Narrated by Karen White

This is the fourth book in the Animal Magnetism series, set in Sunshine, Idaho. The first three books centered around the town’s kennel and vet clinic, and featured some notable pets and rescue animals. In Rumor Has It, the prodigal son, Griffin Reid, comes back from several tours in the Middle East, on medical discharge from a war injury. He’s also there for his sister Holly’s wedding (from the previous book Rescue My Heart). Holly’s best friend, Kate Evans, has carried the torch for Griffin for years, and now she wants to seduce him while he’s in town, to spice up her predictable, routine, school-marm life. Of course, Grif sees Kate as his little sister’s friend, totally off limits, until…

Yeah, that brother-sister code thing, where it’s some unwritten law that brothers don’t sleep with their sister’s friends, a law that is just begging to be broken. Kate’s an elementary school teacher as well – another stereotype that we all know is just that – teachers aren’t really any more prim and proper than anyone else!

I was a little sad that the only Notable Pets in this book were Thing One and Thing Two, Griffin’s father’s rescue dogs from the previous book. Neither Grif nor Kate have any animals, or even any encounters with animals in the book. Shalvis does a great job with the contemporary small town romance, with just a touch of humor and some silly situations to put me at ease. Since Kate is seducing Griffin at a wedding, they both go into the relationship assuming it’s a typical wedding fling, and Griffin will be leaving town, effectively ending it. In fact, Kate has a scholarship to a Master’s degree program in San Diego that she has been waffling about, so even she is (probably) planning to leave Sunshine after the affair has run its course. A “Fun Naked One Night Adventure” is how Kate puts it. But love has a way of sneaking into romance novels, with chemistry galore.

My one (or maybe it’s three?) quibble with this story happens with 2 hours left to go in the 9+ hour audiobook (not sure of the page number). Suddenly I felt like Diana Gabaldon stepped in to finish up the story as 3 – count ’em, 3 – different plot twists pile up one on top of the other to complicate the relationship. Kate is reconsidering whether she can bring herself to leave her father and siblings while she’s away in San Diego when Griffin decides maybe he can stay permanently in Sunshine on his father’s ranch after all. This gives Kate hope that she and Griffin can actually have a long-term relationship. But as he starts to settle in to ranch life, Griffin makes an unsettling discovery which changes the course of his life. Next, there’s an emergency that brings all the residents of Sunshine together, and while they’re all handing this emergency, one more emergency occurs that has Griffin reeling. It had me reeling too – it felt like all the times I have reread Outlander and wondered when Jamie and Claire will ever get to slow down! Do bad things really come in threes? Some of the plot devices felt forced and unnecessary, with the “villain” being stereotyped and two-dimensional. Considering her story and characters are usually better developed, this was a slight disappointment, but not a deal breaker. There was still great chemistry between the hero/heroine, and some funny and some emotional scenes.

Of course, Karen White’s narration is always a joy – her storytelling skills bring the book to life. She performs the characters well, with several seven-year-olds, an angsty teen, a couple of curmudgeonly dads as well as her fleshed out protagonists. She’s got the male register down to an art – she manages to make you believe her heroes have deep voices. She uses pacing as well as register to define her characters; she pitches her voice higher for Kate, with a slightly younger, more innocent sound, especially when she’s drinking at the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. And she is consistent in her performance of each character, so it’s always clear who is talking.

Conclusion: the story wasn’t as good as I was expecting, but it was still good, and the narration was great.

Melinda

Narration: A

Book Content: B-

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: none

Genre: Contemporary romance, small town

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Rumor Has It was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.

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