Contemporary Women Audiobooks | Fiction

"A murder in the science lab shatters a woman's quiet and ordered life when she decides she must solve the crime herself in this entertaining and uplifting mystery. Plenty of people consider Margaret Finch odd. Six-feet-tall and big-boned, she lives alone in a small cabin in the woods, drives a 20-year-old truck, and schedules her life so precisely you can tell the time and day of the week by the chore she is doing and what she is wearing. But the same attributes that cause her to be labeled eccentric-an obsessive attention to detail and the ability to organize almost anything-make her invaluable in her job as Research Assistant II to a talented and charismatic botanist. It's those very same qualities, however, that also turn Margaret into a target after a surprising death shakes the small university where she works. Even as authorities claim the death appears to be from natural causes, Margaret fears it might be something more: a murder born of jealousy and dark secrets. With the aid of a newly hired and enigmatic night custodian, Margaret finds herself thrust into the role of detective, forcing her to consider that she may not be able to find the killer before the killer finds her. With a cast of quirky and likeable characters that one won't soon forget, The Botanist's Assistant is a delightful story of perseverance and the power in all of us to survive."

Peggy Townsend (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Nearly Beloved: A Novel

"In this captivating novel, a DNA test turns a woman's world upside-down. Will searching for answers give her the peace she craves-or deepen the fractures in her life? Dylan Turner works hard to keep her life predictable, though she would never call it that-she loves her routine, two guinea pigs, and minding her own business. But when her dad dies and the DNA test results in her inbox say he's not her biological father, the life she's so carefully built starts to unravel. Craving answers and getting none from her mother, Dylan follows a sparse trail of clues across the country to where she grew up. It's a journey full of unexpected encounters, including a friendly co-worker and another familiar face from her past-one she isn't sure is a solace or an obstacle. As Dylan digs deeper into her family's secrets, she can't help but wonder, Is a comfortable lie better than the pain of knowing the truth? Woven with emails, interviews, texts, and journal entries, Nearly Beloved is a heartfelt tale about looking for answers, even if they aren't the ones you were expecting."

Kendra Broekhuis (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Find Him!: A Novel

"An uncanny novel which provides keen insight on patriarchal violence and female identity by the author of feminist cult classic The Princess of 72nd Street With an introduction by Violet Kupersmith Understand my beginning with Oliver. You will see that my love for him is not a romantic fantasy. Every bit of this love was formed from the reality of primary needs-ingestion, excretion, simple pleasure and pain. Our narrator's name and origins are unknown, but she claims to be from "another star." Though she arrived as a fully grown woman, she did not yet have the ability to speak or look after herself. She lives with Oliver, who serves as both her caregiver and her captor and keeps the two of them in isolation from the rest of the world. Though she has no freedom, she insists that he did his best to protect her, to develop her into something more than she was. Now she blends into our society, though she is still different at heart. The problem is, she can't find Oliver. She goes back to their beginning to examine her relationship with him, a strange mix of father, lover, abuser, teacher. And then there is the question of Edith, a mysterious woman whose absence seems to haunt them both. Originally published in 1977 and seemingly woven from the fragments of nightmares and fantasies, Find Him! is a paragon of Elaine Kraf's iconoclastic style, challenging and captivating in equal measure. The Modern Library Torchbearers Series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance."

Elaine Kraf (Author), Kristen Sieh (Narrator)

Audiobook

Good Hair Days: A Novel

"Two sisters, a failing family business, a messy legacy, and a whole lot of hairspray. 'Kristy Woodson Harvey, Nancy Thayer, and Patti Callahan Henry fans should take note.' --Booklist A modern twist on Steel Magnolias meets Hello Beautiful with some extra Dolly Parton flair. The Louise women have squabbled for years, but they've always agreed on one thing: Georgia would be the one to make them proud. Years--and failed dreams--later, Georgia only wants to come home to the small Southern town of Whitetail, back to the family salon, June's Beauty Shop, but to do so would mean dashing their hopes by admitting she's fallen helplessly short. When little sister Junie lands the beauty shop in hot water by way of a renovation gone wrong, reliable big sister Georgia returns to save the day. June's Beauty may look like an outdated hole-in-the-wall slathered in Dolly Parton memorabilia, but to the women in town, it's a sacred space. To Georgia and Junie, it is their family legacy. For generations, the shop has been passed down to every first-born daughter--always named June. It's what's left to anchor them to their late mother's memory. Without enough money to repair the shop, the sisters, along with their maternal aunts, jump into a series of money-making schemes. From setting out gambling tables at June's to selling Aunt Tina's pies at the fair, they will stop at nothing. But when Junie receives a life-altering diagnosis, the very world the Louise women could always rely on is turned upside down. They are forced to dig deep, finally tell the truth, and rely on the part of their family legacy that has never wavered: the deep love between them. Bursting with energy, heart, and sass, Good Hair Days is about a family pulling together for a common purpose, finding healing from the past, and moving forward courageously as they face their hardest trial yet. Discussion questions are included, so it's perfect for book clubs! Keep your tissues nearby because this one is practically guaranteed to make you feel all the feelings."

