Welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s weekly New and Notable Audiobooks Post for the Week of July 29th.
Comment below on any I missed or what you’re excited about!
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Prepper: Book 1 by Tom Abrahams
Narrated by Kevin Pierce
Piton Press LLC
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Tom Abrahams
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Kevin Pierce
The power is gone. It was no accident. Only the prepared will survive….
Before the lights went out, Jack Warrant never considered himself a prepper. That was someone on the edge, a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday cultist who had a fatalistic view of the world. He was neither a theorist nor a cultist. He was an optimist. At least that was what he told himself when the darker thoughts creeped into his psyche as he stared at the ceiling in the middle of the night. Whenever he started down the rabbit hole, he always clawed his way back into the sunlight. But then the world as he knew it ended, and he realized he was wrong. About himself. About the lengths to which desperate people will go.
Prepper is the newest apocalyptic adventure series from Tom Abrahams, author of The Traveler series. It’s perfect for fans of Franklin Horton, Kyla Stone, and Ryan Schow.
The Sandbox by Jeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
Blackstone Publishing
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
An activist entrepreneur, a maligned AI, and a newly minted homicide detective with a haunted past catastrophically intersect in The Sandbox. The Silence of the Lambs meets Ex Machina in this groundbreaking techno-thriller that redefines the meaning of murder in the twenty-first century.
When the CEO of the world’s leading artificial intelligence company is found murdered in his home, former Army CID officer Valerie Marks is thrust into her first case as a homicide detective. Valerie has a gift for reading people, a gift that has never failed her before. But that gift is put to the test when her instincts point her to an impossible suspect—an AI born from a secret venture with the Pentagon known as Project Nomad.
To learn the truth, Valerie must team up with two men she doesn’t trust—a Green Beret turned government spook from the Pentagon, and the victim’s former partner and leading suspect in the case. But nothing can prepare the trio for the dangers that await them and the existential threat to humanity if the Project Nomad AI has somehow escaped its sandbox.
Faceless by A.J. Stewart, Nick Sullivan, Chris Niles, Nicholas Harvey
Narrated by Kim Bretton
Wild Yonder Press and Tropical Authors
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Kim Bretton
Deek Morrison is on the trail of a terrorist. Maybe.
His boss reluctantly agrees to send him on a business trip, with the understanding Deek leaves his conspiracy theories in his Washington, D.C. government cubicle.
But Deek is obsessed with a myth, a legend, a ghost. A character who operates in the shadows and facilitates operations for those with deep enough pockets to pay an exorbitant fee. Şeytan Taciri is a faceless, unseen demon…or a figment of Deek’s overactive imagination.
Leaving the security of the D.C. bubble on a hunch, thin logic, and an unreliable credit card, Deek is convinced Şeytan Taciri is very real and planning an attack at a luxury boat show in Florida.
As his pursuit spirals out of control, Deek must rely on a series of strangers across the Caribbean to track down a terrorist who may not exist, and stop an attack which no other agency believes is happening.
Faceless brings the characters of four best-selling Tropical Authors together in a new and exciting thriller pumped full of action in exotic Caribbean locations.
A New Eden: A Sci-Fi Thriller Space Adventure by Menilik Henry Dyer
Narrated by Luke Daniels
Podium Audio
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Luke Daniels
The first book of a thought-provoking sci-fi adventure series about humanity reaching the stars, encountering new life forms, and escaping tyranny.
Earth has fallen under the influence of the Fermion Party, whose members believe humanity’s future lies in the metaverse, a simulated environment to which people can upload their consciousness to become immortal. As a simulant, one cannot get sick, grow old, or die. Human beings have no business risking their lives in the betaverse, where injury and illness can kill them. And those who wish to explore beyond the solar system blaspheme what the Fermions believe is the natural order.
Trillion von Nichol, Atlas Tupu, Icarus Kishida, and Angelique Komene are the Beta Explorers. They have been living on Mars and training as astronauts to eventually locate planets that can sustain the next generation of humans. But when the Fermions invade the red planet to assassinate them, they launch before they are mission ready. Four different ships, with four AIs attuned to each astronaut’s personality, leave for four random destinations to colonize worlds thousands of years in the future.
