Don't Forget to Smile

By: Kathleen Gilles Seidel

Narrated by: Natasha Soudek

In Oregon's timber country, inside a smoky bar, stands proprietor Tory Duncan. Once a hair's breadth from the Miss America crown, she's still just as beautiful and still searching for happiness.

Joe Brigham, a forthright and handsome man from a logging family, divorced, and father of one, regards her with a love deep and pure.

But trading in her search for an uncertain future, no matter the joy Joe promises to provide, seems more than Tory can afford.

Awards:

Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Contemporary Romance

©1986, 2015 Kathleen Gilles Seidel (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[R]ich and absorbing...a small-town atmosphere written to absolute perfection." (Romantic Times)

Don’t let the narrator voice deter you

At the beginning I was sure I could listen to the entire book as the voice was rubbing me the wrong way. However, I liked the premise of the story. A few chapters in I got used to the way she spoke and laughed out loud (my husband asking “what”several times. I really enjoyed this light hearted book. Perfect while cleaning and/or weeding.

Excellent story

Real people, real storyline feel. Everything just felt real. I connected with the characters. I appreciated that there weren’t any steamy scenes. It was just - real.

The narrator reads very, very slow. I found that listening at 1.3x was perfect. It felt like a normal speed at that setting. But her voices were great. I had no problems differentiating the various characters.

Story good, but cringe at the narrators mispronunciations of Oregon names like Klamath Falls and Willamette Valley.

Narrator needs to learn the pronunciation of local names for the story to sound correct!

I do love Kathleen Gilles Seidel

I first read this book many years ago sitting on a beach, which is a very nice place to read it. I listened to it this week while working in the garden, and it was perfect for that, too. I've been going back through the Hometown Memories books on Audible (having read them all) and they all maintain their gentle, sweet, real storytelling. While this one may not be my favorite of hers, it was still worth the time to spend in Sullivan City.

This whole series has the same performer, whom I find overly slow at her normal speed. But at moving the speed up to 1.2, it works just fine. Note: this is my 120+ audiobook, and this is the first performer I've ever had to speed up. HOWEVER, to be fair, at 1.2 she does a very good job at dialogue, making each character clear.

Note to Audible: My favorites of Ms Seidel's books are not on your platform, but I'd sure like them to be!

Depth

I love the depth with which this author tells her stories. Sometimes the plot seems to just drop but it doesn’t negatively affect the story.

Another wonderful novel by Kathleen

I am so glad to have found this author. These books are so well written I am surprised and delighted to find them included with the plus membership!

The story is tounge in cheek funny and quite intelligent. I love writers who research their material and stretch my knowledge as well as my imagination. It was written in the eighties so references to pay phones, climbing stairs to airplanes and renting discontinued cars such as a cutlass may sound dated. To me I remember that stuff from childhood so it was fun to remember.

Yes the story is a romance but that really happens behind the scenes of the telling of the two lovers individual life's. The different backgrounds that have molded them, their self discovery which is the foundation of their eventual relationship.

The book is pretty clean with hints of sexual encounters but without any blatant sexual language. But the story is a bit long. I love the details but some might find areas that could have been written more succinctly.

The narration is a bit tough if you are a 1st time listener of this narrator as she does have a very slow speaking voice. I listen to each of her book at a speed increase to 1.2 which, to me, sounds normal. I encourage you to do the same.

That said, I recommend this book!

Great Lines and Visualizations

I really enjoyed this romance. The idea of a former Miss America contestant with scars from an over zealous mother changing her life and buying a bar in the middle of nowhere and the self discovery and healing that occurred was great! I found myself chuckling at some of the lines and visualizations that were offered and the description of a little boy in the story was spot on with my strong willed grandson! A very good listen! The reader was excellent!

An Old Favorite

Kathleen Geillis Seidel has been a favorite author since I first started reading romance novels years ago. I love her writing style, wry humor and strong character development. They are the ultimate comfort reads based on realistic working class characters without much angst, nothing very bad happens and you always get a HEA.

This book has long been a favorite that I have reread many times. But until recently it has not been available on audible. I was delighted to find it. Perhaps unfairly I have downgraded the performance part of my review because the readers voice is so far from the voices of the characters that had become established in my head.

Good read…once you get used to the meandering style!

An interesting examination of family motives and practices & their effects on progeny! The narration was OK but she should have learned how to pronounce Oregon cities like Klamath (KLA-math) Falls as a basic requirement for narration! It drove me crazy each time she mispronounced ‼️

The women who came before us.......

I really, really loved this story. A heartwarming picture of the life our mothers and grandmothers lived. It's good to know about the pioneer women and the ages before that, but here we can see a beautifully written picture of the more recent years.

Kathleen Gilles Seidel has again succeeded in taking her readers into a world we wouldn't even ask about ourselves.
Strong characters, beautiful pictures, witty banter, great dialogues.. I loved every minute of this book, sorry to leave them ....