Forty-Nine Shades of Pink

By: Jacqueline Druga

Narrated by: Rebecca Horton

Felix Cramer is a dashing, eccentric and effeminately gay poet who adores his life. That is, until he wakes up in the parking lot of a national chain coffee shop and discovers not only does he have a new identity, his old life has been erased.

Felix hasn't a clue why it has happened.

Bound and determined to prove who he is, he embarks on a path of danger, mystery and scandalous behavior and will stop at nothing to reclaim his life. That is, of course, if his old life actually did exist.

Forty-Nine Shades of Pink is a comedic story of one man's struggles. While it contains adult themes, it does not contain any graphic sex.

Apocalypse author Jacqueline Druga takes a break from destroying the world. Without hiding behind a pseudonym, she parodies the ‘Shades' phenomenon in a different way.

©2012 Jacqueline Druga (P)2012 Jacqueline Druga

Lots of fun, I won't lie...

What was one of the most memorable moments of Forty-Nine Shades of Pink?

Felix is simply adorable.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This book would have been great with a different narrator. Let me explain why. It cannot be so hard to find a male voice for a MALE character. I have heard female narrators who can do male voices well, but this narrator cannot. that being said, luckily, this story was sweet so it was still worth it. I recommend it, despite the narrator being female.

If you could take any character from Forty-Nine Shades of Pink out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Felix. He's done so well and so sweetly. I'd be too afraid that C would break out her cellphone.

Any additional comments?

If this book had a different narrator, it would have been perfect. I am not sure how many non PC things were approached in this story but it was great fun. It's nothing mind-blowing but it's very quirky and good for a listen just to laugh a few times. I will recommend this to my friends, especially the written version. I hope to see more in this genre from this author. very cute story indeed.

Avoid this one!

I suspect one of two things is going on here: either Ms. Druga is only loosely acquainted with any actual flesh-and-blood gay men, or her intended audience is women who are only loosely acquainted with any gay men. The concept for the story isn't terrible, but the main character is frustratingly one-dimensional, and that situation is NOT improved by the sub-par audio quality or the truly unfortunate narration. It's not that I object to the stereotypical effeminacy of Felix---I'm a pretty nelly queen myself---so much as the fact that nothing about this character reads as realistic or remotely nuanced. I downloaded this expecting a light, fun campy listen, so I didn't go into this looking for great literature, but this audiobook failed to meet even the lowest listening standards. Don't waste your money or your credit!