Creditable "Mystery"-Romance

There isn't much "mysterious" to this well-planned and well-executed exposé following a privileged (+/- spoiled/sheltered) young woman struggling to uncover her father's unique past. Charlotte Morgan ('Charlie') travels from Palm Beach to Philadelphia to New York to Paris to uncover her own life history after her father dies in an apparent suicide (which readers know was faked). The revealed chronicle involves a love story in Vichy France during WWII, art fraud, and escape to America under dishonorable circumstances. This Lisa April Smith effort does a very nice job integrating that surprise-after-surprise narrative with a capably-plotted romance between Charlie and a struggling most-intriguing Cuban-American lawyer (Raul Francesco).
The research underlying the book is outstanding. April Smith paints an extremely authentic-sounding picture of the fears of Jews in Hitler's Europe and fills her story with pop-culture references that make Charlie's 1950s/60s setting easily believable. This book is very well-written.

As to the reading: Amy Landon's performance is more than serviceable but unspectacular. Supported by exemplary production standards from Blackstone Audio, Landon's commendable diction, timbre, cadence, and tone make the audiobook comfortable to listen to for hours on end - whether through device/car speakers or with earphones. Less fortunately, her voice-acting is inconsistent (with excellent American accents, weak Spanish & French accents, and straight-up dreadful English accents) and her reading is best consumed at 1.10X (she reads a bit too slowly).

I must admit that I'm not a big fan of Romance/Relationship Exposition - they're a little too emotionally manipulative for my tastes - but have read enough to conclude that 'Exceeding Expectations' is a very good one. The sex is handled with admirable restraint - while including enough eroticism to make it clear that arousal is part of the love process. As to the mystery.. it's well plotted, paced nicely, and Charlie's investigation is intuitive and realistic - although strikingly inconsequential (asking yourself "Who Cares?" would be legitimate.. the solution to Charlie's headscratcher isn't exactly life-or-death).This audiobook rates 8.5 stars out of 10 - and it's definitely worth a listen if you enjoy this genre. I personally won't be continuing with the 'Charlie' series (even if they remain part of the 'Plus' catalogue), but you wouldn't be wrong to do so.

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Twists

Lots of twists and turns that keep me interested. An interesting bit of history and art .

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Loved the Story

I enjoyed this book. The author did a great job at developing characters at different stages of life.

It was very funny in places and filled with intrigue and many twists bringing each part of the story together.

I would recommend this book.

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A good escape

I loved the thread of historical fiction. And of course a dash of romance to saver!

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Juvenile but passable

Had to roll my eyes more than once at the writing and overall narrative. Two story lines - the one that takes place in the war significantly more interesting - the other revolves around a spoiled, beautiful, magically gifted brat who has to contend with learning to operate a washing machine and deciding which lover to choose … hard to feel any real sympathy for the limited character development in the main character …

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1 person found this helpful