Lisa M. Mandina
- 141
- reviews
- 22
- helpful votes
- 155
- ratings
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Grouch-ish
- By: L.B. Dunbar
- Narrated by: Stella Hunter, Teddy Hamilton
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
Let’s start here. The twelve days of Christmas are actually after the holiday. And my dad, being the great guy he is, and the battalion chief of the fire department, signs up one of his rebellious firefighters for a retreat because of his bad behavior. The guy is a total grouch. But when he misses the bus for the adult redemption camp, Dad sticks the guy with me for twelve days. Alone.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful holiday story!
- By Dani on 01-08-25
- Grouch-ish
- By: L.B. Dunbar
- Narrated by: Stella Hunter, Teddy Hamilton
Short, sweet but steamy holiday read!
Reviewed: 01-12-25
This book was a short and sweet holiday read, with some steamy bits though! I definitely had the hots for our firefighter bad boy. Both Pear and Brock have things in their past that make their actions and hesitations totally make sense. The two of them getting together through all the 12 days of after Christmas actually is a nice progression of stages as each little task or event brings them closer together. Both have things to work through, and for the most part they do.
There is a bit of a 3rd act breakup that made me a little irritated at first at what the lie was. Such a little thing that it seemed like they got overly upset about it. However the story redeemed that for me in how it was handled. It was definitely realistic for me, in that yeah, there was anger, but the way it was resolved, and realizing it truly wasn’t that bad of a lie, and that maybe the other person had tried to tell them at one point, all of it trickled down to a perfect make up and moving on.
I’ve only read two of this books in this loosely connected series, but have enjoyed them both. And listening to this one was great because the narrators were wonderful. They totally made it come to life.
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Head Over Feels
- By: Emma Lee Jayne
- Narrated by: Amanda Stribling, Owen Grayson
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 16
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
There are two things I can’t get out of my head. My completely inappropriate feelings for my stupidly hot best friend, Keegan, and a vacuum. Right now, the vacuum is taking the front seat. It’s the key for landing a major client—and the only way I’ll finally prove that I’ve been the creative mastermind behind my ad team’s success. Nothing—not even my embarrassing stutter—is going to get in my way. Putting myself in the team’s spotlight also puts me on my ridiculously hot CEO’s radar.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So cute!
- By JenJenReads85 on 04-05-25
- Head Over Feels
- By: Emma Lee Jayne
- Narrated by: Amanda Stribling, Owen Grayson
Such a fun romance!
Reviewed: 12-26-24
I loved this author’s SmartyPants Romance books and have been trying to fit in her other books. When I got the chance to listen to this one on audio, I jumped on the chance! And boy was I glad I did! There was so much fun silly little stuff in the story, banter, things that happened, all the reasons I’ve adored the other books I’ve read by this author. I also totally got how she felt about wanting to be a different person, although while her reason was her stutter, mine is maybe for my insecurities. I also had the same kind of experience with speed dating! So I get it.
I connected a lot with Meg, but I did get a bit frustrated with her and how she didn’t quite give Keegan a chance in some ways towards the end. Also how she tried to be secretive with her identity when it didn’t seem her boss realized it was her after the makeover. There was no way that wasn’t going to explode. But I liked the way it played out completely different than I expected. And there was the misunderstanding that also made me cranky. Although I wondered about a bathroom confrontation, that didn’t show up even in the spot it might have in another story.
The narrators were perfect. It was duet narration even though we really only got Meg’s point of view. Which was nice, even if I would still love to have Keegan’s POV too.
Once again this author has won me over with wonderful characters, dialogue, situations, and romance. Definitely a recommended listen/read from me!
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Cruel Winter with You
- Under the Mistletoe Collection
- By: Ali Hazelwood
- Narrated by: Vivienne LaRue
- Length: 2 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,976
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,926
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,926
All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Endless insecurities and translation fails
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 11-12-24
- Cruel Winter with You
- Under the Mistletoe Collection
- By: Ali Hazelwood
- Narrated by: Vivienne LaRue
Perfect way to write a novella!
