Download the Popular Authors Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary

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Title: The Bastard

Subtitle: The Kent Family Chronicles, Book 1

Author: John Jakes

Narrator: Marc Vietor

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 803 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Set against the colorful tumult of events that gave rise to our fledgling nation, this novel of romance and adventure introduces Phillipe Charboneau.

The illegitimate son of an English nobleman, Phillipe flees Europe and, as Philip Kent, joins the men who set our course for freedom.

The Bastard is the first volume in the Kent Family Chronicles, a series of novels that details one family's journey in the early years of the American nation.

Members Reviews:

An Amazing Tale

I am really happy audible released this book and hope they release all the sequels I think there are 6. This book is an amazing piece of literature. It brings the revolutionary war to life from an unorthodox point of view. A wealth of great historical events and characters is included and this is really a phenomenal book by a well seasoned author.

A great Modern Classic

Got me hooked for the rest of the series: Just as good as the North and South trilogy. A great way to view the history of early America. John Jakes is a great story teller who creates memorable scenes and characters and Mark Vietor is a talented narrator with distinctive character accents.

Thank you Audible for this series...

As good as I remembered!

I first read this book (and the complete series) back in the 70s when it was originally released. I enjoyed it then and again now.

wonderful!

Where does The Bastard rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

In the top 10!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Well the bastard himself of course! His struggles are so real, any young man would be confused and hurt is his shoes. He does not give up!

Have you listened to any of Marc Vietors other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not. I like an audiobook where you can hear differences, making the people come to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Many! Most of all when the Bastard finally realizes he is not alone!

History of the United States

What made the experience of listening to The Bastard the most enjoyable?

In this 1st book you will learn about the Revolution War using the 1st Kent as a main charater. It is one thing to read history, but Jakes let you live it though the Kent family.

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Title: Beautiful Player

Author: Christina Lauren

Narrator: Grace Grant, Sebastian York

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-29-13

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2386 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A bombshell bookworm. A chronic Casanova. And a lesson in chemistry too scandalous for school.

When Hanna Bergstrom receives a lecture from her overprotective brother about neglecting her social life and burying herself in grad school, she's determined to tackle his implied assignment: get out, make friends, start dating. And who better to turn her into the sultry siren every man wants than her brother's gorgeous best friend, Will Sumner, venture capitalist and unapologetic playboy?

Will takes risks for a living, but he's skeptical about this challenge of Hanna'suntil the wild night his innocently seductive pupil tempts him into bed - and teaches him a thing or two about being with a woman he can't forget. Now that Hanna's discovered the power of her own sex appeal, it's up to Will to prove he's the only man she'll ever need.

Members Reviews:

This book is about 50% sex...just saying...

STORY (romance) - Hanna selects her brother's best friend, Will, to help her lead a more balanced life with less emphasis on grad student work and more emphasis on having a little fun. What follows is how Will, a no-strings-attached player, becomes her "teacher" in the world of dating, sex and love. The story is well-written and enjoyable. Will is a very successful bad boy and hot as they get! Hanna is beautiful, smart, sweet and sexually inquisitive. Their relationship progresses from awkward to sensual and ultimately very sweet.

All this being said, I only rated the book a three because I like my books with more plot or character development and just a sprinkling of hot sex scenes...like maybe only 20 minutes of it in a 10-hour-book. While I wasn't counting, I'll bet there was probably five hours of sex in this book, which was way past my personal taste.

PERFORMANCE - The book alternated between a deep, sexy male voice reading Will's perspective and a young woman reading Hanna's. The performances were both very good.

OVERALL - Even though this is Book 3 in the series, the story stands alone. There is lots and lots of very explicit sex and sexual language as well. If you like a lot of hot, this is definitely the book for you!

5 Smoking Hot Stars!

I just love the Beautiful B* series. It's so hard to pick a favorite when it comes to these guys. I wasn't sure I would even like Will since he is such a player. However, he was so charming and honest that I couldn't help but fall for him. Like the other books in this series there is plenty of HOTNESS! Which is what I love best about this series. I just hope we get more from this fantastic writing duo.

another hot installment in the Beautiful series!

