Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/616769 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Hidden Fires

Author: Sairish Hussain

Narrator: Amerjit Deu, Raj Ghatak, Krupa Pattani

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 38 minutes

Release date: January 18, 2024

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

How can you live in the present when you’re trying to bury the past? ‘A sweeping tale of resilience’ i News 'An ineffably touching novel by a talented young author' Saga Magazine 'Harrowing yet uplifting…A visceral exploration of family, identity and loss' Sunday Post *** Ramadan, 2017. Yusuf wakes in the middle of the night to pray. His routine is always the same, but something tells him that tonight is different. Yellow flames blur Yusuf’s vision, and the laughter of a small child echoes in his ears. But this time, the red, smoke-filled skies aren’t just in his memory. Miles away, Rubi is also awake. On the television, she watches reports of a devastating fire in London. She is already anxious when her parents send her to stay with her Grandpa Yusuf, whose conservative house rules are almost as unbearable as the loneliness she feels at home. Yusuf’s lifestyle does not gel with Rubi’s. But when she finds him scared and confused one night, it becomes clear that there’s more to her grandfather than Rubi ever considered. As Yusuf grapples with the past, Rubi is determined to save him. But the memories that are recovered and spoken of for the first time in years are more painful than she could have imagined. From the Costa Prize-shortlisted author of The Family Tree and Women's Prize x Good Housekeeping Futures Finalist, Hidden Fires is a powerful story of grief and loss, the power of family and the long arm of history. Readers love Hidden Fires: ‘A heartbreaking, emotional rollercoaster of a read’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ‘A must read book’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ‘An exquisite book exploring the secrets, vulnerabilities and tremendous bonds between three generations of family’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'What a stunning read' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'It's profound and humane and loving' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'The style of writing is beautiful, eloquent, as if you are reading Urdu prose' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Such a powerful novel. I could not put it down' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Moved me to tears' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Praise for Hidden Fires: 'A tale of how we can live together yet be so far apart, and of how bridges can be built' Woman's Weekly ‘Hussain captures a thousand untold stories in one’ The New Arab ‘There are not only hidden fires in this novel, but myriad hidden lives … It treats difficult, serious subjects of buried trauma with real care, combined with a lightness of touch that carries the novel with humour, surprise and love’ Ross Raisin, author of A Hunger

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/620362 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Explosion in a Cathedral

Author: Alejo Carpentier

Narrator: Fajer Al-Kaisi

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 12 hours 58 minutes

Release date: September 12, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

“If Carpentier is ever to get a new reading in English, it should be now. . . . West’s translations . . . reintroduce English-language readers to this giant of Latin American fiction.” —Natasha Wimmer, The New York Review of Books One of Cuba’s—and Latin America’s—greatest historical novels, about imperial conquest carried out under the guise of liberation, in its first new English translation in sixty years and featuring a new foreword by Alejandro Zambra A Penguin Classic When he arrives in Cuba at the close of the eighteenth century, Victor Hugues, a merchant sailor from Marseille, brings with him not only the idealism of the French Revolution but also its ambition and bloodlust. Landing at the Havana doorstep of a trio of wealthy, eccentric Creole orphans, he sweeps them across the Caribbean Sea to Guadeloupe, whose enslaved Africans he frees only then to exploit them in his fight against the British for colonial sovereignty. What ensues in Alejo Carpentier’s swashbuckling, magical realist masterpiece is an explosive clash between the New World and the Old World, and between revolutionary ideals and the corrupting allure of power. For more than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/622669 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: A Lady’s Guide to Scandal

Author: Sophie Irwin

Narrator: Imogen Church

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 13 hours 27 minutes

Release date: August 31, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 1

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

‘Sophie Irwin is an exciting and original voice. She's a must-buy author for me.’ Taylor Jenkins Reid ‘A delicious Regency romp for fans of Bridgerton.’ Red ‘Scandal, art and romance – this is the best Regency romp set in Bath since Persuasion!’ Good Housekeeping A lifetime of duty Widowed at just seven-and-twenty from her marriage of convenience, Eliza, now Countess of Somerset, is bequeathed a fortune, hers to keep – provided she can steer clear of scandal. The promise of love The last thing she expects is to be torn between two very different men – a face from the past, whose loss she’s always mourned, and a roguish poet, who scorns convention. A taste of freedom But a lady’s reputation is fragile and with jealous eyes on Eliza’s fortune, it will only take one whisper of gossip for her to lose it all… Escape with the most delightful, historical romance of the year from the Sunday Times bestselling author Sophie Irwin! ‘A very modern sensibility, witty and fun’ Adele Parks ‘Fans of Bridgerton will enjoy this well-observed Regency story with a plucky protagonist.’ Candis ‘A delicious Regency romp for fans of Bridgerton.’ Red Readers are LOVING A Lady’s Guide to Scandal: ‘LOVED this’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An excellent, delightful, refreshing Regency Romance’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘What an absolute treat’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Inhaled it. Loved it’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Fun, light and romantic’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘20 stars out of 5!! This book was a balm to my soul’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘It is going to become a go-to favourite’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An absolute must read for fans of Regency romance’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘So enjoyable, unpredictable, wonderful characters, just SO GOOD’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Sophie Irwin – she is such a fresh, fun, witty writer in this space. I'd read anything she wrote’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sophie Irwin's book 'A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 09-05-2022.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/622461 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: House of Odysseus

