Listen to the Best Full Audiobooks in Fiction, LGBTQ+

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/675646 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Wildest Sun: A Novel

Author: Asha Lemmie

Narrator: Imani Jade Powers

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 39 minutes

Release date: December 5, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

Following her New York Times bestselling debut Fifty Words for Rain, Asha Lemmie's next sweeping and evocative novel introduces a determined young woman’s search for the larger-than-life literary figure she believes to be her father. When tragedy forces Delphine Auber, an aspiring writer on the cusp of adulthood, from her home in postwar Paris, she seizes the opportunity to embark on the journey she's long dreamed of: finding the father she has never known. But her quest—spanning from Paris to New York’s Harlem, to Havana and Key West—is complicated by the fact that she believes him to be famed luminary Ernest Hemingway, a man just as elusive as he is iconic. She desperately yearns for his approval, as both a daughter and a writer, convinced that he holds the key to who she's truly meant to be. But what will happen if she is wrong, or if her real story falls outside of the legend of her parentage that she’s revered all her life?    The Wildest Sun is a dazzling, unexpected, and transportive story about coming into adulthood—from escaping our pasts, to the stories we tell ourselves, to the ambition that drives us—as we seek to find out who we are.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/671950 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Narrator: Jane Oppenheimer, Ariel Lawhon

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 15 hours 5 minutes

Release date: December 5, 2023

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.61 of Total 196

Ratings of Narrator: 4.77 of Total 70

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history. 'Fans of Outlander’s Claire Fraser will enjoy Lawhon’s Martha, who is brave and outspoken when it comes to protecting the innocent. . . impressive.'—The Washington Post 'Once again, Lawhon works storytelling magic with a real-life heroine.' —People Magazine Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie. Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/675931 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Laird of the Black Isle

Author: Paula Quinn

Narrator: Carrington Macduffie

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 44 minutes

Release date: November 28, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

'Paula Quinn captures the heart of the Highlands' (Monica McCarty, New York Times bestselling author) in this sweeping, epic romance, perfect for fans of Outlander. This Highlander will risk everything to find his daughter . . . Lachlan MacKenzie has nothing left to lose since his wife and daughter were killed. But when a shadowy figure reveals his little girl might still be alive, Lachlan will do whatever it takes to find her -- even abduct a lass from the MacGregor clan for an exchange. Being caught would mean certain death. But the laird of the Black Isle won't let anything -- or anyone -- interfere with his mission . . . not even his beautiful, stubborn captive. Even his heart All Mailie MacGregor wants is to return home to her family. And the Highland beast who captured her can go to the devil. Her plan: to thwart him at any cost and win her freedom. But she never expected to be so drawn to the fierce warrior and the desire in his eyes.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/673174 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Temple of My Familiar: A Novel

Author: Alice Walker

Narrator: Janina Edwards

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 14 hours 27 minutes

Release date: November 28, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

In this “brilliant” (Essence) sequel to The Color Purple, Alice Walker weaves an intricate, rich tapestry of interrelated lives. Celie and Shug from The Color Purple subtly shadow the lives of the dozens of astonishing characters in The Temple of My Familiar, all of whom are dealing in some way with the legacy of the African experience in America. From recent African immigrants to a woman who grew up in the mixed-race rainforest communities of South America to Celie’s own granddaughter living in modern-day San Francisco, they must come to terms with the brutal stories of their ancestors in order to confront their own troubled lives. Described by the author as “a romance of the last 500,000 years,” The Temple of My Familiar creates a new mythology from old fables and history, and along with it a profoundly spiritual explanation for centuries of shared African American experience. “The richness of [this] novel is amazing, overwhelming. A hundred themes and subjects spin through it, dozens of characters, a whirl of time and places. None is touched superficially: all the people are passionate actors and sufferers, and everything they talk about is urgent, a matter truly of life and death. They’re like Dostoyevsky’s characters, relentlessly raising the great moral questions and pushing one another towards self-knowledge, honesty, engagement.” —Ursula K. LeGuin

