Welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s weekly New and Notable Audiobooks Post for the Week of June 12th.
Comment below on any I missed or what you’re excited about!
Authors, narrators, producers, and publishers — any of the books featured here are prime candidates for review.
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Zero Car by Alex Knowles
Narrated by Travis Baldree
Self Published
Defective. Fierce. A lonely survivor.
When Oto didn’t connect to the system at adolescence like everyone else, his dreams for racing his way off-planet shattered into a million little pieces.
A chance encounter out in the Wilds will fix his broken parts and set him back on the path to escaping his terrible life – but not in ways he could have ever expected.
With new friends that he’ll have to learn to trust, and a race car to cultivate, Oto’s in over his head. But that’s never stopped him before.
He’s going to go up against the city’s best and most dangerous racers to guarantee, once and for all, that he cannot be ignored.
Zero Car is a sci-fi LitRPG cultivation mix with sentient cars and lots of character.
I Don’t Forgive You by Aggie Blum Thompson
Narrated by Lauren Fortgang
Macmillan Audio
Perfect for book clubs or the beach, Aggie Blum Thompson’s I Don’t Forgive You is a thrilling debut “not to be missed”. (Wendy Walker)
An accomplished photographer and the devoted mom of an adorable little boy, Allie Ross has just moved to an upscale DC suburb, the kind of place where parenting feels like a competitive sport. Allie’s desperate to make a good first impression. Then she’s framed for murder.
It all starts at a neighborhood party when a local dad corners Allie and calls her by an old, forgotten nickname from her dark past. The next day, he is found dead.
Soon, the police are knocking at her door, grilling her about a supposed Tinder relationship with the man, and pulling up texts between them. She learns quickly that she’s been hacked and someone is impersonating her online. Her reputation – socially and professionally – is at stake; even her husband starts to doubt her. As the killer closes in, Allie must reach back into a past she vowed to forget in order to learn the shocking truth of who is destroying her life.
A Macmillan Audio production from Forge Books
Under Her Influence by Amanda Radley
Narrated by Amy Putt
Bold Strokes Books INC
Fraser Park, the award-winning Scottish nature reserve and theme park, means everything to Beth Fraser. She’s more than a little preoccupied saving her family’s legacy and struggling against a board of directors who all seem to hate her. The last person she wants to need is selfie-obsessed, filtered to perfection social-media influencer Jemma Johnson. But she’s got to protect Fraser Park from a corporate takeover, and according to her brother, that means boosting their online presence. Jemma might be necessary, but Beth doesn’t have to like her, or follow her, or whatever it’s called.
Jemma Johnson, an Insta-success with hundreds of thousands of followers, is proud of her perfectly curated life. When she’s invited to stay at Fraser Park, the trip sounds like a fun adventure for a good cause, until she meets Beth, the only woman who sees beneath her sparkly facade and reminds her that not everything is as easy or flawless as it seems.
On their path to #truelove, will Beth and Jemma discover that reality is even better than illusion?
The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas
Narrated by Antonia Beamish
HarperAudio
An unforgettable story about learning to love again and living life to its fullest, perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes and Josie Silver.
“A poignant and uplifting read about loss, love and learning to put yourself back together again after facing the unimaginable.” (Sophie Cousens, New York Times best-selling author of This Time Next Year)
Lost love. A second chance. A hidden secret.
Spencer was the love of Anna’s life: her husband, her best friend, her rock. She thought their love would last forever.
But three years ago, Spencer was tragically killed in an accident and Anna’s world was shattered. How can she ever move on, when she’s lost her soulmate?
On New Year’s Eve Anna calls Spencer’s phone number, just to hear his old voicemail greeting. But to her shock, someone answers….
Brody has inherited Spencer’s old number and is the first person who truly understands what Anna’s going through. As her and Brody’s phone calls become lengthier and more frequent, they begin opening up to each other – and slowly rediscover how to smile, how to laugh, even how to hope.
But Brody hasn’t been entirely honest with Anna. Will his secret threaten everything, just as it seems she might find the courage to love again?
Love & Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura
Narrated by Katharine Chin
HarperTeen
This delightfully disastrous queer YA rom-com is a perfect listen for fans of Jenny Han, Morgan Matson, and Sandhya Menon.