Grace Helena Walz (Author), Natalie Duke, Reba Buhr (Narrator)

Audiobook

Where He Left Me: A Novel

"From Nicole Baart, the bestselling author of Everything We Didn't Say, comes a twisty, atmospheric novel about a newlywed whose husband disappears, leaving her isolated in Washington State's North Cascades. "In every world, I'd find you." Sadie Sheridan's new husband Felix, a professor of planetary sciences, has vowed to never leave her. But when Felix doesn't return from a work trip, Sadie is stranded at Hemlock House, the remote mountain homestead where her husband grew up. Doubt creeps into Sadie's heart. Then panic. Where is he? Scared and alone in a place that feels haunted, Sadie struggles to make sense of what her missing husband left behind. But when she catches strangers lurking around the property, Hemlock House instantly becomes both a sanctuary and a prison. Navigating threats from outside and in, Sadie is forced to confront shocking secrets that leave her questioning whether she really knows Felix at all. As a powerful storm bears down, she must decide: is she fighting only for her own survival now—or for the man who promised her the stars? Filled with dark menace and the danger of the wild, Where He Left Me is at once heartfelt and heart-pounding, from an author who "writes with a poet's eye for language and a storyteller's gift for suspense" (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author)."

Nicole Baart (Author), Amanda Dolan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Blood and Ice & other plays: Five Full-Cast BBC Radio Productions

"Five full-cast dramas by the celebrated Scottish writer Liz Lochhead, plus a short story Liz Lochhead is a widely recognised poet, playwright and performer. She was the Makar, Scotland’s national poet, between 2011 and 2016, and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2015. The six pieces in this anthology are characterised by their evocative language and focus on different facets of female identity: from schoolgirls, wives and mothers to convention-defying creators and ‘cunning women’. Blood and Ice – Summer, 1816. Following their scandalous elopement, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her lover Percy Shelley decamp to Lake Geneva. There, they are joined by Lord Byron and his mistress Claire Clairmont, and one night, in a villa by the shore, they challenge each other to write a ghost story. Mary’s tale will become the most famous Gothic novel of all time – and the creature at its centre will haunt her for the rest of her life. Starring Gerda Stevenson, Stephen Boxer, Jack Klaff and Stella Gonet. Quelques Fleurs – Liz Lochhead plays lonely, ‘born to shop’ housewife Verena, with Stuart Hepburn as her oil-rig worker husband in these tragicomic intercut monologues, which paint a portrait of a childless couple trapped in an unhappy marriage. Maleficium – Taking its title from a Latin word meaning ‘malevolent sorcery’, this chilling play draws on real accounts of witch trials to create voices for three women: Alice, Margery and Jinnet – a farm labourer, a farmer's wife and an elderly wisewoman. When two of them are accused of witchcraft by the other, they are brought to the point of tragedy… Starring Clare Corbett, Siobhan Redmond and Freda Dowie. Fancy You Minding That – Separated by three generations and by the 400 miles from London to Glasgow, a grandmother, mother and daughter recall their very different, very painful memories of the men in their lives. With Phyllis Logan as Valerie, Jennifer Piercey as Ina and Catherine Clarke as Kate. Cuba – Scotland, 1962. With the Cuban Missile Crisis at its height, best friends Barbara and Bernadette believe the world is about to end. They decide to spend their last days making a stand for women and peace – only to find themselves facing a very personal betrayal. Julie Wilson Nimmo, Pauline Lockhart and Liz Lochhead star. ‘The Cure’ – Hoping to impress her handsome house captain, a schoolgirl takes to the athletics track – but the course of true love does not run smoothly. Read by Grace Glover. Text copyright © Liz Lochhead 1982 (Blood and Ice), 1986 (Fancy You Minding That), 1991 (Quelque Fleurs), 1994 (‘The Cure’), 1998 (Cuba), 2001 (Maleficium) © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Liz Lochhead (Author), Catherine Clarke, Clare Corbett, Full cast, Gerda Stevenson, Jack Klaff, Jon Glover, Liz Lochhead, Phyllis Logan, Siobhan Redmond, Stella Gonet (Narrator)

