Grave Homecoming

A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 1

By: Lily Harper Hart

Narrated by: Laura Jennings

Maddie Graves is returning home, and it's under unfortunate circumstances. Following her mother Olivia's death, someone has to take care of Maddie's cantankerous grandmother Maude, and the family tree is almost limbless now.

It's not easy for Maddie to return to small-town life in Blackstone Bay, mostly because the boy she left behind is still there - and she's drawn to him the second she sees him again.

Nick Winters has always been in love with Maddie. At a certain point, he decided there was nothing he could do but let her go. When she returns to town after a 10-year absence, his world is upended.

Maddie's reintegration isn't smooth, and when she discovers a dead body, all eyes are on her. Since Nick is a local police detective, he finds their lives intersecting with alarming frequency. He knows she's hiding something, and he's determined to find out what it is.

Maddie and Nick are drawn together, but they have a few obstacles in their way - including a lifelong secret she's kept buried: She can see and talk to ghosts. When Maddie's life is in danger, though, Nick can't turn away.

This duo is on a collision course with the truth, and death is stalking them every step of the way. Will they get a chance to embrace destiny, or were they doomed before they ever got a chance to begin?

©2014, 2015 Lily Harper Hart (P)2015 Lily Harper Hart

Grave Homecoming

I struggled through the beginning of this book because I was tired of the low self esteem that Maddie displayed. It's not that I have a problem with people with low self esteem, but I don't think pages should be spent trying to convince someone that they are beautiful. Almost two thirds of the book is about Maddie's homecoming and how she broke Nick's heart when she left. We also meet Nick's new girlfriend Cassidy who is obsessed with Nick. I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes and questioning the maturity of the characters. This book could have easily been set in high school. However, as I continued to listen the mystery begin to develop and I begin to enjoy the story. The characters became interesting and the plot begin to become more solid. This was a good story and I'm going to give the next book a try. I would like to see what happens next.

This audiobook was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Good afternoon read.

Not much detail but a good little murder mystery. I enjoyed it. I think it is a cute tween mystery slash love story.

I loves this book

What made the experience of listening to Grave Homecoming the most enjoyable?

I loved how the narrator brought the characters together.

What other book might you compare Grave Homecoming to and why?

N/a

What about Laura Jennings’s performance did you like?

She was able to create different sounds/accent when speaking for each character which leads the listener to believe there are different persons reading. Her voice is smooth and easy to listen to.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

I look forward to following this series.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

Distractingly narrated

This book started out so so so slow. I almost couldn't keep myself from being distracted by the narrator. I don't know if it was her or the bland plot or the the combination, but this book was almost a waste of my time. This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Low self esteem

I’m not a fan of weak characters and that’s exactly what Maddie is. She is told over and over again that she’s beautiful and doesn’t believe anyone. It was annoying to constantly have the characters trying to boost her ego. She’s not interesting enough as a main character. I think the story would’ve been better if they’d focused or rather told the stories of her and the detective. Nick wasn’t a nice guy to his girlfriend at all. He could have manned up and broken up with her in the first chapter, instead he strings her along horribly.
The narrator sounded like she was whispering the entire time.
Overall it wasn’t a terrible book but I’m not interested in continuing the series. Not a fan at all of low self esteem people who need to be constantly told they are beautiful and that others love them.

Too much on the relationship

OK. I got it. Maddie made a mistake and loves Nick. And Nick loves Maddie. If you took that out of the story the whole thing would be two pages. I figured once the stage was set the story would start, but the story didn't start until the last chapter, read that and you've got all you need. Promising, but ultimately empty.

Characters I couldn’t like ruined it for me.

Real rating 2.5*

SERIES INFO: This is Book #1 of 5 (so far) in the “Maddie Graves Mystery Series.” Book #6 is scheduled to be released on Feb 6th. Only the first 2 are available so far on audio.

MADDIE - I have a personal dislike for characters who ignore it when EVERYONE tells them they’re attractive. There’s a difference between “She don’t know she’s beautiful” and willful stupidity.

LUKE - there is just no excuse for his not sitting his girlfriend down and kindly letting her know it was over. Whether or not he & Maddie ever make it work in future books, he doesn’t love Cassidy and stringing her along is just cruel.

I wasn’t fond of the side characters either. Their pushing a timid and not very experienced woman (whom they supposedly cared about) out on a date with someone they knew was a wolf, in order to try and jumpstart her relationship with another man, was just a horrible thing to do.

I did like what we learned about Maddie & Luke’s past relationship. That couple could really have made it work. I might try out one of the later books, when they have had a chance to work some of these things out.

NARRATION: Her voice was soothing. I liked it. / Listened on 1.25 speed (my usual)

I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT: Swearing / Both main characters have had sexual relationships with people they know they don’t care about.

OTHER WARNINGS: Possible triggers - the murder turned out to have a sexual component & there is an attempted rape

I received this book free in return for an honest review, courtesy of Audiobook Blast dot com.

The Narrator

It sounds like she's reading in a loud (and slow) whisper. It's one of those voices that I found distracting enough to repeatedly lose the thread of the story progression

Read My rating: 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

A good mystery/ thriller with romance and a dash of paranormal for good measure. Female protagonist starts out kind of wishy- washy but grows SLOWLY. I liked the home coming of Maddie, and Nick having the same feelings a decade later. Throw in murder and ghosts talking to certain pople and it held my interest quite easily.

Predictable , slow moving , great narrator.

I wanted to love this book, but it was a repeatedly telling the main female character how wonderful she was as she denied it . The narrator was really good.