Aaron Albano narrates a second-chance romance between former friends who meet after 20 years. Quito Cruz knew Emmett Aoki in high school, before Emmett was a famous movie star. Back then, they were in choir together. Now Quito must convince Emmett to return for a charity concert. Albano makes Quito relatable, capturing his career and relationship frustrations. His roommate, Ujima, provides levity, and Albano's performance transcends their stereotyped character. But the star is Quito's father, for whom the benefit concert is being held. Albano flawlessly delivers his brusque and rapid-fire mix of English and Tagalog and projects the love he feels for his son and his son's students. Singing and musical cues add to the refreshing performance.
Pub Date: June 6, 2023
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668628683
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
After her divorce, Roberta Jewett, with her three daughters, returns to Camden, Maine, to start a new life. Such an independent move in 1916 brings difficulties with her mother, her in-laws and the townspeople. Dukes's performance, while skillful, sometimes suffer in scenes of emotional content. His pace slows, and his reading acquires the peculiar emphasis of someone trying to get instructions across to a non-English-speaking person. The effect is disturbingly laughable. When he resumes his normal pace, the story revives and personalities emerge again, but the awkwardness remains as an odd interruption to Spencer's drama of pain and love, dispelling Dukes's carefully constructed characterizations.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A young Southern woman marries into an aristocratic Boston family and spends her summers at a vacation community on the Maine coast. Heavy-handed abridgment reduces this novel to an outline which denies the listener any character development. Judith Ivey offers stereotypical dialects which are discordant to a New Englander's ear. In her interpretation the Down East Mainers speak like thugs in raspy voices. Her presentation of a Boston accent is phonetically erratic and also spoken in gruff tones. The color and flavor of Maine are missing from this tasteless rendition.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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