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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Audible Book Review: Dream Kisses: Romance on the Ranch Series Book 1 by Verna Clay

This is an easy listening, sweet romance – with a handsome cowboy as a plus.
Dream Kisses: Romance on the Ranch Series Book 1
Written by: Verna Clay
Narrated by: Wendy Rich Stetson
Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:07-28-15
Publisher: Verna Clay
Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0


Publisher's Summary
Mims Murphy a.k.a Sarah Carter, meets Sage Tanner at Imaginings Publishing while he's posing for the cover of her upcoming romance novel. After being bulldozed into a coffee break with him by her publisher, Sissy Johansen, an embarrassing incident makes Sarah furious and she walks out. Of course, fate has plans for this mismatched couple. Deciding her book needs a dose of reality, Sarah signs up for "dude" lessons at Lazy M Dude Ranch. Imagine her chagrin when she discovers the owner of the ranch is none other than Mr. Tanner himself!
©2012 Verna Clay (P)2015 Verna Clay


Review:
Sarah, alias Mims Murphy, is a successful romance writer even if her own love life, as she nears 40, isn’t so successful. There is a chemical zing when Sarah first sees Sage, the handsome cover model posing for her upcoming novel. But Sarah is quick to turn away considering him much too good looking and only trouble. Her publisher coerces Sarah into a coffee break with Sage which results in Sarah overreacting to an embarrassing situation.

A few months later Sarah is fighting writer’s block. She decides a visit to a country dude ranch might supply the inspiration she needs. She has no idea how true that is! Sarah’s rental car breaks down on the long driveway into the Lazy M Dude Ranch. Just imagine her surprise and chagrin when the handsome cowboy who rides up is none other than Sage. Sarah would walk, or drive away, if she could but now she has a twisted ankle as well as an inoperable car.

Sage owns the dude ranch and does modeling jobs to earn extra money. Sage doesn’t want to be a sex symbol and tries to maintain his distance from all the eager women, even when they practically throw themselves at him. Sarah is surprised when she meets his young teen daughter, Julie, and she wonders where his wife is. As Sarah recuperates she begins to see a different side of Sage. He finds Sarah intriguing with her strong independence. Still, in spite of their clear attraction and growing friendship, Sarah is afraid that she could never be enough to hold Sage’s interest.

I enjoyed the conflict and sass between Sarah and Sage. Julie and several of the ranch hands, and vacationing guests add interest. The story moves along well with light humor and the sweetly building romance. The ending is a great bit especially for a romance novel! (You’ll have to read/listen to the story to get there yourself.) I appreciated the easy, quick flow and cleaner romance. I would enjoy reading more by this author.

Audio Notes: As I began the listen I wasn’t sure about the narrator. However, pretty soon I settled into the easy, country sound of Wendy Rich Stetson’s narration. She gave good voice interpretation to the various characters and portrayed good, appropriate emotion. The audio enhanced my enjoyment for this quick listen.

I received this title through Audiobook Jukebox for an honest review. This qualifies for my 2016 Audiobook Challenge.

3 comments:

  1. sounds like an easy listen - thanks for posting, Martha!

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  2. Thank you for the great review! Your synopsis of the plot was perfect. The narrator, Wendy Rich Stetson, is very talented and I was ecstatic when she agreed to create the many characters. I couldn't be happier with the outcome. Verna Clay (author)

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  3. I love me some sass. This sounds delightful and perfect for listening while cleaning :)

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