Audiobook Review: A Husband's Regret by Natasha Anders Narrated by Justine Eyre

Tall and thin, twenty-eight-year-old Bronwyn Palmer has become positively gaunt, a ghost of her former self. That self was - and still is - the wife of a rich, handsome executive with an ocean-view house and his own security staff.

 

It was in that house, two years ago, that Bryce Palmer learned Bronwyn was pregnant with their first child. But Bryce’s rage over his impending fatherhood touched off a chain reaction of emotional and physical traumas that wounded them both. For Bronwyn, it meant fleeing the perfect marriage to start over with nothing but a precocious daughter named Kayla to care for. For Bryce, it meant a tortuous two years spent blaming his wife for deserting him, and living with the pain of not knowing his child. Now a chance encounter has brought Bronwyn back into Bryce’s life, both bearing scars...and neither knowing the whole truth of that fateful night that drove them apart.

 

Series: Unwanted, Book 2 |Publisher: Brilliance Audio | Narrator: Justine Eyre | Length: 9 hours and 14 minutes | Source: Publisher | Ratings: Story-3.5 Cups, Performance-4.5 Cup

This book was such an emotional roller coaster and while I loved this book, parts of it were emotionally taxing as I watched two people get torn apart then slowly put back together. And Justine Eyre truly put her heart and soul into the narration allowing the listener to feel what the characters were going through.

 

So, here’s what’s going on. Bronwyn thought she had the perfect marriage until she told her husband she was pregnant. Fleeing the house and Bryce’s anger, she never thought she would see her husband or the life she lived again. Now, two years later she finds herself and her daughter living with Bryce. Neither can trust the other but their love for Kayla helps mend the gap. Now they need to learn if they can love, and trust each other once more.

 

I had mixed emotions throughout the entire book and, at times, I struggled to like both Bronwyn and Bryce. Some of their decisions seemed rash and spiteful as though they only wanted to hurt the other person. And they both seemed selfish yet I was never really sure if their selfishness was a just their way of handling things or if they were, at times, just selfish people.

 

Even though both Bronwyn and Bryce irritated me, I still found myself rooting for them. They had their flaws and they were realistic flaws. Although I found myself wondering how someone could be married to someone and not know, or at least have an inkling, of why a person would react a certain why. I also had to wonder if Bronwyn, who had been a waitress before marrying Bryce, was content to believe that she had a perfect marriage because she had married someone who was both successful and wealthy.

 

Bryce needed to open up a bit more and let go of some of the anger he felt. I understand, given what he thought happened, the way he reacted but it wasn’t really healthy for anyone involved to hold on to so much anger.  

 

The plot was very conflict-driven. It started from the very first chapter and picked up speed from that point on. My problem with the conflict was that while the catalyst of it was Bryce’s inner conflict and fears, the majority of the external conflict came from the way he reacted and then a series of misunderstandings. I really wanted to lock them in a room together and tell them to just talk it out.

 

So, I’m slowly working my way through the Unwanted series in audio format. I could read them, but Justine Eyre just breathes life into these complex characters and I love how she narrates these books. She truly embodies each character and it’s such a joy to listen to her narrate this book.

 

Overall, I liked this book. It’s a bit heavier in certain places and deals briefly with some heavy issues so I found myself having to listen to this in bits and pieces. It wasn’t as strong as the first book in the series but I still found myself investing in the characters.

 

If you’re a fan of women’s fiction with romance thrown in I think you’d enjoy this book.

 

Unwanted Series

 

TheUnwanted Wife

A Husband’s Regret

His Unlikely Lover