All Stirred Up

By: Brianne Moore

Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells

Susan Napier's family once lived on the success of the high-end restaurants founded by her late grandfather. But bad luck and worse management has brought the business to the edge of financial ruin. Now it's up to Susan to save the last remaining restaurant: Elliot's, the flagship in Edinburgh. But what awaits Susan in the charming city of Auld Reekie is more than she bargained for. Chris Baker, her grandfather's former protégé - and her ex-boyfriend - is also heading to the Scottish capital.

After finding fame in New York as a chef and judge of a popular TV cooking competition, Chris is returning to his native Scotland to open his own restaurant. Although the storms have cleared after their intense and rocky breakup, Susan and Chris are redrawn into each other's orbit - and their simmering attraction inevitably boils over. As Chris's restaurant opens to great acclaim and Susan tries to haul Elliot's back from the brink, the future brims with new promise.

But darkness looms as they find themselves in the crosshairs of a gossip blogger eager for a juicy story - and willing to do anything to get it. Can Susan and Chris reclaim their lost love, or will the tangled past ruin their last hope for happiness?

©2020 Brianne Moore (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Excellent in every way

This is a great retelling of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion” that works as a contemporary novel, but is made even more enjoyable by the rich counterpoint to the original. The narrator is wonderful, bringing the characters’ unique accents, timbres and tones to life.

Lovely story and amazing narrator!

I bought this title because I love this particular narrator, so I hoped I'd like the story. I wasn't disappointed! It was a great story that held my interest all the way through. I look forward to another!

Really enjoyed this Persuasion update

T his updating of Persuasion set in the restaurant scene in Edinburgh was engaging and enjoyable. This take on Jane Austen was true to the story without forcing every JA character and situation into a modern setting. In my opinion not every character worked perfectly to advance the plot, but this book offers an insight into Persuasion. In this version of the story the supporting characters, especially the sisters, are somewhat more multidimensional than in the original. They are given a bit of a backstory, the sisters in this version do care for each other, and I was pleased that they also have a brighter future ahead.
I appreciated that Susan, our heroine, had more agency than Anne could have had in Persuasion. She still has to navigate through a history with her ex, full of resentments and misunderstandings , but like Anne, she has created a life for herself with fulfilling relationships ships with family, and many moments of happiness despite the losses that shaped her, especially of her first love. Modern life gives Susan more choices as she has an education and financial independence, but it also brings different challenges and potential pitfalls to both of the main characters.

Mary Jane Wells' narration was excellent. Characters had their own voices, and the pacing was great. Lots of life. I liked that she used volume to give texture, though at low volume I couldn't hear every word and sometimes had to go back.

Good romance, based on Jane Austen's Persuasion

I was a couple of chapters in before I started to recognize the similarities to my favorite Jane Austen book, Persuasion. This loosely-based, modern take on Persuasion substitutes Bath with Edinburgh, and replaces the naval aspect with restauranteurs. All the major (and most minor) characters are there with modern equivalents, all easily identifiable, and with the comparable weaknesses and strengths. There are, of course, a few new characters to help round out the altered plot.
Mary Jane Wells does her usual stellar job with the narration of this lovely little romance. Her accents, intonation, and voice differentiation are all spot-on. She makes every book she narrates more enjoyable.
This is a delightful Austenian homage, with a similar happy ending.

Please note:
1) For those concerned, this is not a "mature audience" story, and although I don't mind more descriptive interactions, the discretion used here in no way makes the romance less enjoyable, and further reflects the Austen-based style.
2) I listened to this (and most of my audiobooks) at 1.5 speed to better reflect the cadence of everyday speech.

Read for the narrator

MJW is one of my auto buy narrators, love her talent way with accents and voice tones. This was my first experience with this author. Liked the story and MJW does an excellent job bringing the characters to life.