Welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s weekly New and Notable Audiobooks Post for the Week of May 7th.
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I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Macmillan Audio
Read my review of I Kissed Shara Wheeler!
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Casey McQuiston
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Natalie Naudus
From the New York Times best-selling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need…
Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.
But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.
On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair and square.
Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.
Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.
“Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by this funny, weird, razor-sharp, intensely compassionate, subversive, sweet, electrifyingly romantic knockout of a book. Casey freaking McQuiston, you’ve done it again.” (Becky Albertalli, New York Times best-selling author of Kate in Waiting and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda)
A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.
Planet Zero by Lydia Hope
Narrated by Keira Stevens
Podium Audio
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
A spaceship crash survivor, Addie Rye is lucky to be alive. But being stuck on a primitive planet isn’t exactly the epitome of luck.
With no way home, Addie has no choice but learn how to use stone tools and catch her dinner before cooking it, all while attempting to befriend a tribe of wild nomads who inhabit this planet.
His injuries rendering him useless in the eyes of his tribe; embattled Zoark is content to occupy the lowest rung of the social ladder. When Addie ingratiates herself into his tribe, he doesn’t trust her, and goes out of his way to make her feel unwelcome. But soon, he is captivated by her grit and resilience and enchanted by her human spirit. Against his will, his long-dormant protective instincts come to life.
As the tribe moves around this vast alien steppe, tensions mount among its people, augmented by dwindling resources, violent predators, and marauding rivals. Only the strongest will survive, and Zoark needs Addie to keep him going. Knowing the fate of the tribe may one day depend on this man, Addie agrees to his impersonal proposition. But can her human heart remain detached?
Space Junk by Rachel Aukes
Narrated by Scott Aiello
Recorded Books
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
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Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Scott Aiello
Captain Jack Hale and his crew of ragtag scavengers live by a code. They do the job, get paid, and keep their heads down.
Salvaging a distant section of the asteroid belt seemed like the perfect job. But when he and his crew stumble across a mining camp filled with dead bodies, their plans for a quick payday quickly go out the airlock. Especially when they find a scared little girl who knows the truth about the massacre.
When Captain Hale refuses to turn over the survivor to those behind the slaughter, he and his crew become outlaws. Fugitives in a system controlled by an alien AI.
The odds are against him, but Captain Hale has an ace up his sleeve, or rather, in his blood. The secret might just give him an edge to beat Sol Corps at their own game, though exposing it will draw out an old and even more dangerous enemy.
The sins of his past may just be what saves the future for all mankind.
It’s Harlock: Space Pirate meets The Expanse in this pulse-pounding military sci-fi series from Rachel Aukes, the best-selling author of Black Sheep, Rebel’s Run, and 100 Days in Deadland.
Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by Sophie Aldred
Orbit
The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us the second novel in an extraordinary space opera trilogy about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man’s discovery will save or destroy us all.
After eighty years of fragile peace, the Architects are back, wreaking havoc as they consume entire planets. In the past, Originator artifacts—vestiges of a long-vanished civilization—could save a world from annihilation. This time, the Architects have discovered a way to circumvent these protective relics. Suddenly, no planet is safe.
Facing impending extinction, the Human Colonies are in turmoil. While some believe a unified front is the only way to stop the Architects, others insist humanity should fight alone. And there are those who would seek to benefit from the fractured politics of war—even as the Architects loom ever closer.
Idris, who has spent decades running from the horrors of his past, finds himself thrust back onto the battlefront. As an Intermediary, he could be one of the few to turn the tide of war. With a handful of allies, he searches for a weapon that could push back the Architects and save the galaxy. But to do so, he must return to the nightmarish unspace, where his mind was broken and remade.
What Idris discovers there will change everything.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
The GEOs: The Complete Series by Ramona Finn
Narrated by Alexandra Hunter
Relay Publishing
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
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Discover danger and destiny in this young-adult dystopian box set.
Making the right choice always comes with a price.
It’s been decades since the deadly GM virus decimated humanity, but the world continues to hold out for a cure. Hidden underground in the dark, GEOs remain, what’s left of the population as Farrow Corp works tirelessly in their never-ending search for a miracle. For seventeen-year-old Tylia Coder, survival is all she knows. With virus mutations continuing to spread, Tylia must either watch her ailing mother be ravaged by illness or hack her way into the terrifying Acceptance trials and face the infected world above to save her family.
