Dying to Please

By: Linda Howard

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized. Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many distinct qualities. First and foremost a butler par excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly and efficiently, she is also a trained bodyguard and expert marksman - indispensable to her elderly employer, a courtly gentleman Sarah has come to respect and love.

Then, one night she thwarts a burglary in progress, a courageous act that awards Sarah her requisite "15 minutes of fame" with the local press. But the exposure is enough to catch the attention of a tortured soul who, unbeknownst to Sarah, will stop at nothing to have her for himself.

Sarah's perfectly ordered life is shattered when tragedy strikes: her beloved employer is brutally murdered. The detective investigating the case assures Sarah that she is not a suspect - until lightning strikes twice. There's a second killing - and this time, despite a lack of evidence connecting her to the crime, Sarah cannot escape the shadow of guilt.

The only option left for Sarah is to carry on with her life. But she doesn't realize that a deranged stalker is luring her into an elaborate trap...one in which she, once ensnared, might never escape. For Sarah soon finds herself at the mercy of a man who will tend to her every whim, smother her with affection, and crush her in his all-consuming embrace.

©2004 Linda Howard (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Awesome performance

Loved the story and the narrator’s acting. I had a few moments where I wished that the heroine was able to kick a few folks but that’s when I know I’m invested in her story. Being a military brat myself, I found myself empathizing with her. I find myself hoping that like any good TCK she adapted her plans and convinced Cahill to go on some trips with her.

Love it!!

This is Amazing! I Finished it in no time at all! I couldn't put it down!

Good story. Nice concept.

I loved the core plot of an innocent of the murder butler. Driven in deep. Fun & a of humor. A lovable heroine.

Compelling!

Loved this book!
Compelling is the best word to describe it! Kept me on the edge of my seat!

Yuck

Handcuffs. Pushy guy. More emphasis on “sexual tension” to disguise the fact there’s not much there there.

Best Linda Howard

Any additional comments?

I think this is Linda Howard's best audible book. At first I did not like the idea of a female body guard/ butler, turns out... it worked for me! The plot is very good, the romance is very believable and Susan Ericksen's narration is flawless.

Narrator wasn't right for the primary male character

The narrators voice was fine and good for the main female character. But she made the male character sound like an African-American female. It just didn't gel w the image I was creating in my head of the characters and the story. The narrator plays such a vital part in an audiobook. The wrong person can ruin the enjoyment of the entire book bc my mind can't settle in and enjoy the story, I can't picture things in my mind as I would otherwise. It's disruptive at least for me. I feel bad for the author who puts all this creative effort into writing a story and all the work that goes into that only to have it diminished by the wrong narrator. I don't know who decides who the narrator will be. I've wondered about that many times as it can make or break an audiobook.

Enjoyable

Setting: Present day AL
Genre: Romantic suspense
Sarah Stevens is a butler/bodyguard working for a retired judge. She foils a robbery and one of the detectives who comes to the scene is Thompson Cahill. They are attracted to one another, but each has a reason to avoid interpersonal relationships, so they go their separate ways. They meet again when Cahill comes out to investigate the murder of the judge. Sarah is under suspicion, but her name is soon cleared, leaving Cahill free to date her. They get involved, then her new employers get murdered, and Cahill is all like "what the heck? Is she a murderer? Did she fool me?" He has trust issues. There's suspense in the plot as in who's doing the killing and who will die next? Then there's suspense in regards to the relationship between Sarah and Cahill, after he gets all suspicious of her again, and she's all hurt about it.
I liked the plot because even though bits of it are through the villain's point of view, I didn't know who it was. I also liked the development of the relationship between Sarah and Cahill. Even though they were attracted, they didn't give in right away. Then they actually dated before they had "hot monkey sex" as Cahill calls it. The writing itself flowed well, without superfluous points just to make it longer. It was an enjoyable story, told well.
The narration by Susan Ericksen was great. The rhythm was good, and she did an excellent job with all types of characters - male, female, adult, geriatric. And she did so well with the villain with his quiet smoothness.
I definitely enjoyed the time I spent listening to this novel. It was not so suspenseful that it kept me awake, but it was interesting enough that I wanted to get right back to it in the morning.

75% corny love story, 25% mystery?

couldn't make it through even half way. Maybe the mystery comes in in the second half, but I just got tired of wading through the swamp. Can't recommend this one.

Good book and plot but narration only so so

I loved reading this book and all of Linda Howard's books. The plot was good but I didn't necessarily love the narrator. The main character was in her 20's but the voice of the narrator seemed old and gravely. The voice of everyone else was fine, I just thought the voice of Sarah could have been younger.