Contemporary Women Audiobooks | Fiction

"'This warm tale of friendship has a wonderful cast of characters that you will root for. An uplifting read.' Platinum Book of the Month A warm, uplifting and empowering novel following a group of suburban housewives and the pregnant teenager they welcome into their fold as they find their place on the cusp of liberation. For fans of Lessons in Chemistry or The Help. ***** Ohio, 1965. Every week a group of suburban housewives meet for their Tuesday card game, sharing gossip, advice and confidences. Lily Berg has the perfect life. She’s married to a doctor, with an infant daughter and another on the way. She can’t let her husband know she’s struggling but she knows she can trust her friends. Becca, Lily’s best friend and next-door neighbour, is everything Lily isn’t. She’s messy and brash and never on time for anything. When she falls pregnant with a fourth child she desperately can’t afford, she turns to Lily. Although Lily’s little sister, Rose, got married last year, she’s not ready to give up her independence. Her modern marriage appears to be perfect, but behind closed doors things are very different. And Betsy is fifteen, pregnant and frightened. When Lily takes her in, from the local home for unwed mothers, she has no idea how much it will shake up all of their lives. Over six months, the group will be put to the test by secrets, forced to make impossible decisions and face up to a society that isn’t ready for women to have their own dreams and ambitions. Set against the backdrop of 1960s America, In the Family Way is a timely novel that captures the experiences of women on the cusp of liberation as they grapple with timeless questions of womanhood and the role we play as wives, mothers, and people in our own right. ***** 'Bursts with complexity, drama and warmth… A timely, timeless novel' Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich 'A powerful tale, well told… [with] a delightful cast of characters that you can't help but fall in love with' Fiona Davis, author of The Stolen Queen 'A poignant, rich, deeply textured tale of women, friendship and struggles amid 1960s suburbia on the precipice of change' Lisa Barr, author of Woman on Fire 'Delightful and inspiring' Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Postmistress of Paris 'The women in these pages – feisty, fierce, and fragile – offer a peek behind the curtain of the precariousness of women's rights and womanhood itself' Christine Pride, co-author of We Are Not Like Them"

Laney Katz Becker (Author), Gilli Messer, Laci Morgan, Laura Horowitz (Narrator)

Audiobook

Far and Away: A Novel

"The "absolutely hilarious" (Real Simple) Amy Poeppel delights once again with a charming new novel about a house swap gone wonderfully awry. Perfect strangers Lucy and Greta have agreed to a house swap—and boy, are they going to regret it. Lucy's hometown of Dallas has gone from home sweet home to vicious snake pit in the blink of an eye after her son makes a mistake he can't undo. And Greta's beloved flat in Berlin is suddenly up for grabs when her husband Otto takes a dream job in Texas without even telling her. In their rush to leave town, Lucy and Greta make a deal, pack their bags, and—thanks to martinis, desperation, and some very rusty German—have absolutely no idea what they're getting themselves into. Trading Southern charm and barbecue for European sophistication and schnitzel, the two women get a lot more than a change of scenery as they move into each other's houses, neighborhoods, and lives. Greta and Lucy's husbands are no help: Otto is winning over his colleagues, swimming laps in the backyard pool, and rooting for the Rangers, while Lucy's husband is doing a six-month stretch out west, either in a NASA biosphere or in jail, depending on who you ask. Meanwhile, Greta's daughter Emmi and Lucy's son Jack get tossed into each other's orbits, where they both discover secrets they can't ignore. When Greta's biggest career achievement—the buzzworthy purchase of a Vermeer at auction—is thrown into question and Lucy's past with a hot Viking named Bjørn invades her present, the two women need each other in ways they never could have imagined. Through jet lag, culture shock, suspiciously nice neighbors, and scandals that refuse to be left behind, Lucy and Greta will have to decide if they can ever go home again."

