Petal to the Metal

By: Annabel Chase

Narrated by: Meghan Kelly

Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Forty-two-year-old Mia Thorne is not living her best life. After a disastrous career-and-relationship-ending event, she escapes New York City and moves to a sleepy river town in Pennsylvania, courtesy of a dead aunt she never knew. Aunt Hazel was the reclusive family nut, a self-proclaimed psychic. Of course, Mia’s dad always told her that she, too, had the gift, but after his death, her mother made sure to squelch the notion. No square pegs allowed!

Aunt Hazel’s old cottage is only slightly better than the decrepit gardens surrounding it. Mia doesn’t know the first thing about gardening and expects this will be one more failure on her seemingly endless list. Even Aunt Hazel’s ancient cat seems to have pegged her as a loser.

When Mia stumbles over a body in the overgrown garden, the newcomer catches the eye of the police chief and his hotshot detective, Derek Fairfax, and she becomes the number-one suspect in the case. Much to her shock and awe, she also catches the eye of Derek’s brother, Dane, a lawyer with a head for what’s legal and a bod for what isn’t - but getting arrested for murder would certainly put a damper on her dating life.

Will Mia tap into her long-buried psychic skills in order to save herself, or will she end up digging her own grave?

Petal to the Metal is the first book in The Bloomin’ Psychic series.

©2021 Annabel Chase (P)2021 Annabel Chase

Excellent narration

This was a new author to me. I really liked the story it did lose me for a couple of chapters but the narrator was excellent :)

Not as good as the reviews stated

I really wanted to like this book, and the reviews made me look forward to it. But all I found was an OK story, stereotypical characters, a heroine who is not real bright and a narrator who is more irritating than anything. maybe these books can be enjoyed more with reading them yourself.

good story. Actually quite funny.

After listening to the first chapter I thought I shouldn't have payed attention to the reviews. The first chapter was not funny. But the whole thing wasn't boring. The narration was really very well done.

Fun Silly Listen

Good listen while you are doing tedious jobs as you don’t need to pay close attention. The reader sounds the part, I enjoyed her.

Did not care for the narrator

The book had some funny moments. But the narrator really hurt the story sounded like a little kid trying to sound old. Odd story line. I finished the book but would not recommend

A Good Beginning

This is a good beginning for a new series. It seems like many authors are trying their hand at midlife cozy mysteries. This one is a good entry into genre. The characters are likeable and it has setup plenty of things for the reader to discover as Mia learns about her abilities.

What a great listen

The book at a little more filler than I like but once I got into it I loved it. The author keeps you guessing but if you listen for the clues you will get it worked out. Has a touch of romance which is nice, full of mystery, a few twists and a few turns you won't see coming. Very enjoyable characters, nice plot, love the small town.

The narrator did a wonderful job with the character voices, there are no background noise, no volume changes, if any breaks were taken I could not tell, there are no breaks and sounds like it was read at one time. The narrator gives true emotion to the characters, you always know who is talking and what they are feeling. She has a very pleasant voice, the character voices go well with the character. She pauses when it is need and the audio is very even and smooth. I enjoy this narrator and have been listening to her work for awhile now, she never disappoints me always giving me a very entertaining listen of hour of enjoyment.

I thought this was a very good story and really enjoyed it. I really didn't want it to end.

Sweet and Steady

The couple of chapters are a bit depressing. Mia has the day where everything that can go wrong does. It pushes her to do something she wouldn't have done otherwise and starts the ball rolling for the rest of the story. The story isn't filled with action but is sweet and steady paced. I didn't even guess who the murderer was.

I've listened to several books narrated by Meghan Kelly and have to say she has really grown as a narrator. She did a superb job with the voices and bringing the story to life.

Good & easy read

The narrator, Meghan Kelly, did a great job with this book. I absolutely love how she differentiates every character by giving them their own voice.
As far as the story, it was cute but a bit naive. The main character has a disaster of a day but then is given an opportunity and everything turns around for her. I thought adding magic was unnecessary but that’s just my view on it. Overall, it’s written well & easy to follow.

Pretty good!

Not high literature, but as far as entertainment is concerned, it hit the mark. Good plot. Well written. Well read. Perhaps a few more tropes and stereotypes than I'd prefer, but this was a good one in the genre. Easy listening and while engaging, it is not stressful, and sometimes that is precisely what I like. Happy ending. Leaves open to next but is not a cliff hanger. I will read the next.