Now, each Beta Explorer must learn how to function as a simulant to complete their mission. Interfacing with their AIs, they explore potential habitable planets and develop technology to assist in terraforming atmospheres for humans, all the while attempting to reconnect with one another. But the Betas are not the only intelligent species in the universe. And their first contact may be their last when the Fermion’s Starforce Alliance tracks them down to annihilate them once and for all.
The first volume of the hit science-fiction adventure series—originally released on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!
Peaches and Cream by Georgia Beers
Narrated by Lula Larkin
Bold Strokes Books
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Georgia Beers
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Lula Larkin
As a kid, Adley Purcell dreamed of owning Get the Scoop ice cream shop, and now that she does, she’s worried it could go under. She’s trying to focus on her love of ice cream, but she’s edgy and stressed. And how the hell she’ll survive national dessert chain Sweet Heaven opening a store less than two blocks away, she has no idea. Life is a rocky road right now, and there’s only one cherry on top: the sexy business-suit-clad blonde at happy hour.
Sabrina James doesn’t stay still. Sweet Heaven takes her all over the country, opening new stores, then moving on to the next city. Smooth and simple. Until the gorgeous woman she meets at a bar who leaves her craving more turns out to own the small-town ice cream shop barely two blocks from the new Sweet Heaven location. Could life get any more complicated?
Have Adley and Sabrina bitten off more than they can chew, or will they swirl the salty with the sweet? In love and ice cream there’s only one rule: When life gives you heavenly hash, eat dessert first.
Love in the Balance by Marianne K. Martin
Narrated by Abby Craden
Self Published
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Abby Craden
“Not only does [Love in the Balance] have love and excitement, but it has issues very close to all of us.” (The Alabama Forum Gaiety)
“Marianne Martin is a wonderful storyteller and a graceful writer with a light, witty touch with language and a sensitivity to the emotions of people in love.” (Ann Bannon)
Real life has a way of sneaking up on you.
Connie dates men. Sure, she’s just dumped one, and she’ll take her time finding another one. Instead she finds Kasey who happens to be a woman, a lesbian, actually. Connie assumes they’ll be good friends, but soon realizes she wants more.
Kasey, though, has already had her heart broken. Her ex-girlfriend left her for a man. Kasey won’t take a chance on that happening again. And her friends won’t let her, either. Especially not Sharon.
If this is love, Connie has a lot of convincing to do and a lot of people to win over. Just when it seems like maybe she has, real life comes sneaking up again. Some people hate lesbians, hate them enough to kill. And it’s not obvious that the authorities care. Connie and Kasey and Sharon must each put their doubts to the side and work together to get justice.
Marianne K. Martin is the author of eight novels and has been shortlisted three times for the Lambda Literary Award.
Set the Record Straight by Hannah Bonam-Young
Narrated by Lori Prince, Jenn Lee
Tantor Audio
Review Coming Soon!
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Hannah Bonam-Young
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Lori Prince
The day Clara started her new (dream) job as an assistant to her photography idol, she was met with an assumption that caught her off guard and stunned her silent. Suddenly, she has to bring a girlfriend to the gallery’s opening in a few weeks—all because she choked up and failed to correct her boss that she is, in fact, straight.
Evan was recently dumped by her fellow teacher fiancee for a mutual coworker and is still trying to figure out where it all went wrong. So when she gets the news the happy new couple will be hosting the staff’s holiday party—she feels utterly horrified by her single status and looks for a quick solution.
Together, these two lifelong friends make a plan to get through the gallery opening and holiday party by pretending to date one another. Easy . . . right?
That is until Clara starts developing real feelings for Evan, shocking herself. All the while Evan realizes that perhaps pretending to date your straight best friend, who you’ve had a crush on for half your life—isn’t the best idea.
The Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson
Narrated by Vivia Font
Brilliance Audio
$1.99 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase – Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Sariah Wilson
When Hollywood comes to small-town Ohio, the scene is set for an unpredictable romance in a fun and flirty novel by Sariah Wilson, the bestselling author of The Chemistry of Love.
The small town of Patience needs a financial boost. Temporary librarian and aspiring film-score composer Jane Wagner’s plan? Invite movie star Nick Haddon to the town’s harvest festival and stand back for the tourist surge. No one thought he’d say yes—much less that he’d bring a documentary crew to stream his visit.