Amy Poeppel (Author), Jennifer Jill Araya, Kevin R. Free, Lisa Flanagan, Patti Murin, Pete Simonelli (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Good Luck Cafe

"Moira Green is perfectly content with her life. She has a rewarding career and plenty of wonderful friends, including the members of her weekly book club. Then everything in her life goes topsy-turvy when the town council plans to demolish the site of her mother's beloved café to make room for much-needed parking. Moira is determined to save her mother's business, so she swallows her pride and asks Gil Ryan for help. Moira and Somerset Lake's mayor were good friends once, the kind who could laugh at everything and nothing at all. Until one night ruined everything between them. And now, with Gil supporting the council's plans, Moira is forced to find another way to save Sweetie's-and it involves campaigning against Gil. Going head-to-head in a battle of wills reveals more than either of them are ready for, and as the election heats up, so does their attraction. But without a compromise in sight, can these two be headed for anything but disaster?"

Annie Rains (Author), Caroline Slaughter (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fan Favorite

"This laugh out loud romcom by podcast host Adrienne Gunn set in the reality TV dating universe is perfect for readers of If the Shoe Fits, One to Watch, and The Charm Offensive. Thirty-five year old Edie Pepper, a rosé loving, reality TV obsessed copywriter from Chicago, dreams of plucking her soulmate from the depths of Hinge (or Tinder or Bumble). Following yet another dumpster fire of a date, Edie is consoling herself with boxed wine and E! News when Ryan Seacrest drops a bomb: Edie's high school sweetheart has been cast as the lead in America's most beloved reality dating show, The Key, and wow, does he look different. Charlie Bennett, Edie's chubby cheeked, cosplay loving high school boyfriend has had a serious glow up, and is now a world traveling, extreme sports hunk. Desperate to reclaim her One True Love, Edie DMs the show's conniving producers, who are more than happy to shove Edie headfirst into the competition. But Charlie isn't quite who she remembers, and he's as desperate to hide his past as Edie is to reveal it. Further complicating matters is Peter Kennedy, The Key's cranky showrunner, who, despite his best efforts, finds himself drawn to Edie's everywoman charm. Navigating increasingly absurd dates, Edie starts to rethink everything she thought she knew about love. Is the biggest risk she's ever taken about to culminate in disaster? Or is Edie about to secure the Happily Ever After she's always wanted? Find out this season on The Key. "

Adrienne Gunn (Author), Patti Murin (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Palace of Illusions

"The Palace of Illusions brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century, where for a select few there is a second, secret Paris where the magic of the City of Light is very real in this enchanting and atmospheric fantasy from the author of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill. In the run up to the 1900s World's Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers' moving pictures and Loie Fuller's serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather's mechanical creations, and she'd rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world's fair. When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather's toys was real. As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There's no ignoring the danger she's in, but Clara doesn't know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both."

Rowenna Miller (Author), Christa Lewis (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Summer That Changed Everything

"She returned to prove her father's innocence, but there's no telling what she'll find… It's been fifteen years since Lucy Sinclair saw her father. Fifteen long years since she sat in a courtroom and watched him sentenced to life in prison. He murdered three victims-all people she knew-which ruined her life at just seventeen. But now she's back in Virginia to talk to him, wondering if there's more to the story of what happened that fateful night. An old flame, Ford Wagner, makes his own return to North Hampton Beach, fleeing a marriage that seems destined for divorce. He's wary of Lucy and her digging into the past, but the more time they spend together, the closer they get and the more he finds himself reconsidering the truth behind the death of their mutual friend that summer. Problem is, there are plenty of those in this small coastal town who would prefer things stay quiet…"

Brenda Novak (Author), Courtney Patterson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Cruel Summer

"There are no rules this cruel summer… Samantha Parker has the perfect life-a loving husband, three wonderful kids and a comfortable suburban lifestyle. But on the brink of their long-awaited empty-nest chapter, Will asks Samantha for something she never dreamed of: an open marriage.Desperate to keep her husband happy, Samantha proposes a summerlong separation with no contact. She knows she has to use the opportunity to find herself, but she also has no interest in being with anyone but Will. She's confident when the season is over, they'll get back together like this time never happened. Then Sam gets an adventurous offer from Will's best friend, Logan Martin, a classic-car restorer. Logan and Sam haven't had an easy relationship, but prickly Logan needs help driving across North America making deliveries. Among the winding roads and breathtaking backdrops, everything Sam thought about life is challenged-even her new connection with Logan. But when summer closes, Sam has to decide: Will she go home to the familiar stability of her past…or choose the thrilling uncertainty of her future?"