Audiobook

Head Over Paws

"A charming contemporary romance by bestselling author Debbie Burns where love leads to a forever home not only for puppies, but also for the couple who rescues them. Olivia Graham isn't in a place to have a dog of her own, but her new position as a volunteer rescue driver for the local animal shelter will keep her close to her four-legged friends. When she's called to transport pets that have been misplaced by flooding, she doesn't hesitate to help, but then her aging car breaks down . . . Veterinarian Gabe Wentworth, former EMT and firefighter, is also heading to the rescue site and reluctantly agrees to pick up Olivia on the way. After a bad breakup, Gabe's embraced the hermit life. When he meets Olivia, he can't deny their irresistible mutual attraction, and his first thought is to run the other direction. But then the two band together in a risky maneuver to save a beautiful abandoned dog from rising floodwaters. The more Gabe learns about the woman who would risk everything to save vulnerable animals, the more he realizes what he might be willing to risk . . ."

Debbie Burns (Author), Stina Nielsen (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ladies' Day

"Heartache is par for the course. Fifteen years after her troubled daughter Julie ran away from home, Beth Sawyer stumbles across a newspaper photograph of an up-and-coming teen golfer, who not only shares her last name, but also looks just like her daughter. Sky Sawyer couldn’t possibly be her granddaughter—or could she? With her sort-of-functional life sinking into a full on mulligan—and let’s not get started on her soon-to-be-married ex-husband—Beth meets Barry, a fellow golfer who she accidentally hits with her golf ball and who might just be Mr. Right. When Sky Sawyer joins her high school golf team, she hopes that the mother she thought dead may still be alive and seek her out at the championship tournament. But when she discovers that the man who raised her is not her father and a woman claiming to be her long-lost grandmother appears, her world falls apart. With Beth and Sky fighting to gain what they both had lost, can they finally get a second chance at a happily ever after?"

Lisa Williams Kline (Author), Rachel Jacobs, Xe Sands (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Wife at the Last house Before the Sea: Heaven's Cove Book 8

Liz Eeles (Author), Francesca Waite (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hello Wife

"Single, unfulfilled and well into middle age, long-troubled Charlotte Lansing desperately reaches for love and acceptance. When she announces her engagement to an unemployed morphine addict, her family falls into a tailspin. Her mother is determined to prevent disaster, her father seeks to mend the growing chasm, and her sister stubbornly hopes that their sibling bonds can keep Charlotte safe. But Charlotte resists all this because she thinks she is finally happy. Ultimately, all her loved ones can do is watch as Charlotte disappears, slowly and inevitably, into her new husband’s illness. In this bittersweet novel of determination, love, and familial bonds, Lisa Friedman takes listeners into the insidious world of prescription drug abuse, showing the havoc opioids can wreak in our lives, and revealing the grace and care given to us at our lowest moments."

Lisa K. Friedman (Author), Rebecca Gibel (Narrator)

Audiobook

Television for Women: A Novel

"For fans of Nightbitch, a darkly humorous debut novel asks what happens when motherhood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be … Estie isn’t sure she likes being eight months pregnant. She isn’t even sure she likes her husband anymore, especially after he hid that he’s been fired from his job. Hello parenthood! Goodbye life as Estie imagined it! Now, she’s stranded and bloated and alone. Her cat is not a people person, and on top of it all, her best friend has been ignoring her calls ever since Estie told her about the baby. After Estie gives birth, she begins to suspect that all the stories she’s been told about motherhood might not be true. Having a child does not “complete” her. And that mythical connection with her baby? Well, she’s still waiting. In fact, Estie fears she is destined to end up like her own mother—divorced and crying in the bathroom while her daughter stands outside the door and wonders if she’s okay. Startlingly honest and unsentimental, Television for Women explores the realities of life postpartum, the demands children make on women’s identities and relationships—and the desperate lengths someone might go to in order to reclaim the person she once was."

Danit Brown (Author), Kelli Tager (Narrator)

Audiobook

Forty And Fighting Dirty: Heart’s Cove Hotties Book 12

Lilian Monroe (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Contemporary Women Audiobooks in Fiction