Given Nick’s affinity for trouble, his reputation and films are tanking. Patience is the perfect stopover on a journey of self-improvement and his chance to put good karma out in the universe. Spending time with a sweet and lovely guide like Jane is a bonus. But Jane’s heartbroken past keeps her on guard against men. Especially when they’re jinxed.
The truth is, Jane’s falling hard. But she can’t ignore the differences between them. He’s famous. She isn’t. He’s here for two weeks. This is her home. Where can it possibly lead? She’ll see. Because day after blissful day, Nick’s encouraging Jane to trust again and, best of all, to dream beyond Patience.
Rana Joon and the One and Only Now by Shideh Etaat
Narrated by Rasha Zamamiri
Simon & Schuster Audio
$10.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase – Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
This lyrical coming-of-age novel for fans of Darius the Great Is Not Okay and On the Come Up, set in southern California in 1996, follows a teen who wants to honor her deceased friend’s legacy by entering a rap contest.
Perfect Iranian girls are straight A students, always polite, and grow up to marry respectable Iranian boys. But it’s the San Fernando Valley in 1996, and Rana Joon is far from perfect—she smokes weed and loves Tupac, and she has a secret: she likes girls.
As if that weren’t enough, her best friend, Louie—the one who knew her secret and encouraged her to live in the moment—died almost a year ago, and she’s still having trouble processing her grief. To honor him, Rana enters the rap battle he dreamed of competing in, even though she’s terrified of public speaking.
But the clock is ticking. With the battle getting closer every day, she can’t decide whether to use one of Louie’s pieces or her own poetry, her family is coming apart, and she might even be falling in love. To get herself to the stage and fulfill her promise before her senior year ends, Rana will have to learn to speak her truth and live in the one and only now.
In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae
Narrated by Kyle Burrow
Tantor Audio
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Courtney Kae
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Kyle Burrow
Ben has been baking his grandma’s cinnamon rolls at the family cafe for years. He’s been quietly in love with Adam Reed, his musician-slash-mechanic neighbor, for just as long. But Ben’s done waiting behind the pastry case. He’s entered a make-or-break competition to show off his own recipes. He’s going to buy his overprotective family out of the business. And he’s going to ask Adam out. TONIGHT.
Except his big plans get punched down before they even half-rise. Soon Ben is dashing down the coast to his grandma’s eightieth birthday party, hiding his broken heart in Maywell Bay, California. Sun, sea, and fresh breezes should blow in something new—except they don’t. They blow in Adam Reed, grinning like a pirate and stealing the show as the musical entertainment hired by Grandma for her big bash. Grandma’s signature Heartbreak Tea is the only remedy, and Grandma’s tea could take the paint off a fence.
But there’s a burn of truth along with the booze in his bottle, and Ben has a decision to make. Can he take the sweetness in front of him, and brave the bitterness that comes after? Or is a little sea salt just what this cinnamon roll needs?
Salty cinnamon rolls? Ew. Ben would never.
One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus
Narrated by Shannon McManus, Holly Linneman, Robbie Daymond, Jeff Ebner
Listening Library
$10.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
The global phenomenon returns with the third book in the One of Us Is Lying series, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen M. McManus. When someone from the Bayview Four’s past resurfaces, history begins to repeat itself—and the consequences are deadly.
The third time’s a charm.
It’s been almost two years since Simon died in detention, and the aftermath has been hard to shake. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation outwitted a vengeful copycat. Now the entire Bayview Crew is back home for the summer, and everyone is trying to move on.
Only, this is Bayview, and life is never that simple.
At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the Bayview Crew disappears, it’s clear this “game” is serious—and whoever’s in charge isn’t sharing the rules. Or maybe there aren’t any.
Bronwyn. Cooper. Addy. Nate. Maeve. Phoebe. Knox. Luis. Kris. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things could start getting deadly.
The thing is, Simon was right about secrets—they all come out eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.