Honestly, this is a definite improvement from the first book. Beautiful Playeris about Hanna and Will. We meet Will briefly inBeautiful Bombshellwhen the guys are in Vegas for Bennetts bachelor party. He is successful, smart and handsome player- lives by his own rules and doesnt want to commit to a serious relationship. Then he receives a phone call from his best friends little sister Ziggy aka Hannah. After meeting up for an early morning run the pair strike up a friendship and find themselves meeting up daily. The more time Will spends with Hannah the more he begins to doubt his own no strings attached lifestyle.

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Title: Rhythm and Bluegrass

Author: Molly Harper

Narrator: Amanda Ronconi

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-07-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1491 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In the second e-novella in Molly Harpers Bluegrass series of contemporary romances, two people determined to fulfill their own agendas come head to headand find love in the process.

Kentucky Tourism Commission employee Bonnie Turkle is up Mud Creek without a paddle. When she gets permission from the state historical society to restore McBrides Music Hall in Mud Creek, Kentucky, to its former glory, she thinks the community will welcome her with open arms. Instead, her plans interfere with a proposal to sell the property to a factory that would bring much-needed jobs to the town.

Even though Bonnie is trying to preserve mayor Will McBrides family heritage, he is more concerned with the welfare of his people than memories of the past. Will finds her optimistic sentimentality extremely annoyingbut that doesnt stop him from kissing Bonnie senseless.

With an inspection deadline looming and local saboteurs ruining her restoration, Bonnie must find a way to compromise with Will to save McBrides and the townwhile hopefully winning a few more kisses in the process!

Members Reviews:

SO SO SO SO SO GOOD!

Some of the first books I listened to when I joined Audible was Molly Harper's Jane series. They were all read by Amanda Ronconi and I listened to them all in a row, as fast as I could. I then went back and purchased every Molly Harper book available to me on Audible. I pre-ordered this book because I knew that the story would be great and I wouldn't be disappointed.

I've listened to tons of audiobooks since I started and I've heard some really good stories. But Molly Harper's books are special. I've listened to them all several times and they never get old.

The books are witty and smart and funny. Her dialogue is true and her characterizations are spot on. Amanda Ronconi's voice is a perfect fit to Ms. Harper's stories.

I dare anyone to listen to one of her books and not be cheered by the experience.

Her books make me happy!

Typical Molly Harper Formula

Ok so I love Harper/Ronconi but every one of her stories are starting to seem predictable and familiar just with different character name. I am still an avid fan and she never ceases to make me laugh.

She is still an auto download for me I just wish she would switch it up a bit and keep us guessing.

Ronconi is one of my top 3 narrators

HAPPY LISTENING!!!

Rhythm and Bluegrass

Molly Harper is one of my favorite authors. Though the titles in the Bluegrass series don't have people staring at me because I'm snort-laughing and wiping tears from the corner of my eyes like the Naked Werewolf books do, they are still authentic Molly Harper and are wonderfully light, funny, and entertaining.

Rhythm and Bluegrass follows Kentucky Tourism Commission's Bonnie Turkle as she tries to salvage historical treasures from a once famous music hall that's scheduled to be demolished (and replaced with a factory site that might just save the town). Mud Creek mayor/volunteer fireman/occasional damsel-in-distress rescuer Will McBride doesn't have much love for the music hall and what it's meant for his family, but he still doesn't mind Bonnie ...

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Title: The House We Grew Up In

Author: Lisa Jewell

Narrator: Karina Fernandez

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-05-13

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 452 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The Bird children have an idyllic childhood: a picture-book cottage in a country village, a warm, cosy kitchen filled with love and laughter, sun-drenched afternoons in a rambling garden. But one Easter weekend a tragedy strikes the Bird family that is so devastating it tears them apart.

Many years later something will call them home, back to the house they grew up in - and to what really happened that Easter weekend all those years ago.

Critic Reviews:

"Poignant, heart-wrenching & beautifully told, the author's best tale yet. (Sun) Beautiful, moving and unputdownable Jojo Moyes on Before I Met You) Jewell has moved up a gear into David Nicholls territory (Bookseller on The Making of Us)

Members Reviews:

Dysfunctional Squared!

