Largest Collection of Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary - No Catch, Easy and Legally

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Title: The Dark Rose

Author: Erin Kelly

Narrator: Jill Tanner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 26 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Kirkus Reviews hailed Erin Kellys debut novel The Poison Tree as a richly shaded work. Her atmospheric follow-up, The Dark Rose, follows Louisa, a 39-year-old still haunted by a tragic love affair from her youth. Seeking peace of mind, Louisa busies herself restoring an Elizabethan garden. But when she meets Paul - a 19-year-old with demons of his own - and the two become lovers, Louisa discovers that she cant outrun the past forever.

Critic Reviews:

[A] brooding story and a real cant put it down mystery. (Independent [UK])

Members Reviews:

Secrets, guilt, reinvention

Any additional comments?

The Dark Rose is about two characters, Paul (an older teen) and Louisa (middle-age women) working on the restoration of a crumbling historic Elizabethan garden isolated in the English countryside. The story flips between current time (2012) and flashbacks (1990s) when Louisa was a teenager. There are lots of references to popular culture, mostly music, from the 90's.

Secrets, obsessions, mistakes and deep seeded-guilt are the central themes in this book. Lots of atmosphere, fast-paced until the final shocking moments. A fun read, especially because of the author's crisp wit keeps the reader engaged as the story swings along.

"When a new rose is planted on the same spot as an old one, you get a sick rose; it doesn't bloom and it'll probably die. No one really knows why."

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Title: The Night Swimmer

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Matt Bondurant

Narrator: Hillary Huber

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-10-12

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Matt Bondurants novel The Wettest County in the World was a New York Times Editors Pick, one of the San Francisco Chronicles 50 Best Books of the Year, and is now a major motion picture. Bondurant has now delivered The Night Swimmer, an atmospheric tale infused with Hitchcockian suspense.

When Fred and Elly Bulkington arrive in a small town on the southern coast of Ireland from Vermont, having won a pub in a contest, they encounter a wild, strange land and the native resistance to outsiders. As Fred immerses himself in the life of a pub-owner, Elly takes the ferry out to a nearby island where sheto the disbelief of the localsis consumed by her ritual of open water ocean swimming, pushing herself to the limits. Elly becomes enmeshed in the islands troublesthe power struggles between an enigmatic goat herder and the family that has controlled the area for centurieswhile Freds sanity wavers and their marriage begins to unravel. Filled with lush imagery of the Irish coast, crashing sea, rolling hills, and rich Irish lore, The Night Swimmer is a stunning novel that exposes the dark and unseen crevasses in the human heart.

Members Reviews:

Where is the story?

The audible blurb makes this book sound like a recipe for the perfect escape story - mysterious natural beauty, intrigue, a marriage "unraveling". But the novel disappoints. The characters are not fleshed out, the descriptions are way too long, and most of the writing is backstory. The reader keeps waiting for something to happen - we don't know what that "something" is, but we sense it's awful. I kept waiting for the story to begin.

I wish that the author was just a little bit less infatuated with his powers of description and had devoted more of this book to an actual story. The book moves at the pace of swimming - progressing ahead laboriously by tiny bits, and seen through murky waters.

A lot of interesting ideas but no payoff

This was my first experience with a Matt Bondurant book and he's not going on my "watch for new books" list, at least not with this effort.

An American couple move to an old Irish village when they win a pub in a contest. The wife, Ellie, connects with many of the villagers, and she hears all of these interesting things - stories - about goings on around this very old Irish Village, not to mention the strange things she starts to see.

A mysterious goat that roams the village on two legs and is watching over Ellie from a far? A strange lone form in the ocean, a lone seal or something else? A young naked child with long flowing blond hair climbing the outside of the abandoned lighthouse? Stories of the Lost Children with bits of bone and broken toys left for them? In the ocean Ellie feels movement below her and she can smell the strong choking smell of blood all around her... Ellie later hears a story about a ferry that went down several years ago with most all of the villages children on it and they died in the ocean near the lighthouse. On and on these interesting stories or happenings come up and then they never go anywhere or they're never even mentioned again.

They're the story I wanted to read, instead we get a story about a couple trying to make a go at a pub in an old Irish village.

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Title: Next of Kin

Author: Joanna Trollope

Narrator: Eleanor Bron

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-09-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Dairy farmer Robin Meredith has just buried his Californian wife Caro who, though a central figure at the farm for more than twenty years, had remained a mystery to the family. With Caro gone, her adopted daughter Judy feels cut adrift. To Robins brother, Joe, Caro had been the emblem of a freedom hed glimpsed in America and his grief is far deeper than the family suspects. Even Robin and Joes parents, entrenched in the adjoining farm, feel suddenly vulnerable to time and change as well.

Into their midst comes Judys friend Zoe, whose disturbing directness becomes a catalyst for change. Read by Eleanor Bron.

