Bitter Bonds

By: Heather Osborne

Narrated by: D. Michelle

Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Brutally torn between duty and his heart, Henri Du Cormier never expected to be completely enraptured with Adrienne Beaumont, the sister of his betrothed. As the new owner of St. Esprit, Henri knows he must work his way into a tight-knit society, and spurning his fiancée will do the complete opposite. However, there are hidden secrets, black magic, and voodoo entwined like poisonous vines into the Louisiana plantation. Will Henri end up cursing himself in life and love? Adrienne Beaumont is anything but ordinary in a world of demure, Southern belles. Desiring little more than to be rid of a vengeful older sister, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the mysterious Henri Du Cormier. As their lives grow increasingly entangled, will Adrienne give in to the burgeoning attraction, or will fate play another card?

©2016 Heather Osborne (P)2017 Heather Osborne

Needs a different narrator

You know there are going to be some issues when I start a review with “Where do I start…”

Let me get it out there that I thought the story was good. I enjoyed it overall even though it left me with several questions. These questions involved things that were… not necessarily the opposite of what I know, but different, per that time period. See below.

Now the biggest issue I had with this “audiobook” was the narrator. I’ll say it now, I wouldn’t recommend her. I don’t know if she’s new to narrating, which I imagine is the case, but no thanks. She needs major work. I don’t like being mean in my review, but there are certain narrators that I’ve listened to over the years who leave me wondering: “Why did you think of becoming a narrator in the first place?” I’m sure finding a good narrator who can bring more to your story while also not costing a small fortune is the goal for an author. It’s like I always say, a narrator can make or break your story. The only reason I continued to listen was that the story sounded interesting; the narrator only detracted from it.

There were so many with this narrator. 1. I felt she talked too fast. I tried slowing the audiobook, but then it just didn’t sound right. The majority of the time she went from one sentence to the next with no real pause or break in between the sentences. I think had the author found a narrator who could easily do an English/British/French accent (more sophisticated voice) would have done wonders for her story.

2. Her voice was too common for my liking (Yes, that’s a personal opinion). Maybe it’s because a good majority of historical non-fiction that I’ve listened to uses a narrator with umph, or someone with a little more to their voice(s). Someone who is able to do accents, even subtly, when the story takes place in London or the early-American years is good. I could easily imagine her doing plays with the cheesy quality she used for the characters, specifically Adrienne and Francine (the females). Really, her only plus was that she changed her voice when it came to the servants. Otherwise, the characters sounded the same. The females just had more “energy” when they spoke.

3. There were words throughout the story that were mispronounced. It’s 2019; if you aren’t sure about the pronunciation, Google is your friend. For example, “Adrienne.” I don’t know how many varieties of “Adrienne” the narrator used but wow. And she had Henri pronounce it so the middle syllable had the most emphasis. “Canapes” was pronounced as can-a-pays. “Madam,” one of those words that are not really pronounced how it’s spelled was pronounced as ma-dam. “Ritual nights” was “Rigual nights.”

Questions/Comments:

Near the beginning when we learned Francine was going to be married off, there was a part I was confused about. I listened to it twice but still… We know Francine would be marrying Henri Du Cornier. When her friend Rosalind arrived, she told Francine that Henri had come into money. Francine thought, “She hadn’t considered that.” Um… hadn’t her father already told her he’d come into money? Why else would she be marrying him? It wasn’t like her father would have picked out a poor man for her.

There was a line: “But I fear we will continue to fair.” This was said when Henri and Francine’s father were talking about business and marriage. Wanting to be “fair” would be along the lines of how things were currently going if not getting better, managing. Why would he use the word “fear” though?

Another questionable line: “She was prepared to keep the conversation polite and disarming.” Huh? I can’t remember who or what this was regarding. I think it involved Adrienne. Either way, it didn’t make sense to me.

My biggest question was regarding why Henri needed Francine to be accepted into society? He could have married Adrienne. Either sister should have been fine. Unless there’s some unknown law or what have you, after Henri married Francine and “beds” her, I no longer really felt bad for him. I mean he could have found a different family if he really wanted to, knowing how much of a pain Francine was. That was his choice not to. He didn’t even have to marry to be accepted (at least per what I know). He was a young bachelor with money. Nothing more needed to be said.

Another big question involved divorcing. With the knowledge I have, based on reading historical fiction/non-fiction, watching historical-related TV and movies, I’ve never heard of a man having to explain why he wanted a divorce. It has always been essentially, “I no longer what this woman.” End of story. That was why there were so many women getting sent to insane asylums back in the day or randomly dying, because their husbands were in charge and they could do and say whatever they wanted and other men would go along with it. The fact Henri needed proof that Francine was cheating on him just seemed questionable.

When Adrienne was possessed by the ghost (forgot her name), why does she want to give Adrienne’s body to Henri? Yes, Henri and Adrienne unknowingly love each other, but Adrienne losing her virginity without being aware…

Francine believed that Henri wouldn’t tarnish his good name by sleeping with another woman. Why not? Men slept around all the time. The one guy Adrienne was supposed to marry was proof of that.

We were told that Adrienne would have been outcasted had her relationship with Henri been discovered. How small was the town they lived in? She was an heiress essentially. She had property and money. Why would she have been an outcast?

Lastly, when Francine is pretty much left to her own devices at Henri’s house, Sabin ended up telling Adrienne that Francine wanted her. Why would she have lied? Yes, she feared for her mother but still. Adrienne could have brought help with them.

I received a free audiobook code in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing

This book was amazing. I adored this. I could not stop listening and I really wanted more. I wanted to know more about Beaumont and how Adrienne and her new husband lived. I love this!

wonderful book

if you like historical novels intertwined with mystery, Voodoo, drama and entanglement this is the perfect look for you. very well written and performed, the characters are well laid out and you honestly do not want to stop until the very end and then still wish there was another chapter

Was a good listen

This was a very touching read so much more than a romance but a wonderful read filled of so much pain and sorrow. The author shows that what you think you want may not always be what you really want. Adrienne  is just a delightful sweet character, her sister not so much. The story goes into detail of a marriage not made in heaven and how those who love the most will give the most.

The narrator did a good job, some of her character voice were to close together, at times it is hard to know who is talking, she needs to slow down and pause more, it kind of runs together at times. She does show emotions in her characters, her accents are very good. There was one place where she repeated a few words, I feel sure this is when she took a break but other than that I could not tell when breaks were taken. There is no background noise, no volume change, it is a very clear audio. I look forward to watching this narrator grow. I did enjoy the listen.

I thought it was a good listen, a little far out there at times, but it does have meaning, and is more than a romance. I believe this is must be how things were back then with black magic. Was glad to see the sister got what I felt she deserved.

Eye opening

I received a free code to listen to this book and I did so willingly

I must say this was quite the opposite of what I expected. As I am not superstitious this book made me think twice.

This was a once off topic for me as I don't want to know anything more about Voodoo and all that entails

Narrator not very good

Would you try another book from Heather Osborne and/or D. Michelle?

The story was okay but the narrator sounded disinterested.

What could Heather Osborne have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Slow down and give each character a different tone..

How could the performance have been better?

A different narrator...