listened twice

loved it so much had to listen again. still as good as before, great story line.

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2 people found this helpful

Sweet cozy romance

Melissa Brayden never fails to write heartwarming, feel-good romances and this is no exception. In Heart Block, Brayden keeps the level of angst to a minimum, whilst creating rounded and likable characters.

The narration by Mia Chiaromonte is warm and engaging throughout. She voices Sarah and Emory to perfection, capturing Sarah’s sexy fun loving personality and Emory’s reserved sadness.

This is a gentle book to curl up with under a blanket on a rainy afternoon!

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Simply wonderful

Melissa is my new favourite author. Characters are easy to imagine and you are drawn into their world and taken on a lovely journey

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Cute quirky sweet love story

The story itself is not especially complicated or challenging, but it is an easy listen, very engaging and endearing. The dialogue fun and witty, the narrator Mia Chiaromonte brings out the characters and dialogue perfectly. The story itself I found a bit bland, and predictable, and I worried initially that it would not appeal to me but, the quirky nature of the story, the sweetness, dialogue and simple charms makes it well worth the listen.

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6 people found this helpful

Beautiful love story with real life scenarios

This was a beautiful lesbian love story with real life scenarios. True life barriers and obstacles are overcome by both characters and they are forced to re-evaluate their lives. A truly touching story

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Fabulous romance!

I have read this book a few times and it remains one of my favourites. I was delighted to find it in the audio format. The author has an ear for dialogue and the banter between the central characters is believable and engagingly endearing without becoming saccharine. It is an unashamed feel good romance but a refreshingly well written one with characters you soon find yourself rooting for. The narrator has a lovely light voice and reads it well. Definitely recommended for listening to while walking your dog on a beautiful autumn day while wrapped up warmly in a scarf and your best woolly bobble hat! Enjoy!

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6 people found this helpful

A little gem found in a pile of rocks.

I saw the summary for this audio book, and honestly decided that it could easily be another cliched lesbian romance novel, full of two dimensional characters, sex, and not a lot else.

With that in mind I hit the little green sample button not really thinking it would draw me into trying out the book. One advantage of being a member of audible is the fact that you can return books if you find they aren't quite what you were expecting, and hearing the sample I decided it was worth the risk.

Boy I was wrong about my initial assessment based on the summary. Sure there are moments when it could come under those cliches, but actually, you get good three dimensional characters that you really care about. Even the part towards the end where you get the expected break-up before they come back together is done in a fashion that reflects the way the characters have developed and evolved. That's what makes the third dimension possible. The whole story was a very pleasant surprise. I'm not sure if this author has written more works, but if she has, then I would certainly be willing to read/listen to more based on this novel.

Added to that, the recording and narrator are far better than a lot of the lesbian audio books out there. The narrator does a reasonable job of separating out the characters, and there is no or little echo/reverberations that I have heard on some recordings and that frankly really helps this story along. Far too many recordings feel as though they have been rushed onto the audible catalog with little or no consideration to the quality of the engineering behind the work, even works by 'popular' authors have fallen into this trap. So it was a pleasant surprise to find a recording that falls into the more professional category.

Too many lesbian novels have fallen into the routine of the two dimension, which is sad because with a little thought they could be so much more. And so, within that pile of similar rocks that have fallen together, you do get the odd little gem popping up, and this is certainly one of those gems.

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6 people found this helpful

Just Fabulous!

What made the experience of listening to Heart Block the most enjoyable?

Listening to the narrator add personality and character to the stars of this audio was a pleasure. It made my listening most enjoyable, I could feel the rawness of their emotions just deep for you to partake in and it was so well depicted through the voice of the narrator.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the outpouring of raw emotions. The passion, the subtle and realness of how love was presented.

Which character – as performed by Mia Chiaromonte – was your favourite?

Sara

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The most moving moment of the book for me was the first sexual encounter at the fire side wild the storm was raging outside. I believe the author was very clever in how she juxtapose the scenes. The warmth of the fire on the inside was just so contradictory to the raging storm that was taking place just a few steps away, yet it was so reflected of their inner emotions and passion, contained by their fear and their nervous, the ferocity of their emotions were masked. I just love this part of the book. I don't think anywhere in the rest of this book is there any imagery so real and appealing to the literary eye

Any additional comments?

The progression of the plot was just marvelous. The flow of the story and the development of the characters was well done.

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1 person found this helpful

A fabulous lesfic romance

Don't be put off by the clumsy sounding title of this lesfic romance. It is charming and fun as well as moving and romantic. It is refreshingly different too because it reflects a slice of multicultural America.

Melissa Brayden is a talented writer who possess a mastery of dialogue and characterisation in addition to great story telling. She brings a lightness of touch to her look at the barriers facing relationships between those from different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds as well as the obstacles facing romantic attachments between women with children and those without. All this makes for an intelligent and interesting listening experience.

Wonderfully narrated by Mia Chiaromonte, who does a brilliant job of giving each character an authentic voice and brings the appropriate emotion to the various aspects of the story.

This audiobook is well produced and very enjoyable. I strongly recommend it and will adding it to my favourites to listen to again in the future.

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Nice story, beautifully told

Really enjoyable way to spend a Sunday on the beach with a delicious picnic. Happy days

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