How To Get a Full Audiobook of any Book in Fiction, Historical

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Title: Peppino: A Nineteenth Century Medici

Author: Seth Coleman

Narrator: Seth Coleman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-24-13

Publisher: Seth Coleman

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Seth Coleman's Peppino introduces readers to a young Italian boy who is destined for greatness but first must overcome grave obstacles in order to fulfill his potential. Born in nineteenth-century southern Italy, Peppino is the son of the baroness of Bologna. A member of the famous Medici family, one of the most prominent families in European history, the baroness expects her son to claim his role of baron and accept his rightful place among the aristocracy. However, the precocious Peppino rebels against his upper-class position, setting off on his own to fight for the common people.

Ultimately a story of good versus evil, religion versus God, and hypocrisy versus righteousness, Peppino examines history through the lens of the personal. Through his novel, Coleman offers readers a human story with breathtaking scope.

Critic Reviews:

"A fast moving historical tale of religious and class conflicts, told with a personal touch. Coleman...jumps quickly from one action-packed event to another in fast-paced storytelling that's highly enjoyable." (Kirkus Reviews)

"I was drawn into his world and into his time and space. I was truly changed by the experience of reading Peppinos story - a rare glimpse into a way of life separated by time and circumstance." (Joseph P. Thomas, features writer and researcher)

Members Reviews:

unfinished

we got thru the first chapter and stopped. when a seven year old character is using big words, it just doesn't sound believable.

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Title: Captive's Trail

Subtitle: Golden Hawk Series, Book 8

Author: Will C. Knott

Narrator: Maynard Villers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-17-13

Publisher: Books in Motion

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Golden Hawk's beautiful sister Annabelle had been kidnapped by a Comanche band, and Hawk knew all too well what was being done to her. Even more maddening was his discovery that she was being passed from hand to hand as he pursued her abductors. The Comanches, the Blackfoot, and then a mammoth mountain man named Gar Trimm, all in turn took possession of her as Golden Hawk battled the cruelest odds of nature and man to free Annabelle and wreak a revenge that made death sweet...

Members Reviews:

"THE ULTIMATE HUNT"

First off the title of this western novel is CAPTIVE'S TRAIL, not 'Captive" as shown by Amazon. The book was released in June, 1988, in a series of 9 books all written by Will C. Knott. The series concerns the mountain man era in the west from the 1830s and 1840s and the Rocky Mountain fur trade. The 9 novels fictionally capture well the forts, mountain men, Indians, and situations in general as it pertained to that era. The books came into existence long before the Wilderness series from David Thompson (David Robbins) but each series does very well in offering interesting stories of that mountain man era. Readers of the Wilderness series, much larger series, may enjoy this small series of 9 books as well, I have both series of books and enjoy them equally.

The main character in each book is Jed Thompson otherwise known as Golden Hawk. Hawk and his sister, Annabelle, were captured by the Comanche early on with Hawk escaping while his sister was traded to a couple different tribes before he could rescue her. In this eighth book she is again taken by the Comanche, and then stolen by the Blackfoot with Golden Hawk again forced to try and rescue his golden haired sister from Indians meaning both of them harm.

Along the way this book is people with fictional people but also by people of history from the time of the mountain man: Joe Meek, Kenneth Mackenzie, and Old Bill Williams, among others, along with Fort Union-an American Fur Company site, and Fort Hall-a Hudson's Bay site. Golden Hawk along with his trail partner, Tames Horses, an aged Nez Perce Indian chief, will all play their part in trying to rescue Annabelle from harm's way.

The story is set back in the era of the mountain man just as the beaver trade is dying out and the bison (buffalo) are becoming valuable as lap throws back in the east. If you are interested in this era, say 1840 onward, then this series of books may be of some interest to you. The books are all well written with plenty of action.

Recommended.

Semper Fi.

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Title: Sword of the Wild Rose

Author: Ruth Carmichael Ellinger

Narrator: Mike Ortego

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-10-13

Publisher: Wildrose Series

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

When his young wife is brutally murdered in a senseless raid, Derick Davidson, son of a Scottish chieftain, seeks revenge. Suspected by the English authorities, he flees Scotland, arriving in Boston at the onset of the American Revolution. He meets the colorful frontiersman, Daniel Morgan, who talks of war and freedom.

