Hello! And welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s weekly New and Notable Audiobooks Post for the Week of November 11th.
Every week I find and post the audiobooks that catch my eye across multiple genres. Take a look and maybe you’ll find your next book!
Comment below on any I missed or what you’re excited about!
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Christmas Mouse by Rachel Spangler
Narrated by Ann Shanks Etter
Self Published
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Rachel Spangler
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Ann Shanks Etter
What makes for the perfect Christmas? Where or how you spend it, or perhaps, who you share it with?
Small-town woodworker Ava Collins and big city doctor Bex Leone both love Christmas. Some might go so far as to call them obsessed. They love Christmas music, Christmas food, Christmas carols, and Christmas movies.
When the two women meet over a Thanksgiving dinner, it seems for a second they might have finally found their mistletoe match, but their initial connection goes wildly awry when they realize their versions of what constitutes an ideal Christmas differ as drastically as the places they choose to spend their holidays.
Ava is to idyllic, homespun Vermont as Bex is to the flash and sparkle of New York City. What begins as a good-natured argument about who has the superior way to celebrate the season ends in a friendly bet: The country mouse and the city mouse will each split the season in an attempt to convince the other their way is the truest path to holiday happiness.
Ava agrees to spend two weekends on Bex’s turf in Manhattan, as long as Bex will visit her in the mountains of Vermont for the other two. For one whirlwind month, each woman works to showcase her favorite traditions, memories, and magic. As snowy days give way to starlit nights, Bex and Ava find the ideals that brought them together offer more common ground than either of them expected, but as they grow closer to one another, they begin to fear that in order to act on their deepening connection each of them may have to relinquish cherished parts of themselves.
With the big day rushing toward them, questions remain: Who will win their bet? And perhaps more importantly, what are they willing to lose in the process?
Don’t Quit Your Daydream by Adrian J. Smith
Narrated by Lori Prince
Self Published
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Lori Prince
What happens in the elevator doesn’t stay in the elevator.
When Laura Finch’s business partner hires Skylar to bring their company to the next generation, Laura sees red. An obnoxious millennial isn’t someone she wants to work with—they’re known for failing their side hustles. Since Laura gave up everything for Solace Inc to succeed, including her dreams of marriage and family, she’s not willing to risk it on just anyone.
Skylar Ross vies to succeed in her first big contract and won’t let Laura’s sour personality get in her way. Each day she finds something else intriguing about Laura and all the fronts she puts up. With a dash of humor and hope, Skylar bets on her sunny disposition winning Laura over. What she doesn’t expect is her growing crush on a straight woman to go anywhere.
Dreams are meant to be scary. What will they risk to make theirs come true?
Don’t Quit Your Daydream is an age gap, lesbian romance that deals with infertility and grief that comes with the loss of dreams. Be prepared for the ride up to the sixth floor, where all the magic happens.
The Future by Naomi Alderman
Narrated by Guinevere Turner, Natalie Naudus, Jeremy Bobb, Santino Fontana, Graham Halstead, Lorelei King, Fred Sanders, Naomi Alderman
Simon & Schuster Audio
The bestselling, award-winning author of The Power delivers a dazzling tour de force where a handful of friends plot a daring heist to save the world from the tech giants whose greed threatens life as we know it.
When Martha Einkorn fled her father’s isolated compound in Oregon, she never expected to find herself working for a powerful social media mogul hell-bent on controlling everything. Now, she’s surrounded by mega-rich companies designing private weather, predictive analytics, and covert weaponry, while spouting technological prophecy. Martha may have left the cult, but if the apocalyptic warnings in her father’s fox and rabbit sermon—once a parable to her—are starting to come true, how much future is actually left?
Across the world, in a mall in Singapore, Lai Zhen, an internet-famous survivalist, flees from an assassin. She’s cornered, desperate and—worst of all—might die without ever knowing what’s going on. Suddenly, a remarkable piece of software appears on her phone telling her exactly how to escape. Who made it? What is it really for? And if those behind it can save her from danger, what do they want from her, and what else do they know about the future?
Martha and Zhen’s worlds are about to collide. An explosive chain of events is set in motion. While a few billionaires assured of their own safety lead the world to destruction, Martha’s relentless drive and Zhen’s insatiable curiosity could lead to something beautiful or the cataclysmic end of civilization.
By turns thrilling, hilarious, tender, and always piercingly brilliant, The Future unfolds at a breakneck speed, highlighting how power corrupts the few who have it and what it means to stand up to them. The future is coming. The Future is here.
