Don’t Want to Miss A Thing
By: Jill Mansell / Narrated By: Alison Larkin
Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
One of Mansell’s best!
I’ve listened to a lot of Jill Mansell audiobooks, and Don’t Want to Miss a Thing is one of my favorites. It sure does help that it’s narrated by Alison Larkin, a premiere narrator for sure. She handles the multitude of characters in the story with deftness and humor, and it doesn’t hurt that she can do a baby’s gurgles and coos without making it something that makes ya wanna gag for all the sweetness therein.
What I enjoy about a Mansell book is how many different storylines are covered in each book. Here we have Molly and Dex, sure, but there’s family dramas, budding romances, teen angst, and even star-crossed lovers who’ve entered their later years. All very sweet; all very engaging. I really enjoyed how slowly everything presented itself, layer by layer. And I appreciated the way Dex slowly went from being an immature ladies’ man to being someone who was actually believable as a solid and stalwart kinda guy.
Maybe the story starts with Dex’s sister giving birth to a daughter? Or maybe it’s when Molly chucks an 8-pound carp over the fence, showering Dex’s latest fling with fish-splat? Dunno. The long and short of it is that Dex’s sister dies tragically, and against all sane reasoning, Dex believes he can become little Delphi’s guardian, flighty cad though he might be. Molly, as the goodhearted next door neighbor, confidant, budding love interest, is uuuuuusually there for Delphi and him, but not when he’s being an absolutely immature toad of a lout (no offense to toads). I enjoyed their interactions as Molly, though finding him attractive, is absolutely sane when it comes to her feelings and expectations. She’s a fine model of a strong woman, which is sometimes untrue of your lesser romances. My only problem is with Dex, but it’s a little one. Throughout the entire story I was wondering just where the hell he got the money from to buy a house, support a baby, raise said baby, all without having to work a job. I mean, whatthehell?!? Things like that throw me, they totally do.
A Mansell book not to be missed if you’re into her or are into well-layered stories with many, many worthwhile characters all just trying to find their way through this exquisite mess we call Life. I actually didn’t feel too much of the just over 12 hours even though there were so many people to keep up with. Didn’t hurt that I wanted the best for the characters.
Didn’t hurt that Jill Mansell always wants the best for her characters too!
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