Reviewed: 12-02-24
I loved this one! It was a really short novella and it was perfectly done. We had all the misunderstanding that led to being enemies happened in the past before this story takes place. But we get a good long flashback in the 2nd chapter to get us caught up on Marc and Jamie’s history. We don’t quite get the whole details on the actual misunderstanding until the very end, but when it comes, it is just both funny and perfect. I’m using the word perfect a lot in this review I think, lol. But honestly, this is one of the best novellas I think I’ve read in that while yes, I’d love a longer time with these characters, the author gave us everything we needed in the short time to make the story feel complete. I can only hope the rest of the stories in this series live up to this one, although we’ll see since they’re from different authors!
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White Trash Zombie Gone Wild
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,126
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,951
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,949
Audie Award, Paranormal, 2016. Angel finds herself in redneck hell when hordes of people descend on her hometown for the Deep South Zombie Fest - complete with zombie 5K runs, shamble-a-thons, costume contests, zombie paintball hayrides, and mock-zombie hunts. She intends to avoid the whole mess and focus on her upcoming college midterms - with the help of her stash of illicit zombie drugs - but that all changes when a decapitated body turns up at the edge of town.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Angel falls apart
- By Mike on 10-10-15
- White Trash Zombie Gone Wild
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
My favorite since the very first one, that ending!
Reviewed: 05-18-24
Oh my gosh, the ending of this one! Whoa! I am so ready to start the next one, but I won’t let myself until the beginning of June, but just whoa! Now, if you haven’t read these yet, there will be a TON of SPOILERS in this review, so you should probably stop now if you don’t want to be spoiled for those! I’ll try not to spoil this one though if you’re all caught up to this point for the most part.
Now, I know that these probably didn’t come out one a month as I’m listening to them, but the beginning of this one was a tiny bit info-dumpish for me. We knew from the end of the last one that Angel was going to have some issues with the V-12 that they’d given her to help get extra strength when she’d been trying to help save people from Sabreton. But we begin the story with her basically in this state. Now she’s learned that it does have at least one good effect, it helps with her dyslexia so she can read for her college classes. Unfortunately it is also causing her to act like a bit of a junkie in some ways, her paranoia, feeling like she needs it and things aren’t right without it.
It turns out there are other issues, ones that she is causing problems for Phillip for how she is getting it. She is sneaking it out of the lab, taking it from his doses. Turns out it has some bad side effects too. She loses impulse control. She sees fireflies and possibly other hallucinations. Her paranoia causes her to think other people are judging her and not trusting when they say they want to help her. Even her father notices her change in behavior.
Along with this, there is a big zombie fest going on in the town, coinciding with the release of the zombie movie that was being filmed there in an earlier book. So now you have not only Sabreton people, but someone with a cadaver sniffing dog, and people out “hunting” zombies. There was a little bit of Andrew Sabreton’s new zombie life mixed into the story and I wonder if that will really fill out the last book. Not to mention a faux documentary film that threatens the zombies being discovered, with actual zombie footage. So much going on!
Pietro at first is talking about taking the zombies underground, disappearing till it blows over. But he soon will realize that might not work in this world wide web connection society. Along with that we find that a character we didn’t know actually knows what Angel is. I’d kind of wondered if that person had some knowledge. The FBI is sniffing around funeral homes. Dr. Cherish is back causing problems, there is so much going on!
I can’t even go into a lot of what happens because there is just a lot going on in this book. It was so good though, and I liked how Angel’s problem was handled. I could say there was also some crazy major stuff that happened to Angel at the end of the book, and I can’t WAIT to start the next book in June to find out just what comes from that.
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How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,163
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,965
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,961
It’s zombie versus zombie as the Saberton Corporation declares war against the Zombie Mafia, kidnapping several of their party. It falls to Angel to lead the remnants of her gang halfway across the country to claw their way through corporate intrigue, zombie drugs, and undead trafficking to rescue her friends - and expose the traitor responsible for their abduction.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Can I give it six stars?
- By David Shear on 07-07-14
- How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
Lots of zombies and lots of action and intrigue!
