Paper Love: A Chicago Christmas Book 2

INSPIRATIONAL/CHRISTIAN:  Still trying to adjust to life back in the states after growing up in Papua New Guinea and dealing with the death of her mother, the last thing Joss desires is a relationship.  Even after meeting the charming, handsome Ben Montgomery, she is determined to stick to her guns.  Ben, on the other hand, is determined to win over the lovely Joss who captured his attention the moment he met her.  Pulling out all the stops he uses every romantic gesture up his sleeve, including a homing pigeon and the art of origami, in order to prove to Joss once and for all that her heart is worth risking for his love.

Ms. Wynne delivers a sweet tale of risking one’s heart for love.  Although the story begins well, the lack of true character development and depth to the plot keep the reader from fully engaging.  The storyline jumps around, jarring the reader from Joss’s point-of-view to Ben’s with no real reason as to why.  With little foundation or build-up, the relationship between Ben and Joss is hard to truly get behind.  As this is the second book in a series, it is possible that upon reading the first installment, readers might enjoy this tale far more.

The audiobook for “Paper Love” is produced well and the sound quality is near perfect.  Unfortunately, the performance brings this book to a crashing halt.  The inflection of dialogue is awkward with an unnatural speaking pattern.  The narrator also does little to help the listener connect with the story and characters.  In addition, more effort to distinguish between characters was needed.  Given a different narrator and more depth to the story from Ms. Wynne, a great love story could emerge.

Amy Cefoldo