Hello Love
By: Karen McQuestion
Narrated by: Dan John Miller
Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 09-16-14
Language: English
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Genre: Sweet Romance
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; 3.75 Story; 4.25 Narration.
Publisher's Summary
From the bestselling author of The Long Way Home comes a charming novel about loss and the faith that restores broken lives.
A year after the death of his wife, Christine, Dan is barely holding on. But one thing gets him through the long, lonely nights and that is his cherished dog, Anni. When she is stolen from his front yard, Dan and his daughter, Lindsay, are devastated. Meanwhile in another part of town, Andrea Keller is recovering from the heartbreak of a messy divorce. After she rescues a defenseless dog from an abusive tenant, her life changes in ways she never could have anticipated.
Dan and Andrea cross paths again and again, only to keep missing each other and the opportunity of a lifetime. As Anni works to find her way home, can she bring together these two lost souls desperately in need of a second chance at happiness?
©2014 Karen McQuestion (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Review:
Dan lost his wife a year earlier and, as many grieving spouses do, he buried himself in work. His wife’s beloved dog, Anni, has helped give strength to Dan and their teenaged daughter, Lindsay. Lindsay is devastated when Anni is stolen at the end of their road by young men who appear to be drinking. Dan tries to find the dog and Lindsay begins to be obsessed with finding Anni, especially as she dreams her mother is giving her clues and encouragement.
Andrea is trying to regain her footing after her husband left her for a ‘sexier’ woman. Andrea works at a real estate management company and gets a call from a tenant that another tenant in the building has a dog which is illegal. Andrea goes to give notice to the violating tenants and impulsively decides to rescue Anni who is chained out in the cold snow. Andrea quickly grows to love Anni.
Surprisingly Dan and Andrea cross paths, first exchanging names and another time sharing coffee. One night Andrea even sees Dan across the room with none other than the blonde who moved in with her ex. Apparently the new relationship between Andrea’s ex, Marco, and the blonde has failed. Marco soon shows up trying to win Andrea back.
Andrea takes Anni with her to visit her grandmother in a nursing home. She just misses being seen by Dan and Lindsay who decided to visit a family friend at the urging of Lindsay’s dreams.
The writing is on the wall – eventually Andrea and Dan have to meet and discover that they both love Anni. How will Lindsay respond and who will get to keep the dog?
Dan and Andrea are fairly well developed characters, but Anni could steal the show at least with the extent that she inspires love. The story weaves back and forth between Dan’s life and Andrea’s. There was more life activity than excitement, resulting in pacing that seemed subdued and on the edge of slow. Although this had some very lovely, sweet moments, the story is a little light, a little fluff and just a little longer than necessary. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy a light, sweet romance.
Audio Notes: Dan John Miller doe a nice job with the narration. He manages both male and female voices and provides appropriate emotional input. The audio enhanced the story for me.
Source: November 2018 Audible Sale $4.95. This qualifies for 2019TBR, 2019Audiobook and 2019Alphabet Goals.