Reviewed: 04-19-24
Now this fourth installment was packed with action from the very beginning to the very end! There were tons of twists and turns and so many new details about the zombie parasite or whatever it is that this author brings in this world. And not only is there a ton of action, we get to see the world outside the little bitty Louisiana town that Angel lives in when they must go to New York City to rescue some of the zombies we know and maybe love. For a change, I have to say that I felt some similarities between Angel and myself. For instance, the stubbornness about having other people pay or do things for you, and how it can make you feel like they are looking down on you or not believing you can do something, even if they don’t even mean it that way. And then when she’s walking in NYC with the others and complaining about how her short legs can’t keep up, it totally reminded me of visiting my sister who lived in NYC and her walking so fast, only her legs weren’t that much longer than mine, she was just completely a NYC native at that point.
With all the stuff going on, some traitors, who maybe later we found weren’t actually traitors. And then some that Angel or others trusted until people tried to point a finger at them, and it was hard to know for sure. So many possible double agents, or then again maybe they weren’t! One character mentioned how they’d felt like they didn’t want to “be here” basically be alive, but it didn’t mean he was suicidal, and I get that. I have feelings all the time that I just don’t want to do things anymore, life specifically, but I also am not suicidal. So that really spoke to me.
Something happens late in the story that means we learn a huge load of info on the zombie parasite and how it continues to affect its hosts. We also get histories of Pietro and other older zombie characters and that is fascinating to learn as well. It got really dark with some of the ways the bad guys were treating the zombies they’d managed to lock up. It was horrible and so sad. But again, we learned so much more about their “medical condition” as Angel called it with her dad, as well as other people that had to be let in on the secret in this book.
In the end we have some new zombies that will for sure feature in future stories. As well as Angel who has been doing so well with her new life, finds something that her addictive personality might be able to use to slide back into some old habits. That end of the book made me eager to get started, and I’ll do that in May!
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Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,285
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,015
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,013
Angel Crawford is finally starting to get used to life as a brain-eating zombie, but her problems are far from over. Her felony record is coming back to haunt her, more zombie hunters are popping up, and she’s beginning to wonder if her hunky cop-boyfriend is involved with the zombie mafia. Yeah, that’s right—the zombie mafia. Throw in a secret lab and a lot of conspiracy, and Angel’s going to need all of her brainpower—and maybe a brain smoothie as well—in order to get through it without falling apart.
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4 out of 5 stars
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I CARE ABOUT MY LOSERNESS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 03-07-14
- Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
A great second in a series!
Reviewed: 03-16-24
I really liked the first one, My Life as a White Trash Zombie, and was excited to get started on the second book. And honestly, book two didn’t disappoint, it was just as much a story that hooked me and kept me waiting and listening to see what would happen next and just who was behind what things. I also continued rooting for Angel as her zombie life continued and she tried to figure out her way in this new reality.
I had a feeling I might not be a fan of her boyfriend’s uncle. And I was right about that! While some of what happened wasn’t completely his fault, it was easy to tell he looked down on her and didn’t think she was right for his nephew when they first met. It was so frustrating for Angel though when everyone was not believing her, when someone who was a zombie, I mean, already that’s out there, you’d think would have been a bit more open to some of the theories she was coming up with.
Of course I continued to adore Angel. Like the funny little words or names she used, like “meanie pants” or zombie rebel alliance, lol. And I was so proud of her for not wanting her new boyfriend to treat her the way he was, for sticking up for herself. I liked how her relationship with her dad unfolded, not all of a sudden perfect, but a work in progress. And then there was her parole officer. That whole part of the story with her needing to take her GED, etc., added a bit of extra to the story. I also like all the people who were standing up for her, friends she’d made in her new life as they just got to know her and that she was a likable person.
There was a bad guy who showed up that I don’t want to spoil it, but if you read my last review or read the last book, you’d know it was someone I expected wouldn’t show up again for another book or so. But the way that person came back and how it moved the story along was perfect in my opinion. And again the author did a great job with making it so there were people that you weren’t sure if they were friend or foe. There was also a moment, and any Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans probably took it like I did, a line, “Hello Mother.”
I look forward to seeing where this story goes next, because I know the events and villains in this story will be back and I can’t wait to see how the author weaves it into the next book and just what else Angel might be dealing with.
