The Hurricane

By: R. J. Prescott

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

Emily McCarthy is living in fear of a dark and dangerous past. A gifted mathematician, she is little more than a hollow, broken shell, trying desperately to make ends meet long enough to finish her degree.

Through an unlikely friendship with the aging, cantankerous owner of an old boxing gym, Em is thrown into the path of the most dangerous man that she has ever met.

Cormac "the Hurricane" O'Connell is cut, tattooed, and dangerous. He is a lethal weapon with no safety, and everyone is waiting for the misfire. He's never been knocked out before, but when he meets Em he falls - hard. Unlike any other girl he's ever met, she doesn't want anything from him. Just being around her makes him want to be a better person.

They are polar opposites who were never meant to find each other, but some things are just worth the fight.

©2016 R. J. Prescott (P)2016 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Enjoyable and sweet, and just a touch of angst. Good writing, good story, sweet girl, and FREAKING AWESOME guy." ( Maryse's Book Blog)

A nice second chance story

Any additional comments?

The story is full of drama, sadness, overcoming the past and making a better life for yourself. The saddest part for me was her mother letting her stepfather do whatever he wanted to her and standing by him. They were so close before her father died and then he came along and her mother just fell apart. When most mothers would be protecting their child this mother more or less said yes beat my child and rapes her in front of me while I close the door and walk away. You can do whatever you want as long as you do not hit me just hit her.

Cormac was just living day to day with no thought of tomorrow until he met Em than his life changed as he tried to better his self and make a life for her. I really loved this character he was a protector from the start he gave so much of his self. I really felt bad for him when something happened and he thought it was his fault. No one can be there 24/7. His mother was something else and I was glad to see he saw the true her.

Em what can I say about her to have lived through all she had and still have faith in mankind is amazing. I think I would have had to kill the stepfather before I left town. I thought she was a wonderful character picking up her life and moving on getting an education and paying her way was outstanding.

I thought the author did a great job her voice was strong and real for the characters. You could feel the emotions as the characters were dealing with the drama. I didn’t hear any background noise just a few places where the audio when from normal to a little louder. The characters emotions were all over the place and I felt she did them very well. I thought the tones were even with you knowing just what each was feeling at any giving minute. Her character voices were good you had no trouble knowing who was talking. Her male to female were nice, she has a very clear easy voice to listen to. I thought she did a good narration with a lovely voice.

I thought this was a great plot but could have been made a little shorter. At times I thought not enough information had been given and at other times way too much. It wasn’t a audio I had trouble putting down and coming back to. I did want to know the ending and found it to be an interesting read. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop with her stepfather but the author keep that for later building it up to a wonderful ending. I hope he got what he so richly deserved. It was really a nice second chance story that at times was very touching. I would have liked to have known after so long where the mother stood and how she was doing. I would have also liked to have known what happen 10 years down the road with the main characters. All in all it wasn’t a bad listen I give it a 3.5 starts with a 4.5 for the narration.

One of my favorites

I’ve read this book many times, listening to it made it come alive in a new way

Great Romance

What a great romance and the voice actor did a fabulous job! I am so pleasantly surprised because I got this on sale, and I wasn't sure if I would like it. I am not even a boxing fan, but this is a character driven story with two appealing main characters and a lovely batch of well fleshed out secondary characters.

Loved the story

Excellent performance! Hard to listen to the rape and abuse parts but ultimately a survivor story.

Almost perfect

This was a sweet story. I enjoyed and felt the love these 2 had for each other. I also liked all of the other characters.

There's just one complaint I have. I really, really wish there was a MMA/Fighter series I could read that the males are not man whores prior or during meeting the forever girls. It is so over done. I get it they are men yeah, but can we just kinda leave that part out. If you have to have that part of their past, then just mention it in passing, not a detailed club/bar scene where all the slutty girls are dry fucking them and naked. I lose respect for these future hero's and have actually stopped several series because it's just so common and old.

I would love where that was left out and we focused more on their careers/family life/and funny times with their friends. This is the reason I took this book down to a 4 star rather than a 5 star.

The narrator was awesome loved her.

worth a read

loved the main characters, and the storyline. The reader is fantastic; she did different voices for characters, her voice was pleasant, and she read everything smoothly.

Powerful, emotional story!

I seriously didn't think I was going to like this story as boxing does not appeal to me at all, but it's not really about boxing at all. It's about the relationships between a close-knit group of Irish boxers, and the girl who wins the love and devotion of all of them but most particularly that of Cormac "Hurricane" O.Connell.

I loved all of these characters. The story is so well-developed, and the reader gets to know them all so well, by their actions and their dialogue. They are all quite lovable. The relationship between Emily and Cormac is so sweet and sensual. I just love them.

I listened to the audible version of this one, and the awesome Pearl Hewitt did such an amazing job. The story has multiple male, Irish characters and only three female characters, but she did such a fantastic job with each character's voice, I had no trouble at all telling them all apart.

I would definitely read more from this author, and I highly recommend listening to any audio book narrated by Pearl Hewitt.

Fabulous!

One of my favorites. I listen to it a couple of times a year and love it every time. Fabulous story with a great narrator.

Emily and Con were so sweet together

This love story was intense, sweet and fulfilling. It wasn't overly dramatic and angst-filled. More than that, it had a sense of family and/community along with the romantic love that made the whole experience satisfying.

Emily McCarthy was a strong heroine who amazed me with her growth in the story. I was proud of her. Cormack O'Connell "Conn" grew a lot too and I was proud to see them give each other space as well as support.

While I loved this book, I didn't feel like this story was unique. The storytelling was interesting enough that I wanted to know more about everyone from the main characters to the supporting characters like Danny, Kieran, Tommy, Nikki etc. That's a sign of a good writer, when you weave the supporting characters in so that we care about them too.

Pearl Hewitt added to my enjoyment of this audio. Her accent really brought home the character's background as well as their environment. Her various tones elucidated the emotional states and kept me engaged the entire time and I listened to this book straight.I will definitely listen to book 2.

One of My Favorite Stories of 2015

What did you love best about The Hurricane?

I loved the story. It was definitely a romance between O'Connell and Emily. Prescott also developed the sub-characters so well that I am dying to know more about them!! If she turned this into a series, I would buy every single book.

What did you like best about this story?

While I do love me a smexy book every once in a while, this one was a lovestory first and foremost. Cormac O'Connell was the quintessential hero. Another thing that makes him a stand out is that none of the characters were millionaires or billionaires. Seems that a majority of the books of this genre have to do with the really rich guy who falls for the regular girl. This book is about 2 people who have nothing but their dreams and each other. It made it a little more relatable.

How could the performance have been better?

The only thing that really bothered me was when she tried to do the male voices. It is SO difficult to find female narrators who can pull off a believable male character voice. Listening to the narrator when she was speaking for O'Connell, who is a blue collar boxer type sounding like a teenage boy BEFORE his voice changes. It makes the suspension of disbelief much more difficult.

Any additional comments?

If you don't mind the narrator issue, its definitely worth a credit. If you do mind, then just buy the book... this is a great story that should not be missed.