The first time around I was charmed. The second time around I was emotional. The third time I fell in love. Laura Chapman makes every time feel like a new experience. Counting on You is hard to put down, no matter how many times I read or listen to it. Less than perfect proved to be the perfect match for the romantic in me. I loved it.

What Happens at Midnight by Laura Chapman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Audiobook Review: What Happens at Midnight by Laura Chapman (Author), Kay Heart (Narrator)

What if your heart was stuck on repeat and had to relive the same heartache all over again? Will there ever be the chance to finally get love right? Chapman will most certainly own a piece of any heart with What Happens at Midnight. Natalie is a combination of hopeless romantic and heartbroken dreamer. When fate presents her with the opportunity to get her happy ending, nothing will keep her from taking a chance on forever. From the charming dialogue, captivating story and angst filled narration Chapman and Heart ring in the new year with a bit help from the ghost of Christmas past and the magic of a Happy New Year.



View all my reviews

Take the story of the birth of Jesus and skip to the evening when Mary is attempting to lull her (in this version) fussy baby to sleep while animals and visitors are causing various levels of chaos, and you have the premise of this hardback picture book.  Written in verse and illustrated in earthy tones, heavy on the orange, this is the most visually active bedtime storybook I have ever seen.  The only real criticism I have (well, other than the fact that Mary is having a pretty bad hair day) is the depiction of the angels.  

I think this would be a great bedtime choice for the holiday season, and a fun supplement to the traditional telling of the Nativity story.  If, however, you prefer your Nativity story to always be completely serene and reverent, this is perhaps not the best choice.  

3/5 stars for well done rhyming text and dynamic illustrations.  Had the angels been depicted in a less "Godspell" way, I would have rated this as 3.5 or 4 stars.

An expanded version of this review can be found on my Wordpress blog at http://wp.me/p5Tcfi-7X

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Lexi Burke has always been a stickler for following rules and procedures. As a human resources manager for a leading Gulf Coast chemical company, it’s her job to make sure everyone else falls in line, too. 

But after losing out on a big promotion–-because her boss sees her as too much of a yes-woman––Lexi adopts a new policy of following her heart instead of the fine print. And her heart knows what it wants: Jason Beaumont, a workplace crush who is off limits based on her previous protocol. 

While navigating a new romance and interoffice politics, Lexi must find the confidence to stand on her own or face a lifetime of following someone else’s orders. 

Who says nice girls have to finish last?

I just loved this story. Having worked in the corporate world, it was easy to identify with Lexi and the predicament she finds herself in – the one where she wakes up one day to find out all the hard work she has done has not gotten her the promotion she deserves, and, as a matter of fact, all that hard work has done for her is it has kept her chained to her office and limited her ability to live life.

When Lexi finally realizes that all of her rule-following and hard work come with a price she is no longer willing to pay, she commits to herself to start having fun and living…starting with figuring out a way to land her the man she has been crushing on since she started working for the company…Jason Beaumont.

Jason Beaumont has worked his way up the company, and has had his eye on Lexi since the first time he met her, but has held back since her role in HR and her rule-following has made her seem off-limits. When he can no longer help himself, he starts to spend more time with Lexi…and when a night mixed with too many margaritas for Lexi has him confessing his feeling, there is no turning back!
This was a fun read and I enjoyed watching Lexi’s take charge of her professional and personal life. It was refreshing watching someone as young as Lexi understand the value of hard work, but also recognize when she was being treated like a “doormat”. It was interesting watching her struggle with trying to find the balance between being a push-over at work and going the extra mile because it truly added value. On the relationship front, it was easy to believe she would just submit to Jason since she had been crushing on him for two years, so it was also wonderful to see her take a stand with him when issues came up in their relationship.

I loved the supporting characters in this book as well. From Jason’s uncle Bo and his mother, to Lexi’s two best friends, as well as all the work friends that are featured during many karaoke nights – which I loved – they all add additional depth and color to this story. And I really enjoyed the role technology and social media played in the story, from the tweets at the start of each chapter, to watching the love affair that Lexi had with her phone…yep, seriously, she loved her phone so much she even named it “Harriet” and had conversations with it – LOL!

All in all, this was a great read – not your traditional love story, but more of a coming of age story in the workplace that happens to include a romance!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for an honest review.