Miller's Island

By: Leona Bryant

Narrated by: Meghan Kelly

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Hurt feelings severed the relationship between Mari and her sister following the tragic deaths of their parents. A single mom, Mari has dedicated her life to her daughter and avoided her sister since the reading of her parents' will. In desperate need of rest and relaxation, Mari decides to use the beach house she inherited for the first time since her parents' deaths, which is located on the island Mari loved so much that she named her daughter after it.

Doing so causes a chain of events that begin soon after her arrival on the island. First, her daughter believes that the house is haunted - lights that randomly turn on, whispers of the wind, and rooms that no longer exist, exist. Next, Mari discovers she's not the only one in search of a much-needed vacation time. Her estranged sister, her quirky aunt, and the visitor only Mari's daughter can see all make appearances and change the course of all their plans.

To complicate matters, an old flame is rekindled, and Mari is left trying to make sense of it all. Can all be forgiven? Or are some sins completely unforgivable? Will all the shattered and missing pieces of their lives finally come together and bring peace to this family?

©2014 Leona Bryant (P)2015 Leona Bryant

Haunting at the island

Would you listen to Miller's Island again? Why?

To pick up on the items I may have missed the first time. The story was well written and interesting to catch everything.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved the aunt and how she tried to fix all the family's problems. She sounds like someone you would want to have around so she can help you.

What about Meghan Kelly’s performance did you like?

She did a great job reading the story. She gave everyone their own unique voice, which for me is great so I can follow with easy.

Who was the most memorable character of Miller's Island and why?

I liked Miller the best since you were able to see her open herself to the truth of her mom and the old boyfriend.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

A Family Mystery Unfolds

Any additional comments?

A nicely unfolding and extremely well narrated ghostly fantasy romance. Meghan Kelly has a lovely array of voices and sets a nice pace. She was able to speed up or slow down as the story required whether it be at one moment the gentle, easy speech of the grandmothers, only to switch from that character in mid-sentence and negotiate a conversation with the lightening ferocity of 14-year old Miller; I was happy to listen to Meghan’s voice all day.

One real disappointment I had was with the redundant words and grammatical errors starting about 30 seconds in with “…on the island….on the island” in the same sentence and similar errors here and there throughout the book. I just wish that editors actually edited. If it’s frustrating for me then I imagine others find it to be as well and some may even give the story up which would be a shame. That being said, overall the errors were minor in comparison to how well the story developed.

Leona Bryant has given us a wonderful story of a disconnected family facing life’s challenges through love, sorrow, mental illness and a haunted house. Lost love was the main theme and the author delicately and intricately wove threads of family sufferings and history in amongst this beautiful heartfelt generational romance. Involving the children in the search for and creation of a genealogical history was a thrill to hear and visualize.

There’s not much to say about Mari. She’s intelligent, kind to a fault and so wrapped up in work that she’s missing the best parts of her daughter’s life. I enjoyed the approach the author had in creating a hopeful father/daughter relationship in any story by letting it play out as it did with Miller and Doc. I loved Aunt Frankie too, she was an intelligent, tough and vibrant woman who helped hold the family together. The mental illness aspect was, in my opinion, thought out. It’s not an easy subject to convey to others and Ms. Bryant gave a good picture through Therese’s story even though at times readers may just think of her as a whining, ungrateful witch. I know I did.

There may be spelling errors in character names due to reading the book and not seeing the written words, my apologies. This audiobook was given to me by Meghan Kelly and Audible in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you for an enjoyable story.

x-posted on Goodreads and Facebook

Nice light read

What made the experience of listening to Miller's Island the most enjoyable?

I liked being able to listen and relax.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Miller was my favorite character. She has smarts and spunk.

Which character – as performed by Meghan Kelly – was your favorite?

Theresa was performed well. Meghan Kelly caught all the nuances of Theresa's character.

If you could rename Miller's Island, what would you call it?

Sumer with relatives.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

Great Story

I received a free audio version of this book for review.

It is a great story. One that you won't want to put down. It combines history, sibling rivalry and romance all in one.

Look forward to more from this author.

I didn't like the way that the narrator switched between characters as her voice became very squeaky at times.

Miller's Island

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

Oh my! I absolutely adored this book!!! The multi-generational stories intertwined and built upon created a great book.
The narration was excellent, the many voices were easy to listen to.

UNIQUE!!

At first I had a HARD TIME WITH this book.... HOWEVER I'M SO GLAD I STUCK IT OUT!! So if your one of those people that If they are not into by the 3rd chapter & you just say forget it, PLEASE DON'T CAUSE THIS BOOK IS VERY GOOD it's just a slow starter! I'm so GRATEFUL I STUCK IT OUT!! The NARRATOR was good.... I had to adjust the speed & she as well took a bit to get use to but over all it was worth it!! I can't quite explain it! I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT TO MY FRIENDS & FAMILY. In fact I already did to my sister in law!!

Couldn't stop listening!

Loved this contemporary fiction. Loved the easy going characters. Of course, except Teresa. But the author did a great job writing about her and her problems. All in all it was a very good story and the narration was great. I will be looking for more books by this author and more from the narrator.

Wonderful story!

This is the first book by Leona Bryant that I have listened to and I enjoyed it so much that it was hard to put down at night to go to bed. The first thing I did in the morning was put the ear plugs back in my ears to listen to more of the story and continued until I finished it. The narrator, Meghan Kelly, was very good and the voices she used for the different characters made it easy to tell who was talking. The only thing that bothered me about the narration was the volume in some places was extremely loud (like when Theresa was having one of her tantrums) and I was constantly adjusting the volume control.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author/narrator via Audiobookblast for an honest review.

Good

Good narration added to the tension and drama of this story. The look at a family, syblings, the hurts and the years between before once again connecting, Good characters, and good narration, Given audio for my voluntary review

Fantastic read from beginning to end!

Loved this book, made me think of my years living on the coast. There is so much going on and so many characters and there are no questions that leave you hanging at the end, although would a sequal would be interesting. . Narration is remarkable with so many characters. Very refreshing yet mysterious turns in every chapter. Couldn't wait to get back to the story each night.