Bit Rot by Jason Baronette
Narrated by Bill Davis
Self Published
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
When an aging athlete gets a second chance to help his family, can he survive the machinations of big tech gone mad?
Chicago, 120 years in the future. Elliot Lock limps toward the end of his professional dreams.
Hiding a bum knee and battling a constant ringing in his ears, the discontented football player’s opportunity to live up to his father’s legacy is crumbling as fast as his dad’s health. But when he’s offered a way to fix his parent’s brain injury in exchange for joining an innovative digital sports league, he stifles his doubts and signs on for a miracle cure.
Thrilled when his new employers fulfill their promise, the former quarterback works with his illegal AI friend to put together a titans team of physical players and virtual hackers. But when his father begins to exhibit strange behavior and a rebel investigative reporter delivers a cryptic warning, Elliot fears he’s stepped into a hardcoded lethal nightmare….
Pulled deep into a dark web conspiracy of clones and control, can Elliot expose the dangerous truth?
Bit Rot is the gripping first book in the Bit Rot science fiction thriller series. If you like wounded but resilient heroes, high-tech plots, and exploring what it means to be human, then you’ll love Jason Baronette’s visionary tale.
The Brill Pill by Akemi C. Brodsky
Narrated by Amy Chang
Self Published
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
In the not-so-distant future, organs can be re-grown from a handful of stem cells. Even the most complex organ of all can be reproduced in the lab with nearly perfect accuracy. Nearly.
Spurred by personal tragedy, scientist William Dalal works feverishly to improve the lives of brain regeneration patients. For every success however, there is a consequence, and the question arises in his mind: Are they worth it?
Walking a fine line between altruism and ambition, Will must decide how much he is willing to compromise in order to make his mark on the world.
Fire in the Sky by Radclyffe, Julie Cannon
Narrated by Paige McKinney
Bold Strokes Book Inc
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Paige McKinney
Kelsey Brunel knows exactly what the future holds: She’ll one day inherit the Arizona dude ranch that has been in her family for three generations. She tells herself that the business and her good friends are all she’ll ever want or need. Long-term relationships aren’t in the picture, which, after witnessing the devastation of her parents’ failed marriage, is just fine with her.
Elizabeth Sutton has grown up proving to her family that she’s as capable and accomplished as they demand her to be, even if that means working for the family business. Her latest assignment—to turn a backwater ranch in Arizona into another link in their international chain of wellness centers—feels like a demotion and she can’t wait to get it done and escape back to civilization.
Two women from different worlds have nothing in common and every reason to wish they’d never met—except for the attraction neither can deny.
Fumbling into You by Shannon O’Connor
Narrated by Aracelis Gotay
Self Published
Since the day dad started working for the team, he had one family rule: Don’t date the players.
Maggie’s followed that rule throughout her life with no problem, until Rosie Robbins. The first female in the NFL to make the big leagues. She was going to bring the team to new heights, but Maggie had fallen hard. Not that Rosie noticed; the only thing on her mind was that MVP trophy, definitely not how beautiful the coach’s daughter was.
Until one night when sparks boil over, and they fumble into bed together. They both promise this won’t mean anything—this was a onetime thing after all. They swear they mean it, until they don’t. Will Rosie lose everything she’s worked hard for, for love? Or will she have to kiss the coach’s daughter good-bye?
Get ready for a scorching summer! Join these hardened, sexy footballers as they risk it all off the field, chasing victory…and love. The bright Sunday night lights illuminate their path, but the winning touch has these fiery hearts racing.
The Unbalanced Equation by H. L. Macfarlane
Narrated by Broghanne Jessamine, Cas McGuire
Self Published
$7.49 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
What do a bad landlord, a family wedding, and a rogue Bunsen burner all have in common?
After suffering four years of scrutiny from her PhD assessor, Elizabeth Maclean believes she’s finally free of Dr. Thomas Henderson’s tyranny when she begins her postdoc. But when a fire goes off in Tom’s lab (stupid undergrads) he ends up working in the same lab as Liz.
On the same bench, no less.
For three whole months.
To make matters worse—and much to their mutual surprise—Tom’s mum and Liz’s dad announce their impending marriage after a whirlwind romance. So when Liz’s landlord tells her to move out, pronto, it tips her over the edge. Desperate for a place to stay and in need of a savior, the last person Liz expects to offer her a temporary home is Tom himself.
