Audiobooks narrated by Renata Friedman

"In this heartwarming, bookish debut, a young widower of a famous children’s fantasy author teams up with a down-on-her-luck MFA dropout to write the final book in his late wife’s series...and find their own perfect ending along the way. Whit Longacre has a monumental task and a looming deadline. After his wife, Helen, died of cancer, she left him with their grieving eight-year-old daughter and a surprise in her will: the small task of writing the final book in her mega-popular children’s fantasy series for her legions of waiting fans. Whit is the author of moderately successful (but well-received!) literary mysteries. He doesn’t have the first idea of how to complete Helen’s beloved series, and his enigmatic wife seems to have left no clues behind on how the story is supposed to end. Writer’s block is one thing, but to fail in fulfilling his wife’s last wish? Whit is guilt-ridden and dodging calls in the school pick-up line from Helen’s publisher and agent as the deadline fast approaches. Then Whit meets Merritt Pryor, who works at the local bookstore in their small New England town. Merritt has moved back home after a disastrous affair led to her dropping out of her prestigious MFA program. When Whit realizes that Merritt is a superfan of the Greenwood Castle series, they come up with a plan to tackle the book together. For the first time in years, Merritt finds herself falling back in love with writing…and perhaps with the coauthor offering her the opportunity of a lifetime. But when Whit uncovers a buried secret about Helen’s final wishes, he questions everything about what he and Merritt have created together, endangering the tender, electrifying partnership that has transformed their lives. Can Whit and Merritt come up with an ending that feels right…for both a beloved series and for their battered hearts? "

Andrew Forrester (Author), James Fouhey, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Hot Desk: Two rival editors, one shared desk - the hilarious new novel for fans of Nora Ephron and Katherine Heiny

"Brought to you by Penguin. The hilarious, sexy and smart new romantic comedy perfect for fans of You've Got Mail, Attachments and Good Material Rebecca Blume knows two things about Ben Heath: He’s a new editor at a rival publishing division, and he has terrible desk-sharing skills. What starts as a battle of passive-aggressive Post-it notes escalates after the death of literary titan Edward David Adams, A.K.A. 'the Lion,' when Rebecca and Ben are thrown into a fierce competition to land his estate. But when secrets about the Lion emerge, they are forced to ask - what role do they want to play in his legacy? And most importantly, is their Post-it war actually…flirting? © Laura Dickerman 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Laura Dickerman (Author), Cassandra Campbell, Renata Friedman, Teddy Hamilton (Narrator)

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An Introvert's Guide to Life and Love

"Inheriting a seaside cottage comes with strings attached in this touching romance where an introverted remote worker must leave her city apartment and learn to connect with others-and find love-in real life. Mallory Rosen loves working from home-minimum contact with others suits her just fine. Nothing could make her leave her comfortable Seattle apartment. Until she inherits her late grandmother's seaside cottage . . . with strings attached: Take care of your grandfather. Fine. She can quickly check on Gramps, rent out the cottage, and return to her life. Yet when she arrives at the independent living community, the WiFi keeps dropping, Gramps interrupts her meetings, and the cottage needs renovating-according to the handsome, extroverted property manager. So much for grand plans. Soon Mal finds herself caught up in senior citizen aerobics, new friendships, nightly chats with Gramps-and in the sparks flying with her charming property manager. Then, just when her new life and chance at love feel worth leaving her safety net behind, she gets the worst notice ever: All employees must return to the office."

Lauren Appelbaum (Author), Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Spent: A Comic Novel

"Brought to you by Penguin. From her pygmy goat farm in Vermont, a cartoonist named Alison Bechdel wonders: Can she pull humanity out of its death spiral by writing a scathing memoir about her own greed and privilege? But how can she just sit around writing a book when the world is hanging on a thread? In this hilariously skewering comic novel, Alison is existentially pained by a climate-challenged world and a country on the brink of civil war. Her first graphic memoir about growing up with her taxidermist father has been adapted into a highly successful TV series, Death and Taxidermy. It’s a phenomenon that makes Alison, formerly on the cultural margins, the envy of her friend group. As the TV show racks up Emmy after Emmy, Alison’s own envy spirals. Surely writing her own wildly popular reality TV series wouldn’t be that hard? One that shows people how to free themselves from consumer capitalism and live a more ethical life?! In Spent, the celebrated, bestselling author of the modern classic Fun Home presents a laugh-out-loud and passionately political work of autofiction, and once again proves that “nobody does it better” (New York Times) than the real Alison Bechdel. 'The funniest, most satirical cartoon she has ever written – as well as, perhaps, the most prescient' OBSERVER © Alison Bechdel 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Alison Bechdel (Author), Adenrele Ojo, Ali Liebegott, Alison Bechdel, Bill McKibben, Christina Delaine, Dan Bittner, Gilli Messer, Hayden Bishop, Holly Rae Taylor, Jenn Colella, Joe Barrett, Keylor Leight, Kimberly Farr, Maggie-Meg Reed, Naomi Liv Joseffy, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Missing in Flight

"From USA Today bestselling author Audrey J. Cole comes a harrowing thriller about a woman faced with the unthinkable, when her infant goes missing aboard a plane to New York. Rushing back to her seat, Makayla Rossi is relieved that all’s still quiet. But when she checks on her sleeping baby, relief morphs into fear. The bassinet is empty. Liam is gone. It was a long flight from Anchorage to New York, and with every flight attendant busy, Makayla reluctantly ran to the restroom, asking a seat neighbor to watch her son. She stepped away for just a few minutes. Yet at thirty thousand feet, he still vanished. Passengers and crew scour the plane to no avail, and since no one recalls seeing her with a baby, suspicions begin to mount about Makayla’s mental state. She’s certain this is nothing like her mother’s on-air memory meltdown. If only Jack, her husband, were there. He would believe her. A high-profile banker featured in Forbes, maybe he could even help. But Makayla is squarely on her own. And she’ll have to think fast in order to find her son—before it’s too late."