Members Reviews:

Death as a Lesson in Living

What made the experience of listening to Next of Kin the most enjoyable?

It is much easier for me to visualize the characters and surroundings when I listened

What other book might you compare Next of Kin to and why?

Can't think of one.

Which character as performed by Eleanor Bron was your favorite?

Zoe.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Joanna Trollope knocked it out of the park as usual, and this is a book that I have listened to four or five times so far.

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Title: Time of My Life: A Novel

Author: Allison Winn Scotch

Narrator: Gabrielle de Cuir

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-10-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 33 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Jillian Westfield has the perfect suburban life straight out of the upscale women's magazines that she obsessively reads. She's got the modern-print rugs of Metropolitan Home, the elegant meals from Gourmet, the clutter-free closets out of Real Simple, and the elaborate Easter egg hunts seen in Parents. With her successful investment banker husband behind the wheel and her cherubic 18-month-old in the backseat, hers could be the family in the magazines' glossy Range Rover ads.

Yet somehow all of the how-to magazine stories in the world can't seem to fix her faltering marriage, banish the tedium of days spent changing diapers, or stop her from asking, What if?

Then, one morning, Jillian wakes up seven years in the past. Before her daughter was born. Before she married Henry. Suddenly, she's back in her postgrad school Ikea-furnished Manhattan apartment. She's back in her fast-paced job with the advertising agency. And she's still with Jackson, the ex-boyfriend and star of her what-if fantasies.

Armed with 20-20 hindsight, she's free to choose all over again. She can use the zippy ad campaigns from her future to wow the clients and bosses in her present. She can reconnect with the mother who abandoned her so many years before. She can fix the fights at every juncture that doomed her relationship with Jackson. Or can she?

With each new choice setting off a trajectory of unforeseen consequences, Jillian soon realizes that getting to happily ever after is more complicated than changing the lines in her part of the script. Happiness, it turns out, isn't an either-or proposition. As she closes in on all the things she thought she wanted, Jillian must confront the greatest what-if of all: What if the problem was never Henry or Jackson, but her?

Sharp, funny, and heartwarming, Time of My Life will appeal to anyone who has ever wanted to redo the past and will leave readers pondering, Do we get the reality we deserve?

Members Reviews:

Time Travel for Beginners

This is a brilliantly-articulated story about the age-old "What if?" questions that can come up when we examine our lives. While I usually avoid genres that deal in fantasy and time-travel, this book made the whole "back to the future" idea palatable and even seem possible. Due to some accidental metaphysics by a spa masseur, the main character is sent back seven years and gets a do-over, which causes her a few anguished re-decisions, and she learns that it's not necessarily any easier, even with 20/20 hindsight, the second time around.

I did wish the author had developed one of the story arcs a little more, as one plot line was left hanging. But perhaps that's like life, we are always left "hanging" in one sense or another as our own personal stories evolve.

The narration was marred only by some extended squealing and unnecessary high volume groans, but on balance it worked just fine.

Probably Better as a TV Movie

I was sooo bored by this book, I almost stopped listening several times and should not have forced myself to complete it. I had anticipated a "guilty pleasure" kind of read but did not find the story or the characters particularly captivating. The lead character is someone I would definitely not care for in real life, and I never grew to care much for what she did or what her choices would be.

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Title: Cakes and Ale

Subtitle: or The Skeleton in the Cupboard

Author: W. Somerset Maugham

Narrator: Neil Hunt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-01-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Of all Somerset Maughams novels this is the most entertaining and arguably his best ever. Rosie is a barmaid with a heart of gold and a skeleton in her closet. Maughams portrait of her makes his novel fairly glow with witty observations of the contemporary literary scene. Features Willie Ashenden, who resurfaces in Maughams Ashenden.

Members Reviews:

Different and entertaining

Like traveling in time, a story about a girl- a different type of girl, in a time were being different was even harder than now - all through the lens of a writer/lover.

Good reading

A great classic that arrived in really good condition

Cakes and Ale

I am a huge fan of W. Somerset Maugham novels and short stories and this book didn't disappoint me. Maugham fleshes out the story at the end (do not peek ahead) and leaves us with a good feeling with this one.

Engrossing and Enjoyable

What a lovely novel! The reader can curl up in the discursive style as if it were a nice warm quilt, enjoying the leisurely unfolding of the story and the characters in perfect comfort. Moreover, this is a very funny book, about the British class system and the literary world a hundred years ago. Plus que ca change --- . It's also clearly a roman a clef, which adds to the fun. Great read.

Four Stars

Delightful insider scoop on the writing / public intellectual "industry." Plus ca change ...