Obsession by Nita Prose, B. A. Paris, Minka Kent, Julie Clark, Chris Bohjalian, Alyssa Cole
Narrated by Jess Nahikian, Will Watt, Frankie Corzo, Carly Robins, Susan Ericksen, Amy McFadden, Susan Dalian, Susannah Jones, Grace Experience, Kimberly Woods
Brilliance Audio
Lust. Revenge. Greed. Hunger. Desire doesn’t care if you’re at the bottom of the ladder or the top of your game. Six masters of psychological suspense craft tales about people crossing moral lines in pursuit of their deepest desires. In these short stories, even the most mild-mannered characters can spin out of control when passion is at play. Hold on tight—there’s no turning back.
Murder at the Royal Ruby by Nita Prose
The curtain rises, and the chandelier falls—taking the star of the show down with it. An ambitious young usher working at the theater sets out to find who killed the leading lady in a crackling short story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Nita Prose.
The Mosquito by B. A. Paris
After his marriage fails, he hopes a vacation in France will relax and restore him. But fate has something more poisonous in store in this biting tale from bestselling author B. A. Paris.
People Like Them by Minka Kent
Nobody’s perfect—although one beautiful couple certainly comes close. Discover the cracks beneath the polished surface in this unsettling short story from bestselling author Minka Kent.
The Heart of a Mother by Julie Clark
A fateful decision from the past haunts a wealthy Californian. Desperate to make things right, she risks everything in this tense short story from New York Times bestselling author Julie Clark.
Slot Machine Fever Dreams by Chris Bohjalian
It’s called Sin City for a reason. Dark secrets emerge when a young bartender meets a stranger on a hot streak in this gritty short story from New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian.
Just a Girl by Alyssa Cole
Social media can be a dangerous game. A young woman’s world teeters on the verge of implosion when trolls push too far in this disturbing short story from New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Cole.
The Runaways by Devney Perry
Narrated by Ava Erickson, Vanessa Edwin, Maxine Mitchell, Lucy Rivers, Jason Clarke, Teddy Hamilton, Aiden Snow
Devney Perry LLC
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
One car. One cross-country road trip. Five small town romances about six runaways finally finding home.
From Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author, Devney Perry, this collection includes Runaway Road, Wild Highway, Quarter Miles, Forsaken Trail and Dotted Lines.
Londyn McCormack didn’t have a typical childhood. She ran away at 16 and spent her youth searching for a place to call home. She’s built a good life for herself through hard work and a little luck, but after a devastating divorce, she’s running away again. Her life collides with Brooks Cohen, a small-town mechanic who gives her a reason to stop driving on that runaway road.
Gemma Lane built an empire. Not a small feat, considering her home as a teenager was a makeshift tent in a California junkyard. She’s dedicated her life to turning pennies into millions. And she’s leaving it all behind. She’s headed across the country in her best friend’s Cadillac when a detour in Montana reunites her with Easton Greer, a man who hasn’t changed. A man who still owns her heart.
Katherine Gates has been in love with Cash Greer since the moment he saved her life from a runaway goat. But she’s learned to shove her feelings for Cash down deep. They’re friends—best friends. Until the day they take an impulsive road trip to the Oregon coast. And she learns that Cash has some secrets of his own.
Aria Saint-James went to Arizona for a vacation with her sister. Instead, she’s stuck at a wedding with her nemesis, Brody Carmichael. She blames the champagne for falling into bed with him that night. Enemy or no, the billionaire is irresistible in a tux. Except Aria gets a surprise a few weeks later—she’s pregnant. When he learns that she’s carrying his child, Brody offers Aria the chance of a lifetime. The catch? She has to live under his roof until the baby is born.
Clara Saint-James is completing a journey. She’s returning a Cadillac to California, a place she’s avoided for more than a decade. It’s time for closure and to put ghosts to rest. And it’s time to find out if there’s still a spark to an old flame. She fell in love with Karson Avery when they lived as runaway teens in a junkyard. That love stayed with her for more than a decade. Either it’s finally their time to be together. Or it’s time to let him go and surrender to the dotted lines that have always kept them apart.
- No Rules of Engagement by Tracey Richardson (Narrated by Joana Garcia) - September 28, 2023
- Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan (Narrated Narrated by Lori Prince) - September 26, 2023
- New and Notable Audiobook Releases for the Week of September 23rd on Brian’s Book Blog - September 23, 2023
Nice! Thanks for including my book on the list – whoop whoop.
Go A New Eden.