But another war rages inside Derick's heart, a deadly conflict that challenges the very core of his political and spiritual beliefs. He follows one burning desire to be free. Morgan takes Derick to Virginia where he meets the winsome and beautiful Kearan Mackenzies. He teaches her to swordfight and Kearan learns the secrets of his troubled past. He learns of another freedom - a liberty greater than any king or country has to offer.

At the Battle of Point Pleasant, Wyandot Indians capture Derick and his uncle, a Longhunter, and former soldier of the Black Watch. Escape seems impossible and death inevitable. During this terrible impasse, the Longhunter points Derick to another weapon: a two-edged sword that slashes to the very thoughts of his heart.

Filled with danger, intrigue, and suspense, Sword of the Wild Rose explores the meaning of freedom, friendship, and prevailing love. We follow one man's spiritual journey from the depths of heartbreak and revenge to the liberating experience of divine forgiveness and the joy of unforeseen love.

Members Reviews:

Fascinating listen

Where does Sword of the Wild Rose rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

The top

What other book might you compare Sword of the Wild Rose to and why?

Girl in the Cage. They both have historical Scottish history and the same theme for struggling for freedom.

Which character as performed by Mike Ortego was your favorite?

Daniel Morgan

Who was the most memorable character of Sword of the Wild Rose and why?

Derrick Davidson. He portrays the struggle of every persons soul.

Any additional comments?

Sword of the Wild Rose by Ruth Carmichael Ellinger was beautifully performed by this narrator. The storyline was centered around events triggering the American Revolution. Ellingers vivid portrayal of the main characters is written into a heart-searching inspirational theme of loss and tragedy, of hope and recovery. The vivid imagery of Americas struggles for independence and the men and women involved, is taken from actual historic accounts. Our hero, Derick Davidson, is exiled from Scotland, fleeing to the Am. Colonies to find peace. He arrives on the brink of revolution. This is too tragic to comprehend. Daniel Morgan, freedom fighter and rifleman, befriends Derick and together they rally for American Independence. A tender love story is interwoven between the well-crafted sub-plots. The catch line is there is a freedom greater than king nor country has to offer, freedom of the spirit. A great audio book that will keep you listening long into the night. Fascinating listen for both men and women.

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Title: The Diamond Waterfall

Author: Pamela Haines

Narrator: Elisa Carlson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 24 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-10-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The Sparkling Cascade of diamonds was designed to adorn the women who married into one of England's most prominent families - a symbol of the wealth and privilege enjoyed by the Firths of Yorkshire. Instead the magnificent necklace would come to burden the women who wore it, becoming for them an emblem of bondage and inherited tragedy.

Pamela Haines' enthralling saga tells of three generations whose lives and destinies are linked through blood and inheritance of this priceless heirloom. There is Lily Greene, star of the London stage, who in 1898 weds the enigmatic sir Robert Firth, and for whom the diamond waterfall comes to symbolize a state of degradation and humiliation she never imagined possible. There is Lily's daughter, Sylvia, who is married for this fabulous legacy and leads a life of love and torment. And finally, there is Willow Gilmartin, who in the spring of 1945 removes the diamond waterfall from its bed of ivory satin - and at last claims a heritage that has for so long eluded others.

Sweeping from a great Yorkshire estate to the Riviera and across Europe - from the opulence of Edwardian London to the trenches of France in World War I and back to England during one of her most dramatic hours - this panoramic novel interweaves the lives of men who would fight on the battlefields of two world wars and women who would carry forward the traditions that defined them.

Pamela Haines was born in Yorkshire, like so many of the characters in her novels. Knaresborough, Leeds, and Harrogate have all played a part in her family background. She was educated at a convent in the Midlands, and then read English at Newnham College, Cambridge. As a child she wrote nonstop, but around the age of 17 life became too busy, and she did not write again until her late 30s, by which time she was married to a doctor, and had five children.

In 1971 she won the Spectator New Writing Prize with a short story, and eventually completed her first novel, Tea at Gunter's, in 1973. Critically acclaimed, it was the joint winner of the Yorkshire Arts Association Award for Young Writers. It was followed in 1976 by A Kind of War, described as 'a book to re-read and treasure' in the Daily Telegraph, and the even more successful Men on White Horses followed in 1978.