Now stuck working together, living together and planning their parents’ Christmas wedding together, will Liz discover that Tom’s attitude over the last four years was all a ruse to hide his true feelings? Or are the two doomed to fail in their coexistence experiment?
A smart, sexy enemies-to-lovers story perfect for fans of The Hating Game, Book Lovers, and The Love Hypothesis, The Unbalanced Equation is H. L. Macfarlane’s first foray into contemporary rom-com territory. She swears there are no faeries this time.
The Unbalanced Equation is the first book in the Hot Mess Trilogy—a series of stand-alone but connected rom-coms set in Glasgow. Happy ever after guaranteed, with no children, marriage, or unexpected pregnancies involved!
Search History by Amy Taylor
Narrated by Maddy Withington
Random House Audio
$12.99 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
The truth could be just a scroll away. . . .
After Ana flees to Melbourne in the wake of a breakup, all she has to show for herself is an unfulfilling job at an overly enthusiastic tech start-up and one particularly questionable dating app experience. Then she meets Evan. Charming, kind, and responsible, Evan is a complete deviation from her usual type; Ana feels like she has finally awoken from a long dating nightmare.
As much as she tries to let their relationship unfold IRL, Ana can’t resist the urge to find Evan online. When she discovers that his previous girlfriend, Emily, died unexpectedly in a hit-and-run less than a year ago, Ana begins to worry that she’s living in the shadow of his lost love. Soon she’s obsessively comparing herself to Emily, trawling through her dormant social media accounts in the hope of understanding her better. Online, Evan and Emily’s life together looked perfect—but just how perfect was it? And why won’t he talk about it?
Perceptive and original, full of both pathos and humor, Search History explores the contradictions and uncertainties of twenty-first-century romance. Ana’s journey down the internet rabbit hole of modern dating asks the question: Which is our “true” self—the one we show to the world online, or the one we keep to ourselves?
“Curious about a new guy, Ana falls into a social media sinkhole when she sees her predecessor: gorgeous, blonde, and dead. . . . This propulsive debut will give you chills.”—People (Best Books Fall 2023)
“A serious blend of Fleabag and Rebecca with the pulse of modern-day existence.”—Weike Wang, author of Joan Is Okay
Swarm by Jennifer D. Lyle
Narrated by Krystal Hammond
Blackstone Publishing
$7.47 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
On a sunny September morning, the creatures first appear. Shur sees one of them hovering outside the window in history class: it looks like a giant butterfly, at first too beautiful and strange to seem like a threat. But when emergency alerts light up everyone’s phones around her, she realizes something very, very wrong is happening outside. These … things are everywhere.
By the time Shur makes it back to her house with her brother, Keene, and their two best friends, it’s clear they must face whatever comes next on their own. A terrifying species the world’s never seen before has suddenly emerged, and few living things are safe. As the creatures swarm and attack outside, life for Shur and her friends becomes a survival game. They board the windows, stockpile supplies, and try to make sense of the news reports for as long as the power stays on.
Yet nothing can prepare them for what follows. The butterflies are only the beginning. The next onslaught will be deadlier, and even closer to home.
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Narrated by Karissa Vacker
Listening Library
$12.99 Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Ali Hazelwood
Check out my reviews of other titles Narrated by Karissa Vacker
In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart.
Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess.
Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist….
As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)
Offlining by GJ Weinstein
Narrated by Cole Robert Eubanks
Self Published
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Offlining (noun): giving up the online world for reality, where the graphics aren’t great, nobody can fly, and everything hurts.
Jerusalem (Jeru) Pix virtually lives in the virtual worlds he loves until his high school crush asks him to do a teeny, tiny favor: stop her brother from becoming the next cult-inspired suicide bomber to target the wealthiest one percent.
Jeru ventures from his safe life in cyberspace (and his parents’ condo) into the chaos of mid-21st-century Atlanta, where terrorism and religious zealotry are rampant and the ultra-rich have retreated into their own state within a state. Now, Jeru will have to become a hero in real life, with no do-overs, save points, or bathroom breaks.
- Cuffing Season by Monica McCallan (Narrated by Lori Prince) - December 8, 2023
- Bit Rot (Bit Rot #1) by Jason Baronette (Narrated by Bill Davis) - December 6, 2023
- Muted (Silence Jones #10 by Erik Carter (Narrated by Gary Bennett) - December 4, 2023
