Sift

By: L. D. Davis

Narrated by: Julia Farhat

The summer I graduated from high school, I raced out of my small Virginian town to seek my culinary dreams in the big city. I couldn't afford New York City, though, so I settled in Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love wasn't The Big Apple, but it had its charms and pockets of culinary splendor. I hadn't minded because it was only temporary. After culinary school, I planned to do as I'd been dying to do since I was a little girl and roam the earth and splurge on its fruits.

More than five years later, I was still in Philly, living with the same roommate I'd had when I had first moved, working as a pastry chef in a bakery across the bridge in New Jersey, and I had Cade. Caden was my on and off again boyfriend of four years. I loved him, even when I hated him.

Our relationship was hot and cold, hard and fast, sexy and heartbreaking. It wasn't until I was with Caden that I understood that passion could be just as terrible as it was beautiful. I didn't know until him that passion could make you burn as well as burn you. Being with Caden was like being addicted to thrill-seeking adventures. You know there is a danger in it, and it makes your heart race and adrenaline pump into your body. Sometimes you nail it and the rush is breathtaking and amazing. Sometimes you miss, and there is fear and regret in your heart as you fall to the unforgiving ground.

After one particularly hard fall, I went home to Virginia for a long weekend. That was where I became reacquainted with my brother's old college friend Connor. That's when I learned that passion could be a slow, sweet burn. And it could incinerate me and turn me to ashes.

©2016 LD Davis (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Mmmm WASN'T BAD... BUT WASN'T GREAT EITHER

The way L.D. Davis constructs a story kept my interest but Darla (the heroine) was so annoying as she went from Heroes Connor to Cade and back again - declaring her love to both. One was a destructive love and one was a empowering love but Darla wasn't satisfied with either man as she talked about her dreams of gaining more baking experience in countries far and wide. But, before she got the chance to spread her wings, tragedy strikes and Darla's whole world imploads.

It's great to have dreams.. but I just didn't like the way Darla strung both men along and neither one deserved it - IMO they both should've kicked her to the curb and found somebody better because there was no pleasing this frustrating woman. These two men would've given her anything, would've died for her and they loved her unconditionally and yet Darla was still miserable. Yes, she was conflicted and confused but, as the toxic relationship with Cade started to fall apart, she shouldn't of ventured into a second relationship with the unsuspecting Connor knowing that she couldn't commit long-term. This single POV storyline didn't make for a great listen and I thought the narrator's voice was a bit too young for the ages of all the characters.

Worth a credit? For me this was an ok listen.. but creditworthy NO because there are far better stories out there to spend your credit on. However there was two great heroes, drama, angst, sex, heartache, emotional turmoil and broken dreams waiting for the listener who wants to take the chance on finding a diamond where I just found dust.

Letting Go To Embrace The Future

Small town girl, Darla, a baker savant, moves to the big city and begins an intense on again, off again relationship with successful restaurateur Cade they’ve been playing this game for years, It’s clear that these two people deeply love each other, but their relationship also feeds their insecurities and when tempers bring situations to a boil they bring out the worst in each other, leaving the burning question, is love enough?

After a particularly nasty break up, a determined Darla heads back home for a break and to clear her mind, there she meets Connor and sparks fly, but falling into a relationship while you’re still extricating yourself from another can make things awfully messy and boy do things get messy!

It’s a fact that I just enjoy the way LD Davis tells a story, no one is blameless and the characters are far from perfect, some readers, I’m sure will be offended that LD Davis doesn’t paint her characters as good or bad, just human, most people make bad choices at some point in their life, It doesn’t necessarily make that person evil or bad and that to me is the strong point of this author, she’s able to show the realness of situation, without making characters out to be a monster or unsympathetic.

Julia Farhat did a good job of narrating this eleven-hour audiobook, her pacing of the story was perfect and she did an excellent job voicing several characters of diverse backgrounds, southern drawl, Hispanic, she did them all well. I just wish she would have voiced the main character a little bit older, she sounded just on the cusp of girlishness. I noted it but was able to quickly move past it.

Get this audiobook! I can’t wait for the next story… I hope there’s another book because I want to know what happens with Darla’s roommate!

A culinary experience

A young country girl has big dreams of traveling the world wanting to taste all the foods from around the world. One guy stood in her way of achieving those dreams while another guy pushed her towards her dreams.

This story had unexpected twists and turns going from an epic live to a volatile love to a cheating love to a love between two guys.

At first I was bothered by all the culinary, baking, and food dialogue. I know it’s titled Sift, yet some of the food scenes felt forced.

Overall: Darla wasn’t a character I was rooting for. In fact, I was rooting for Connor. I was disappointed with the way Caden’s character was portrayed. The initial meeting was so different from what he evolved into. The volatile nature of his character was unexpected considering it was limited to a few scenes, but then sometimes people bring out the worse in you. I couldn’t figure out why three men in her life felt the need to take care of her financial needs. This bothered me more than it should have. Darla kept wanting to do things on her own and pay her own way and there’s nothing wrong with asking for help, yet the way the finances were handled were extreme.

I didn’t like how Connor and Caden were compared to each other. They fit in different ways and were essentially a good match from the start. However, one man allowed growth while the other was content with his life. I was torn by the beginning of Caden and Darla’s relationship with all the positive words being made to have it all change so drastically.

I’m disappointed by the circumstances created to resolve a problem for Darla’s character rather than her working it out on her own. This was a set of circumstances that led to two people meeting and falling in love. It just didn’t seem Darla was capable of achieving her own dreams had she not met a guy willing to help her achieve them. I would have liked to see her be on her own for awhile without the help of the men in her.

Narrator: Julia Farhat is the solo performer in Sift. I’m not jumping up and down with excitement over her performance. It’s read word perfectly and her tone was fine. I was hoping for more southern country accent during Darla’s performance. After listening to Julia perform this audiobook my view point has changed significantly. I should have left well enough alone and not bought the audiobook to revisit Sift. I went from loving this book to only mildly liking it. My perspective today compared to years ago is more critical of stories and characters. I’ve grown as a reader and my appetite for a good plot with developed characters has grown.