This book could have been dismissed as a huge joke if it wasnt so well written. I was hooked almost from the start and by the time I was about a third of the way in, I found it hard to put down.

I loved the story of this impossibly dysfunctional family, and the characters were surprisingly so believable even after one over-the-top-preposterous-plot-twist after another!

I cant possibly describe this story in any way that does not make it sound crazy and ridiculous so I wont just trust me; it was great!

The House We Grew Up In

Oh how I loved this story! I purchased the book as a Kindle/Audible Audio version but to be completely honest I didn't read a page. The narrator (Karina Fernandez) was so spectacular that I wanted nothing more than to listen to her weave the story with each character's individual personality and voice and had trouble pulling myself away when I had to get anything else done. That isn't to say the story itself isn't as wonderful as the narration. This was a perfect combination of an excellent story and the right narrator able to pull off the complicated emotions and circumstances it presented.

The story weaves back and forth in time, from Meg, the oldest Bird child, her daughter and, eventually, her father, sister and brother Rory, cleaning out their mother Lorelei's home back to various Easter weekends over the course of their lives. When we first meet Meg in 2011 we discover that Lorelei was a hoarder (think of the worst possible episode of Hoarders and you'll have a good idea of how badly she lived). As we go back in time we see her sickness evolve from a sort of whimsical, free spirited quirkiness into a brutal, sometimes aggressive need to keep everything until there is literally walls of junk and only one chair she can sit in. She pushes everyone away and refuses to bend or compromise with anyone. This sickness, along with the tragic incident that happened one Easter, pushes each member of the Bird family in opposite directions and effects how each of them develops as a person. We get to see each character battle with their guilt and lack of control and the author really does an astonishing job of presenting the heartache and damage done to them (and that they do to each other) by the circumstances of their lives.

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Title: Burial Rites

Author: Hannah Kent

Narrator: Morven Christie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-13

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 197 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Longlisted Baileys Womens Prize 2014

They said I must die. They said that I stole the breaths from men, and now they must steal mine. I imagine, then, that we are all candle flames, greasy-bright, fluttering in the darkness and the howl of the wind, and in the stillness of the room I hear footsteps, awful coming footsteps, coming to blow me out and send my life up away from me in a grey wreath of smoke.

In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnúsdóttir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of her lover. Agnes is sent to wait out her final months on the farm of district office Jón Jónsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst, the family avoid contact with Agnes. Only Tóti, the young assistant priest appointed Agnes spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the year progresses and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes story begins to emerge and with it the familys terrible realization that all is not as they had assumed.

Based on actual events, Burial Rites is an astonishing and moving novel about the truths we claim to know and the ways in which we interpret what were told. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Icelands formidable landscape, in which every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Members Reviews:

Worth stepping out of your comfort zone

Would you listen to Burial Rites again? Why?

Yes, I'd like to listen again to pick up on some of the smaller details/descriptions

Who was your favorite character and why?

Agnes, the character really drew me in.

Which character as performed by Morven Christie was your favorite?

Agnes. Morven Christie is an amazing performer. As Agnes her often breathy tone really brought across the feeling of despair. All of the characters are done well. You hardly notice a change in her voice yet it sounds like different people are reading.

If you could rename Burial Rites, what would you call it?

Hmm not sure.

Any additional comments?

I bought this book purely based on the fact that Morven Christie was the narrator. I hadn't heard of it before and probably wouldn't have given it a second glance otherwise. I was not at all familiar with the real life event and found this work to be quite surprising and very interesting. I'm now off to google it to learn more :)

Heartfelt Story

This is such a great story...Used a box of tissues. Couldn't stop listening! Loved the characters! Could feel the harshness of the environment. Will listen again...

an ok story beautifully narrated

Would you consider the audio edition of Burial Rites to be better than the print version?

Undoubtedly. The story itself, though well written is a bit disappointing. There is a lot of build up but it doesn't end up leading anywhere. I might not have continued to the end if it weren't for the wonderful narration.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The detail of life in 1800's Iceland was infinitely more interesting than the story itself.

What about Morven Christies performance did you like?

EVERYTHING. This is actually the second book I have bought from Audible with Morven Christie narrating, though I didn't notice at first as the other performance was very different and in a Scottish accent.

