Almost too perfect...

Would you try another book from Jill Shalvis and/or Celeste Ciulla?

I would try another book by the same author and/or the same narrator. This was a nice book. Simply Irresistible is book one of the Lucky Harbor trilogy. This is the story of Maddie. She has lost Her job and broke up with her abusive boyfriend and goes to Lucky Harbor to work on the Inn her mother left her and her sisters as inheritance. Maddie goes throug a personal journey that is quite interesting and seeing the relationship with her sisters get better is really nice.

I don't think I'll get book two because it is narrated by the same person and the voice she gave Tara is way too old for the character. Tara sounds like a 45 yo smoker. So I'll skip that one and get book three (Chloe's story). It has a different narrator but sounds great.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was the best part of the book. It gave me the happy ending I love and you get to understand the characters so much more.

Did Celeste Ciulla do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Celeste Ciulla did a very good job differentiating the characters and she did an amazing job with the different male voices. The only thing I did not like was Tara's voice.

Do you think Simply Irresistible needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

The trilogy in order:
Simply Irresistible
The sweetest thing
Head over heels

It would be nice if the subsequent books revisited Maddie and Jax story.

Any additional comments?

I love romance books and I enjoyed this story but it was almost too perfect. Jax is the type of man that I cannot even imagine ever existing. He was just that perfect. I like fairytales as much as the next girl but come on, the author over did it a bit. Jax is gorgeous, has a law degree, has lots and lots of money and his values and integrity are so high he stops being a lawyer (I think the author has a very low opinion of lawyers), leaves everything and goes to Lucky Harbor to become a handyman (just for fun cause he's rich). Too good to be true? Well that's not all, he goes around saving people of Lucky Harbor from financial ruin and lends them money to save their business or house. He falls madly in love with Maddie and wants to make sure she is not sleeping with him just for the physical part but for love. He even refuses to have sex with Maddie at one point because he feels she is

13 people found this helpful

Good story but narration almost spoils it.

Not a fan of the narration. I've listened to a few books with narrators that I didn't enjoy but this is the first time that it impacted by enjoyment of the story. I kept trying to imagine the words not spoken by the narrator. Probably a much better book to read.

10 people found this helpful

Oh, Dear!

This book has an unimaginably thin plot. The principal female characters also suffer from arrested development.

Why do so many romance novels match the Strong Perfect Man with the Weak Pathetic Woman? Is this really romantic?

8 people found this helpful

Not for me

What disappointed you about Simply Irresistible?

The characters in Simply Irrestible we not irrestible to me. I found it difficult to bond with any of them. I was able to make it to the end of the book, but will not be interested in the series. The story was too predictable, and much of it was crude, instead of being romantic.
Two stars were generous.

10 people found this helpful

too bad...

read this book before & i LOVED it. too bad the narrator just killed it for me. maybe next time.
thanks.

3 people found this helpful

Cute Story

Listened for Fun (Audible)
Overall Rating: 4.25
Story Rating: 4.00
Character Rating: 4.50

Audio Rating: 3.00 (not part of the overall rating)

Part of my 25 Books for the Holidays for 2012

How Simply Irresistible put me in the Holiday Spirit: I love stories about sisters and them coming together for the Holidays! Also I love books that spread the Mistletoe liberally and Simply Irresistible did just that :)

What I thought of characters/story: Simply Irresistible was such a fun read. I laughed out loud at times and wanted to bear hug the sisters at other times. This was just a wonderful character driven story with a hot romance between Maddie and Jax. Can I just say that Jax was a wonderful leading man: giving, caring, but with a past that he needs to work through. More importantly, he was the first to “get it” where he and Maddie were concerned. I love Maddie but her past was a little more to work through so I am glad it took her longer to get there. I loved the sisters and can’t wait to read their stories and I think Lucky Harbor will be a place that I will love. As I know that I am one of the last to start this series, I am sorry it took me so long!

What I thought of the audio: This wasn’t my favorite Audiobook but it wasn’t horrible. The narrator, Celeste Ciulla, did a decent job with the female voices but she was way off with the males. The pacing was excellent and her voice was very clear. Her voices may not bother others as much as they bothered me. My suggestion is to listen to a sample first to determine for yourself.

3 people found this helpful

Simply Boring

I wanted to like this book. I was looking for a FUN, easy, cheesy engaging read. It was mostly cheesy with nothing else holding it together. The main characters are so boring and their romance is boring. I also didn't care much for the narrator. I wish I would not have blown a credit on this audio.

9 people found this helpful

Not for me

I didn't really like the story. Kinda lame and not quite logical. Don't recommend it for feminists. Maaayybbeee I can recommend it to conservative women.

1 person found this helpful

Ok story but narration is off

I really like Jill Shalvis’ books. But this one was had more sex than I felt necessary- and the narration just seemed a little off.
The broad story line was good- I liked the characters- they were developed adequately- but compared to other books by this author- I felt this one wasn’t as good.

Good story terrible narration

I am a stickler for listening/ reading book series in order so wanted to read Lucky Harbor from the beginning. I suffered through this for that reason. Really terrible narration :(