Contemporary Women Audiobooks | Fiction

"Paradise isn’t quite what it seems as four college friends meet for an island vacation in this captivating new novel from the acclaimed author of These Girls. An all-expense-paid week at a luxury villa in Jamaica—it’s the invitation of a lifetime for a group of old college friends. All four women are desperate not just for a reunion, but for an escape: Tina is drowning under the demands of mothering four young children. Allie is shattered by the news that a genetic illness runs in her family. Savannah is carrying the secret of her husband’s infidelity. And, finally, there’s Pauline, who spares no expense to throw her wealthy husband an unforgettable thirty-fifth birthday celebration, hoping it will gloss over the cracks already splitting apart their new marriage. Languid hours on a private beach, gourmet dinners, and late nights of drinking kick off an idyllic week for the women and their husbands. But as a powerful hurricane bears down on the island, turmoil swirls inside the villa, forcing each of the women to reevaluate everything she knows about her friends—and herself."

Sarah Pekkanen (Author), Cassandra Campbell (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Apple Orchard

"“Sometimes you stumble across a treasure when you’re looking for something else entirely.”#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs brings readers to the lush abundance of Sonoma County in a novel of sisters, friendship, and how memories are woven like a spell around us.Tess Delaney makes a living restoring stolen treasures to their rightful owners. People like Annelise Winther, who refuses to sell her long-gone mother’s beloved necklace—despite Tess’s advice. To Annelise, the jewel’s value is in its memories.But Tess’s own history is filled with gaps: a father she never met, a mother who spent more time traveling than with her daughter. So Tess is shocked when she discovers the grandfather she never knew is in a coma. And that she has been named in his will to inherit half of Bella Vista, a hundred-acre apple orchard in the magical Sonoma town called Archangel.The rest is willed to Isabel Johansen. A half sister she’s never heard of.Against the rich landscape of Bella Vista, Tess begins to discover a world filled with the simple pleasures of food and family, of the warm earth beneath her bare feet. A world where family comes first and the roots of history run deep. A place where falling in love is not only possible, but inevitable.And in a season filled with new experiences, Tess begins to see the truth in something Annelise once told her: if you don’t believe memories are worth more than money, then perhaps you’ve not made the right kind of memories.From one of America’s most beloved writers, The Apple Orchard is a story of family ties—both old and new—and of the moments that connect our hearts."

Susan Wiggs (Author), Christina Traister (Narrator)

Audiobook

Someday, Someday, Maybe: A Novel

"From Lauren Graham, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, comes a witty, charming, and hilariously relatable debut novel about a struggling young actress trying to get ahead--and keep it together--in New York City. It's January 1995, and Franny Banks has just six months left of the three-year deadline she set for herself when she came to New York, dreaming of Broadway and doing "important" work. But all she has to show for her efforts so far is a part in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters, and a gig waiting tables at a comedy club. Her roommates--her best friend Jane, and Dan, an aspiring sci-fi writer--are supportive, yet Franny knows a two-person fan club doesn't exactly count as success. Everyone tells her she needs a backup plan, and though she can almost picture moving back home and settling down with her perfectly nice ex-boyfriend, she's not ready to give up on her goal of having a career like her idols Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. Not just yet. But while she dreams of filling their shoes, in the meantime, she'd happily settle for a speaking part in almost anything-and finding a hair product combination that works. Everything is riding on the upcoming showcase for her acting class, where she'll finally have a chance to perform for people who could actually hire her. And she can't let herself be distracted by James Franklin, a notorious flirt and the most successful actor in her class, even though he's suddenly started paying attention. Meanwhile, her bank account is rapidly dwindling, her father wants her to come home, and her agent doesn't return her calls. But for some reason, she keeps believing that she just might get what she came for. Someday, Someday, Maybe is a story about hopes and dreams, being young in a city, and wanting something deeply, madly, desperately. It's about finding love, finding yourself, and perhaps most difficult of all in New York City, finding an acting job. Includes a PDF* of Filofax(R) datebook entries. *Adobe(R) Reader(R) required. PC and Mac compatible. Advance praise for Someday, Someday, Maybe "Sweet, funny, and full of heart . . . a dazzling debut."-Emily Giffin, New York Times bestselling author of Something Borrowed and Where We Belong "Warm and funny, charming and smart."-Diane Keaton, New York Times bestselling author of Then Again "Graham deftly captures what it's like to be young, ambitious, and hopeful in New York City."-Candace Bushnell, New York Times bestselling author of Sex and the City and The Carrie Diaries "Fresh and funny and full of zingers, Lauren Graham's charming writing style instantly drew me in, but it was her relatable characters (complete with doodled date-book entries!), irresistible romantic twists, and delicious plot that kept me turning the pages until well past my bedtime."-Meg Cabot, bestselling author of the Princess Diaries and Heather Wells Mystery series"

Lauren Graham (Author), Lauren Graham (Narrator)

Audiobook

Blunt Impact: A Theresa MacLean Mystery

"Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean is puzzled by the questionable death of a female construction worker at a Cleveland building site. A witness to the death - a young girl nicknamed Ghost - may be able to help. Ghost says the woman was pushed by someone she can only identify as the Shadow Man. Soon Theresa finds herself in a race against time to protect Ghost from an unknown killer before he is able to find the little girl and silence her for good."