When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind.
That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer.
Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she’s better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it’s not long before Nozomi’s schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn’t plan for.
The Forest by Michaelbrent Collings
Narrated by Robert Fisher
Self Published
One of Amazon’s most popular horror authors and number one best seller Michaelbrent Collings brings you his most thrilling story…and invites you to get lost in The Forest.
Three kids went in.
Now, 20 years later, the two survivors are going back….
For Tricia and Alex, the idea is simple: Find and rescue their friend, Sam, from his insane mother.
But when they enter the forest, they discover that their idea is anything but simple. Because this forest isn’t like any other.
In this forest, a silver mist cloaks the truth. In this forest, a simple trip of a few miles can turn into a nightmare.
In this forest, the monsters are real.
Twenty years later, Tricia and Alex remember nothing of what happened that day they lost their friend. They know only that three kids went in, but only two came out.
Now, they are going back. To find their lost memories. To discover what happened to Sam that day.
To encounter fear itself.
The forest, as Alex an Tricia will discover, is a place where madness reigns. A place where a simple path becomes an ordeal. A place where the past comes to life, and the future is anything but certain.
Because the dead don’t stay dead…in The Forest.
The Hive by Gregg Olsen
Narrated by Karen Peakes
Brilliance Publishing
Glamorous messiah or charlatan? A mask of beauty hides deadly secrets in #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Gregg Olsen’s mesmerizing novel of suspense.
In the Pacific Northwest, detective Lindsay Jackman is investigating the murder of a young journalist found at the bottom of a ravine. Lindsay soon learns that the victim was writing an exposé. Her subject: a charismatic wellness guru who’s pulled millions into her euphoric orbit…
To hear Marnie Spellman tell it, when she was a child, a swarm of bees lifted her off the ground and toward the sunlight, illuming her spiritual connection with nature – an uncanny event on which Marnie built a cosmetics empire and became a legend, a healer, and the queen of holistic health and eternal beauty. In her inner circle is an intimate band of devotees called the Hive. They share Marnie’s secrets of success – including one cloaked in darkness for twenty years.
Determined to uncover the possibly deadly mysteries of the group, Lindsay focuses her investigation on Marnie and the former members of the Hive, who are just as determined to keep Lindsay from their secrets as they are to maintain their status.
Reset: Publisher’s Pack 3 by Kellee L. Greene
Narrated by Heather Costa, Aaron Shedlock, Devon Sorvari
Podium Audio
Contains books five and six of Reset, a thrilling natural-disaster survival series.
Torrent, book five
No end in sight. With the survivors settled into their shelters, they quickly learn that nowhere is safe. After everything they’ve gone through, trust isn’t something they can easily give out nor is it often deserved. When their loyalty is tested, they question the price they have to pay for food and shelter. Time is running out for the survivors. Will they ever find a place where they can truly be safe?
Striking, book six
Time is up. The end of the road was near. With little more than the clothes on their backs, the survivors are hungry and exhausted. When danger closes in and their lives are threatened, they must find a way to fight for what remains. Their survival depends on it. Now that the race for their lives is near the end, will anyone win?
Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck
Narrated by Kirby Heyborne
Listening Library
The future is anything but certain in this alternately funny and heartbreaking contemporary story about food trucks, festivals, and first loves.
It’s easy to look at high school senior Oscar Olsson and think: lost. He hates school, struggles to read, and wants nothing to do with college. But Oscar is anything but lost – he knows exactly what he wants and exactly how to get it. Oscar and Farfar, the Swedish grandfather who’s raised him, run a food truck together selling rullekebab and munkar, and Oscar wants to finish school so he can focus on the food truck full-time.
It’s easy to look at Mary Louise (Lou for short) Messinger and think: driven. AP everything, valedictorian in her sights, and Ivy League college aspirations.
When Lou hijacks Oscar’s carefully crafted schedule of independent studies and blocks of time in the Culinary Lab, Oscar is roped into helping Lou complete her overambitious, resume-building service project – reducing food waste in Central Adams High School. While Lou stands to gain her Girl Scout Gold Award, Oscar will be faced with a mountain of uneaten school apples and countless hours with a girl he can’t stand.