But the life she envisioned is far from reality when she’s rescued by a mysterious stranger from the resistance, and everything she believes about Farrow Corp, and their handsome advocate assigned to her, is turned on its head. Tylia soon realizes she has a choice to make if she’s to save her loved ones—and truly learn which man in her life she can trust.
Tylia must embrace her destiny—or die trying.
This epic young-adult dystopian box set includes the three exciting novels in The GEOs series:
The Acceptance
The Labs
The Elite
Strangers We Know by Elle Marr
Narrated by Janet Song, Alexander Cendese, Lauren Ezzo
Brilliance Publishing
$1.99 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
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The search for a serial killer leads a woman into the twisted tangle of her own family tree in a chilling novel by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Missing Sister and Lies We Bury.
Adopted when she was only days old, Ivy Hon knows little about her lineage. But when she’s stricken with a mystery illness, the results of a genetic test to identify the cause attract the FBI. According to Ivy’s DNA, she’s related to the Full Moon Killer, who has terrorized the Pacific Northwest for decades. Ivy is the FBI’s hope to stop the enigmatic predator from killing again.
When an online search connects Ivy with her younger cousin, she heads to rural Rock Island, Washington, to meet the woman. Motivated by a secret desire to unmask a murderous relative, Ivy reaches out to what’s left of a family of strangers.
Discovering her mother’s tragic fate and her father’s disappearance is just the beginning. As Ivy ventures into a serial killer’s home territory, she realizes that she may be the next victim of poisonous blood ties.
Thieves of Joy by Jen Guberman
Narrated by Eric Bryan Moore
Self Published
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
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It wasn’t until Tallis tried REM for the first time that he realized he wasn’t happy. The average person might stop sometimes to smell the flowers, but Tallis was the kind of person who would even admire the weeds. To him, life itself was beautiful. While anyone else would see the city of Neuvale as dirty and chaotic, Tallis adored the buzz of life and the stunning sights around every corner. He was content, even though his love life was complicated, his professional life had plateaued, and his personal life would put just about anyone to sleep.
Desperate to make something of his life, he goes chasing love, success, and excitement. Along the way, he meets a mysterious and electrifying woman by the name of O. When she introduces him to REM, a drug that lets you customize your hallucinations, he finds himself unable to resist the temptation. REM seems to give him the excitement missing from his life, but it comes at a cost, and Tallis has to decide if it’s worth losing himself.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Narrated by Julia Whelan
Penguin Audio
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Julia Whelan
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Oprah Daily ∙ Today ∙ Parade ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Bustle ∙ PopSugar ∙ Katie Couric Media ∙ Book Bub ∙ SheReads ∙ Medium ∙ The Washington Post ∙ and more!
An insightful, delightful new novel from the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation.
One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn’t see coming….
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
“Emily Henry never fails to deliver … this may just be her best yet.” (Taylor Jenkins Reid)
Chef’s Kiss by TJ Alexander
Narrated by Em Grosland
Simon Audio
A high-strung pastry chef’s professional goals are interrupted by an unexpected career transition and the introduction of her wildly attractive nonbinary kitchen manager in this deliciously fresh and witty queer rom-com.
Simone Larkspur is a perfectionist pastry expert with a dream job at The Discerning Chef, a venerable cookbook publisher in New York City. All she wants to do is create the perfect loaf of sourdough and develop recipes, but when The Discerning Chef decides to bring their brand into the 21st century by pivoting to video, Simone is thrust into the spotlight and finds herself failing at something for the first time in her life.
To make matters worse, Simone has to deal with Ray Lyton, the new test kitchen manager, whose obnoxious cheer and outgoing personality are like oil to Simone’s water. When Ray accidentally becomes a viral YouTube sensation with a series of homebrewing videos, their eccentric editor in chief forces Simone to work alongside the chipper upstart or else risk her beloved job. But the more they work together, the more Simone realizes her heart may be softening like butter for Ray.
Things get even more complicated when Ray comes out at work as nonbinary to mixed reactions – and Simone must choose between the career she fought so hard for and the person who just might take the cake (and her heart).
And Then She Kissed Me by Harper Bliss
Narrated by Abby Craden
Self Published
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Harper Bliss
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Abby Craden
When a trip down memory lane sparks an unexpected journey to love….
TV cop Sadie Ireland needs a break from her Hollywood life. She heads home to the beach town where she grew up to celebrate her 40th birthday with her family.
Devon Douglas can’t believe it when she comes face-to-face with Sadie again. They were inseparable in high school until Devon did something she has regretted for more than 20 years—she ruined their friendship on a lovestruck whim.
