Tag Archives: Rachel Hauck

Audiobook Review: How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck

Title: How to Catch a Prince
Author: Rachel Hauck
Series: Royal Wedding, Book 3
Print Publisher: Zondervan
Audio Publisher: Oasis Audio
Narrator: Eleni Pappageorge
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance
Published: February 2015
Length: 11 hours and 26 minutes, Unabridged

Book Description (from the publisher):

Behind him, beside him, before him, the synchronized cathedral bells began to ring out.

One, two, three . . .

Then she said it first. The words his heart burst to share. “I love you, Stephen. You are my true prince.”

An American heiress and a crown prince seem destined to be together. Will the devastation of war keep them apart forever?

American heiress Corina Del Rey caught her prince once. But the tragedy of war kept her too long in a fog of grief. Now she’s shifting her life forward, reigniting her career as a journalist. Still, nothing can relieve her of the secret and the love she carries in her soul.

Prince Stephen of Brighton is one of the world’s most eligible bachelors and a star rugby player, trying to make sense of his life. His days in Afghanistan with the Royal Air Command will mark him forever. And he can’t seem to shake their dark shadow.

But when his brother, King Nathaniel, confronts him with a document the prince thought long buried and forgotten, Stephen is forced to face the pain of his past and the love he left behind.

With a little heavenly help, Prince Stephen and Corina embark on a journey of truth. But when the secrets are revealed, can they overcome and find love again?

My Thoughts on the Story:

After having enjoyed the audio editions of Once Upon a Prince and Princess Ever After as much as I did, I wasn’t about to miss out on listening to How to Catch a Prince, the third book in Rachel Hauck’s Royal Wedding series. I’m pleased to say, it lived up to my expectations, and I’m happy to recommend it.

Like the others in this series, How to Catch a Prince has a fairytale feel to it and features a romance plotline revolving around the fictional country of Brighton and its monarchy. But in keeping with what I’ve loved about this series so far, the story, characters, and themes in this installment were unique from those that came before.

This installment features Prince Stephen, a hero we’ve met before, and American heiress Corina Del Rey. Unlike in the earlier books, this romantic couple has a past, one with a lot of emotional baggage that has to be dealt with before they can find their happily ever after. And the theme centers on what it means to love well.

I found the main characters likeable, engaging, and well suited to each other. And the secondary characters were vividly portrayed. Gigi, Adelaide, Brill, and Clive Boston each added something special to the story with their unique personalities and quirks. And the Madeline and Hyacinth show with its hashtag, #HowToCatchAPrince was highly entertaining.

Overall, a fun read with a worthwhile message.

My Thoughts on the Narration:

Eleni Pappageorge ranks among my all-time favorite audiobook narrators. She has an amazing variety of vocal qualities she can employ to give each character a unique voice that is perfectly suited to his or her character. And I love how she injects feeling into her readings through intonation and varied pacing in dialogue and narration. Both British and southern accents are well done and varied from character to character. Let’s just say, if in doubt, the audio edition is the way to go. I could listen to these stories again and again.

Thank you to Oasis Audio for providing an electronic copy of this audiobook for review purposes.

Audiobook Review: Spring Brides by Rachel Hauck, Lenora Worth, and Meg Moseley

Title: Spring Brides
Authors: Rachel Hauck, Lenora Worth, and Meg Moseley
Narrators: Julie Lyles Carr, Christy Ragland, and Amber Quick
Published: March 2015 by Zondervan (print) and Brilliance Audio (audio)
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christian fiction, Novella Collection
Series: A Year of Weddings
Duration: 8 hours, 41 minutes, unabridged

“Happily ever after begins today. The honor of your presence is requested at three spring weddings….” (from the book’s description)

The Spring Brides collection features a re-release of three of the twelve novellas in Zondervan’s A Year of Weddings series – A March Bride, An April Bride, and A May Bride. Being a fan of contemporary Christian romance, I’m enjoying the opportunity that this series offers to sample shorter pieces by a variety of authors in the genre. I previously reviewed the audio edition of the Winter Brides collection, and am pleased to have the opportunity to review this one as well. Since each novella stands independently from others in this series, there’s no need to read them in any particular order. Nevertheless, it has been fun to read them during seasonally appropriate weather, so be sure to check this one out and be on the lookout for the Summer Brides collection, coming in May.

A March Bride by Rachel Hauck, narrated by Julie Lyles Carr

Susanna Truitt (Once Upon a Prince) is three weeks from royalty. She’ll soon marry King Nathaniel II of Brighton Kingdom. But when the government insists she renounce her American citizenship before the wedding, coupled with the lack of involvement by family and friends, Susanna’s heart begins to doubt whether this marriage is God’s plan for her.” (publisher’s description)

It was nice to reconnect with Susanna and Nathaniel from Rachel Hauck’s earlier book, Once Upon a Prince. The scope of this story felt well suited to its length, and it seemed a plausible extension to the earlier one. In fact, I rather liked the real-world feel to it where Susanna starts having second thoughts about her fairy tale. I also enjoyed the earthly analogy to a spiritual concept regarding citizenship. Bits of backstory from the earlier book are sprinkled here and there to refresh the reader’s memory or bring you up to speed if you haven’t read the earlier book, so this story can stand alone if necessary (though, if you ask me, there’s no reason not to read them both!)

The narration of A March Bride was clearly and precisely read in a pleasant voice. Unfortunately, it suffered a bit in comparison to the narration of Once Upon a Prince, which featured a distinctly southern accent for Susanna and a classy British accent for Nathaniel. I found myself missing those accents because the characters’ voices became a part of who they were, in my mind at least. Nevertheless, I did still enjoy listening to the novella.