Author: Claire North

Narrator: Catrin Walker-Booth

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 14 hours 13 minutes

Release date: August 22, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

This "powerful, fresh, and unflinching" reimagining from the award-winning author of the Penelope trilogy breathes life into ancient myth and gives voice to the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men (Jennifer Saint). On the isle of Ithaca, queen Penelope maintains a delicate balance of power. Many years ago, her husband Odysseus sailed to war with Troy and never came home. In his absence, Penelope uses all her cunning to keep the peace—a peace that is shattered by the return of Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra. Orestes' hands are stained with his mother's blood. Not so long ago, the son of Agamemnon took Queen Clytemnestra's life on Ithaca's sands. Now, wracked with guilt, he is slowly losing his mind. But a king cannot be seen to be weak, and Elektra has brought him to Ithaca to keep him safe from the ambitious men of Mycenae. Penelope knows destruction will follow in his wake as surely as the furies circle him. His uncle Menelaus, the battle-hungry king of Sparta, longs for Orestes' throne—and if he can seize it, no one will be safe from his violent whims. Trapped between two mad kings, Penelope fights to keep her home from being crushed by a war that stretches from Mycenae and Sparta to the summit of Mount Olympus itself. Her only allies are Elektra, desperate to protect her brother, and Helen of Troy, Menelaus' wife. And watching over them all is the goddess Aphrodite, who has plans of her own. Each woman has a secret. And their secrets will shape the world.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/622044 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Keeper of Hidden Books: A Novel

Author: Madeline Martin

Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 53 minutes

Release date: August 1, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 7

Ratings of Narrator: 4.4 of Total 5

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER—for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz! A BookBub Pick for Best Historical Fiction of Summer 2023 A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London. All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving. With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto. But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families – and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left - literature. “Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they are transported…with Madeline Martin's vivid and inspiring characters.” —Kelly Rimmer, author of The Warsaw Orphan "Madeline Martin immerses us in the expertly rendered and fascinating worlds.” —Natasha Lester, author of The Riviera House Don't miss Madeline Martin's next heartwarming historical novel, The Booklover's Library! Also by Madeline Martin: - The Librarian Spy - The Last Bookshop in London

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/620438 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Last Masterpiece: A Novel of World War II Italy

Author: Laura Morelli

Narrator: Christa Lewis, Stina Nielsen

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 14 hours 27 minutes

Release date: August 1, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

In a race across Nazi-occupied Italy, two women—a German photographer and an American stenographer—hunt for priceless masterpieces looted from the Florentine art collections. In the summer of 1943, Eva Brunner is taking photographs of Nazi-looted art hidden in the salt mines of the Austrian hinterland. Across the ocean in Connecticut, Josephine Evans is working as a humble typist at the Yale Art Gallery. When both women are called to Italy to contribute to the war effort, neither imagines she will hold the fate of some of the world’s greatest masterpieces torn from the Uffizi Galleries and other Florentine art collections in her hands. But as Italy turns from ally to enemy and Hitler’s plan to destroy irreplaceable monuments and works of art becomes frighteningly clear, each woman’s race against the clock—and against one another—might demand more than they were prepared to give. The Last Masterpiece takes readers on a heart-pumping adventure up the Italian peninsula, where nothing is as it seems and some of the greatest works of art and human achievement are at stake. Who might steal and who might save a work of art—and at what cost? Inspired by the incredible true story of the Monuments Women, the Fifth Army WACs, and the looted Florentine art collections during World War II, the latest historical novel by USA Today bestselling author and art historian Laura Morelli plunges readers into the heart of war-torn Italy.  Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/616802 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: A Bakery in Paris: A Novel