Members Reviews:

Another cracking family saga from Pamela Haines

From the minute the story starts we're thrown into the life of Lilly Greenwood and ask what's going to happen now! Throughout the book the story introduces new characters that wind and intertwine with the other characters creating a clever family saga that keeps you entertained and wanting to know what's gong to happen next.

Pamela Haines was in the 80's one of the bestselling family saga writers and although maybe the style of writing is a little dated the story still is a very satisfying listen indeed. It's good to see all of her books here on Audible to enjoy again.

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Title: The Crown of Castile

Subtitle: How Isabel Happened to Become Queen

Author: Beverly Enwall

Narrator: Beverly Enwall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-03-13

Publisher: Asgaard Viking Editions

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In mid-15th century Spain, King Henry IV ruled Castile. Well-meaning and trusting, Henry's rule and fondness for his male lovers - one of whom, the son of a laundress, was widely chronicled as 'foul-mouthed' - and for many things Moslem provoked reactions ranging from the widespread loyalty of the common people to assassination attempts by the Barons.

The real wielder of power was the Marquis of Villena, referred to in chronicles as the "hand from hell in the velvet glove." This is the story of how, through events and unlikely love affairs among the rich and powerful, Henry's obscure half-sister Isabel became Castile's most famous Queen.

Members Reviews:

THE AUTHOR NARRATING HER OWN WORK RUINS IT! AWFUL!

Would you try another book from Beverly Enwall and/or Beverly Enwall?

Probably not. As an audiobook, this story falls flat. The story may or may not be good but the narration makes it difficult to follow. Just because you're a writer doesn't make you a narrator.

What do you think your next listen will be?

It certainly won't be anything read by this person!

Would you be willing to try another one of Beverly Enwalls performances?

Not in this lifetime!! I don't think that authors reading their own works is a good idea. Beverly Enwall sounds like a 70 year old Sunday school teacher reading Bible stories to 5 year olds while trying to keep her dentures from falling out. She reads way too fast causing some words to be unintelligible. Why would the producer choose a person with a whiny American accent to narrate a book about Spain? This book would been better served with an experienced narrator who can do European accents or, at the very least, British. Someone like Simon Vance, Robin Sachs, John Lee, Wanda McCaddon or Nadia May could have done a much better job, giving the performance more depth and color. Beverly Enwell adds nothing to her own book.

What character would you cut from The Crown of Castile?

BEVERLY ENWALL!!!

Any additional comments?

I bought this book because I wanted to learn something about other ancient monarchs and countries after listening about 500 about England. However I could barely listen to this one because "the author as narrator" ruins it. She doesn't deliver the dialogue with a Spanish or Castilian accent and she doesn't use different vocal patterns for the various characters. The latter fumble wouldn't have bothered me if she had a more pleasant and compelling voice. Her vocal delivery is flat and uninteresting. Plus the actual recording has too much reverb so it sounds like it's being produced in a bathroom. This story itself may be good in print, but it is hard to listen to due to the poor narration. In the few chapters I could handle before giving up, I did notice that the author fails to develop the characters and she alludes to events without expanding on them. This book comes heavily recommended with 5 stars but that's based on about 5 ratings with no written reviews. I am the first Audible listener to review this book. I wish somebody had warned me away from it!

A word of advice to authors: STAY IN YOUR OWN LANE - WRITE, DON'T TALK!!

SIDEBAR: After writing this review, I decided I'd better do some research on the author.

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Title: Can You Hear the Music?

Author: Sandra Farris

Narrator: Steven Cooper

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-02-13

Publisher: Sandra G. Farris

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The year 1919 ended in tragedy for young Corey James. Her life is shattered when a car crash takes the lives of her beloved parents and she is forced to live with relatives she has never met before. Her aunt is verbally and physically abusive, until Corey has no recourse but to run away.

Disguised as a boy and, with the help of an old hobo, she begins a journey that takes her on a series of perilous and heartwarming adventures. As they ride the rails together, Andy Curruthers helps restore Corey's self-esteem, teaches her about life, and helps form the woman she will become.

Members Reviews:

Very good audiobook

Would you listen to Can You Hear the Music? again? Why?

Yes I will listen again .

Who was your favorite character and why?

Nobody in particular. All the characters are integral part of the story including the evil aunt.

Any additional comments?

All in all I like the story with its ups and downs. Good job to the writer and narrator.

An unforgettable read!

