Audiobook Review: No Offense (Little Bridge Island #2)

Author: Meg Cabot

Narrator: Piper Goodeve

Audiobook Length: 8 hours 26 minutes

Molly Montgomery couldn’t be more thrilled about starting her new life as head of Children’s Services at Little Bridge Island’s brand-new public library. Happy to have left her problematic ex behind on the mainland, her new life feels like heaven . . . at least until she finds a newborn baby in the library’s public restroom. Then suddenly she begins to wonder if life in Little Bridge isn’t exactly paradise.

But when Sheriff John Hartwell answers Molly’s 911 call, things begin to look up. He couldn’t be kinder (or better looking) and handles the baby – and the hunt for its missing mother – with far more sensitivity and understanding than Molly would have expected from someone who never reads fiction. Maybe there’s more to this tall, taciturn sheriff than meets the eye.

Recently divorced John Hartwell has been having trouble adjusting to single life as well as single parenthood. It doesn’t help that his teenaged daughter, Katie, hates Little Bridge Island and wants to move to the mainland to live with her mom.
But something in the sympathetic, smiling eyes of Molly Montgomery gives John hope that things on Little Bridge might be looking up after all – for both himself and, maybe, Katie. But can two such different people ever find happiness together?

No Offense if the second novel in the Little Bridge Island series. Each novel features a new couple, so they could be read as standalones. This story focuses on children’s librarian Molly Montgomery and sheriff John Hartwell. After a break-up in her home of Colorado, Molly relocates to Little Bridge Island, Florida to begin again as the head of children’s services at the local public library. As for John, he grew up on the island and recently returned to Little Bridge as the sheriff along with his teenage daughter after his divorce. When Molly finds a newborn in the bathroom of the library, she first meets John who is there to investigate and try to find the baby’s mother.

While I am sure some readers will be a fan of her character, I just could not connect to Molly. For me, she was too judgmental of others and naïve in a way that just was not likable. It was difficult to get past for the story as the general concept itself was enjoyable, but Molly’s character just was not for me. As for John, he was more enjoyable as he was trying to navigate dating again without a lot of experience. He has the string of local petty thefts and locating the baby’s mother to investigate along with being a father to a teenager, so he balances a lot in his life. The two characters have an instant attraction to the other and this attraction exists for the duration of the story as they interact again and again. For me, I felt the attraction, but I did not connect to actual chemistry that would bring these characters together as a couple.

Overall, this novel was great in concept, but it just was not for me. While I could see Bree and Drew working together as a couple, I did not connect the same with John and Molly. The mystery part of the story was cute and interesting. As I listened to the audiobook version, I think this helped me enjoy the story more as I may have DNF’d this if I read it in written form. This series is not my favorite so far, but I curious to try the third and final one, No Words, as I heard that one was decent. So far, I do not foresee myself re-reading any of the novels in the series, but I have hope that the final novel will be a good read.