AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Erin McCarthy's JACKED UP

 

Title: JACKED UP

Author: Erin McCarthy

Narrator: Emily Durante

Format: Audible Audio Edition

Audible Price: $17.99

Listening Length: 8 hours and 17 minute
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Release Date: November 11, 2012
Buy JACKED UP from Tantor

My Ratings
Plot:  5/5
Setting:  4.5/5
Writing:  4.5/5
Originality of Plot:  5/5
Characters Development:  5/5
Ending:  4.5/5

Narration:  5/5
Cover Art:  4/5
Likelihood to Recommend:  5/5

Overall:  42.5/45 = 94%

Synopsis

She's holding tight. He's hanging loose.

Eve Monroe is a stock-car PR pro who puts her career first--until an on-track wardrobe malfunction reveals more than the sexy smile of jackman Nolan Ford. The video's become an internet sensation, and it's Eve's job to calm the sponsors and put a spin on the unexpected exposure.

And they both have the same drive.

It may be a public relations job, but now that Eve's seen what's under Nolan's crew suit, it's gotten personal. After a few dates she has Nolan pretty revved up. If only she'd learn to relax and enjoy it. Nolan's sure that the spontaneous birthday bash he's throwing for Eve in Las Vegas should loosen her up. Somewhere between cocktails and a smoking-hot motel-room derby, it does more than that. Now Eve's wrestling with feelings she never expected, as everything about her personal jackman gets harder than she ever imagined.

Review

Motorsports PR guru Eve Monroe has put her dreams on hold to help further her brothers NASCAR careers.  She has a career that most people would die for, a perfect condo, and wonderful family.  She thought she had everything that she needed.  That was until, sexy NASCAR jackman Nolan Ford decided to ask her out.  They are complete opposites.  Where she is an ice queen, he is the jokester.  He's light hearted, and she tightly wound.  Her job requires her to be on-call 24-7, and he's able to leave his job on the track. These two seem to have nothing in common, except for an uncontrollable sexual attraction.

This was probably my favorite book in the series so far.  I was able to really connect with the story.  I've been in and out of Motorsports PR over the last 10 years.  Some people might find Eve as cold and snarky, but that's what it takes for a women to survive in a male dominated sport like racing.  I had respect for her and her attitude.

My favorite part of this book is the relationship between Eve and Nolan.  They have an amazing connection and this super steamy sexual chemistry.  They make each other better people. It's like they weren't a complete person, until they found the other.  Also there aren't that many men that would put up with Eve's snarky nature and give it back to her two fold. 

One of my favorite parts of this series is discovering Emily Durante's amazing narration style.  She is able to convey this books humor, passion, and grief.  Her smooth reading style and tone really make this book for me.  She has created distinct voices for each of the characters, so much that I tend to forget she is reading all of the parts.  I will absolutely pick up books narrated by her in the future!

I devoured this series in the matter of a couple weeks.  I just couldn't put it down!  And JACKED UP is the best book Erin McCarthy's Fast Track series has to offer.  If you're looking for a fast paces, sexy romance this series is for you!  I'd also recommend that you picking it up on audiobook, because Emily Durante's narration make this story jump off the page. I can not wait for the next book to come out! 




Fast Track Series

•     Flat Out Sexy (#1)
•     Hard and Fast (#2)
•     Hot Finish (#3)
•     The Chase (#4)
•     Slow Ride (#5)
•     Jacked Up (#6)

Websites

• Erin McCarthy's Website
• Erin McCarthy on Twitter
• Erin McCarthy on Facebook

GUEST POST: Author Tammy Kaehler - Kate Reilly and Me

I'm really happy to have mystery writer Tammy Kaehler here on the Nice Girls Blog.  Her newest release BREAKING POINTS, book two in the Kate Reilly Mystery series, was released on Monday.  I can't wait to run right out and get it, so I can dive into Kate's newest adventures!  

If you've read DEAD MAN'S SWITCH, this is an great opportunity for you to get to know Kate a little better and her creator Tammy.  If you haven't picked up this series, what the heck are you waiting for!

I proudly present to you, author Tammy Kaehler!

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Author Tammy Kaehler - ©PB Shoots

Kate Reilly and Me

I write in first person, in the head and voice of a 24-25 year old racecar driver. I’m a little north of 40 and a complete chicken behind the wheel. My point is, I’m really not my main character.

And yet, I sort of am.

When I set out to create Kate Reilly, my protagonist in the Kate Reilly Racing Mystery series, I deliberately made her the same in some ways, and not in others. Let’s look at some of the similarities and differences in physical aspects and our attitudes and emotions….

Height: We’re both five-foot-three (or four). Why? I know what it’s like, I suppose. And smaller is better for a driver.

Eyes: Blue for both of us

Hair: Dark brown for me, black for Kate. Funny story…. When I created Kate, I was blonde. I didn’t want to make her look like me (ha!) and I didn’t want her to be a blond, with all of the attendant stereotypes, so I gave her black hair. A couple years later, I went back to my natural dark brown. And then dark-brown-haired Danica got popular. Oops. Now it takes a lot of explaining that she wasn’t meant to be like either of us!

Exercise: The single best thing about creating Kate is making her like—or even love—stuff I hate but that I know is good for me. Like exercise. For Kate, working out, sweating, and feeling pain and burn in her muscles and lungs is doing her job. To be a top driver, she’s got to be fit and strong enough to wrestle a car around at top speeds for two hours at a time in temperatures above 100F. She loves to win, and working out means being ready to fight for the win. No choice for her. She enjoys workouts because they get her closer to the top step of the podium.

Me? Not so much. I work out plenty, but I hate every single minute of it and complain like crazy. I hate sweating and feeling gross—whereas Kate spends her working hours soaking wet in her firesuit. And she loves it.

Femininity: In her second adventure, Braking Points, Kate struggles to reconcile being singled out as an icon of beauty with being a lifelong tomboy who doesn’t know how to apply makeup very well. Kate basically feels like she’s not very good at being a girl—and while her attitude (and situation) are an over-exaggeration of what I’ve always felt, I can relate. I’ve had phases in my life of preferring dresses to jeans and overdoing the eye shadow (hello, high school in the 1980s). But I’m not an inveterate shopper or reader of fashion magazines. I don’t trust myself with patterns and mostly mix boring, solid color clothes. And I hardly ever do ruffles or bows. That’s not to say I’m not feminine, but like Kate, I’m not the hearts, bows, and pink kind of feminine.

So, sure, Kate’s a lot like me. But so is Holly, Kate’s sidekick who gets all the witty one-liners. So is the fussy, perfectionist Series VP, Stuart Telarday. Instead of one character being just like me, I’ve spread different aspects of me across a lot of characters. I suppose that makes sense, given that I created them all.

It’s tempting to make Kate the better version of me—the younger, prettier, more perfect version. But perfect is boring. Kate has to make mistakes and to screw some things up, both to be believable as a human being and to make my stories interesting.

And maybe that’s how we’re the most alike, in the end, Kate and me and every human out there … none of us is perfect. We’re all going to mess some things up and (hopefully) do some things—driving a racecar, manipulating words, telling stories—pretty well.

  

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 I really want to take the time to thank Tammy for stopping by!  

Her newest release BREAKING POINT can be found at Amazon and Audible.