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Saturday, June 17, 2017

Heavy Weather by Normandie Fischer: Blog Tour with Audiobook Review

Narrator: Laura Jennings

Length: 11 hours 7 minutes

Publisher: Normandie Fischer⎮2017

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

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Death, life, family, domestic abuse--Heavy Weather explores all these themes in a memorable and compelling narrative. When Annie Mac's life explodes like a storm at sea, she is helpless to fight back. Left for dead, her two children targeted by her abuser, her life appears to be over. The people who help her show her how to weather a storm that she cannot control.   It takes a town to save a child. That town is Beaufort, North Carolina.   Annie Mac’s estranged husband vows that nothing will stop him from getting his baby girl. Not Annie Mac and certainly not that boy of hers.   Only four blocks away, Hannah Morgan lives in comfort with her husband and dog, making pottery and waiting for her best friend to come home. When she discovers the two children cowering in the bushes and their mama left for dead, it doesn’t take her long to set her coterie of do-gooders to some extra-strength do-gooding. Add in Clay, a lonely police lieutenant yanked out of his comfort zone and into the heart of this small family, and who knows what will happen?   From the author of Becalmed comes this latest tale of the Carolina coast, introducing some new characters to love--and to loathe.

 

My Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Photos: Blog Tour

I was sent this audiobook for a blog tour.

I listened to this on audiobook. I was not the biggest fan of the narrator, but she did grow on me as the story went on. This is book two, and after listening to this I will be picking up book 1. This was a great standalone, and you do not have to read book 1 to enjoy and understand this story.

If you do not like reading about heavy topics such as family violence, substance abuse, and sexual abuse then this book is not for you. This is also told in different POV (Hannah, Royce, Clay, Annie Mac). I am not normally a fan of these different POV, but it was done well. There are several side stories which I could have done without. I know Hannah played an important role in the beginning, but I do not think we needed her POV throughout the rest of the story.

This starts off with an incident of physical abuse which was intense. It caught my interest right away. I planned to start dinner, but after the first chapter I could not walk away from the computer as I wanted to know what was going to happen.

This also gives you the POV through Roy, which brought another great aspect to the story. I hated him and these made me just hate him even more.

I did not like how they blame Annie Mac for what happened in the beginning. Victims of family violence have reasons why they do not leave, and she was divorcing Royce. However; I do think the author did a good job of what “society” would feel about abuse victims, even if it makes me mad. I work within the DV field, so I am critical of this topic. I do like everyone seemed to understand more once they got to know Annie Mac and the children more.

I was not sure how the romance was going to work in this, but I found myself smiling as soon as glimpses of the romance started. It was not a developed romance though, and I would have liked to see more with Clay and Annie Mac.

Overall, this was a really quick read as it really did hold my attention. I look forward to reading more from this author.

 

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Normandie Fischer studied sculpture in Italy before receiving a BA, summa cum laude with special honors in English. Her books, which have garnered numerous awards, include her Carolina Coast stories: Becalmed, Heavy Weather, Twilight Christmas, and Sailing out of Darkness. From Fire into Fire and Two from Isaac’s House—a Romantic Times Top Pick—form the beginning of her Isaac’s House series. A lifelong sailor, Normandie and her husband spent a number of years on board their 50-foot ketch, Sea Venture, in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, sailing home to North Carolina in 2011 to take care of her mother. They have four children, two grandchildren, and an aussiedoodle named Rhion.
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    Having graduated with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Laura has an intrinsic appreciation of the mechanisms and techniques that comprise the art of the tale. She's able to analyze the underlying moods and currents of a book and bring these into her interpretation of the author's work. She believes her place as narrator is to be the facilitator for all the nuances of the spoken word and the written word between the author and the listener. Her naturally clear and fresh voice as narrator contributes that extra dimension of enjoyment.   Laura works full time as a professional narrator and voice-over artist. She has narrated titles for Tantor Media, Audible Studios, Dreamscape Media, Insatiable Press and Cherry Hill Publishing. She enjoys a quiet lifestyle in the Pacific Northwest with her loving husband and aged beagle, Dottie. Her days are filled with narrating, yoga, hiking and, of course, always reading.
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 Jun. 7th: CGB Blog Tours   Jun. 8th: A Book and A Latte   Jun. 9th: Read Day and Night   Jun. 10th: Lilly's Book World   Jun. 11th: Buried Under Books   Jun. 12th: Ronelle Antoinette   Jun. 13th: Lomeraniel   Jun. 14th: Wall-to-Wall Books   Jun. 15th: Blogger Nicole   Jun. 16th: The Book Addict's Reviews   Jun. 17th: Simply Kelina   Jun. 18th: Avid Book Collector   Jun. 19th: hristian Chick's Thoughts   Jun. 20th: Spunky-n-Sassy

 
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1 comment:

  1. Kelly, I'm so glad you enjoyed Heavy Weather. If you'd like to follow the romance of Annie Mac and Clay, you can pick up a copy of the novella, Twilight Christmas, in ebook, paperback, or audiobook format. I'd recommend that you read book one, Becalmed, and not listen to its audiobook, as I'm afraid the publisher's choice of narrator for that first book proved less than stellar. Laura Jennings narrated Twilight Christmas as well as Heavy Weather, so you'll hear the continuity there. She's now working on book 4, Sailing out of Darkness.

    I also have two other books that aren't in the Carolina Coast series, but are set in Italy and the Middle East. A fantastic male narrator tackled the first of those, Two from Isaac's House.

    I love listening while I cook or clean or exercise, so I'm thrilled to have mine in that format. Thank you again for taking the time to listen and review.

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