Taming Mad Max

By: Theresa Ragan

Narrated by: Abby Craden

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Max Dutton, a starting NFL linebacker for the Los Angeles Condors, is certain he's going to die young, since his father and grandfather both passed away at an early age. Believing his life will be cut short, Max lives every moment to its fullest. For this reason, Max also shies away from forming close relationships. What would be the point of falling in love and starting a family, only to leave them as his father left him and his sisters?

Nutrition expert Kari Murphy used to think Max Dutton was to die for. She's older and wiser now, but then she's hired by the NFL franchise to follow Max around for a couple of weeks and give him healthy-eating advice, foolproof facts about carbohydrates, and tasteful tips on cooking and shopping smart. Kari Murphy must work side by side with the guy she spent one spectacular night with during high school - the guy she pined after for way too long.

Too bad he doesn't remember her.

©2011 Theresa Ragan (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

predictable

Would you listen to Taming Mad Max again? Why?

no, it was one of those predictable stories, you know what is going to happen way before it does!

Would you recommend Taming Mad Max to your friends? Why or why not?

If you just want to read a no brainer kind of story to waste some time, then sure.

Did Abby Craden do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

She did ok, though the young girls voice was laughable.

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

Nope

Story OK, Narrator NOT

I had mixed feelings about this book. I almost stopped listening, when the story line became a repeat of 3 different books I'd read recently. It did twist out of the expected outcome and saved my feelings about the book. The narrator, however, almost put me to sleep. Her voice would have better suited a bedtime story!

Pro Athlete + Unknown Offspring = Another Book

This was a light breezy piece of fluff. Even when it touches serious subjects - a teenager learning who her father is and that her mother had lied - it is still fluffy. And the initial meeting that resulted in the daughter was never really explained. It seemed totally implausible. But it was readable and an easy way to relax and pass a few hours.

This book did bring renewed focus to an epidemic that, if you read many chick lit books you are well aware of, the sheer number of professional athletes who unknowingly father children during brief one night stands, don't discover they fathered the child until the child is at least 5 or 6 years old or older, and then, at the point they discover the existence of the unknown offspring they discover that the one night stand is also the love of their life, Too bad they didn't figure that out sooner. I can list at least 5 or 6 books with the exact same story line. Some tell it better than this book. Others tell it worse.

Just okay

Would you be willing to try another book from Theresa Ragan? Why or why not?

I would read another book by Theresa Ragan. I actually read "Having My Baby" and liked that book. This one seem like it was drawn out to be longer than it had to be. I agree with other reviewers that there was more sexual tesion than sex. But that was fine for me.

What three words best describe Abby Craden’s performance?

Could've been better.

Any additional comments?

If you are looking for hot and steamy, this is not it.

A book I will listen to again, which I rarely do.

Loved this book from start to finish. Max was hard to like at first but by the end of the book the author developed his character in a way that made me really like him.

Skip this one...

This book was disappointing. I felt like I've read this same book a few times before. But in this case the dialogue was un realistic and the characters were not well developed. The whole one night stand and dream girl thing didn't do it for me. This was almost a young adult book. There is only a mention of the couple having sex towards the end of the book but zero description. It was boring and un romantic. On top of that the narration was TERRIBLE!! Abby Craden whispers too much, she made Max's sisters all sound like children. All secondary female characters sounded either drugged or too young. Only the last hour of this book was mildly interesting. Total disappointment!!

PS- if you like the blurb (the storyline) I highly recommend you listen to Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson. It's very similar to this book in terms of the storyline but it's a gazzillion times better.