Author: Aimie K. Runyan

Narrator: Caroline Hewitt, Imani Jade Powers

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 6 minutes

Release date: August 1, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

From the author of The School for German Brides, this captivating historical novel set in nineteenth-century and post–World War II Paris follows two fierce women of the same family, generations apart, who find that their futures lie in the four walls of a simple bakery in a tiny corner of Montmartre.   1870: The Prussians are at the city gates, intent to starve Paris into submission. Lisette Vigneau—headstrong, willful, and often ignored by her wealthy parents—awaits the outcome of the war from her parents’ grand home in the Place Royale in the very heart of the city. When an excursion throws her into the path of a revolutionary National Guardsman, Théodore Fournier, her destiny is forever changed. She gives up her life of luxury to join in the fight for a Paris of the People. She opens a small bakery with the hopes of being a vital boon to the impoverished neighborhood in its hour of need. When the city falls into famine, and then rebellion, her resolve to give up the comforts of her past life is sorely tested. 1946: Nineteen-year-old Micheline Chartier is coping with the loss of her father and the disappearance of her mother during the war. In their absence, she is charged with the raising of her two younger sisters. At the hand of a well-meaning neighbor, Micheline finds herself enrolled in a prestigious baking academy with her entire life mapped out for her. Feeling trapped and desperately unequal to the task of raising two young girls, she becomes obsessed with finding her mother. Her classmate at the academy, Laurent Tanet, may be the only one capable of helping Micheline move on from the past and begin creating a future for herself.  Both women must grapple with loss, learn to accept love, and face impossible choices armed with little more than their courage and a belief that a bit of flour, yeast, sugar, and love can bring about a revolution of their own.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/620509 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Revels

Author: Stacey Thomas

Narrator: Jay Lafayette Valentine

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 9 hours 41 minutes

Release date: July 20, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

The stage is set, and the witch-hunt is about to begin . . . *** A spellbinding debut novel perfect for fans of Stacey Halls, Laura Purcell and Bridget Collins. *** England, 1645. After his half-brother dies, aspiring playwright Nicholas Pearce is apprenticed to Judge William Percival, an infamous former witch-hunter who is under pressure to resume his old profession. In a country torn apart by civil war, with escalating tensions between Catholics and Protestants, Royalists and Roundheads, and rumours of witchcraft, Nicholas hides a secret: the dead sing. He hears their secrets, but will he find the courage to speak up and save innocent lives, even if it means putting himself in great danger? 'Evocative . . . weaves sublimely like its witch knots' SUSAN STOKES CHAPMAN, bestselling author of Pandora 'Darkly fascinating' JENNIFER SAINT, bestselling author of Ariadne ‘Wonderfully atmospheric’ ELODIE HARPER, bestselling author of The Wolf Den ‘Compelling’ LAURA SHEPPERSON, bestselling author of The Heroines ‘A delicious, witchy delight’ HANNAH KANER, bestselling author of Godkiller

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/613403 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Unladylike Lessons in Love

Series: #1 of The Marleigh Sisters

Author: Amita Murray

Narrator: Krupa Pattani

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 9 hours 10 minutes

Release date: July 20, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

‘Sizzling romance with a splash of intrigue’ Julia Quinn, author of Bridgerton 'Loved the witty dialogue … sizzling!' Good Housekeeping, '100 Best Books for Summer Reading' Fast-paced and feisty Regency fiction with a dazzlingly daring heroine who breaks the mould. Praise for the Marleigh sisters series by Amita Murray: ‘Delightfully engrossing with a dash of peril’ Woman’s Weekly ‘Scintillating and scandalous’ Cosmopolitan ‘A dazzling romance…Unladylike Rules of Attraction has it all’ My Weekly Not every Regency lady is looking for a husband… As the daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress, impulsive Lila Marleigh has already broken the rules of society into tiny pieces. When a face she never thought she would see again appears and begs for help, Lila must court notoriety once more and pit her wits against the annoyingly handsome aristocrat, Ivor Tristram. But does she risk opening her heart to the one person who can break it…?

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/622050 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Housekeepers

Author: Alex Hay

Narrator: Jasmine Blackborow

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 12 hours 13 minutes

Release date: July 4, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 2.71 of Total 7

Ratings of Narrator: 3.5 of Total 2

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

The night of London's grandest ball, a bold group of women downstairs plot a daring revenge heist against Mayfair society in this dazzling historical novel about power, gender, and class Named a Best Book of Summer by The Washington Post * Good Housekeeping * Harper's Bazaar * Reader's Digest “Rollicking fun and entirely original... Anyone who relishes a good party gone wrong will devour this.” —Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, she’s made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows. When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge: A black market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs. King’s predecessor, with her own desire for vengeance. Their plan? On the night of the house’s highly anticipated costume ball—set to be the most illustrious of the year—they will rob it of its every possession, right under the noses of the distinguished guests and their elusive heiress host. But there’s one thing Mrs. King wants even more than money: the truth. And she’ll run any risk to get it… After all, one should never underestimate the women downstairs. “A deliciously clever novel... You’ll never have so much fun cheering on grand larceny.” —Nina de Gramont, New York Times bestselling author of The Christie Affair, a Reese’s Book Club Pick *Don't miss Alex Hay's clever next novel, The Queen of Fives, in which a mysterious heiress with a secret sets her sights on London's biggest wedding of the season