Lisa Black (Author), Kirsten Potter (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sea Glass Summer

"Recovering from a painful divorce, Sarah Draycott has moved to the picture-postcard village of Sea Glass on the Maine coast, and is soon caught up in the lives of its inhabitants. As she helps elegant but troubled widow Gwen cope with her desperately ill son, and assists nine-year-old orphan Oliver in uncovering the secrets surrounding the mysterious Cully Mansion, Sarah's broken heart begins to heal. She isn't looking for new romance - but love finds a way of seeking someone out just when they least expect it..."

Dorothy Cannell (Author), Kirsten Potter (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Ashford Affair: A Novel

"From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig comes The Ashford Affair, a riveting novel about two women in different eras, and on different continents, who are connected by one deeply buried secret. A New York Times best seller! As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she's been working towards—but now she's not sure it's enough. Her long hours have led to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy life crumbling around her. But when the family gathers for her grandmother Addie's ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change everything. . . . Growing up at Ashford Park in the early twentieth century, Addie has never quite belonged. When her parents passed away, she was taken into the grand English house by her aristocratic aunt and uncle, and raised side-by-side with her beautiful and outgoing cousin, Bea. Though they are as different as night and day, Addie and Bea are closer than sisters, through relationships and challenges, and a war that changes the face of Europe irrevocably. But what happens when something finally comes along that can't be shared? When the love of sisterhood is tested by a bond that's even stronger? From the inner circles of British society to the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told secrets of a woman and a family unfurl."

Lauren Willig (Author), Nicola Barber (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Interestings: A Novel

"“Remarkable . . . With this book [Wolitzer] has surpassed herself.”—The New York Times Book Review 'A victory . . . The Interestings secures Wolitzer's place among the best novelists of her generation. . . . She's every bit as literary as Franzen or Eugenides. But the very human moments in her work hit you harder than the big ideas. This isn't women's fiction. It's everyone's.'—Entertainment Weekly (A) The New York Times–bestselling novel by Meg Wolitzer that has been called 'genius' (The Chicago Tribune), “wonderful” (Vanity Fair), 'ambitious' (San Francisco Chronicle), and a “page-turner” (Cosmopolitan), which The New York Times Book Review says is 'among the ranks of books like Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom and Jeffrey Eugenides The Marriage Plot.' The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge. The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle. Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer. But Ethan and Ash, Jules’s now-married best friends, become shockingly successful—true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken. Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life."

Meg Wolitzer (Author), Jen Tullock (Narrator)

Audiobook

Bristol House

"In the tradition of Kate Mosse, a swiftly-paced mystery that stretches from modern London to Tudor England In modern-day London, architectural historian and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall hopes to turn her life around and restart her career by locating several long-missing pieces of ancient Judaica. Geoff Harris, an investigative reporter, is soon drawn into her quest, both by romantic interest and suspicions about the head of the Shalom Foundation, the organization sponsoring her work. He's also a dead ringer for the ghost of a monk Annie believes she has seen at the flat she is subletting in Bristol House. In 1535, Tudor London is a very different city, one in which monks are being executed by Henry VIII and Jews are banished. In this treacherous environment of religious persecution, Dom Justin, a Carthusian monk, and a goldsmith known as the Jew of Holborn must navigate a shadowy world of intrigue involving Thomas Cromwell, Jewish treasure, and sexual secrets. Their struggles shed light on the mysteries Annie and Geoff aim to puzzle out-at their own peril. This riveting dual-period narrative seamlessly blends a haunting supernatural thriller with vivid historical fiction. Beverly Swerling, widely acclaimed for her City of Dreams series, delivers a bewitching and epic story of a historian and a monk, half a millennium apart, whose destinies are on a collision course."