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Title: Jerusalem Inn

Subtitle: A Richard Jury Mystery, Book 5

Author: Martha Grimes

Narrator: Steve West

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-30-13

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 248 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the rough but colorful pub that provides the novel's title, to the snowboard Gothic estate nearby, the chilly English landscape has never held more atmosphere - or thwarted romance. And Jury will never have a more mysterious Christmas.

Five Days Before Christmas - On his way to a brief holiday (he thinks) Jury meets a woman he could fall in love with. He meets her in a snow covered graveyard - not, he thinks, the best way to begin an attachment.

Four Days Before Christmas - Jury meets Father Rourke, who draws for him the semiotic square - "a structure that might simplify thought," says the priest, but Jury's thoughts need more than symbols.

Three Days Before Christmas - Melrose Plant, Jury's aristocratic and unofficial assistant, arrives at Spinney Abbey, now home to a well-known critic. Among the assembled snowbound guests he meets: Lady Assington, Beatrice Sleight, and the painter Edward Parmenger. When they all assemble in the dining room, Lady Assington announces, "I think we should have a murder."

Members Reviews:

Great Narrator

Where does Jerusalem Inn rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

Very high up. I enjoyed listening to West's narration almost as much as I do Davina Porter... may Her Voice never fail..

The narrator is crucial to enjoying a book. One of my all time favorite books is Heinlein's THe Moon is a Harsh Mistress. However, the narrators voice was so mechanical I could not finish listening, even for the story.

So thank you Mr. West for being one of the good guys.

Among the best of the Richard Jury mysteries!

Martha Grimes wrote a great series of books featuring Richard Jury (cerebral detective from Scotland Yard), and his ensemble of friends--each of whom has their own distinctive (often amusing) personalities. Among them all, there is the ever-solid Melrose Plant--who has voluntarily given up his aristocratic titles to live a freer lifestyle--to the great consternation of his American aunt Agatha (who generally supplies the comic relief in the stories) and his butler Ruthven. Plant tends to be Jury's unofficial assistant in most of the mysteries.

In this one, among her best in my opinion, Jury independently meets a woman who will soon be murdered. Melrose Plant & friends separately decide to spend Christmas at an old stately home where murder will occur again. Both would initially appear unrelated, but of course, they are not. And the Jerusalem Inn (aptly named since this occurs around Christmas time, and the attempts there to produce a nativity scene would in some ways underscore the themes of family which appear all through the story) provides a key central point for all the further action.

The narrator is very good, and the story equally so. This was originally published in 1984, so it is still echoing much of the vintage british mystery genre. (It is difficult to believe that Grimes is actually an American author!). I love all her books--and this is 5th in the series, and she is really hitting her stride at this point. Well worth reading!

"God Bless "

Another fine story from Martha Grimes. I really enjoy the Richard Jury series. Always something more going on behind the scenes. A Christmas who done it Well worth listening to.

Excellent characters, suspenseful to the end.

I am listening to the Richard Jury books in order, and this one is the best one so far.

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Title: Invisible Cities

Author: Italo Calvino

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-24-13

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 214 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo - Tartar emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts the emperor with tales of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. Soon it becomes clear that each of these fantastic places is really the same place.

Critic Reviews:

"Of all tasks, describing the contents of a book is the most difficult and in the case of a marvelous invention like

Invisible Cities, perfectly irrelevant." (Gore Vidal)

Members Reviews:

Beautiful prose poems read too quickly

Invisible Cities is a perfect book, endlessly beautiful and thought-provoking. It can be read many times and you'll find new jewels in it every time.

I usually like John Lee, but he reads this book too quickly. It needed to be treated as poetry more than prose. Eventually I discovered that if I slowed the playback down to x0.75 speed my experience was much improved. It made Lee sound a little pompous, but at least he now seemed to be savouring every word. This is my advice to you!

