Jake Undone

By: Penelope Ward

Narrated by: Felicity Munroe, Brian Pallino

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Nina Kennedy is alive...but not living...until she meets him. Planes, trains, heights...you name it, Nina is afraid of it and leads a sheltered life ruled by irrational fears and phobias. When she moves to Brooklyn for nursing school, that life is turned upside down as she develops an intense but unwanted attraction to her gorgeous roommate, who's pierced and tattooed and just happens to be the smartest person she's ever met. Behind Jake Green's rough exterior and devilish smile lies a heart of gold. He makes it his mission to change Nina's outlook on life. When he agrees to tutor her, they forge a bet, and the stakes are high as Jake forces Nina to face her demons. He just wasn't expecting to fall hard for her in the process. What Nina doesn't realize is that Jake has been living his own private hell. Once he drops a bombshell, will their love survive it? Told in two parts from both Nina and Jake's points of view, Jake Undone is a standalone story and a companion to the novel Gemini.

©2013 Penelope Ward (P)2015 Audible Inc.

loved it.

Great story ! I liked having both a male and female narrator , and narration is entertaining and very vivid.

An unexpected twist and enjoyable story

Jake's character was a delight. The unexpected twist made for an enjoyable story. I truly loved this book.

fantastic

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes. i was grinning from ear to ear the first half of the story. laughing OUTLOUD, it was great.

Which scene was your favorite?

the first 4 hours of the book. soo much chemistry and angst.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

/sigh yeah.

Any additional comments?

just be warned the first half of the book is waaay better than the last half. still good dont get me wrong. Felicity was awesome /highfive chicka, she nailed it

Jake Undone Me

Would you listen to Jake Undone again? Why?

Yes, the story was moving and funny. Jake's character is the kind of man every woman wants.

What did you like best about this story?

As the story unfolded you just kept falling more and more in love with Jake.

What about Felicity Munroe and Brian Pallino ’s performance did you like?

The narration was great. I binged listened.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Jake's devotion to his mental ill wife.

I'm Undone

I loved this story. I had been intrigued by Jake character in the previous book but this book undid me. I felt how strongly he felt about all the people in he cared about. He gave his all always. Talk about not judging a book by it's cover. Wow.

Great In-Depth Story

I enjoy Penelope Ward's great story telling. This book kept me hooked from the beginning. The detailed personality of each character is quality work by the author. You feel like you know each of the characters. The author gives you such detail and has developed the characters to be relatable and the story to be believable. Nina has anxiety issues and Jake is hiding a secret. You become so involved in their lives that it is difficult to stop reading/listening. The narrators did a great job as well.

An amazing story

What made the experience of listening to Jake Undone the most enjoyable?

It was my first audible book and it was a great experience.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jake, because he is just simply wonderful.

Which character – as performed by Felicity Munroe and Brian Pallino – was your favorite?

Jake

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were a few, but as the story went on it just became more and more emotional and enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

I just really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed seeing a bit of the story from Gemini in this one as well. Great complex characters and it kept you on your toes just like Gemini did. a great story.

loved it

Did I mention that I loved this book... it was so original... it held my attention. The romqnce was sooo good.

A rating overall....

My Review:
Overall: 4.25
Performance: 4.50
Story:4.00

I've never read this author before and honestly have no idea how I ended up picking this one up, but I'm so glad that I did. This was a great story and definitely a riveting listen.

Nina's a young woman about to embark on nursing school in NYC. She's a lot out of her element and struggling with a host of phobias that make the transition even more difficult. Her big brother's best friend lives in NYC and she moves into an apt with him, his girlfriend, and Jake.

Jake is an enigma. He has the appearance of a tattooed bad boy, but is really en employed engineer. He and Nina form a close friendship pretty much off the bat. He helps her with her math classes and her phobias which brings them in close proximity. But as much time as they spend together, Nina doesn't know why he disappears every weekend. She just knows that she's falling for him.

The first half of the book is told from Nina's POV and then the second half is told from Jake's. I really liked that about the book. I don't think I would have liked the book near as much if I'd had to stay in Nina's head the whole time. She has some maturity issues which sometimes make her a bit much.

Although their attraction is pretty much immediate, there is a really slow build to their romance...which I liked. It's obvious that there are hidden reasons why Jake is holding back. (I guessed them way early, but that didn't make it any less shocking when it did finally all come out.)

Although I admittedly LOVED this book. I did have some problems with it too.

Ryan's reaction seemed over the top. I just never got the jerk vibe from him until he was one and that took me totally by surprise.

Also...Nina's phobias and issues. While I liked what they added to the story to bring her and Jake together, thinking back on it after the fact, that aspect totally didn't work for me. I don't want to post any spoilers, but I would think those would be HUGE flags for Jake. He's been surprised by someone with mental issues before. Why would he get involved with someone else who actually has warning signs of deep mental problems again? Talk about PTSD...I'd think he'd have some in this instance, so that makes the entire premise for these characters ring false.

But even with that, I did love the book. I enjoyed every minute of listening to it....to the point that I ignored other books I was reading just so I could spend another ten minutes listening to this audiobook for just a bit more. The story line was riveting and even though I thought it had issues after I finished and thought it through, at the time of listening to it, I loved it. And that's where my rating on it comes from.

Both narrators did a fabulous job.

THE STORY & ITS CHARACTERS WILL SUCK YOU RIGHT IN

Oh boy this book hooks you right in with the shy and nervous Nina and her infatuation, lust and ever growing feelings for her gorgeous, tattooed, pierced and very smart roommate Jake. Jake is so supportive and caring towards Nina and he picks up on all her insecurities and helps her as any good friend would do. But the more time they spend together the closer they become but Jake is giving off mixed messages and won't take their relationship to the next level. Every weekend he goes home to Boston and nobody knows why - there's a huge secret he's frightened to tell Nina about because it could ruin everything so when he eventually decides to share his secret with her he is one day too late..... one day that poisons their newly found happiness and joy leaving only despair, longing, heartache, regrets and pain.

What a captivating story because you so desperately want Nina and Jake to work things out but before you know it there's even more heartache, drama, angst, temptations and misunderstandings standing in their way before finally they get their Fairytale HEA ending. It was very touching and romantic at times and it also had it's share of sexy times too and eventually, when you thought their bitter-sweet love story was wrapping up, the author took you just a little further with them which was so perfect, loving, tender and a lovely ending.

Worth a credit? Dual POV's, two really good narrators and a highly emotional, sometimes funny, sometimes sexy, romantic and touching plot made this a very creditworthy listen. And one that had me saying "Oh just one more chapter"...... right through the night.