Maisey Yates (Author), Nancy Peterson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lost Masterpiece: A Novel

"An enigmatic painting. The mystery of who painted it. A riveting thriller from the bestselling author of The Art Forger. In a gripping novel full of plot twists, B. A. Shapiro embeds us in a circle of famous painters in late-nineteenth-century Paris, centering on the anguished Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot-the one woman in their midst who never got her due-and the story of Morisot's great-great-great-great granddaughter, Tamara Rubin, who has inherited Édouard Manet's Party on the Seine, a painting that completely upends her life. When Tamara inherits Party, she discovers a long-hidden family history replete with unanswered questions: How had it been stolen by the Nazis? How had the painting managed to survive three disasters that destroyed every other artwork around it? And most of all, why had she never known about her ancestor, Berthe Morisot? As the painting begins to metamorphose into darker and more terrifying versions of itself, Tamara's ordinary life is thrown into turmoil. What wounds and resentments plagued Morisot, and to what lengths will her spirit go for revenge? The Lost Masterpiece is a story of love, adultery, betrayal, family secrets, and the grueling birth of Impressionism, taking the reader on a whirlwind adventure from the streets of Paris in the late 1800s and the studio Berthe Morisot shared with Manet, Degas, and Renoir to the present day. Shapiro brings Berthe's world to life, tracing her work through generations of descendants and introducing us to a painter as brilliant and original as her male counterparts across 150 years of triumphs, struggles, passions, animosities, and malevolence. "

B. A. Shapiro (Author), B. A. Shapiro, Christine Lakin, Hannah Curtis, Lucy Rayner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Atmosphere

"Brought to you by Penguin. AN EPIC NOVEL SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE 1980S SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM ABOUT THE EXTRAORDINARY LENGTHS WE GO TO LIVE AND LOVE BEYOND OUR LIMITS. In the summer of 1980, astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin begins training to be an astronaut at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond; mission specialists John Griffin and Lydia Danes; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer. As the new astronauts prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined and begins to question everything she believes about her place in the observable universe. Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant. Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, creating complex protagonists, and telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love – this time among the stars. 'Tipped to be this summer's big read' Sunday Times 'Quite possibly our favourite TJR novel yet...Even if you're not a big space fan, you can't help but fall for this cosmic tale.' Cosmopolitan 'An ambitious novel that explores human limitation, sacrifice and the essence of love itself.' Woman & Home ©2025 Taylor Jenkins Reid (P)2025 Penguin Audio"

Taylor Jenkins Reid (Author), Julia Whelan, Kristen Dimercurio, Taylor Jenkins Reid (Narrator)

Audiobook

Everything's Coming Up Rosie: A heartwarming tale of found family and a perfectly imperfect love

