The Emily Box Set

If you enjoy vulgar bar trash talk read this

Rude, crude, explicit, with gutter thinking and language. Could not read and did not enjoy.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Romance, mystery, suspense and humor oh my!

Loved it! Emily is quite the character that seems to find trouble. As a former Amarilloion I couldn't help but laugh at all the references to Amarillo that Pamela used in these books! I really look forward to starting the next book in the series that just came out.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Spit yeah, you are going to love these books

5 Star stories/4 Star narration. Audio Book Review. (I bought the eBooks and added Audible narration.) I had already read (in print) the third book in the Emily sub-set, #7 of the What Doesn't Kill You series, but it was fun to go backwards and read (with my ears) forward with books 5 & 6 to learn the back-stories. Main character Emily is a mess and a HOOT, and so real. "Oh spit," did I laugh a lot, and "Mother Goose," I could relate to Emily with her coffee love and crooked teeth and alternative vocabulary.

These books are chock-full of memorable characters and notable quotables, and I enjoyed and related to how Emily struggles with her faith, how to worship, how to pray, and how to be grateful. One of my favorite quotes from book one was, "I'd done a little too much of the 'why me' and the 'not fair' instead of just being thankful for what I did have." The point was not lost on me that often when Emily does the "Christian thing," it ends up badly. The slow-burn relationship between Emily and Jack is well-done, especially as things begin to smolder in book two, and again, just like Emily, the relationship feels real. It's not perfect: there are miscommunications and missed signals and uncertainty -- and a fair share of embarrassment, thanks to Emily's mother.

The narrator, Tracy Hundley excels in her female Texan voicing -- she has an accurate Texas accent and uses the right lilt and cadence in her speech and author Pamela Fagan Hutchins's fabulous phrasology. Initially, it seems like there is almost no attempt to make the male characters' voices sound male, though they do have different inflections, but that got better over the course of the three books. I am not a fan of her voicing of children and young people, and those pop-up with some frequency, but the adult females and a few selected male characters were so excellent, I didn't much care. (Melinda, described as "As shallow as a Texas river in August," sounded a bit Miss Piggy-ish, but you know, I think that is pretty accurate!)

I intend to go back to the beginning of the series -- and read the books after this set -- to get to know Emily's other friends and their stories. I like that though the books main friend group characters are what tie the full (now 9 book) series together, they work as stand alones, too. Pamela Fagan Hutchins is an immensely talented writer and has created a world with endless possibilities for storylines, each approached to match the unique women in this friend circle. There's humor, action, suspense, and romance a'plenty! HIGHLY recommend.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Awesome!!

This was such a well written series!!
I loved everything about each story and hope more will follow !!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great story

I have listen to over 20 books and probably haven't written 5 or 6 reviews a book has to really hold my interest for me to write one. This series held my attention from beginning to end I found it hard to put down. The story has everything a good book needs its funny, sad,serious and heart warming it takes you to the edge many times them pulls you back. I well also look for books narrated by this person in the future as she did a great job. I get books to listen to while I am driving I found myself getting out of my truck putting on my ear phones so I could continue to listen because it's har to find a good break point.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sad when it ended

This stows well written and performed. It truly drew the listener into the story. I found myself working out longer because it was at such a point I didn’t want to pause it. I highly recommend this for both humor and suspense.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Very mixed and inconsistent parts

There are three books in this "box set". (ASIDE-when there are three books and the format is three sections, it would be MUCH better to make each section a separate book!). My main comment is, for a cozy mystery, there is FAR TOO MUCH religion of the "God answers all of your prayers in real time so get down on your knees and pray" sort, although thankfully, it's not attempting to convert anyone. If it were, then I wouldn't have read it…
I wrote a review of the third book for GoodReads that sort of encompasses my thoughts on the series overall:
I gave this one more star than the other two in the series, but really I should've only been able to give it 3 1/2 stars, because there was still far too much going down on my knees and praying nonsense! But the story was involved in religion, so I can't exactly faulted for being "too religious", although it was. I guess it was trying to emphasize that religion itself, by definition, is not the evil; it's the people who call themselves religious in some cases. The story was annoying. I think I need to go back and change the rating to three stars. But it had a happy ending, which I guess is supposed to be the goal of cozy mysteries…
Actually, the more I think about it, the less I really like it. It's tempting to say I like it because of the of the characters have been painted as likable people like Emily; I like Laura; I like Nadine, and I like others. But really, the story itself is frustrating and annoying. Sigh. I guess part of my quandary is they really there are two distinct parts. The romance part is awful: the individuals and reactions are poor at best. The mystery part is engaging and enjoyable. The whole thing makes for a book that teeters on a wall. I am not a romance fan, but I am a mystery fan. And the over-the-top religion aspect: pray for answers and help, pulls it down into the negative side.

Summer read

Fun, silly, entertaining and happy. A feel good book with well developed characters and a well woven storyline

couldn't get past the narrator

I could not get past the narrator, and the writing was sophomoric. LIstened for about 15 minutes and that was all I could take.