Midlife, Murder, and Magic

A Paranormal Women's Fiction novel

By: Lisa Bouchard

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A Paranormal Women’s Fiction mystery filled with sarcasm and no ducks to give for lousy ex-husbands who think they can have the best of both worlds.

Newly separated Rebecca needs to get her life together, and fast. The day she returned from the hospital her husband packed up his stuff and left her with divorce papers. She decides the best place to rebuild her life is the place she loves most, her hometown on Shadow Island.

The hot flashes of menopause have left her with an extra gift – telepathy. Unfortunately, it can be a real pain in the tuchus. There are some things – okay a lot of things – that are better left unheard. But there’s no denying it’s pretty awesome to be a human lie detector.

As the newest and only human investigator at Magus Investigations she’s putting her power to use to find who killed a young couple. She’s determined not to let her boss down, no matter how much coffee and Advil she needs to keep up with him.

Her parents want her gone, back to Boston with her cheating husband. Her high school sweetheart (now the island’s police chief) wants her to stay on the island but quit interfering with his investigations. Her friends want her just the way she is.
She’s carving her own path through life, living by her own rules, and embracing her newfound powers. Isn’t that what midlife is all about?

Bad A. I.

The story was very good, but the A. I. saying pie for P. I. tge entire book and having the wrong emotional inflection is so very nerve wracking, like finger nails on a chalkboard!!!!

Pro's and Con's

I got this series because of the story line - it was somewhat different - While I liked the story I had a few strong disappointments:
1. the virtual voice was a HUGE disappointment for me. It lacked the lilt for expression that I enjoy with a regular narrator.
2. I found the story often difficult to follow because the virtual voice didn't change the tone from one character to the next making it difficult to know who was speaking between characters. (ie 2 different females) Sometimes I had to rewind to listen again so I didn't miss a clue/or a conversation.
3. Nothing is worse that getting a series and Audible doesn't identify which book it is in the series title ex book 1, book 2, etc etc etc - This series doesn't identify the book in the subject title nor does it allow the link to follow the next in the series so you don't know how many books are in the series or what the name of the next book is - I find it annoying if I buy books and have them all but don't know the order - what's the point of getting the series if you don't know the order or how many in the series?
4. Lastly, I wanted to follow Lisa Bouchard and any new audible releases she might publish - problem is...YOU CAN'T - You can click on Ms Bouchards name almost anywhere and it takes you back to the list of all her "virtual voice" books with no book number - There is no bio or "follow me" button.
Fun story, but that's all it's got going for it at this point.

Even a good story would be ruined by Virtual Voice

And this is NOT a good story. It is juvenile.

I will never listen to another story that is narrated by any form of AI. It's terrible. Simply wretched.

No attention to detail

No proof reading to make sure the details lined up. Characters not developed. She should have but more into the story and make it longer.

Had to stop listening! Virtual Narration is awful!

This book has a great story line and is available on Kindle Unlimited now so I will finish it by reading it. The virtual narration is unbearable to listen to. The voice is monotone and very obviously AI.
There is no difference between characters or any emotion. I am driving a lot and listen to books all the time. I will never buy a book with a virtual narrator again.

Virtual Voice

Nope don’t do it, I had high hopes with reading the title details, but alas the virtual voice completely wrecked the story. Normally I’d listen to a voice, even if it’s annoying but this, was just painful. There are ample virtual voices you can use and still get inflection and cadence but goodness this nope. I would actually love to hear this book read by a person. Do better please. It’s a disservice to the author and your audience.