Sadie is as dazzling as Devon remembers—and she can still hold her own surfing the wild waves of Clearwater Bay.
Devon’s first priority is her five-year-old son, but getting to know Sadie all over again is taking up more and more of her headspace.
Sadie is inexplicably drawn to Devon. It could be nostalgia. It could be remnants of their old friendship flaring up. But what if it’s more than that?
Best-selling lesbian romance author Harper Bliss brings you a steamy, big-hearted romance about two women who used to be best friends, until a teenage crush destroyed it all.
Get your copy now and join Devon and Sadie on their sizzling, twisty trip down memory lane!
Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond
Narrated by Kimberly M. Wetherell
Random House Audio
A people-pleasing bridesmaid-for-hire falls for the crushable new lesbian in town. Will she finally find her happily ever after—and her own voice?
ONE OF BUZZFEED’S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022 • “A delightful debut, perfect for any person who’s ever created their own place to belong.”—Casey McQuiston, bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop
Amy, a semicloseted queer baker and bartender in mid-2010s Oklahoma, has spent a lifetime putting other people’s needs before her own. Until, that is, she hits it off with Charley, a brilliant, attractive engineer who’s just moved to Tulsa. Suddenly, Amy’s found something—someone—she actually wants. Her tight-knit group of chosen family is thrilled she’s finally moving on from her ex. Mostly, though, they want Amy to find a way to show up for love—and life—as her authentic self.
But when a one-off gig subbing in for a bridesmaid turns into a full-time business—thanks to Amy’s baking talents, crafting skills, and years watching rom-coms and Say Yes to the Dress—her deep desire to please kicks into overdrive, at her own expense. It’s not until Amy’s precarious balancing act strains her relationships to the breaking point that she must decide what it looks like to be true to herself—and if she has the courage to try.
Breathless by Amy McCulloch
Narrated by Katie Leung
Random House Audio
A high-altitude thriller that will take your breath away—Cecily Wong is on her most dangerous climb yet, miles above sea level. But the elements are nothing compared to one chilling truth: There’s a killer on the mountain.
“A vertigo-inducing page-turner by an author who brings the high-stakes world of expert mountain-climbing to life on the page.”—Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid
Journalist Cecily Wong is in over her head. She’s come to Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world, to interview internationally famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh on the last leg of a record-breaking series of summits. She’s given up everything for this story—her boyfriend, her life savings, the peace she’s made with her climbing failures in the past—but it’s a career-making opportunity. It could finally put her life back on track.
But when one climber dies in what everyone else assumes is a freak accident, she fears their expedition is in danger. And by the time a second climber dies, it’s too late to turn back. Stranded on a mountain in one of the most remote regions of the world, she’ll have to battle more than the elements in a harrowing fight for survival against a killer who is picking them off one by one.
Storm Rising by Chris Hauty
Narrated by Lisa Flanagan
Simon Audio
Nationally best-selling author Chris Hauty leads fans into the depths of a dangerous white supremacy conspiracy that threatens to tear the country apart in his propulsive new thriller.
Former White House intern turned intelligence operative Hayley Chill is filling her time by training as an MMA fighter. When she’s convinced to pursue the truth about her father’s mysterious fate, she stumbles upon a ciphered document under the floorboards of her father’s house.
With permission from her handler to probe deeper, she is led into a terrifying subculture of white supremacy within the United States military. As her investigation intensifies, she uncovers an expansive conspiracy to bring about the secession of several states from the country. It’s up to Hayley to stop a second Civil War before it starts, while also confronting the ultimate truth about her own father’s role in this harrowing chapter of American history.
Heart Sings by L. Dreamer
Narrated by Jen Tidwell
Self Published
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
What happens when someone from Thomas’ past threatens her and her family’s future? When the Millers begin a new chapter in their lives, not even a year in the harsh environment of the Klondike could have prepared them for the types of obstacles they’ll face. Thomas and Rachel will need to rely on their bond like never before to overcome the threat neither saw coming. Will they be strong enough to weather the storm? And can they trust each other to make the right decisions for their family, even if it might end in heartbreak?
- Snapped (Agent Jade Monroe #1) by C. M. Sutter (Narrated by Meghan Kelly) - March 21, 2023
- Dungeon World Drifters (System Apocalypse – Relentless #2) by Craig Hamilton & Tao Wong (Narrated by Shamaan Casey) - March 19, 2023
- New and Notable Audiobook Releases for the Week of March 18th on Brian’s Book Blog - March 18, 2023
