The Pub Across the Pond

By: Mary Carter

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Sometimes leaving home is the only way to find where you truly belong.

Carlene Rivers is many things. Dutiful, reliable, kind. Lucky? Not so much. At 30, she’s living a stifling existence in Cleveland, Ohio. Then one day, Carlene buys a raffle ticket. The prize: a pub on the west coast of Ireland. Carlene is stunned when she wins. Everyone else is stunned when she actually goes.

As soon as she arrives in Ballybeog, Carlene is smitten, not just by the town’s beguiling mix of ancient and modern but by the welcome she receives. In this small town near Galway Bay, strife is no stranger, strangers are family, and no one is ever too busy for a cup of tea or a pint. And though her new job presents challenges—from a meddling neighbor to the pub’s colorful regulars—there are compensations galore. Like the freedom to sing, joke, and tell stories and, in doing so, find her own voice. And in her flirtation with Ronan McBride, the pub’s charming, reckless former owner, she just may find the freedom to follow where impulse leads and trust her heart—and her luck—for the very first time.

©2011 Mary Carter (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Superb storytelling and fun and fantastic characters make this a story not soon forgotten.” ( Romantic Times)

I would have given it more but...

I would have given this more stars but I found it highly annoying how much the author must hate America. Too much annoyance and bad mouthing the states for my taste. Other than that, it was cute. And the narrator is one of my favs. But lose the attitude author! Geez.

If you don't like the F bomb, don't listen to this

Would you be willing to try another book from Mary Carter? Why or why not?

No, I didn't appreciate the language

Any additional comments?

Wish there would have have been an explicit language warning on this book

Intriguing, Funny and Engaging!

Excellent book and Kirsten's narration and "voices" made the story! If you don't mind a "f#%ing" potty mouth, you'll love it!

Kinda silly

I bought this because I enjoyed the narrator so much in Spymasters Lady. She performed well in this audible, too. The story was a little silly. If you like simple characters and a not very realistic plot this is for you. This is not life changing fiction but good for the beach or a commute listen.

a romance read, disappointing for me.

I loved the story idea behind this book, and basically enjoyed the story itself; but there were too many "romance story" interjections for me, and I couldn't skim over it like I would in a printed version. I enjoy mysteries, thrillers, literature, and historical fiction, but generally don't care for the light romance novels, and this tended toward the latter, in my opinion. There was also a conversation at the pub that disgusted me because I thought it was just thrown in for the language alone, The F word is thrown around quite casually, so if it bothers you, beware. That in itself didn't bother me as much as the unnecessary bar conversation. I did like the turn the story took at the end, so that it did end well. The narrator was excellent for this book.

Loved it!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Good story, good narrator, good characters. A lovely visit to Ireland.

Blech...

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I was very disapointed the summary sounded great, but the narrator's accents were distracting. The main male character is Irish....but not when he talks to himself? If the author had used more

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kirsten Potter?

The Narrator of The Outlander Series, she does an excellent job with all accents.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Ugh! I couldn't get through it. Bad writing!

I love all novels, of every genre. This story line and plot seemed so interesting! Right up my alley. But I could not get through it. I made it maybe 25 minutes in, and I had to stop. Clearly the author is a great storyteller, but not a great writer. Every line is, "he said" "she said" "he said" "she said" "Ronan said" "Sarah said" "Katie said" "Declan said" -- it not only gets exhausting, but it completely takes away from the story line and frustrates me. At one point while listening, after hearing the 15th "said" right in a row, I had to stop it. How about "he answered" or "she declared" or "Sarah insisted" or whatever? It was a huge hiccup and distraction, and I just could not get past it. Maybe it's not so glaring in the print version, but in audio it just made me want to scream. Too bad, because it sounded like a very cool story line. But after spending $17 on this, I'm moving on.

This book is so NOT like the Irish

It is obvious tto me that this writer has never been to Ireland...she portrays the people in her book as a bunch of lazy alchoholic barflys that have only a 4 letter word as vocabulary.

One of the worst reads I've ever chosen...............Sorry

Disappointment

The reviews for this book were good but I was disappointed. The continual use of THAT four letter word was overwhelming,. I actually didn't finish the book.