Sandy M’s review of Invincible (Long, Tall Texans, Book 49) by Diana Palmer
Contemporary Western Audio CD Romance published by Brilliance Audio 27 Jan 15
I don’t listen to a lot of romance in audio, mostly because the narrators don’t work for me. Thus, mysteries and thrillers are my go-to when driving. But when I happen upon a romance author in CD perhaps at a thrift store or my local Friends of the Library book sale, I’ll take a chance. I know Diana Palmer is popular with a huge amount of romance fans. I’ve read only one other book of hers and now I couldn’t even tell you the title – and I recall I had the same reaction to it as I have to this one.
Don’t like it one bit. Firstly, the narrator is horrible when reading the hero, Carson, a Lakota Sioux – makes him sound like someone with a stick up his butt. The other voices are fine, at least in the half dozen or so chapters I listened to. Also, the way Carson is portrayed in voice is not anything what he looks like on the cover, let alone he’s blonde in the story.
Then there’s just the writing. Not good. Maybe the biggest factor is there’s nearly fifty books in this series. Seriously? I would have imagined that someone of Diana Palmer’s ilk in writing romance all this time, she would have gotten better over the years. Most authors do. So if this is an example of her writing, it’s definitely not for me.
I don’t like the way Carson treats Carlie, the way he talks to her. It’s not teasing, it’s not fun, it’s not romantic in the beginning – how it changes into love I, of course, have no idea. His attitude toward her is actually pretty degrading. I know she’s younger than he is, but he’s much too condescending – even sending her to the hospital with an asthma attack when he advances on her in anger. Silly scenes. He really irritated me when he makes a comment about her paying a date at the end of the night (yes, sexual favors are definitely inferred because of his tone of voice). And also speaks to her in such a horrible way in front of her father. There are so many other examples, and I was done.
Carlie’s age/innocence isn’t consistent even in these few chapters. She goes from totally naive to a know-it-all within a few pages. It also fees like an info dump the way she goes on about historical figures, from Native American to war-time heroes and other things I just don’t recall now.
The inconsistencies in the writing is also quite distracting. At a Valentine Day dance, Carson brings a date – they get out of the limo. but even before that, the woman’s dress – or lack thereof according to Carlie – is described while they’re still behind tinted windows. Then they get out of the limo. Again. Plenty of scenes like that throughout.
So I got tired of rolling my eyes while listening. Ms. Palmer has plenty of fans, so I’m sure I won’t be missed at all.
Grade: DNF
Summary:
He’s everything she fears…and everything she wants
Mercenary by name and by nature, Carson is a Lakota Sioux who stays to himself and never keeps women around long enough for anything emotional to develop. But working with his friend Cash Grier on a complex murder investigation provides Carson with another kind of fun—shocking Cash’s sweet-but-traditional secretary, Carlie Blair, with tales of his latest conquests.
Then Carlie lands in deep trouble. She saw something she shouldn’t have, and now the face of a criminal is stored permanently in her photographic memory…and Carlie is the key piece of evidence that could implicate a popular politician in the murder case.
Her only protection is Carson—the man she once despised. But when she learns that Carson is more than just a tough guy, Carlie realizes she’s endangered herself further. Because now her only chance to live means losing her heart to the most dangerous kind of man.…
No excerpt available.
