Dawn Of Change by Gerri Hill is a slow burn, toaster oven romance with fantastic narration by the epic Abby Craden.
Susan is running away from her life. She is hiding from her husband in their cabin in a national park. After catching him in bed with another woman she is not at all interested in returning to her country club life. So she is alone in their cabin as she tries to figure out what she wants to do next.
Shawn likes to escape the city by coming to the national park and camping with her dog, Alex. It’s during these trips when she feels most happy.
One day the two women meet and Susan unexpectedly invites Shawn to join her for dinner at the cabin. She is feeling lonely and after not speaking to another human for two weeks she realises she would like the company of anyone, even this woman who is a complete stranger.
Dinners together turns into a frequent occurrence and both women start looking forward to it. But when Susan’s sister and mother discover where she is they make it a point of coming to cabin as frequently as they can in order to try and persuade Susan to return to her husband.
The thing is, though, Susan and Shawn are starting to have feelings for one another. But will the pressure of family put an end to this budding relationship or will the women be able to make it work?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
My favourite part of the book was the narration. Abby Craden really does elevate a story.
Heads Up
It’s a really odd thing to encounter a character who smokes. I think this may be the first time it’s happened to me. Anyway, for anti-smokers, this is a heads up.
Also, Susan and Shawn have feelings for one another while Susan is technically still married. She is separated from her husband though.
Cons
I don’t like the cover for this audiobook. I don’t think it reflects the book well. It kind of looks like a guide to camping or best vacations. I get what they were trying to do but the cover is not a good reflection of the story, themes nor feelings the books evokes.
The Conclusion
The story is a little dated. We are getting more romances now without the theme of it being a taboo to fall for a woman. So when there is the “oh no, you aren’t possibly attracted to a woman, you are just doing this to get back at your cheating husband” then the books feel a little older. It’s not terrible. I still enjoyed the story, it just doesn’t feel quite as contemporary as it did even 10 years ago.
There is an epically slow burn romance in this one which takes forever to go from mild interest to anything more but when it does heat up it becomes scorching quite quickly.
It was a fun listen if you enjoy slow, sweet and classic romances. And if you do, then get the audiobook because the things that Craden does with narration is enough to make me sweat.
Excerpt from Dawn Of Change by Gerri Hill
Susan tucked her own hair behind her ears, shoulder length and still styled for the country club, and she quickly looked away.
Shawn shrugged, ignoring Susan’s appraisal of her. “I prefer to be alone, actually,” she said. “It’s kind of an escape from real life out here, isn’t it?”
“I suppose,” Susan said. Wasn’t that why she was here? To escape from her life?
“Well, I’ll let you get going,” Shawn said. “I need to tire Alex out a bit more or he’ll keep me up all night.” She patted her leg for Alex to follow her.
“Wait,” Susan called. “I don’t suppose you would like to have dinner or something?” she asked, surprising herself as much as this stranger.
“Dinner? Like tonight?”
“I’m sorry,” Susan said. “I guess you came up here to be alone.” She pulled her gaze away. “It’s just that I haven’t actually . . . talked to anyone in two weeks or so and I’m about to go crazy, I guess,” she finished in a rush.
Shawn laughed, and Susan gave an embarrassed smile.
“Okay. Dinner would be good, as long as you don’t mind Alex,” Shawn said.
“No. Of course he’s welcome. Do you know where the old lodge used to be?”
“It’s right off the main road, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Turn there. I’m two roads down that lane. Take a right on Nuthatch. It’s about four or five cabins down,” she finished, her habit of talking with her hands getting the best of her and she shoved them into the pockets of her jacket to still their motion.
“Okay. About . . . six?” Shawn asked.
“Yes, that would be good,” Susan said. She watched Shawn and Alex walk away, back toward the water, and she walked to her car, thankful she had gone into town yesterday and stocked up on groceries. She frowned. What in the world could she and Shawn Weber possibly talk about? Well, it didn’t matter. Any conversation would be better than her forced solitude of the last few weeks.
She had skipped town so suddenly, she hadn’t realized she would miss people. She laughed quietly. She was having a woman to dinner, a stranger and a lesbian, most likely, and she was as excited as she’d been when she and Dave had their first dinner party.
“No,” she murmured, turning her smile into a frown. She would not think about Dave. She had spent two weeks thinking about Dave and . . . the blonde.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9781594930119
Publisher: Bella Books
Audiobook Publisher: Tantor Audio
Narrator: Abby Craden
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