Notorious

Audiobook Review:
Overall – 3
Performance – 4
Story – 3

I was surprised to learn that this was first published in 2021.

I requested a review copy of this audiobook because I’ve come to love Todd McLaren’s voice (even though his female voices still make me cringe a bit). There’s just something about the timber of it that I find soothing. Because the Diana Palmer books tend to be such that I don’t need to listen to the text carefully, I can multi-task with no problem and just enjoy listening to Todd’s voice.

I’ve only recently started to read/listen to books by Diana Palmer and most of them were written over 20 years ago. I was able to excuse a lot of the language, attitudes towards women, etc. in those early books because things were much different in the romance world back then. If the original publication date for this book really is in 2021 then I’m afraid that some of the things contained in this story are head-banging worthy for this day and age.

I won’t go into details because other reviewers have already done that. I will say that I did enjoy the story enough to finish listening to the audiobook (mostly due to Todd McLaren) and I just ignored the parts that made me cringe.

A complimentary copy of this audiobook was provided to me at my request but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and/or narrator.

*3.5 stars*

A little lie never hurt….

I’ve been reading this author for ages. It shouldn’t surprise me but I’ve been reading these Texans for fifty-plus books? Lol, yes, I blinked.

What started out as an unexpected way to get an “in” with Jake Chandler, soon turned into a life-changing experience for Gaby Dupont. Gaby came from privilege but she was down-to-earth and realistic. When opportunity knocked to help with a life-changing problem, she had to take it. It was sneaky and technically lying but she was desperate and it was only one little white lie… Jake didn’t know what to make of Gaby. She was outspoken and direct, a little mysterious and a whole lotta captivating…

I enjoyed Gaby and Jake’s story. It was low heat but with a sparkly banter that was totally engaging. She was a lady but had no problem speaking her mind. She also had insight and compassion along with her easy way of getting to the heart of things. Not being mean or spiteful, but through honesty and frankness, she managed to get her message across. Jake was a man who didn’t suffer any fools and wanted his way. Gaby was his employee but she was not a ‘yes’ person and pushed him every day. Soon, he found it refreshing and inviting…

Simplicity in a story is a double-edged sword and even with the family drama (times two) in this read, I struggled at times to stay engaged. Despite that, the characters won me over early and the question about how it would all play out kept me flipping all the pages until the satisfying conclusion.

*I happily reviewed this story
**Thank you to NetGalley

Let me start by stating that I have read every one of Diana Palmer’s books, and while I started reading her nearly 30+ years ago, and for the past decade, I keep wondering why. Yes, her novels are formulaic to the nth degree. Yes, her heroes are all big and brawny. Yes, they all have dark hair, especially the forests of it on their chests. Yes, they always jump to the wrong conclusions about the traumatized, mid-twenties, good hearted, and misunderstood, virginal heroines, and yes, somewhere in the novel there’s a lot of filler about a number of Ms. Palmer’s previous characters, who all live and work in Jacobsville, Texas, were or have been mercenaries, and the mention of apparently the only cattle breed known to Ms. Palmer, Santa Gertrudis, and sadly, this novel has all of the above. The only saving grace in this novel was that, for a change, she didn’t refer to the hero as “dishy.” Since all of the aforementioned are present in Notorious, just the fact that it was set in Chicago instead of Jacobsville, was enough for me to hope for better, but it never came, although I did find other objectionable content in this novel, which is the reason for my giving it a one-star rating.

The heroine, Gaby Dupont, inadvertently gets a job cataloging the library of noted lawyer, Nick Chandler, when the temp he was expecting was late for her interview, and Gaby knocked on his door at just the right time, and saw an opportunity to ferret out information regarding an upcoming lawsuit brought by a a distant relative who wanted her inheritance. Rather than simply ask him, she gets hired under false pretenses, is wildly attracted to the dark and brooding attorney, although she’s sworn off all men since her grandfather sold her off to be gang raped when she was just 16 years old to pay off his gambling debts. Luckily, he and his cronies were stopped in the nick of time, leaving Gaby afraid of men, and in dire need of psychotherapy to deal with her subsequent trauma and issues. Her grandmother, who raised her after Gaby’s parents died, and who was one of the wealthiest women in Chicago, could certainly afford sending her to a therapist. Why didn’t she?

While Gaby was a sympathetic character at first, when she meets Nick’s 15-year-old niece, Jackie, whose mother, Nick’s sister, drops her off to date wealthy men she meets, Gaby immediately judges Jackie on her Goth appearance and choice of wardrobe, and proceeds to slut-shame her. Have I mentioned my dislike of liars? Gaby, in order to spy on Nick, lies a lot, and she also has an odd tendency of making flippant remarks she thinks are witty, but that are both unwelcome and uncalled for. Although she eventually tries to protect Jackie from her convicted sex offender and older boyfriend, I simply couldn’t tolerate her lies, her flippancy, and her judgmental and archaic attitudes.

I didn’t think much of Nick Chandler as the hero either. He was rude, abrupt, and ignored his niece almost entirely, and except for bailing her out of jail a couple of times, was cold and distant to her the rest of the time. He flaunts his latest bed partner, Mara, in front of Gaby, and Mara is a gold-digging, and thoroughly unlikable character as well. Nick too has suffered tragedy in his life, but as horrible as it was, also sought no help from anyone in the medical profession, nor did he even attempt going to grief counseling. Yes, he had a terrible and abusive childhood, but he’s now well into his thirties, and I found no excuse for his rude and obnoxious behavior.

The final insult involved Gaby returning to, you guessed it, Jacobsville, Texas, which was the reason for all the irrelevant and unnecessary filler I mentioned earlier, as well as long and detailed history of what happened at the Alamo more than one hundred years ago.

Yes, like all of Ms. Palmer’s novels, there’s an eventual and late appearing HEA ending for these two unlikable characters, but it certainly wasn’t enough to redeem them or this novel for this reader. I simply cannot recommend it.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.