Magical Mystery Tour

Less a book than a series of prose-like poems, where language seems a magical tool that paints landscapes and cityscapes not confined by just what is known or possible. The words flow through your mind and spark the imagination, leading the listener on a guided imagery trip through worlds that seem suspended in another dimension and time. It is like a fabulous dessert -- it needs to be experienced, savored, and languished over. Originally published in 1972 with a cover that depicted a city of stone towers that rise from a large floating rock above an ocean; a picture that teased and hinted at what was inside (I still own my original dog-eared copy). There is no plot -- but plot seems irrelevant as you listen to Marco Polo conjure up cities that float between webs, joyous carnival cities, serious cities where no one makes eye contact or speaks, cities that you won't be returning to, "this is a city just for leaving," all to entertain the aging Kublai Khan. He creates his own cities that might dwell in his empire, asking Polo if he has seen these in his travels. You ponder the meaning of the words as they are used in this game between the two men, as well as the structure of the cities and their purpose. Reading this was wonderful; listening is another experience altogether. Close your eyes and experience a journey. Very short, just over 2 hours; something I will leave on my ipod and listen to again, like a beautiful and creative guided meditation.

Lavish language!

This is an outstanding book and performance. The language is so rich that I listened to certain portions more than once since it was hard to take everything in on the first pass.

Falling down the Rabbit Hole

Having just read Invisible Cities by Calvino today, just about everything is at least swirling in newness of possibilities, like Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, or Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's travels.

I'm still in the rabbit hole, and don't know what I may have been smoking.

The story is of tales of cities visited by Marco Polo, as told to Kublai Khan.

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Title: Secret Lives

Author: Diane Chamberlain

Narrator: Johanna Parker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-17-13

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 390 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Actress Eden Riley's decision to make a film about her mother plunges her into a shattering confrontation with her own past, irrevocably altering her life and the lives of those she loves. Her mother, Katherine Swift, was a renowned children's author who died when Eden was very young. Now Eden, recovering from a divorce and disillusioned with her glamorous life, returns to the childhood home of the mother she barely knew. She moves in with her uncle, archaeologist Kyle Swift and his wife, Louise.

Eden gets more than she bargained for when Kyle gives her the journal her mother had kept from the age of 13 until her death. Eden is spellbound by the powerfully written, intimate diary that chronicles a life of hardship, madness, and tragedy. But her fascination turns to horror when she discovers the shocking truth about her mother's life.

Eden turns for comfort to Ben Alexander, Kyle's colleague, not knowing that Ben has a secret of his own that could ruin Eden and her career. Now Eden must make a heartbreaking decision as she struggles to lay the ghosts of the past to rest and come to terms with her own future.

Shifting gracefully between Eden's world and Katherine's, Secret Lives seduces with the power of its images and the lyricism of its prose.

Members Reviews:

Dark Family Drama

This is the fourth audiobook of Chamberlains that I have listened to this year. The performer does a wonderful job of bringing all of the characters - young, old, male, female, Southern and Northern - to life. And Chamberlain takes a family drama with the darkest of elements - child molestation, incest and yet somehow makes her audience genuinely care about each of these characters, even while being repulsed at times by their actions. Its an engrossing story and though it does feel on the predictable side, it is one of of those audiobooks that I found myself listening to as much as possible. I will definitely continue to both read and listen to her work!

Wow. Just, wow.

A multi-layered book of dysfunction, misfortune, and varying forms of mental health catastrophes. Yet... I hated to put it down. Performance is really annoying at first, but either the whine becomes less noticeable as the story picks up, or is abandoned altogether.

Just Didn't Enjoy...

Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors, but this book- not so much. The subject matter was difficult to take in. At times the narrator read so fast and monotonous, I would find myself zoning out.

Not my favorite Diane Chamberlain book...

While I enjoyed this book, I didn't like it as much as many other Diane Chamberlain novels. It felt "romance novel-ish", sort of Danielle Steele like, as opposed to her other works.

So not good....

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. The book was medicore. The perfomance was medicore.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The mystery.

What three words best describe Johanna Parkers performance?

She is great as Sookey Stackhouse, but not the best reader of this book.

Do you think Secret Lives needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I don't care to follow up. This books leave alot to be desired.

Any additional comments?

Just don't waste your money/credit on this one.

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Title: The Sea of Tranquility

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Katja Millay

Narrator: Kirby Heyborne, Candace Thaxton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-04-13

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1309 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the Earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her - her identity, her spirit, her will to live - pay.