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White Trash Zombie Apocalypse
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,644
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,426
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,422
Our favorite white trash zombie, Angel Crawford, has enough problems of her own, what with dealing with her alcoholic, deadbeat dad, issues with her not-quite boyfriend, the zombie mafia, industrial espionage, and evil corporations. Oh, and it’s raining, and won’t let up. But things get even crazier when a zombie movie starts filming in town, and Angel begins to suspect that it’s not just the plot of the movie that's rotten. Soon she's fighting her way through mud, blood, bullets, and intrigue, even as zombies, both real and fake, prowl the streets.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely loved it!
- By Smilie on 07-03-13
- White Trash Zombie Apocalypse
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
4.5 stars really!
Reviewed: 03-16-24
Once again Angel is back and it seems that as she keeps trying to get further ahead in her new chance at life, be it zombified or whatever, things keep conspiring to push her back and cause her problems. I can’t promise no spoilers if you haven’t read the first two yet, so be cautious as you read on!
The Big Bad in this one is kind of new, but as with the last book, we have some of the bad guys who show up once again. And once again there may be some possible switching of sides, which we may not know about. First Angel almost gets hit by a truck at the local high school where they’re filming a zombie movie. She’s saved by the zombie she was forced to make in the last book, Phillip. So it seems like maybe he’s not a bad guy? But that opinion doesn’t last long when he is part of some other events that make him out to be still an enemy.
The doctor that was so evil in the last book is also back, maybe working for the bad guys this time. Angel is still having to deal with her boyfriend/zombie daddy Marcus’s often overbearing overprotectiveness, as well as his condescension at times. Her father is also a wild card, she can’t quite tell if he’s really working on not getting drunk all the time, and his attitude at times doesn’t make it seem he is. Fortunately Marcus’s uncle Pietro seems to be more someone that Angel can count on.
And it’s not only the bad guys she knows, but a new family and maybe a spy, as well as mother nature taking a swipe at Angel’s life as well. I enjoyed this one for sure, and am looking forward to seeing just what happens in the next book between the latest villains and how the people closest to Angel say they are working on things, and if they’ll actually do that.
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My Life as a White Trash Zombie
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,593
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,148
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,154
Teenage delinquent Angel Crawford lives with her redneck father in the swamps of southern Louisiana. She's a high school dropout, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and has a police record a mile long. But when she's made into a zombie after a car crash, her addictions disappear, except for her all-consuming need to stay "alive".
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5 out of 5 stars
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It's Not F**king Rocket Science
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-22-13
- My Life as a White Trash Zombie
- By: Diana Rowland
- Narrated by: Allison McLemore
So glad I finally started this series!
Reviewed: 01-19-24
So, this is a book I’ve wanted to read for a while, and when I saw Anne over at Books of My Heart was doing a read along with the whole series, I decided this was the perfect time to jump in. I decided to do the audiobooks because that would be the easiest way to fit all of them in with the rest of my blogging and review books and TBR shelf challenges. Unfortunately the only way to get the audiobooks is from Audible. And I used my last credit to buy the first one before pausing my membership. I loved this first book so much though, that I was happy to go buy the second one from Audible, especially with it being on sale!
So one blurb about this book, not the one I chose above, but one says she is a teenager. I wonder if that was an early version of the book? Because she’s not a teenager. Pretty sure she’s 21? So that makes this a new adult or adult series in my opinion. I will also admit at the beginning I was a little confused about what was happening, but that was perfect because so was Angel! I was also a little unsure if I could like it as Angel with her drug use and such was just not normally a character I enjoy reading about. Yeah, I’m a squeaky clean nerd in that aspect.
As a fan of horror movies, zombie movies and tv shows sometimes, having a zombie that is not just a stumbling around or even racing around monster, still able to act like a human, was new for me. I do know there are shows out now where there are zombies that aren’t the mindless monsters like on The Walking Dead, but I haven’t watched those, so this was a fun and unique read for me. It was definitely interesting the way she kept the brains to feed herself. Mixed into smoothie like concoctions or with soup. Her one contact in the zombie world that had things together, well, I got frustrated when she didn’t call him earlier for help, although when she did call him, and what happened at that point, well that made the plot get rolling really quickly into a big moment! And of course the way he stored his brains, frozen meals? That was perfect as well!
