Audiobook Review: The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

 

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

Publication Date: September 17th 2024 by Simon & Schuster Audio

Pages: 298

Audio Book Length: 7hrs 48min

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm |  Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The Night We Lost Him was more fiction with a bit of mystery, but engrossing even so.

 

I don’t get why Liam and Corey just didn’t get together years earlier. What was stopping them? Not anything that was explained properly, in my opinion. The chapters set in the past were my least favorite part of the story. I was more invested in Nora and her brother Sam’s present-day mission to discover what actually happened to their father the night of his death. Both are at a crossroads personally and I enjoyed them connecting over their shared grief and sorting out their futures together.

 

There is one twist that caught me off guard, and I had to re-listen to the spot just to make sure I was hearing right before it all came together.

 

I did enjoy the sound of all the places, décor and aesthetics mentioned. From Santa Ynez/Central Coast California to the neighborhoods in New York. What Sam’s girlfriend wanted to do to that gorgeous Brownstone was a crime!

 

Julia Whelan’s excellent audio performance enhanced my enjoyment for sure!  

4 Stars

Book Description:

Estranged siblings discover their father has been keeping a secret for over fifty years, one that may have been fatal...

Liam Noone was many things to many people. To the public, he was an exacting, self-
made hotel magnate fleeing his past. To his three ex-wives, he was a loving albeit distant family man who kept his finances flush and his families carefully separated. To Nora, he was a father who often loved her from afar – notably a cliffside cottage perched on the California coast from which he fell to his death.   

The authorities rule the death accidental, but Nora and her estranged brother Sam have other ideas. As Nora and Sam form an uneasy alliance to unravel the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father’s past—and uncover a family secret that changes everything.

With Laura Dave’s trademark combination of soulful suspense and evocative family drama, The Night We Lost Him is a riveting page-turner with a heartbreaking final twist you’ll never see coming.

Review: Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave 

Published June 2nd 2015 by Simon & Schuster

There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…

Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.

But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

Georgia does what she’s always done: she returns to the family vineyard, expecting the comfort of her long-married parents, and her brothers, and everything familiar. But it turns out her fiancé is not the only one who’s been keeping secrets…

My Thoughts

Interesting story of a complex family that blends secrets, desires, and wine all into one entertaining novel.

When thirty-year old Georgia returns home to her family vineyard in Sonoma County for the harvest party, her family immediately knows something is wrong. She never changed out of her wedding gown from the dress fitting in Los Angeles, and she’s suddenly struggling with whether or not she can continue with her nuptials.

Georgia’s fiancé Ben has kept a secret from her for months, and discovering the complexities of her new reality a future without Ben is one she begins to contemplate. If only that was the one single issue Georgia is facing. Unfortunately, her twin brothers and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own and a few days before the annual harvest party, the entire Ford family struggles with how to move forward with their lives.

Eight Hundred Grapes has been on my radar for weeks. I’m very familiar with the setting having been to Sonoma County several times, but reading the story created a whole new perspective on this beautify wine county. I enjoyed hearing about the local establishments I’m very aware of, and it was interesting to learn a bit about the wine making process. Finding out that it takes about 800 grapes to make a bottle of wine might come in handy at trivia time some day.

I did struggle a bit with the Ford family dynamics. Each family member had a conflict in their life and several times it felt like they kept going back and forth with their decisions. I completely understand that indecision is a normal aspect of life, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the constant back and forth didn’t begin to frustrate me.

I don’t completely agree with Georgia’s decision at the end, but the ultimate conclusion was satisfying enough to accept her choice.

Overall, I enjoyed Eight Hundred Grapes as I journeyed through Sonoma County, learned a bit about the wine making process, and maneuvered my way through the Ford family dynamics. Interesting story!

3 Suns