Josh Bennetts story is no secret: Every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at 17 years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and wont go away until shes insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets shes been hiding - or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

Members Reviews:

Totally Engaging

Any additional comments?

The character development was excellent...Nastya and Josh are captivating young people. Even secondary characters, e.g., Drew are well developed. The characters speak like young people including cursing and sexual innuendo, and it feels authentic to the characters, not forced or obvious that it's written by an adult. This fictional book evokes real emotions; the grief and angst are almost tangible. The author doles out the tragic plot in a way that was manageable...the reader is allowed time to digest information about a character and given just enough information to wonder what will be revealed next. The dual narration was well done. The narrators sounded age appropriate, that is, they sounded like the teenagers they were narrating without sounding immature or too young. I enjoyed every minute of this book and I am anticipating listening to it again fairly soon.

There is NOTHING wrong with this book

This sounds like lackluster praise. To the contrary, it is the best thing I can ever say about a book. You know how you read a book and you get aggravated by some little annoyance, or you feel something was left out or unexplained, or you start to feel differently towards the characters than you think you should? Or maybe you know how a turn of phrase or plot line can make you roll your eyes. All these things pull you from the story. It can still be a great book. You can still love it. But there are things wrong with it none the less. In my opinion, there is NOTHING wrong with this book. If there were any imperfections, it was so completely fantastically amazing that I didn't even notice. I was not pulled from the story once. I am still thinking about the characters now. It was all real. Funny, witty, heartbreaking. Let me repeat - funny (in case you missed it). Yes there is heartache and anguish. But there is humor and redemption, too. Just like life. This is my first Audible review.

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Title: Tales of the City

Subtitle: Tales of the City, Book 1

Author: Armistead Maupin

Narrator: Frances McDormand

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-26-13

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 919 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

For more than three decades Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture...from a groundbreaking newspaper serial, to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world. The first of six novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales of the City is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

Members Reviews:

Sparkling, Witty and Touching!

Tales of the City, published as a book in 1976, started out as separate, short articles in a San Francisco newspaper serial. As a result, this book is a true depiction of the City in the 1970's. Many references to items of the 70's come along in the descriptions and the dialog of this story. The book contains several story lines, all centered on the denizens of 28 Barbary Lane, an old house that now consists of several rental apartments, occupied by young renters, all under the benelovent eye of the landlady, Mrs. Anna Madrigal.

The characters are brilliantly drawn by Maupin, and you end up liking almost everyone, even the not very nice ones. All the characters are 3 dimensional, each with his or her own failings, strong points, and flukes. And they nearly all have heart. It's all too complicated to go into detail in a review, but the reader really ends up caring about these people and what happens to them. The separate story lines all sort of intersect with each other from time to time, and I was left feeling joyous, and sad, and happy for having gotten to know each of the main characters. Mrs. Madrigal is my favorite, as I think she is for most readers.

The writing is so well done, and so wittty and funny, that it was a joy to listen to, especially with the superb narration by Frances McDormand. I am so glad that there are 8 more Tales of the City books for me to read/listen to and savor! One caveat: this book is set in 1970's San Francisco, as the hippie era was ending and the LGBT community was becoming more vocal. If free love, drugs and gays make you nervous, you probably should skip this one.

Otherwise, read/listen to this book!

Finally... Maupin's Tales Narrated Professionally

Maupin's Tales of the City series is the most well preserved slice of popular culture ever captured in fiction. Tales and its sequels follow the loves and lives of nearly every imaginable type of person in post sexual revolution, pre-AIDS San Francisco.

These beloved books hold up because reading them is as good as time-travel back to the seventies. It is the seventies captured in real time as each chapter was first published in the S.F. Chronicle each day long before they were ever bound into a book.

The intricate overlapping lives and loves of the characters are what make these stories so delicious. (Calling them a "soap opera" does this work an injustice.) The repartee among the characters is priceless. If you've read these books you likely consider Michael "Mouse" Toliver, Mona, MaryAnn, and the very elegant Mrs. Madrigal amongst your best fictional friends. Of course an open mind is needed because relationships and sexuality of all types are major themes of these books.