Take a Piece of My Heart

By: Diane Rose Duffy

Narrated by: Jennifer Bossio

Thirteen years: That's how long Kara Salinger stays married to Danny Morino, which is a very long time considering his abusive behavior toward her. But eventually Kara musters up the courage and strength to leave Danny. And with that first step, she begins a great journey in search of her own "happily ever after".

Kara is 32 when she starts anew. She's been with just one man and has only one friend. Yet she forges ahead, trying out Internet dating - to comical effect - and learning about dating, sex, and friendship along the way to discovering that there are many types of families in this world.

Join Kara on her journey, and be prepared for many twists, turns, and surprises. Take a Piece of My Heart will make you laugh, cry, and experience just about every other human emotion. It might even make you blush a little, as Kara's candor is sometimes brazen. You never know what words may spew out of her mouth as she experiences life's ups and downs - but rest assured, they're always honest, heartfelt, and hopeful.

©2014 Diane Rose Duffy (P)2015 Diane Rose Duffy

funny and refreshing

If you could sum up Take a Piece of My Heart in three words, what would they be?

Loving, funny, refreshing

Have you listened to any of Jennifer Bossio’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not and I enjoyed her reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Sex with Mitch

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly enjoyed Take a Piece of my heart. Most books I read now-a-days are alternating perspective, here just the female perspective was refreshing.
Kara married young to whom she thought was her true love. After years of abuse she was able to break the cycle. The twists and turns with the people she meets along the way are funny, loving, and unexpected. Nelson made me laugh out loud. Yet there are some really heartfelt moments where I find myself fighting back the cry.
I also enjoyed being able to follow the character through many years of her life. Most books are such short time frames and always leave you wondering. Knowing the outcome for Kara made me smile.
Would definitely recommend!!

Forget As Kara Has And You'll Like It, I Did

Kara Salinger married her first boyfriend when they were 17 and 18 years old, she put up with Danny Morino and his physical and verbal abuse for 13 years

The author tells the story in first person and also addresses the listener directly, which was kind of strange to me. However, I got used to it.

Kara has optimistic plans for a rundown house that she was able to purchase with assistance of some kind. She meets Dave, a builder who is tall, handsome etc. and when they shake hands and later hug, there are all kinds of feelings and instant connection. However, they are both married to other people and step away from one another before kissing.

After Kara gets her nerves up to pack all her belongings (nine garbage bags), pack them in her crappy car, she leaves Danny.

As she is now 'free' [from Danny] she immediately says yes to a guy she met on the internet, he invites her to go on a tropical vacation after only a 'real' date. Then it seems as if the abuse never happened, like she had a complete personality change. She goes out on dates and flirts and grumbles ... little regard to her former life.

She meets Mitch, has coffee and maybe one or two dates with him and he invites her on a pre-booked already paid for vacation in Mexico. She immediately says yes without hesitation. This is where I realized that I need to suspend reality; a woman who was abused (described in graphic detail) and accept the complete reality changing character, as she is and go with the flow.

Kara begins to be lighthearted and humorous as she and Mitch are at their five-star resort. On the vacation they do nothing nefarious and there is no hanky-panky. Mitch and Kara discussed everything and both decide they want to wait until they know it is a serious relationship and not just a rebound hook up for Kara. .

When they return home there is an order for Kara to leave her house immediately. It just so happens that Mitch has a spare cottage on his property, she will have her privacy from him. He will charge sure the same rent as her house and she can agree to help with all his animals and help with the renovations to the house. Perfect!

The relationship experiences highs and lows, new characters are introduced and old ones reintroduced.... I really enjoyed it, once I got over/accepted that Kara was written in a way that forgot any of her past abuse and embraced her new life.



Jennifer Bossio was an adequate narrator. She didn't distract or take anything away from the story. However, her performance did not inspire or add anything, in my opinion. If I see she is the narrator of another book, I'll listen.

*I received this book in exchange for my review,.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. If you found it helpful in your decision to purchase (or not), would you take a moment and select yes directly beneath this text?