While I had some guesses on who turned her, and I did end up being right, it was interesting how it all played out to find that out and what happened once it was kind of revealed. Especially once the idea of someone hunting zombies came up and how that related to this. There were lots of great characters in this book. Ones that I worried about causing problems, family members, ex-boyfriends and their friends, new friends, etc.
The ending was so good, we got a bit of romance working out, and Angel learning maybe she could move on from being a loser, if she stopped just accepting all the things being the way they were and started taking little bits of help as they were offered or available. With what happened at the big moment at the end as well, I can see a certain character possibly popping back up in a future story to cause mayhem.
Last but not least, I think the narrator was perfect! She totally sounded like what you might think someone from Louisiana would sound like, especially adding twang and inflection to make the character seem young and loser-like, but also someone you could root for and wanted to see make it!
I’ll probably start listening to book 2 as soon as I finish my current audiobook!
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Solo for the Season
- A Sweet Romantic Comedy (Gift-Wrapped Romance)
- By: Martha Keyes
- Narrated by: CJ Locks
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
After being dumped last Christmas, I’m taking extreme measures to ensure nothing and no one ruins my happy holidays this time around. I’ll be safely wrapped in a cocoon of kitschy Christmas decor, complete with surrounding winter wonderland at the ultimate holiday mountain cabin. So what if the countless elf figurines make me a little uneasy or if there are a couple hiccups with cabin maintenance? There’s a bigger problem: the assistant manager happens to be one of (many) teasing classmates from my childhood and my former crush.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Snoozer for the Season
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 12-20-24
- Solo for the Season
- A Sweet Romantic Comedy (Gift-Wrapped Romance)
- By: Martha Keyes
- Narrated by: CJ Locks
Fun holiday romance!
Reviewed: 01-06-24
Listened to this audiobook as another shorter holiday read/listen. I actually kind of liked the idea of a holiday on my own. Not that I have issues with my family, I love the family time of holidays! However I do so many things on my own, including trips/vacations, I thought this sounded like something fun to do some day. Maybe later on in life when my family is (knock on wood it’s not soon) gone or off doing other things as my niece and nephew grow up. It would have been nice to maybe have a separate male narrator, but it worked out okay with the one narrator that I could enjoy it. Maggie had a lot of negative thoughts that at a certain point I was relieved when she finally stopped herself from thinking them. It was a bit annoying, even as I know that I do the same thing. Some bits were predictable, but overall it was a fun and sweet holiday romance, and quick to read as well!
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If the Shoe Fits
- A Meant to Be Novel
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Jen Ponton
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 822
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 736
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 735
With a shiny new design degree but no job in sight, Cindy moves back in with her stepmother, Erica Tremaine, the executive producer of the world’s biggest dating reality show. When a contestant on Before Midnight bows out at the last minute, Cindy is thrust into the spotlight. Showcasing her killer shoe collection on network TV seems like a great way to jump-start her career. And, while she’s at it, why not go on a few lavish dates with an eligible suitor?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best book I’ve listened to in a long time!
- By LK on 08-13-21
- If the Shoe Fits
- A Meant to Be Novel
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Jen Ponton
4.5 stars!
Reviewed: 01-06-24
I adored this one. And it has made me re-evaluate my YA novel I wrote that was my own Cinderella retelling where her name was Cindy. I loved how in this one our stepmother and stepsisters were not wicked, but good people. I loved that the triplet’s names were I believe the same names as the mice in the Disney Cinderella movie. And I loved how the actual shoe was checked to fit at the end, how that was even flipped. The reality tv show aspect was perfect as well. I personally have always wanted to see more shows with normal people. Not all the glamorous movie-star looking women only. So I would watch the heck out of a show like this. My only complaint was that she didn’t check with him about why he would pick the way they said he might at the end. That she kind of left him in a way others in his life had. But this book had me with tears at the end, and I loved how it was also resolved without a lot of hateful words or drama once everyone had some time. Now I need to read the others in the series which I know are by other authors!
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