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Title: You Can't Get There from Here

Author: Mary Anderson

Narrator: Elizabeth Klett

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-17-11

Publisher: Iambik Audio Inc

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

"Reggie had always wanted to be an actress. And long ago she had decided that acting school would do more for her than college so her discovery of Adam Bentley's Acting School came at just the perfect time. She had graduated from high school and for several reasons her home, as she had known it, had disappeared. Reggie idolized Adam and found his theories of and training for ""organic acting"" fascinating. She felt she was gaining a new awareness of herself and her craft through her lessons. Finally, she moved into one of the spartan rooms reserved for resident students in the surprisingly lush brownstone that housed Adam, his school and the theater where the plays he wrote were presented,. Only resident students could act in those plays and Reggie soon found herself with a part. She was thrilled. How marvelous not only to be learning but to be able to use her new abilities before and audience. However, her role as Vicki was hard to play. It confused her and her perceptions of her relationships with others, including her family and the other students at the school. Only her relationship with Adam, her teacher, seemed stable. What was wrong with her? It took her brother Jamie, to spot Reggie's problem and to realize how truly serious it was."

©1982 Mary Anderson (P)2011 Iambik Audio Inc

Members Reviews:

I loved this book as a kid and it was just as good as an adult

I was so happy to find this book again. I remember it from when I was younger and this book always stayed with me

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Title: The Shattering

Author: Karen Healy

Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-13-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Praised as a breath of fresh air (Booklist), Karen Healeys debut novel Guardian of the Dead received a starred review from School Library Journal and was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award. Healeys second novel The Shattering stars Keri, a 17-year-old trying to come to terms with her brother Jakes death. Although authorities believe Jake committed suicide, Keri cannot accept that her brother would take his own life. And when shes approached by her classmate Janna, whose brother also committed suicide years earlier, the two team up in search of answers. Soon the girls come to a grim realizationthat their brothers werent the first in town to die under mysterious circumstances.

Members Reviews:

YA fiction with heart felt characters

I generally prefer to read epic fantasy, but a review of this book in Science Fiction & Fantasy digest piqued my curiosity. Keri, the main character, is struggling with her older brother's suicide. She has always been a planner, one who Is prepared for any emergency even ones that are seemingly outlandish. Janna is another childhood friend who has also lost her older brother to an apparent suicide. One of Janna's summer flings, who lost his older brother as well seems to have stumbled on a pattern. All the boys died around the same time, all have younger siblings, and are seemingly spread around the country. Keri's brother Jake is an outlier to a clear pattern. Is this the work of a serial killer ? Is it the work of an unknown force, or even just a coincidence due to the fact that many teenagers do commit suicide? The author does a tremendous job, in my opinion, or writing believable teens, with all their hormones, conflicted impulses, and desires to believe the best of their brothers. Midway through, you find out the reasons for the deaths and then you must hang on for the finale. I am especially appreciative of the final chapter which is one of the most emotionally real things I have read in a long time. I won't spoil the story, but I will say that this was a very creative story for this genre. I also appreciate the author calling out for all of us to help those who are struggling with thoughts of suicide. As a teacher of teenagers, we lose far too many every day. I look forward to reading more of Healey's work if only for the different storyline than the one I expected.

I would love to see this on the shelves of middle and ...

This is a spectacular book, and it very skillfully deals with a lot of intersectionality in a way that's both clear but un-preachy. I would love to see this on the shelves of middle and high school libraries--as an adult, I appreciate it a lot, but I do think it would have been a game-changer for me when I was the same age of the (mostly teenage) protagonists.

Exquisite

I loved this book. Itâs spectacular and hits you with so many interesting things and the TWIST! Amazing! The seller was awesome too. I order the last copy they had in stock and received a FREE BOOK and bookmark. It was so sweet and I got two books for about six dollars. Great.

The book was great, i really liked the characters

The book was great, i really liked the characters.

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Title: A Wayside Tavern

Author: Norah Lofts

Narrator: Jonathan Keeble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-23-11

Publisher: Soundings

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 19 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A Wayside Tavern tells the story of a Suffolk drinking place from the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, until the present day. The Roman veteran, crippled and left behind, worshipped Mithras, so the place became known as the One Bull and down through the centuries it became a clearing house for contraband, a miniature Hell Fire Club, a fashionable hotel, a mere pub. Across the yard, was the church of St Cerdic, king and martyr, who fought the Danes and was famous for the miracles performed at his shrine. His remains were lost in the Reformation but something remained. Inside the inn, despite all external changes, one passion raged to retain possession.

Members Reviews:

An enjoyable tale

An enjoyable story that jumps through history with some interesting characters and situations. I found the characters in the later chapters less developed and interesting than previous chapters. The later periods were rushed through and left me feeling like I was being hurried to the end. Jonathan Keeble performs admirably with a wide array of accents. I had just finished listening to Edward Rutherfurd's epic novel 'Sarum' before starting listening to this book;perhaps I would have enjoyed the novel more if I had waited. If you enjoy this book I recommend Sarum.