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/675737 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: A Chalice Argent: The Story of William Neilson, Volume 2

Author: James Buchan

Narrator: Robin Laing

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 5 hours 7 minutes

Release date: November 23, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

The astonishing story of William Neilson continues. New Year's Eve, 1746. A castle in the depths of France. A thunderstorm. A pair of lovers in a hay-loft. A wounded soldier toppling from his horse. So begins the second instalment of the life of William Neilson, Scottish soldier in French service and Jacobite agent against his will. Around his neck, William carries the most precious jewel on the surface of the earth, but it is not his, and he must carry it to the exiled King of England, Scotland and Ireland in Italy. Before that, he wishes to see for a last time the woman he has loved for more than half his life. The scene shifts from the wastes and marshes of the Sologne, to the disorderly houses and prisons of the Most Serene Republic of Venice and the desolate court-in-exile of James Stuart in Rome. Along the way are sword-fights, love stories, intrigues, assassinations, blasphemies, kidnappings, musical performances, and treacheries.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/669407 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Winthrop Agreement: A Novel

Author: Alice Sherman Simpson

Narrator: Dina Pearlman

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 11 hours 31 minutes

Release date: November 21, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

A captivating historical novel set in Gilded Age New York City about an immigrant daughter’s ascent from a miserable tenement to the heights of haute couture, driven by an insatiable hunger for a place in society and secrets she must not betray. When Rivkah Milmanovitch arrives at Ellis Island, her husband is not waiting for her as promised. Alone and pregnant, she makes her way to the Lower East Side tenement of an old friend. Lottie Aarons, whose husband went out for a newspaper and never returned, takes Rivkah in and they work side-by-side in dispiriting sweatshops. Rivkah gives birth to a daughter, Mimi, determined that her child will have a better life in America. Frederick Winthrop, slum landlord, lives in one of Fifth Avenue‘s sumptuous mansions—and preys on young girls. When he serendipitously meets fifteen-year-old Mimi, who dreams of silks, satins and velvets, imagines costumes and ball gowns, she is easily seduced, and her life takes an unexpected turn. To avoid scandal, the Winthrop family offers Mimi a rare opportunity. While Lottie, now a bookkeeper in the employ of the Winthrops, wisely advises her, Mimi knows exactly what she wants. But as she rises to international fame, she must struggle with the secrets of her past and protect those she loves. Part history, part romance, with a twist of gothic, The Winthrop Agreement is a spellbinding tale of a determined heroine who will entrance Bridgerton and all historical fiction fans.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/676962 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The General and Julia: A Novel

Author: Jon Clinch

Narrator: Gibson Frazier

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 7 hours 51 minutes

Release date: November 14, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

Longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award Ulysses S. Grant reflects on the crucial moments of his life as a husband, a father, a general, and a president while writing his memoirs and reckoning with his complicated legacy in this epic and intimate work of “superb historical fiction” (Booklist, starred review). Barely able to walk and rendered mute by the cancer metastasizing in his throat, Ulysses S. Grant is scratching out words, hour after hour, day after day. Desperate to complete his memoirs before his death so his family might have some financial security and he some redemption, Grant journeys back in time. He had once been the savior of the Union, the general to whom Lee surrendered at Appomattox, a twice-elected president who fought for the civil rights of Black Americans and against the rising Ku Klux Klan, a plain farmer-turned-business magnate who lost everything to a Wall Street swindler, a devoted husband to his wife Julia, and a loving father to four children. In this gorgeously rendered and moving novel, Grant rises from the page in all of his contradictions and foibles, his failures and triumphs. Moving from blood-stained battlefields to Gilded Age New York, the novel explores how Grant’s own views on race and Reconstruction changed over time. “A graceful, moving narrative” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) from historical fiction master Jon Clinch, this evocatively crafted novel breathes fresh life into an American icon.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/675930 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Highlander Ever After