Would you consider the audio edition of Can You Hear the Music? to be better than the print version?

Yes! Audiobooks are always better than print books. Audiobooks off things like accents, proper pronunciations and loads of excitement in all the right places! Listening to an audiobook is like listening to a movie! it rocks!!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Andy is my favorite character. I liked almost all the people in the book, but it was Andy who made the story! Andy saved Corey and made a new life for her. Andy turned everyday into an adventure. It was Andy who had all the friends to help Corey & it was Andy who took Corey to Angelique & changed Corey's life forever! Andy also taught Corey to love everyone & be kind & generous even if you have next to nothing!

Have you listened to any of Steven Coopers other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't think I have listened to this narrator before. I enjoyed his reading very much.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Andy died, I was floored. All I could think was "Oh no!" . Poor Corey girl as Andy would say.

Any additional comments?

I truly enjoyed listening to this book! This is one unforgettable read that I will remember for some time!Kudos to the Author Sandra Farris for doing an outstanding job writing this book.

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Title: Kill Hawk

Subtitle: Golden Hawk, Book 5

Author: Will C. Knott

Narrator: Maynard Villers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 06-05-13

Publisher: Books in Motion

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It started when a gravely injured trapper named Pete Foxwell stumbled into Hawk's cabin. Before he died, he showed Hawk a bagful of gold coins, and told him about a hidden hoard of them. But he didn't say where.

Hawk should have buried those coins with Pete's corpse, but instead he spent them on supplies and let slip the story of the treasure waiting to be found. Suddenly Hawk found himself the most wanted man in the West as a band of sea-going land pirates decided they would nail his hide and grab the gold....

Members Reviews:

good read, will try to get the other books ...

good read, will try to get the other books in the series, by Will C. Knott.

Good Series

This is a thin book but I very much liked the character, I've read 8 in the series and liked them all

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Title: Studio Saint-Ex

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Ania Szado

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-04-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

This sleek, stylish novel set in 1940s New York, between the shock of Pearl Harbor and the landing of American troops in Europe, is a deft, romantic novel about a wartime love triangle involving a 22-year-old fashion designer poised to launch her career; the French expatriate writer and war pilot, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, whos left his Nazi-occupied country and come to Manhattan for a month, only to stay for two years; and his beautiful, estranged Salvadoran wife determined to winback her husband at all costs - and seductions.

With Paris under occupation by Hitlers troops, New Yorks Mayor La Guardia has vowed to turn his city into the new fashion capital of the world. A handful of American designers are set to become the industrys brightest names, and Mignonne Lachapelle is determined to be among them. Her ambition and ethics are clear until she falls for the celebrated and tormented adventurer Captain Saint-Exupéry.

In New York, Saint-Ex writes a new book on the fall of France, Flight to Arras,and collects (a year late) his National Book Award for Wind, Sand and Stars. But he suffers under exile and, todistract himself from his malaise, begins work on a new book at his US publishers offhand suggestion: an exotic fable.

Nothing about Migs tempestuous, romantic relationship with Saint-Ex is straightforward, but the greatest complication will come in the form of his deceptively simple manuscript about a petit bonhomme in the Sahara Desert fallen to earth on a journey across the planets.

Members Reviews:

Two Stars

I found it very contrived and repetitive.

An insightful story of two very different women in love with the author of The Little Prince

An insightful story of two very different women in love with the author of The Little Prince, during the second world war, as he was writing the famous book in Manhattan. On the background of historical events, the plot weaves the processes of creating in fashion and literature, and complicated interacting between fascinating personalities. The characters seem so true, that reading this book is almost like watching a movie.. Szado's prose is fluid and poetic. This book is unforgettable.

A highwayscribery Book Report

"Studio St. Ex" is about how talent alone is not enough to elevate those seeking fame, money, the bright lights and all that.

Mignonne Lachapelle is a young woman, not of humble means. She has an inheritance and the good will her father compiled serving the French ex-pat community of New York City in the 1930s and '40s.

Her desire is to be a fashion designer at the height of the World War II, when fabrics are being rationed and fashion is stalled, because life-and-death matters now occupy France, when France was fashion.

"Studio St. Ex" is told mostly by Mignonne, although a third person narration this reviewer could never figure out was delivering says of her:

"Fashion at its best was the most subtle and complicated of aphrodisiacs, and the girl had a witch's instinct for the nuances of desires."

