Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin

Solid Love Story...narration was not the best ....

Mariana Zapata is an author I admire. I believe Kulti was one of the best books written in 2015. This story is not one that you have the urge to continue into the wee hours listening to. You can walk away and pick it up later.

Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin is witty and humorous as is MZ's style. The developing relationship between Sasha and Gabby evolved slowly and lends itself more to a real life romance rather than a fictional character romance.

The back drop of touring with her brother's band as Gabby tries to put her life together is light hearted and funny. Despite the talent of this author I found that I thought the story lagged. I think perhaps this particular story would have been better for me if I had read it rather than listened. I did not care for Ms. Robbins performance of male voices .... and I found her voice was grating at times.

While I am not overwhelmed with this story as I have been with some of her other works, I do believe this book to be credit and/or sale worthy.

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

NOT UP TO PAR WITH ZAPATA'S OTHER WORK.

The characters are underdeveloped and the storyline is flat. Building a character is one of Zapata's strengths but she missed this time. The performance din't help. Sticking with Callie Dalton to do the performance instead MAY have helped it some. Disappointing.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

An okay story, with sometimes annoying narration

Of all 5 of Zapata's audiobooks, this was by far my least favorite. All the others are 4-5 star. Did I mark it down because my expectations were so high? Possibly.

Definitely the narration affected the experience. Most of the male voices were similar, and sounded like 10 year olds. When you're thinking about how annoying the voices are instead of listening to the story, it's hard to enjoy the book.

As far as the story, it was okay. Some funny parts. Not bad, but not great either. Somehow the characters didn't seem fully developed. Gabby's nickname of "Flabby", used throughout the book by her brother and his friends, got on my nerves. Again, maybe it was the narrator. In any case, I don't anticipate listening to this one again. :(

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Wow a refreshing storyline

I have read many romance books and after a while you can kinda tell how the storyline is going to go. this one surprised me and showed a totally different build up to a romance that wasn't driven on lust and sex. I absolutely loved Sasha and Gabby. just perfection and the narration was outstanding. please give this a try you won't be disappointed and you will laugh and swoon.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Did not finish

After reading reviews that were not sterling, I decided to go ahead and listen to this one because I enjoyed the other Zapata books so much. This one felt like a teen magazine escapade in comparison. She’s definitely writing for a younger audience here.

Having said that, I have two sons who were professional musicians at one time. If they’d had a chance to tour, I think there would have been a lot more to their stories than juvenile pranks too young for the people represented (in my opinion). Definitely underdeveloped characters who might appeal to a younger woman/girl but I wouldn’t have wasted time on any of the guys I heard about.

To be fair, I quit listening. Maybe the book got better but I couldn’t waste the time finding out.

Lo siento mucho, Mariana. I still looks forward to future books.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great story! :D

4.5-5 stars

This was a great story. I loved both Gaby and Sacha and their story was fun and interesting while still having some drama and pulling of heart strings.

Gaby is a recent college graduate who's boyfriend recently dumped her over the phone. Since she was living with said boyfriend (at his insistence) this left her without a boyfriend and without a place to live. Gaby's twin, Eli, is in a band with two of her BFFs since the age of 5. They ask her to come on tour with them to sell merchandise for them since she doesn't have a job or place to stay outside her parent's house she agreed.

Sacha is the lead singer for a band and loves his music. His mother is an Opera singer and doesn't exactly approve of his type of music but Sacha doesn't care. Sacha's a good guy and doesn't sleep around on the road. He did have a girlfriend but she didn't like him being gone on tour all the time and gave him and ultimatum, his music or her, which ended things between them.

Gaby wasn't thrilled at the idea of going on tour with her brother again (something she's done for them in the past) but she needed the money and it seemed like a perfectly timed opportunity. She also felt it would be tough to drop everything to travel once she had a "serious" job so she might as well travel with her brother and friends while she still is free to. Gaby shows up to join the tour right before that night's show is getting ready to start so she gets settled in and starts working the merch table. Gaby isn't familiar with the band her brother's band is opening for and hadn't heard their music until their show started. Gaby pretty much fell in love with Sacha just based off his voice alone. Unfortunately, their actual meeting ends up being rather embarrassing for Gaby (when she mistakes him for someone else from behind and kicks him in the butt) and it doesn't help the situation that Sacha's gorgeous and Gaby has trouble forming thought around him at first.

Despite their unfortunate meeting, Gaby and Sacha end up becoming friends quickly. Gaby grew up desensitized to most guy stuff and so she's female but also perfectly alright hanging out with the guys and sometimes having humor just about as crude as theirs. Because of this, the friendship between Gaby and Sacha is easy to develop but hard to get past. They become close but when Sacha seems content to keep their relationship as just friends, Gaby is confused and even a little hurt. Gaby figures she's expecting too much and Sacha just wants to be friends so she tries moderating her growing feelings for him but isn't very successful in this. Their relationship is a bit undefined for a while so I was very happy when things finally came to a head and Gaby and Sacha talked things out. Once this happens, it doesn't take too much for them to be solidly together and the story ends with the beginning of their HEA.

I enjoyed this story greatly. I loved Gaby and thought she was a great heroine. There were times I wish she'd have had more confident in herself but I could see how she'd feel the things she felt, especially once you find out her background and such. I thought Sacha was a wonderful hero and my only complaint about him was that he tried to "take things slow" with Gaby and left her thinking her didn't like her that way. I really wish he'd have made his interest clear to her before the slow progression started. I mean I like the slow burn, but I don't like seeing feelings hurt either. Still, I loved the story and the characters in it. It wasn't just the relationship between Sacha and Gaby that I loved but the friendships as well. Gaby's interactions with Eli and her friends were perfect and I could totally see these people growing up together to get to point that their relationships are at in the story. Overall, the story wasn't perfect but I loved it and would definitely recommend it. :D

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good not great

The Amazon reviews kept saying that this was funny. Maybe it was the narrator? I just didn't find it that funny. That said, it was still an enjoyable book. I would not use a credit on it but, if it's on sale, I would get it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Is this is your first Mariana Zapata book, PICK ANOTHER THEN COME BACK LATER.

I love her other books and have been a Zapata streak! This book is just as funny as the others. But I have 3 hours left in the book and honestly really bummed that it’s almost over and nothing big has happened. She’s on tour with her goofy brother and her friends and crushing on a really nice guy who crushes on her too. Thats it so far...Her other books were honestly just better. I feel like there’s things lacking here that her other books had 110%!

Also, Carly Robbins voice for the guys (as others has mentioned) kills me. Kills. Me. Other than that she does a good job. I wonder if the other narrator who read her books would be better.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

narrator made me stop listening

The narrators 'male' voice is offputting. I kept getting distracted from the story because of it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Narrator kills this book

I struggled to get through this book.... the narrator was horrible and her attempt at male voices was the worst I have ever heard. The storyline, while somewhat predictable was good but getting past her narration made it difficult to listen. I would recommend a physical read of the book versus listening.