Author: Paula Quinn

Narrator: Carrington Macduffie

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 33 minutes

Release date: November 14, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

From New York Times bestselling author Paula Quinn comes a sweeping Scottish historical romance between a dashing MacGregor highlander and his English bride. From New York Times bestselling author Paula Quinn comes a sweeping Scottish historical romance between a dashing MacGregor highlander and his English bride. They tried to resist a marriage of convenience. . . As the clan chief's son, Adam MacGregor is duty-bound to marry a royal heir. Yet when he meets his bride a beautiful but haughty young lass who thinks he is nothing more than a common savage he realizes she's more than he bargained for. But the more Adam gets to know his new wife, the more intent he is on proving her wrong about him. But can they resist each other? Sina de Arenberg wants nothing to do with the unsavory MacGregors, especially the fierce Highlander she now calls husband. But the more time she spends with the man she married, the more she sees his honor and courage. Just when she thinks there might be a future for her and Adam, Sina is called back to court. England isn't the place she remembers, though, and soon she'll be forced to choose between the life she once knew, and the Highlander who has captured her heart.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/672548 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The War Begins in Paris: A Novel

Author: Theodore Wheeler

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 25 minutes

Release date: November 14, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

From the author of Kings of Broken Things and In Our Other Lives comes a provocative and stylish literary noir about two female war correspondents whose fates intertwine in Europe. Paris, 1938. Two women meet: Mielle, a shy pacifist and shunned Mennonite who struggles to fit in with the elite cohort of foreign correspondents stationed around the city; the other, Jane, a brash, legendary American journalist, who is soon to become a fascist propagandist. When World War II makes landfall in the City of Lights, Mielle falls under Jane’s spell, growing ever more intoxicated by her glamour, self-possession, and reckless confidence. But as this recklessness devolves into militarism and an utter lack of humanity, Mielle is seized by a series of visions that show her an inescapable truth: Jane Anderson must die, and Mielle must be the one to kill her. Structured as a series of dispatches filed from around Europe and based on the misadventures of a real journalist-turned-Nazi mouthpiece, The War Begins in Paris is a cat-and-mouse suspense that examines the relentlessness of propaganda, the allure of power, and how far one woman will go for the sake of her morality. “Propulsive, immersive, and beautifully rendered, Theodore Wheeler…deftly illuminates themes of friendship, love, sacrifice, and heroism, and shows us how loyalty and conviction can move in unpredictable patterns under wartime duress. This is a major gut-punch of a novel, and I, for one, am thankful it exists.” —James Han Mattson, author of Reprieve

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/672526 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The New Naturals

Author: Gabriel Bump

Narrator: Robin Miles

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 52 minutes

Release date: November 14, 2023

Genres: LGBTQ+

Publisher's Summary:

Critically acclaimed, for readers of Paul Beatty's The Sellout and Jennifer Egan's The Candy House, a moving and darkly funny novel about an attempt to found an underground Utopia. An abandoned restaurant on a hill off the highway in Western Massachusetts doesn't look like much. But to Rio, a young Black woman bereft after the loss of her newborn child, this hill becomes more than a safe haven—it becomes a place to start over. She convinces her husband to help her construct a society underground, somewhere everyone can feel safe, loved, and accepted.   Soon their utopia begins to take shape and attracts the unhoused, the disillusioned, and the spiritually lost. But no matter how much these people all yearn for a sanctuary from the existential dread of life above the surface, what happens if this new society can't actually work?  From an exciting new literary voice, The New Naturals is fresh and deeply perceptive, capturing the absurdity of life in the 21st century. In this remarkable feat of imagination, Bump shows us that, ultimately, it is our love for and connection to each other that will save us.   **A 2023 NEW YORK TIMES and WASHINGTON POST Notable Book and a BOSTON GLOBE Best Book of the Year**