The Proposal

By: Emilee Hines

Narrated by: Christine Cunningham Smith

Due to an issue in production, if you purchased this audiobook prior to November 2nd you can re-download it now – from your Library – to get the newest version with updated sound quality.

When Geoffrey Landon brings a marriage proposal and paid passage to Virginia from Richard Selden, Amelia knows it's meant for her sister, but pretends to be the betrothed. Wanting to escape an upcoming arranged marriage, she lies to Geoffrey and her family and sails to Virginia on the eve of the American Revolution. If war comes, she may be trapped by events, considered an enemy, and forced to return to England. On the voyage, she loses her heart to the charming, cynical Geoffrey, who has his own reasons to distrust her. Amelia dares not tell him the truth - until it is too late.

©2005 Emilee Hines Cantieri (P)2013 Emilee Hines Cantieri

I just wasn't feeling this one

This book wasn't bad, it just wasn't interesting to me. I didn't connect with the main characters and although I didn't dislike any of them, I didn't particularly care for them except for the female widow whose name eludes me at the moment. I think the problem is that I know this is a romance novel and I know the main characters will have an HEA regardless, so the path they take to get there is where the magic should happen. There really wasn't anything special that happens to the main characters in this story. At least, not special enough for the tale to stand out amongst the other romance novels I've read. Also, I enjoy clever banter between the main characters and there really wasn't much in the way of noteworthy dialogue that had me peaked.

Overall, this is not a bad book. It is well written and the story is well thought out. However, for my taste, I just wasn't feeling it, so to speak.

Narration
Narrator: Christine Cunningham Smith
Performance: 4/5
Speed 1.5x
Narration was not bad on this one, however I did fluctuate from 1.5 to 2x the normal speed on this recording. Cunningham Smith did a decent job with character distinction and accents, jumping from American English to British English accents.

Good Story. Bad sound quality.

(I having a difficult time reviewing this book because the sound quality was terrible. I contacted tech support but their advise didn't resolve the issue. After downloading to two separate devices and using format 4 and enhanced it still wasn't a clear download. I can only hope this doesn't happen to anyone else.)

With that being said, I did listen to this book but it took a lot of concentration. The story itself was interesting and the characters were well developed and engaging. I enjoyed the love story and history of the voyage from England to Burmuda and then to Virginia. The narrator has a pleasant voice and did great for the female voices but had difficulty with the male voices.

Overall, based on my sound quality issue, i would suggest reading this book rather than listening.

Charming and romantic

Where does The Proposal rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is my first audiobook.

Have you listened to any of Christine Cunningham Smith’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. Ms. Smith used so many voices that made the story come to life. She has a very pleasant voice and the sound quality was excellent.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Romance in Virginia before independence from England.

Any additional comments?

This book was very enjoyable. The story and characters were well developed. The love scenes were surprisingly bold for colonial times, or so I would think.

Cute!

"The Proposal" has a cute story-line and an interesting cast of characters, but the narrator's improper emphasis on words was distracting. Some scenes reminded me of a school play...no realism. Some scenes that should have been read with urgency are read nonchalantly.

Even though Christine Cunningham Smith's style of reading was off-putting, she has a pleasant voice and is able to successfully change it for different characters.

I can't improve on the Publisher's Summary, so I won't try...in my opinion their summation is all that is necessary to rouse ones interest...anything more and a person wouldn't need to buy the book.

too much telling, not enough showing

This is a pet peeve of mine, but I like an author to reveal characters through their actions and words and not tell me what they are thinking. In other words, don't tell me a character is clever, show how they are clever. This just wasn't my kind of book.