With the finish line in sight, a relationship he never expected, and festival season about to begin (for good), the unthinkable happens, and Oscar’s future is anything but certain.
Untold by AJ Eversley
Narrated by Steve Campbell, Chelsea Stephens
Self Published
Before there was Watcher…the real story began!
This novella contains four exclusive stories from the world of Watcher. Find out where it all began.
Kenzie: He’s been a pawn and a weapon, but now is your chance to find out where it all began. This is his story, and these are his struggles.
Coleman: Coleman has spent his entire life creating the very things he would one day use to destroy Cytos, but it wasn’t always that way. They weren’t always meant for evil. Find out how a monster was born.
Max: For 10 years, everyone fought the Carbons and Bots in the city of Cytos…everyone but Max. Find out how Max survived six years alone in a forest full of nightmares that will haunt your dreams.
Aelish & the Ladies of the Muted Forest: As the leader of the Ladies of the Muted Forest, Aelish has been tasked with protecting her people and protecting their future. But when the stars send her a message and a warning, she must venture into unfamiliar territory for the sake of all of humanity.
The mini novellas listed above have been individually pre-released on their own. This novel just puts them all together.
Mercy’s Chase by Jess Lourey
Narrated by Christina Delaine
Tantor
“An immersive voice, an intriguing story, a wonderful character-highly recommended!” (Lee Child, number-one New York Times best-selling author of the Jack Reacher series)
What if everything you thought you knew about Stonehenge was wrong?
When agoraphobic genius Salem Wiley lands her dream job as an FBI cryptanalyst, she vows never to return to the witch hunt underworld, where ancient secrets encrypted by hunted women have the power to rewrite history. Her resolve disappears when sweet Mercy Mayfair, the child she is pledged to protect, is kidnapped. As the clock ticks, Salem must face the terrible truth that there is only one way to free Mercy: crack the unbreakable code of Stonehenge.
The Orbs Series Box Set: Books 1-4 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Anthony J. Melchiorri
Narrated by Bronson Pinchot
Blackstone Publishing
A thrilling collection of the entire best-selling Orbs series from New York Times best-selling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith.
While training for a manned mission to Mars, Dr. Sophie Winston and her team of scientists find themselves cut off from the rest of the world. Trapped inside a biosphere deep within the confines of Cheyenne Mountain, Sophie and crew discover they are the survivors of a brutal alien invasion. But as they struggle to stay alive, they realize their safe haven is far from safe and that they must team up with other survivors around the world to defeat the aliens before it’s too late for humanity and the Earth.
The Bullet by Iris Johansen
Narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers
Grand Central Publishing
From a number-one New York Times best-selling author, a woman finally gets her happily-ever-after ending with the man she loves – until a woman on the run shows up on her doorstep with enough secrets to get them all killed.
Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa
Narrated by Avi Roque
Brilliance Publishing
A poignant, funny, openhearted novel about coming out, first love, and being your one and only best and true self.
Julián Luna has a plan for his life: Graduate. Get into UCLA. And have the chance to move away from Corpus Christi, Texas, and the suffocating expectations of others that have forced Jules into an inauthentic life.
Then in one reckless moment, with one impulsive tweet, his plans for a low-key nine months are thrown – literally – out the closet. The downside: the whole world knows, and Jules has to prepare for rejection. The upside: Jules now has the opportunity to be his real self.
Then Mat, a cute, empathetic Twitter crush from Los Angeles, slides into Jules’s DMs. Jules can tell him anything. Mat makes the world seem conquerable. But when Jules’s fears about coming out come true, the person he needs most is fifteen hundred miles away. Jules has to face them alone.
Jules accidentally propelled himself into the life he’s always dreamed of. And now that he’s in control of it, what he does next is up to him.
- New and Notable Audiobook Releases for the Week of December 3rd on Brian’s Book Blog - December 3, 2023
- Disease X by N.J. Croft (Narrated by Joshua Saxon) - December 1, 2023
- A Purrfect Gift by Jae (Narrated by Anastasia Watley) - November 30, 2023
