Saving Grace, Author Katie Graykowski, Narrated by: Pam Dougherty

Saving Grace: The Lone Stars, Book 2
The Lone Stars Series
Written by: Katie Graykowski
Narrated by: Pam Dougherty
Audio Book

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Narrator Pam Dougherty

Narrator Review:
Pam Dougherty definitely has a handle on the persona of Grace Kelley and her narration is so fantastic that you just want to sit back and listen, until voila, you're at the end and left wanting more. Ms.Dougherty has a peach of a voice, sultry, languid and all encompassing. Did I mention seductive. She does great voices for all the characters. If you love romance books, you will be pleased with Ms. Dougherty's narration, she made a good book even better.

Audio Book Review: Saving Grace By Katie Graykowski

Author Katie Graykowski

A nearly broke and homeless Grace Kelley by sheer happenstance saves a teen, from being molested by a man that was way too old for her. Coco met him on the internet, but, when her after dinner fiasco left her in a compromising position it was lucky for her that Grace overhead her hassling with him and stepped in and cooling left him laid out on the ground.

Grace kelley is the kind of mother any child would adore, fun, creative, understanding and actually pays attention to them. What's not to like. Coco knew who Grace was already because of an incident that left her with the moniker 'the nipple lady' imagine her surprise to find out she has a following on Twitter. Grace just wants to sing and make enough to move her Uncle to a better Retirement Center and too support herself. So with no steady gigs, she takes to busking and relying on tips.

Coco's father, Chord Robbins is the coach for an NFL team, the Austin Lone Stars and is so full of himself he's pretty hard to take. After saving Coco from being raped and staying with her and his twin sons you'd think he'd be pretty grateful but no, he gets into an argument with Grace about parenting and he kicks her out. She did make a big impression on him and he can't seem to stop thinking about her but he's to stubborn to take any advice from her.



Coco with her eight year old twin brothers take a cab to where Grace is busking in front of the Austin Convention Center. Grace make Coco text her dad to tell him where they are and that she'll take them home later. After much texting with Chord, and him apologizing for his bad behavior, Grace takes a few moments to gloat, then she takes the kids for a fun day of snow cones and train rides at Zilker Park.

This is how Grace ends up as their live in babysitter. Chord's life is turned upside down and he is loving it. Grace is great with the kids, can cook good and the kids like her. For Grace, the pay is great, she is crazy about the kids and she is no longer homeless. Chord turns out to be a really decent guy and their is a certain spark between them. Grace sensibly fights her feelings and his, knowing that a relationship gone sour could leave the kids in a bad position.

Well we know they can only keep up the pretense for just so long before they have to give into their feelings. It does go well until distrust rears it's ugly head and Grace is in just the spot where she dreaded it could become if they became lovers.

There were so many parts of the book I liked but one of my favorites was when the twins are punished and have to volunteer at the Animal Shelter. kindhearted Grace feels so sad for Clementine, a half Pyrenees and half Saint Bernard dog with no chance of being adopted. Grace takes him home, just until they find him a permanent home.

Pam Dougherty does such a beautiful job narrating I can't imagine anyone else as reader or being Grace Kelley. Fabulous is the one word that comes to mind. This is just a great romance story with a lot of laughs, well grounded advice and good depictions of how parents 'should' act.

Winston Churchill Reporting, Author: Simon Read Narrator: Simon Vance

Winston Churchill Reporting
Author: Simon Read
Narrator: Simon Vance
Producer: Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Audio Book: 8 hrs 48 min

Narrator Review: Simon Vance

Simon Vance Narrator

I give Simon Vance 10/10 

Simon Vance is one of my very favorite narrators. His voice is extraordinary in tone and presentation. He easily flows between emotions and merges the text in smoothly, which enhances the story tremendously. In Winston Churchill Reporting, you could almost believe you're listening to Churchill himself. A five star narration and one would expect no less than this from Mr.Vance. Listening to anything Simon Vance reads is Chicken Soup for the soul,

Audio Book Review: Winston Churchill Reporting
By Simon Read                                                                  My rating is 7/10

Simon Read Author

Churchill sensed his own destiny was for something great. 

Winston Churchill was a powerful and complicated man that guided Great Britain through World War 2. It seems this was to be his destiny and the world is grateful for his fortitude and the unrelenting energy to bend wills and courses of action to his firm unwavering direction.

Churchill's father didn't seem to like his own son.

As a child Churchill was enthralled with his toy soldiers and played with them for hours, moving them into positions of battle formations that seemed intricate and well planned. A chance visit to the nursery caught his fathers attention to the well laid out battalions. Nonetheless, Winston was always a disappointment to his father, he thought Winston was lazy and obstinate, and was convinced Winston wouldn't amount to a row of beans.

Never measured up in youth to his parents standards

When he was sent to boarding school as was the custom, reports came back that were not praising Winston and they reinforced his fathers belief that Winston would come to nothing. One gets the feeling that his father didn't care much for him anyway and even had he conformed to his ideas of what a proper young man is, it's not likely his father would have cared about him anyway.




Winston Churchill's chilly parents are absent from the lives of their children.

His mother as well as his father were too busy with their own lives and Winston and his brother relied on their nursemaid to fulfill their needs for affection. It is only when Winston, as an adult reaps any benefits from the connections garnered through those activities.

Winston Churchill as seen through his own eyes, childhood through World War 11

I definitely liked this book and it moves along a fast pace which kept me wanting more. Winston Churchill has been covered in a number of books but I enjoyed this one the most as it covers his youth, through WW11. through his own eyes and thoughts.

Mr. Monk Goes to Germany, By Lee Goldberg, Angela Brazil, Narrator

Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
Monk, Book 6
By Lee Goldberg
Narrator: Angela Brazil
Audio Book:

Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Narrator Angela Brazil

Angela Brazil does some excellent German accents and as always she does such an exceptional reading for every character in the book. I've listened to most the Monk books a few times and find new things to appreciate each time about her narration. Her pacing and ability to capture and convey so much of the emotional context is stunning and top notch. Her rendition of Julie, Natalie's teen daughter getting snotty with her is priceless. I never tire of her lovely feminine voice and skilled reading of the Mr. Monk Series.

Audio Book Review: Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
By Lee Goldberg

Author Lee Goldberg

Monk suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and has extreme phobia's about almost everything plus a compulsion to make everything in the world symmetrical, from the shape of his ice cubes to the number of floors in a hotel, even the room number must be an even number. His assistant Natalie runs interference between him and anything that might "violate the laws of nature" and with Monk that could be just about anything.

Monk's world is turned upside down when Dr.Kroger tells him he's going to a week long  conference in Germany. Monk really freaks out when Kroger tells him Dr. Jonah Sorenson will see him while he's gone. Monk knows that Sorenson only has one arm which goes against Monk's balance of nature. Monk is barely able to function and Natalie wonders if she can last the week.



Becoming desperate, Monk decides to take dioxynl, an experimental drug that blocks his OCD and phobia's, it's like kryptonite is to Superman. Unfortunately with his inhibitions gone so are his crime solving abilities. Yet, it's the only way he can fly to Germany to have his appointment with Dr.Kroger.

It is no surprise that Natalie once again is not going to have a pleasant vacation because wherever Monk goes the bodies seem to pileup. Germany turns out to be a shocker of a trip for Mr. Monk when he see's the six fingered man with Dr. Kroger and jumps to the conclusion that they are in cahoots together, conspiring to prevent Monk from solving the murder of his wife Trudie. The only murder Monk has never been able to solve.