
Joyful June Journeys
To Be Published: May 22, 2025
Pre-order links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Description:
Chrissie is escaping to the Greek Retreat to avoid some of the issues her parents have left her to deal with at home. She hopes that visiting a new location will give her a different perspective and help her to find a way forward.
Here is the cover:
Sweet September Surprises
To Be Published: August 21, 2025
Pre-order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Description:
Katie is escaping to the Greek Retreat to give herself some space to recover from an unexpected predicament. She blames herself for the situation she finds herself in and knows that something has to change, although she has no idea what she is looking for.
Here is the cover:
About the Author:
Stephanie writes contemporary fiction in the form of novels, novellas and short stories and her books explore a wide range of life’s challenges, dreams and responsibilities. The stories are all character based, so she has fun expressing each unique personality and the reasons behind their actions in a setting which always has a strong sense of community.
She published the AEGEAN SUN series of books as a fly-on-the-wall vision of life in a Greek resort during the summer season, the CHRISTMAS ON THE CLOSE series is set in a British suburban cul-de-sac over the festive period and the GREEK RETREAT trilogy is planned for publication in 2025.
Stephanie lives in Lancashire where, apart from reading and writing, she loves gardening and cycling and is a huge fan of the soaps Emmerdale and Neighbours.
Contact Stephanie:
Twitter/X @StephanieWoodGR
Bluesky
Audiobook Review: The Accidental Dating Experiment by Lauren Blakely
The Accidental Dating Experiment
Series: How to Date #4
Author: Lauren Blakely
Narrators:
Andi Arndt
Jacob Morgan
Published: April 11, 2024
Audiobook: 6 hours 55 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 11-13, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
Eight years ago I fell into a secret summer fling with my best friend’s little sister before our lives went in different directions. Now, I’m the grumpy to Juliet’s sunshine on a popular dating podcast we host, and when a wealthy fan gives us a charming coastal cottage as the biggest thank you ever, we head to the town where I grew up to give it a makeover.
And find the house has only one bed. Located under a mirrored ceiling.
To make matters even harder, the bright, big-hearted woman I’ve been pining for tells me she wants to try to find the one and would I please be her dating coach for the week?
Like hell I’ll let her date other men. I’ll coach her on three dates with me.
But the second I take her out, I don’t feel like her teacher. I feel like she’s mine, especially when the first night ends with us tangled up together in that bed.
Each night we grow closer, but this dating experiment forces me to face my greatest fear–whether a man like me is worthy of her love.
Even though I’m already head over heels for her.
Jessica’s Review:
The Accidental Dating Experiment is not my typical genre I read or listen to. But I saw it was free on my Audible account and it sounded cute, so I went for it! Well… I didn’t realize it was going to be smutty! LOL. My fault for not researching the author before I listened to the book as her ‘go to’ phrase is:
Cute But Spicy
Books That Make You Blush
So the joke’s on me then… I also didn’t know that this is book four in a series, it did seem like a standalone book to me. But I actually enjoyed listening to this novel.
The banter that Monroe and Juliet have on their job of the podcast was (!) and their chemistry in general was hot an I found myself saying “go ahead and get back together!”.
Again, I’m not a spicy reader and the spice in this novel was too much for me, but I made it through. Just give me fade to black scenes, I don’t need specific details. I guess I will have to look more into romance books I may choose to read in the future…
It was an enjoyable book with the cute romantic tropes of grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, second chance romance, and the one bed situation.
The epilogue ended things well and I really enjoyed the ending.
Both narrators, Andi Arndt and Jacob Morgan, brought the characters of Juliet and Monroe to life. They were perfect narrators for these characters!
3.5 stars is a good review for a book that is out of my normal genre with too much spice for this listener.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK