American Blonde Audiobook By Jennifer Niven cover art

American Blonde

Velva Jean, Book 4

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American Blonde

By: Jennifer Niven
Narrated by: Laura Hicks
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A fearless and spirited pilot conquers Hollywood. Now can she survive movie stardom?

In 1945 Velva Jean Hart is a bona fide war heroine. After a newsreel film of her triumphant return to America, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer promises to make her a star. They give her a new life story and a brand-new name. As "Kit Rogers", she navigates the movie sets, recording sessions, parties, staged romances, and occasional backstabbing that accompany her newfound fame. She also navigates real-life romance, finding herself caught between a charismatic young writer and a sexy and enigmatic musician from her past. But when one of her best friends dies mysteriously and the most powerful studio in the world launches a cover-up, Velva Jean goes in search of the truth - risking her own life, as well as her heart, in the process.

Set during Hollywood's Golden Age and peopled with a cast of unforgettable characters, American Blonde will mesmerize fans of The Chaperone as well as fans of the Velva Jean series.

©2014 Jennifer Niven (P)2014 Blackstone Audiobooks Coming of Age Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Mystery Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Crime Heartfelt Suspense
Engaging Storyline • Intriguing Mystery • Captivating Narration • Innocent Southern Voice • Smooth Voice
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I LOVED the first three books of this series and I was really hoping to love the 4th book, however, the person they picked to read this book had an older sounding, raspy voice. Velva Jean went from having a young, innocent, southern girl's voice, to a middle age smoker's voice. Maybe if I had read the book myself, I would not have had any issues with it. Admittedly, this story was not as good as the others, but I think it was still good - however, the voice killed it for me.

Ugggghhhhh - I could not get past the voice!

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I understand that the first narrators voice sounded very immature and perhaps wasn’t appropriate as the main character aged, but each narrator got further from a North Carolina voice/character. The second narrator sounded like a southerner who moved north and adopted a northern nasally sound. The third spoke in whispers and was sometimes boring. The fourth made the audio book unbearable. I struggled to finish it. At times I couldn’t distinguish one character from another. The stories were very interesting and seemed well researched. The last book was very boring, until the last half. Still yet, I appreciate the work that went into the series!

Too many narrators in the series.

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I loved the narrator of the 1st book.... I still do not understand why they would change on the next book... awful. .. then change AGAIN... so frustrating. .. it distracted so much from the story. the vouce for Velva Jean was way too old and poor Butch... just so wrong

narrator. ...

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An absolutely epic story! I didnt want it to end and would love to read more!

Epic!

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The action never stops in this sadly, last in the series of four bucks. Velvet Jean is every woman every one wants to be! She's daring and intelligent and funny and insecure and plainly herself.

Everything I wanted and more

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I purchased "Velva Jean Learns To Drive," "Velva Jean Learns To Fly," and then added to my library from Audible Plus "Becoming Clementine" and "American Blonde." This book, Book 4 in the series, is the worst book. All I can say is I'm glad I didn't have to purchase this last one because I'd be returning it. The title should be "Velva Jean Goes Off The Rails."

I can easily suspend my imagination and go soaring off to different places, different times, different almost everything. Yet I put the brakes on when characters, whose behavior is consistent in three books, suddenly veers off in a different direction in a fourth book. The action, as in the past books, picks up where the last left off. Then it goes off the rails.

If this was a stand-alone book, it'd do fine - especially the mystery in the latter half. Yet we're still supposed to be reading about Velva Jean, not a glamorous movie-star. It doesn't make sense. Velva Jean's dream her entire life was to sing for others and to write and record her songs. Nothing about Hollywood. Totally out of character.

It's a shame four different narrators were used for this series. Kathe Mazur, the narrator for the third book in the series, was the best narrator! Laura Hicks was the worst narrator for this series. Her voice didn't suit the character.

I highly recommend the first three books. I do not recommend the fourth book.

Velva Jean Goes Off The Rails

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Only wish the author had stayed with the original narrator as she had the perfect southern voice and sounded like a younger southern girl. Not sure why the narrator had to change 4 times as in my opinion it changed the overall feeling of the series. Hopefully, if there are more in the series the author will return to the original narrator. Nevertheless, after the first one I was compelled to buy the remainder in the series and I'm glad I did.

good series

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What happened to the narrator of the last 3books in this series. She was amazing! Hicks was so hard to believe as a still young velva Jean hart and was hard to follow as what character she was through out this book they all sounded the same ,only when she used a commonly used phrase ,little sister or pipes or any of the nicknames the characters gave each other was when you realize oh tjats who she is! awfully done. I don't WANT to rate any but S you know you have to sooooooo

Sorry the narration sounded like an old woman.

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The narrator made what could have been a decent book irritating to me. Too scratchy, and her “accents” don’t cut it. I loved the first three books. Of course, Jennifer Lamia’s narration was best. This gal sounds far too old for the age of Velva Jean and again, irritating. I can’t get into the story due to the narration.

Poor narrator choice

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This book is proof that a narrator can make or break a book. The original narrator was perfect! She is also the voice of Eugenia in ‘The Help’ which is one of my favorite books. The narrator for the second book was bad, and things only went downhill from there. One chapter in and I already am deleting this from my library. At some point I might get a hard copy of it and read it, but I simply cannot listen.

Terrible narrator

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