An April Bride by Lenora Worth, narrated by Christy Ragland

Bride-to-be Stella Carson cannot wait another day to marry soldier Marshall Henderson. But when Marshall returns home to Louisiana, it becomes clear to them both that he is not the man he used to be. With only weeks until the wedding, Stella and Marshall must choose between a marriage built on the past and faith in long-ago love or a very different future than the one Stella imagined.” (publisher’s description)

I liked the concept behind this one and I found the ending pleasantly sweet and romantic, even if the timing was a little convenient for total plausibility. But the middle of the story turned out to be a little angsty for my taste. It felt like no matter what happened or what the characters were talking about, the characters’ thoughts and conversations kept circling back to the same dilemma with little forward (or backward) progress until nearly the end. There were some scenes I particularly liked – their carefree trip to the zoo comes to mind – but on the whole, this story wasn’t one of my favorites.

The narration got the job done in a clear and matter-of-fact style. Like the narration for the other novellas in this series, it’s a straight reading that doesn’t differentiate between characters’ voices.

A May Bride by Meg Moseley, narrated by Amber Quick

Ellie Martin, a country girl living in Atlanta, has dreamed of a traditional wedding all her life, but she’s missing a key ingredient to her plans for the future: a groom. Then Ellie meets Gray Whitby – at a wedding of all places. But when Ellie jeopardizes her own future for the sake of her sister, Gray feels like he’ll always be second to Ellie’s family. Can Ellie and Gray find their own way together amidst the demands and perceptions of others, or will their romance end before it has truly begun?” (publisher’s description)

Taking narration and storyline as a whole, I think this is my favorite of the three novellas in the spring collection…which is pretty cool, since I too am a May bride.  :)  I thought the characters and their relationship were well developed, and I loved the concept of a “guerilla wedding.” I also appreciated the growth of the characters over the course of the story, as well as the emphasis on grace.

The narrator did a great job reflecting the emotions of the characters and situations over the course of the reading, which made for a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience.

Thank you to Brilliance Audio and Zondervan for providing me with a review copy of this audiobook.

Audiobook Review: Princess Ever After by Rachel Hauck

Title: Princess Ever After
Author: Rachel Hauck
Series: Royal Wedding, Book 2
Print Publisher: Zondervan
Audio Publisher: Oasis Audio
Narrator: Eleni Pappageorge
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance
Published: 2014

If you saw my blog post last week, then you already know how much I loved listening to the audio edition of Rachel Hauck’s Once Upon a Prince.  If not, feel free to go check it out now, and then consider subscribing to my blog so you won’t miss out on future fun.  😉

Okay, back to hear what I thought of the second book in the Royal Wedding series?  Sweet!  Let’s get started.

Book Description (From the Oasis Audio Web site):

Regina Beswick didn’t know she was born to be a princess.

She’s content to be a small-town girl, running a classic auto restoration shop, unaware that a secret destiny awaits her. One that will leap from the pages of her grandmother’s hand-painted book of fairy tales.

Tanner Burkhardt is the stoic minister of culture for the Grand Duchy of Hessenberg. When he is tasked to retrieve the long-lost princess, he must overcome his fear of failure in order to secure his nation’s future — and his own.

Yet lurking in the political shadows is a fierce opponent with sinister plans to abolish the throne forever.

Overwhelmed with opposition, Regina must decide whether she’s destined to restore old cars or an ancient nation. Together — with a little divine intervention — Regina and Tanner discover the truth of her heritage and the healing power of true love.

My Thoughts on the Story:

Princess Ever After is a delightfully lighthearted read, with some meaningful themes woven in amongst the fun.  Having just finished reading Once Upon a Prince, I spotted a number of parallels between the two stories, but this one still felt fresh, with enough twists and variations on the ordinary girl to princess theme to keep me happily engaged in Regina’s story.  In fact, I’d say the combination of familiar elements with new variations makes this the perfect second book for this series, and I suspect fans will love this one too.

Tanner and Regina make for interesting and relatable main characters, with their flaws, fears, quirks, and dilemmas.  The story also features some great secondary characters, and I particularly enjoyed the passages from Princess Alice’s diary, which gave glimpses into Hessenberg’s past and that of Regina’s family.

I thought the romance went – to borrow a phrase from the book – from “zero to sixty” a bit quickly and I think I might’ve liked to see a little more page time devoted to showing the development of Reggie and Tanner’s feelings toward each other.  That said, this is meant to be a modern day fairy tale, and I do think it fits that bill perfectly despite, or maybe because of the whirlwind romance.  The ending in particular is spectacular in exactly the ways a fairy tale should be, and I was willingly whisked along, enjoying every minute of the ride from beginning to end.

My favorite themes from the book are the ideas of restoration (applied in several contexts) and of overcoming fear of the unknown to take a leap of faith when necessary.  Oh, and the scene in the grand ballroom is pretty spectacular.  You’ll know what I mean when you get to it.  :)

If you enjoy a good lighthearted read every now and again, this book will definitely be worth the read.  Especially if you’re a fan of modern day fairy tales.

My Thoughts on the Narration:

As she did with Once Upon a Prince, Eleni Pappageorge has done a superb job narrating this book.  Her renditions of Tanner’s British-ish accent and Regina’s southern drawl were a delightful complement to an already excellent story.  I particularly liked the narrator’s attention to detail, right down to giving a melody to songs characters sang, and making her voice sound like a character speaking through an intercom when the text called for it.  Book 3 in the series, How to Catch a Prince, is scheduled to release in February 2015, and I will definitely be on the lookout for the audio edition!

Thank you to Oasis Audio for providing an electronic copy of this audiobook for review purposes.