To Consuelo, the girl has fire in her, "The stubborness and strength of a bulldog in the body of a whippet."

Through contacts made at what used to be her late father's club, Mignonne falls in with the St. Exuperys. That's St.

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Title: A House Near Luccoli

Author: D. M. Denton

Narrator: Laura Jennings

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 05-22-13

Publisher: All Things That Matter Press

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Over three years since the charismatic composer, violinist, and singer Alessandro Stradella sought refuge in the palaces and twisted alleys of Genoa, royally welcomed despite the alleged scandals and even crimes that forced him to flee from Rome, Venice, and Turin, his professional and personal life have begun to unravel again. He is offered, by the very man he is rumored to have wronged, a respectable if slightly shabby apartment and yet another chance to redeem his character and career. He moves in to the curiosity and consternation of his caretakers, also tenants, three women whose reputations are of concern only to themselves.

Donatella, still unmarried in her mid-30s, is plainly irrelevant. Yet, like the city she lives in, there are hidden longings in her, propriety the rule, not cure, for what ails her. She cares more for her bedridden grandmother and cats than overbearing aunt, keeping house and tending to a small terraced garden, painting flowers and waxing poetic in her journal. At first, she is in awe of and certain she will have little to do with Stradella.

Slowly, his ego, playfulness, need of a copyist and camouflage involve her in an inspired and insidious world, exciting and heartbreaking as she is enlarged by his magnanimity and reduced by his missteps, forging a friendship that challenges how far she will go.

Members Reviews:

Hard Listen.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I'm not sure that there are any redeeming qualities about the skill of the author or the narration to build upon.

Would you ever listen to anything by D. M. Denton again?

No.

How could the performance have been better?

Ms Jennings habitually takes a breath in the middle of a sentence, breaking it up into chunks of phrases, which was distracting and caused the narration to be choppy. However, a different narrator would not improve the story, in my opinion.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

I was expecting a more historically relevant story. Next time I'll look for a work by Irving Stone.

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Title: The Widow of Windsor

Author: Jean Plaidy

Narrator: Jilly Bond

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-01-13

Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Albert is dead and the queen is preparing to spend the rest of her life in mourning. Yet the last years of her reign are to be momentous ones. Palmerston, then Gladstone and Disraeli, govern her empire through the high noon of its heyday.

However, the court at Windsor, Balmoral, Osborne at Buckingham Palace is perpetually shocked by the actions of the queens son, the Prince of Wales. Forever in pursuit of horses, women and scandal, this is the heady harbinger of Edwardian years to come.

Members Reviews:

Lost and Longing

Albert, the love of her life is dead. What is Victoria to do? Her instinct, and only inclination, is to go into mourning and never emerge. Everything reminds her of him. Everything! She cannot forgive her son for his supposed part in the death of his father and she blames herself for letting him go. What's a queen to do?

This is the question on everyone's mind as the Victorian Era comes to a glorious close. Her children are growing up, marrying and having children of her own. Her grandchildren are causing problems; there is still the business of the ever expanding realm to deal with and her ever present, and intense, grief.

Plaidy does a wonderful job summing up the last years of Victoria's life. Those without her believed husband Albert.

There are some things lacking though. I felt like her, or rather England's involvement in affairs abroad, were very much glossed over and she didn't talk about a servant who was very much in Victoria's life at the end and deserved mention. Not John Brown, he is well featured.

However, these lapses weren't too bad, just disappointing. She does make up for it with a very good insight into Victoria's children's lives. I loved reading so much about Bertie's wife, Alexandra of Denmark (and not just because we share a name.) I liked that the book wasn't just completely concerned with Victoria, but those who now had more time with her due to the death of her husband.

This is the last book in the series and the last book in the entire English monarchy saga. It was well worth the 4 year wait I did to read and collect every last book in it.

She has written so many books that millions have enjoyed. This book is as great as all of ...

Jean Plaidy or her other pen names, Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr etc. is a genius with history. She has written so many books that millions have enjoyed. This book is as great as all of her other books. The intrigue of the courts, the main characters, and the stories become real to your eyes as you read each book of past history in a way that is enjoyable and factual. She was truly a one of a kind.

Five Stars

Satisfied

Not really pleased

Book smelled of old yellowed pages,

Five Stars

Very good