Beverly Swerling (Author), Christian Coulson, James Langton, Kristen Sieh (Narrator)

Audiobook

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey

"FROM THE AUTHOR OF TEN BEACH ROAD AND OCEAN BEACH, A NEW NOVEL OF FOUR FRIENDS-AND A SHARED PASSION THAT COULD CHANGE THEIR LIVES. When the concierge of The Alexander, a historic Atlanta apartment building, invites his fellow residents to join him for weekly screenings of Downton Abbey, four very different people find themselves connecting with the addictive drama, and-even more unexpectedly-with each other… Samantha Davis married young and for the wrong reason: the security of old Atlanta money-for herself and for her orphaned brother and sister. She never expected her marriage to be complicated by love and compromised by a shattering family betrayal. Claire Walker is now an empty nester and struggling author who left her home in the suburbs for the old world charm of The Alexander, and for a new and productive life. But she soon wonders if clinging to old dreams can be more destructive than having no dreams at all. And then there's Brooke MacKenzie, a woman in constant battle with her faithless ex-husband. She's just starting to realize that it's time to take a deep breath and come to terms with the fact that her life is not the fairy tale she thought it would be. For Samantha, Claire, Brooke-and Edward, who arranges the weekly gatherings-it will be a season of surprises as they forge a bond that will sustain them through some of life's hardest moments-all of it reflected in the unfolding drama, comedy, and convergent lives of Downton Abbey."

Wendy Wax (Author), Orlagh Cassidy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Mothers

"Poignant, raw, and insightful, Jennifer Gilmore's third novel is an unforgettable story of love, family, and motherhood. With a 'voice [that is] at turns wise and barbed with sharp humor' (Vanity Fair), Gilmore lays bare the story of one couple's ardent desire for a child and their emotional journey through adoption. Jesse and Ramon are a loving couple, but after years spent unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant, they turn to adoption, relieved to think that once they navigate the bureaucratic path to parenthood they will have a happy ending. But nothing has prepared them for the labyrinthine process - for the many training sessions and approvals; for the constant advice from friends, strangers, and 'experts;' for the birthmothers who contact them but don't ultimately choose them; or even, most shockingly, for the women who call claiming they've chosen Jesse and Ramon but who turn out never to have been pregnant in the first place. Jennifer Gilmore's eloquence about the human heart - its frailties and complex"

Jennifer Gilmore (Author), Tavia Gilbert (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Rosie Project

"'Marvellous' John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 'Adorable... A gem of a book' Marian Keyes The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is a story about love, life and lobsters... Meet Don Tillman. Don is getting married. He just doesn't know who to yet. But he has designed a very detailed questionnaire to help him find the perfect woman. One thing he already knows, though, is that it's not Rosie. Absolutely, completely, definitely not. Telling the story of Rosie and Don, Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project is an international phenomenon, sold in over thirty countries - and counting. Don Tillman is a socially challenged genetics professor who's decided the time has come to find a wife. His questionnaire is intended to weed out anyone who's unsuitable. The trouble is, Don has rather high standards and doesn't really do flexible so, despite lots of takers - he looks like Gregory Peck - he's not having much success in identifying The One. When Rosie Jarman comes to his office, Don assumes it's to apply for the Wife Project - and duly discounts her on the grounds she smokes, drinks, doesn't eat meat, and is incapable of punctuality. However, Rosie has no interest in becoming Mrs Tillman and is actually there to enlist Don's assistance in a professional capacity: to help her find her biological father. Sometimes, though, you don't find love: love finds you... Like The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is a truly distinctive debut. With the charm of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the romance of David Nicholls' One Day, it's both funny and endearing - and is set to become the feel-good novel of 2013... Graeme Simsion is a full-time writer. Previously an IT consultant and educator, he wrote his first book in 1994 (the standard reference on data modelling, now entering its fourth edition), and is married to Anne, a professor of psychiatry who writes erotic fiction. They have two children."

Graeme Simsion (Author), Dan O'grady (Narrator)

Audiobook

Starting Now: A Blossom Street Novel

"For years, Libby Morgan dreamed only of making partner in her competitive, high-pressure law firm. She sacrificed everything for her career - her friends, her marriage, her chance at creating a family. When her boss calls Libby into his office, she assumes it will finally be good news, but nothing can prepare her for the shocking reality: she's been let go and must rebuild her entire life . . . starting now. With no job prospects in sight, Libby reaches out to old friends and spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store. There, she forms a close bond with Lydia, the sweet-natured shop owner, Lydia's spirited teenaged daughter, Casey, and Casey's best friend, Ava, a shy yet troubled girl who will shape Libby's future in surprising and profound ways. As A Good Yarn becomes a second home - and the women a new kind of family - Libby relishes the different person she's become. She even finds time for romance with a charming and handsome doctor who seems to be her perfect match. But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear. Warmly told and richly textured, Starting Now is filled with the promise of new beginnings and the unending delights of companionship and love. There is a knitting pattern included with this audiobook."

Debbie Macomber (Author), Abby Craden (Narrator)

Audiobook

Contemporary Women Audiobooks in Fiction