Loved it

Where does Take a Piece of My Heart rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

So far it is the best I have listen too

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love Kara she didn't let life get her down

Have you listened to any of Jennifer Bossio’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never have

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I tried my best to listen to as much as I could.in one shot

Beautiful Story

This is a wonderful story about Love and overcoming obstacles in life to arrive at a peaceful place we should all get to experience in life

loved it !!

I thought this was a truly amazing story and very close to home in the lives of many. I love the honesty and true grit from staying thinking it's love to rebound to the real deal. I love the HEA because it shows there can be light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
I was a little disappointed in the narrator at times she seemed very robotic with very little to no emotion just reading from a page and other times she hit the nail on the head with the sarcasm. Over all I loved it!!

EXCELLENT BOOK!!

This story is fantastic. The story line is a rough one to read, but so down to earth. At first I was put off that the majority of the story was TOLD by the main character, but the narration done by Jennifer Bossio was so good that it was if SHE was simply telling a story to me. This is a story I definitely will be recommending to others!

Super story. Great reading. Didn't want it to end.

If you could sum up Take a Piece of My Heart in three words, what would they be?

Next hit movie!

What did you like best about this story?

It was satisfyingly heartbreaking!

Which scene was your favorite?

Casa de jailhouse! But the restaurant scene was cool too.

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

I related to Kara. The voice person brought her sassy sarcastic nature to life. But, what i really loved was the sweetness in her voice at times. The heart of each character spoke through.

Any additional comments?

Please write more Diane Rose Duffy. Please read more Jennifer Bossio. Enough said!

Take a Piece of My Heart was an Excellent Listen

TAKE A PIECE OF MY HEART is a wonderful contemporary romance novel not to be missed. DIANE ROSE DUFFY is a terrific author. This book has everything including charm, wit, grit, heart and soul and everything in between. This was such an incredibly good story that I’m almost at a loss for words.

Kara Salinger is one tough cookie who you can’t help but like right from the start. After thirteen years, she decides she’s had enough crap from Danny when she comes home from work and finds a not so nice surprise. And that’s not the worst of it. He’s also abusive. She has nowhere to go and a friend offers for her to stay in a cottage located on his property that he’s been wanting to fix up and she agrees with only one condition. No strings attached. There’s several fun characters in this story including Krista, the smart, tell it like it is little girl who always speaks her mind and usually its in public. I found myself laughing out loud several times. One of my favorite parts of the story was when Mitch brought a friend named Em home who was pregnant and Kara was beside herself. She thought what any woman would think but once she learned the truth, she learned a hard lesson about judging someone without walking in their shoes. To me that was pivotal to the whole story.

JENNIFER BOSSIO. What a fabulous job she did narrating this audiobook. She was a natural, sounding as if my best friend was talking to me. I loved the way she read this story. Her voice inflections were perfect. Beyond perfect. This was a prime example of author/reader being in sync. She was Kara Salinger. She embraced this book and channeled her character in such an amazing way making it entirely real. I’ll be watching for more of her outstanding work as well.

Audiobook gifted in exchange for review.

WHAT A WONDERFUL STORY

Though the main theme is the serious problem of domestic violence, this story shines with wonderful characters. Kara, who escapes a violent marriage tells her story with bravery and humor. I absolutely loved every character (well except Danny). The words that came out of Kara's mouth were at times hilarious~her mind did not have a filter. Debbie, Mitch, and D.J. were all so supportive. Ending and epilogue were just perfect! Congratulations to the author, Diane Rose Duffy, for the beautiful story and the narrator, Jennifer Bossio, for her superb performance. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...

This will have a place in my heart

Any additional comments?

4 ½ Stars
This was such an enjoyable listen .
One of those stories that you long to know how it will end , but at the same time don't want it to end. It brought out all the different feelings , fear, humour, love.
It grabs you right from the start, making you wonder if this is going to be a really dark sided story, but things do lighten up ,for Kara, but don't get less complicated .(I don't want to add spoilers)
nicely narrated by Jennifer Bossio

I was given this audiobook in return for an unbiased review via Audiobookblast