"Sometimes what you think you want and what you actually want turn out to be different things . . . In New York Times bestselling author Courtney Walsh's latest uplifting women's fiction, one woman discovers what it means to create a life that fits. Perfect for fans of Denise Hunter and Emma St. Clair. Rosie Waterman has one dream: to become a working actor. But lately, that hasn't been working out. When she loses her apartment and her job on the same day, she does what she always does--puts herself out there, ready to find the next big thing. But a trip home makes her realize that while she's been struggling to make this dream come true, all her friends have become real adults with careers and weddings and babies on the way. Rosie's been at this for years, and she has nothing to show for it. But how does she simply let go of her dream? When she's offered a job as the director of a regional theatre's production of Cinderella, she jumps at the chance--even though she's only directed in college and the job is in Door County, Wisconsin, and not in New York. She has no other offers, and at least she'll be getting paid to do something theatrical. But when she arrives, she quickly realizes that the 'regional theatre' is actually in a retirement community, and the 'actors' are actually senior citizens with no acting experience whatsoever. Working on the show presents new challenges, forcing Rosie to learn how to step up and be the leader this fledgling theatre troupe needs. The more time she spends with her new cast, the more she begins to rethink what it means to dream big, especially when that big dream hasn't turned out to be at all what she thought it would be. It's not at all what she expected, but could it be exactly what she needs? Come for the quirky cast, stay for the charm, and fall in love with the beautiful mess of becoming. Filled with laughter, a bit of clean romance, and a reminder that life doesn't have to go as planned to be beautiful, Everything's Coming Up Rosie will leave you cheering, swooning, and reaching for one more chapter."

Courtney Walsh (Author), Jorjeana Marie (Narrator)

Audiobook

One Cornish Summer With You

"Brought to you by Penguin. Tammy loved her childhood growing up in the harbour town of Porthmellow. But when her father went bankrupt and her mother abandoned them, she was quick to learn that nothing lasts forever. Now, Tammy spends her days creating works of art in the golden Cornish sand, and is determined to protect herself from further heartache. But everything changes when she meets Ruan – a gorgeous solicitor who has moved to Cornwall for a fresh start. Just as Tammy starts to question if Ruan could be the one to break down her walls, she discovers he has a secret – one that unravels everything she thought she knew about her past. Can Tammy find the courage to trust again? Or will Ruan’s secret push her away forever? Praise for Phillipa Ashley: ‘Set amid stunning scenery, this is both uplifting and compelling - the perfect beach read!’ Candis '‘Read it and feel like you’ve had a holiday!’ MyWeekly 'Phillipa Ashley's books help readers to escape from their everyday lives' Express & Star ‘A fantastic setting and intriguing premise' Sue Moorcroft ‘Escapism at its very best, what a book!’ Milly Johnson ‘Filled with warm and likeable characters. Great fun!’ Jill Mansell ‘Sheer joy!’ Katie Fforde ‘Sunshine, secrets and a stunning setting make this the perfect summer read!’ Heidi Swain ‘Gloriously uplifting and unashamedly warm-hearted’ Faith Hogan ‘Full of genuine warmth and quirky characters’ Woman’s Own ‘A lovely, summery read full of secrets and hope’ Jo Thomas ‘A blissful story, full of sunshine, secrets and Phillipa’s trademark romance’ Cressida McLaughlin ‘An utterly glorious, escapist read from a one of the freshest voices to emerge in women's fiction today’ Claudia Carroll ‘Deliciously entertaining’ Liz Fenwick © Phillipa Ashley 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Phillipa Ashley (Author), Olivia Darnley (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Girls Who Grew Big

"Brought to you by Penguin. From the author of the Booker nominated, international bestseller Nightcrawling: a novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a Florida beach town. When Adela Woods tells her parents she’s pregnant, they immediately send her a thousand miles away to stay with her grandmother in Padua Beach. The intention is that she will leave her baby in 'the forgotten Panhandle of Florida'. and resume her suburban life nine months later as though nothing happened. But Adela’s plans are soon washed away by the tide. First, Adela meets Emory, a new mother determined to defy the expectations of everyone around her, returning to high school with her newborn baby strapped to her chest. Then she meets Simone, ringleader of ‘the Girls,’ a group of young mothers who create a village together in the back of her red truck—dancing, breastfeeding, raising their children and themselves. The town thinks they’ve lost their way. Really, they are finding it. But as they look for love, make and break friendships, navigate the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood, Adela, Emory and Simone also find themselves on an inescapable collision course with one another. A novel full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman, a daughter, and a mother. © Leila Mottley 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Leila Mottley (Author), AhDream Smith, Erin Spencer, Khaya Fraites (Narrator)

Audiobook

Contemporary Women Audiobooks in Fiction