The Fortunate Ones

4 stars — Brittany Pressley, the narrator for this one, did a pretty solid job. I liked most of the voices she did, but I wasn’t thrilled with the way she voiced James…though I can’t pinpoint why…I guess it just didn’t live up to the voice I had in my head for him. It grew on me as the story went on and I got used to it though. I enjoyed the writing, as I have with all the other R.S. Grey books I’ve read/listened to recently. But I struggled with Brooke. I realize I’m supposed to in some ways…but I just really had a hard time with her choices and how she saw things happening. I guess I just had a hard time connecting with her character, b/c I didn’t always understand her damage, and how her past affected her, you know? Like I get that her Mom abandoning her had a profound effect on how she saw her future and what she wanted, but I still couldn’t connect for some reason. I liked her, don’t get me wrong…but I was dismayed with her on more than one occasion. She would behave badly, regret it, then not understand when James wasn’t immediately ready to forgive. It was hard on my heart. She also came across very young, but I don’t always mind that. Sometimes I still feel that young at 38, so not everyone matures at the same rate…or rather, maturity doesn’t look the same on everyone. And as a single POV book, it was hard to understand James that well. I feel like I missed out on so much of who he was, what made him him, all that good stuff. I missed out on the chance to really connect with him. I enjoyed most of what I saw though, he really did have a soft heart. But I couldn’t help but wonder about his past — where was his family? As for their romance…it was fraught with such tension, that it was hard to get invested. Even many of their steamy encounters were preceded by fights, and so occasionally I was uncomfortable with the aggression of James. But yet I liked them together too, and I was rooting for them…honestly, it was confusing. I was super duper torn. I enjoyed a lot of the side characters. Her sister Ellie was hilarious…I enjoyed that they were both close and yet still acted like siblings too. I enjoyed the side story with Brooke learning to accept Martha, and reconciling with her Mom a bit. And I thought her time with Nicholas, Diego, Olive and Luciana was adorable. While I struggled with the initial decisions before this, I did appreciate how it helped settle Brooke a bit…maybe clear up her life. Basically, this was another solid romance from Ms. Grey. I can definitely see her being a must-read author in the future.