Always enjoy Norah Lofts work

Not her best but still enjoyed the story. I really like her work, I only wish there were more on audio. I just ordered a bunch of hard cover books by Lofts but I never have the time to read them. Anyhow, I enjoyed this one, the jumping through time is interesting. I do like that you see how it progresses through the years and having a history laid out before you.

Love the Book, not crazy about the audio version

If you could sum up A Wayside Tavern in three words, what would they be?

Another wonderful trip through the centuries with Norah Lofts. I love her long sagas and the very realistic and often mixed emotions and lost legends that all of us come from.

What other book might you compare A Wayside Tavern to and why?

Bless This House was very simliar

Any additional comments?

I have read the book before and loved it, his reading was a bit too slow, making it seem to drag in a way it did not drag when read.

Enjoyable

This was a good listen and although it could come across like a series of short stories, it was still enjoyable and tied in nicely at the end. I will buy more by this author.

Not quite up to Lofts' usual standard

What did you like most about A Wayside Tavern?

I love stories set around a building or a place, and going back in time. Nothing beats Norah Lofts House trilogy, but A Wayside Tavern is a short short version of that type of story.

What did you like best about this story?

Difficult to say. I can't realy point to any place in the novel. It all rushed by somehow and melted into one pot.

Which character as performed by Jonathan Keeble was your favourite?

I liked his Adam, a kind and thoughtful man. Keebles voice sounded just right. I always enjoy Keeples narration of Norah Lofts characters although his version of a kitchenmaid in A Wayside Tavern sounded just a little bit too naive-countrygirl. I say this with a grin on my face.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

?

Any additional comments?

I wished Norah Lofts had made this novel into a trilogy. I felt, after each period, that there was more to tell.

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Title: Letter from a Stranger

Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford

Narrator: Sarah Le Fevre

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-16-11

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Captivating and evocative, Letter from Istanbul will take you on an unforgettable journey from idyllic Connecticut to exotic Istanbul to war-torn Berlin then back to the present day.

When award-winning film maker Justine Nolan returns to her beautiful childhood home, she is intrigued by an envelope she finds in her absent mothers post. But the letter inside contains a shocking revelation. If genuine it will change everything she believes about her familys recent history, her mother and her adored grandmother, Gabriele. With the support of her beloved twin brother, Richard, Justine resolves to uncover the truth. To do so she must travel to Istanbul the teeming, beguiling city on the cusp of East and West. It is a place which holds its own secrets, leading her to a fascinating man who appears to know more than he is prepared to disclose. Yet even when her quest succeeds, Justine is faced with a further mystery: Gabrieles background is not what it seems. Justine is given a book of memories in which the real story unfolds, taking her back to the darkest days of European history, with its suffering and astonishing acts of bravery. At the heart of it lie the final facts of Gabrieles identity and her own. The letter from a stranger has brought her not only to the truth about her family but also a chance to heal the wounds of past betrayals, to embrace a new love and new life.

Members Reviews:

Worst narration ever

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The narration totally ruined this. I was almost glad to get to the end.

Would you recommend Letter from a Stranger to your friends? Why or why not?

No. Bad narration and not B T-B's best story.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Dreadful accents

You didnt love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Reasonable story

Any additional comments?

No

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Title: Swift as Desire

Author: Laura Esquivel

Narrator: Bonnie Hurren

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-18-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Instead of entering the world crying, like other babies, Jubilo was born with a smile on his face. He had a gift for hearing what was in peoples hearts, for listening to sand dunes sing and insects whisper. Even as a young boy, acting as an interpreter between his warring Mayan grandmother and Spanish-speaking mother, he would translate words of spite into words of respect, so that their mutual hatred turned to love. When he grew up, he put his gift to good use in his job as a humble telegraph operator. But now the telegraph lies abandoned, obsolete as a form of communication in the electronic age, and Don Jubilo is on his deathbed, mute and estranged from his beloved wife, Lucha, who refuses to speak to him. What tragic event has come between such two such sensuous, loving people to cause their seemingly irreparable rift? What mystery lies behind the death of the son no-one ever mentions? Can their daughter bring reconciliation to her parents before it is too late, by acting as an interpreter between them in Morse code, just as Jubilo used to do for other people?

In this magical, bittersweet story, touched with graphic earthiness and wit, Laura Esquivel shows us how keeping secrets will always lead to unhappiness, and how communication is the key to love.

Members Reviews:

Just beautiful!!!

I loved this book, the narrator's voice was also very pleasant and the story is wonderful. If you are big fan of ''magic realism'' and enjoy authors like Isabel Allende, Arundhati Roy or Garcia Marquez, this book would be such a joy to listen to.