Audrey J. Cole (Author), Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Every Moment Since: A Missing Child Mystery, Cold Case Suspense, Family Secrets, and Small-Town Southern Drama

"A 'neatly crafted story about lives connected and changed by one night' (New York Journal of Books)--perfect for fans of God of the Woods and Wild Dark Shore. A small Southern town. An ordinary Saturday night. A little boy disappears without a trace. And four worlds collide. Everyone in Wynotte, North Carolina, knows the name Davy Malcor. Knows the video clip of him juggling four balls, 'All at the very same time!' Knows the Marty McFly jacket his mother made for his birthday that he wore proudly, and often. But no one knows what happened to him the night he went missing more than twenty years ago. When the jacket is unexpectedly uncovered, the cold case reopens, and Davy's family is thrust into yet another media storm. But at the heart of the story are four people forever changed by one single night: Thaddeus Malcor, Davy's older brother, created the life of his dreams by writing a bestselling memoir about his family's experience and is enjoying success and notoriety as a result, even if the memoir doesn't quite reveal the whole story. Tabitha Malcor, his mother, is divorced and living alone, advocating for victims' rights and faithfully cataloging her regrets each week, never including her biggest regret of all. Anissa Weaver was just a kid herself when Davy went missing, and her connection to him is one she cannot reveal as she serves as the Malcor family's Public Information Officer. And, long suspected in Davy's disappearance, Gordon Swift has kept his head down and scraped together a decent life. But the new attention to the case makes it impossible to hide from the public, and the past. With hauntingly vivid prose, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those who were left behind in the small Southern community as they pick up the pieces that remain and press forward into the light to find hope and healing. A perfect book club read that includes discussion questions. 'Everything you want in a novel--a gripping story, nostalgia for lost childhood, exorbitant love, a deep sense of place, and page-turning tension.' --Patti Callahan Henry, NYT bestselling author Audio read by a full cast: Cassandra Campbell, George Newbern, Kirby Heyborne, Jane Oppenheimer, Macleod Andrews, and Renata Friedman"

Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (Author), Cassandra Campbell, George Newbern, Jane Oppenheimer, Kirby Heyborne, Macleod Andrews, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Snake Oil: A Razor-Sharp Literary Thriller About Three Women Vying for Power, Where the Cost of Ambition Might be Deadly

"BEAUTY IS PAIN . . . Exploring themes of ambition, authenticity and empowerment, this taut, politically charged feminist thriller delivers a scathing take-down of the wellness industry, perfect for fans of The Drop Out and Yellowface. 'A propulsive read with a healthy dose of cynicism' - The Times It's a woman's world, isn't it? Rhoda West has the world at her feet. As the luminously charismatic CEO of Radical, a fast-growing start-up, Rhoda has built a wellness company whose core mission is the betterment of women's lives. Showcasing her cult products and her perfect life through her social media, Rhoda is the ultimate 'Radigal', encouraging her followers to be #bebetter, whilst driving her business to attain the billion-dollar unicorn status that she craves. But just as Radical announces the latest fundraising round that will take it over the top, an anonymous twitter account begins revealing the company's secrets and starts questioning its beliefs and approach, and Rhoda herself. Is Rhoda really the nurturing leader that she presents to the world, or a fraud on a mission to exploit the women she claims to want to help? As tensions rise and enemies present themselves, the only questions are how far will Rhoda go to fulfil her legacy and how far will her enemies go to destroy it. . . Praise for Girl in the Rearview Mirror: 'An exciting, intoxicating debut - it will hold you until its startling final pages' Megan Abbott 'Gripping and cinematic, this debut is pure modern noir' Flynn Berry 'Utterly compelling. A gripping story that expertly weaves domestic and political intrigue' Rosamund Lupton 'A riveting tale of an appealing young woman caught in the thrall of a powerful political family's prestige and privilege' Hallie Ephron 'A charged, tense, highly emotional story that will stay with you' Caz Frear"

Kelsey Rae Dimberg (Author), Andi Arndt, Kristen Sieh, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Ghost Mother

"Ghost Mother is a mesmerizing psychological ghost story that blurs the thin line between reality and delusion. Lilly Bly desperately wants to have a baby. She is struggling with infertility and bad spending habits when her husband, Jack, gets a new job that moves them from Chicago to a small town in Wisconsin. Impractical Lilly falls in love with a decrepit mansion well out of their price range—she is convinced that she will finally get pregnant and have a baby in this house—and Jack reluctantly agrees to buy the wreck. But when Lilly learns that her dream house was the site of a gruesome triple homicide/suicide in the 1950s, she begins to experience strange occurrences that soon lead her to believe the house is haunted. Are her ghostly encounters real, or is this a cascading mental breakdown? As Lilly learns more about the deaths and her visions become increasingly vivid, her relationship with Jack deteriorates, leading to a dramatic and irreversible climax. Perfect for fans of classic, gothic horror fiction, like Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw and Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, as well as contemporary suspense and horror fiction by everyone from Stephen King to Ruth Ware."

Kelly Dwyer (Author), Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Imaginary Strangers

"A woman must keep her family—and her terrifying secrets—safe in a twisting thriller by Washington Post and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Minka Kent. Camille Prescott has it all. A doting husband, two children, a charming home in a seaside enclave, and a beautiful, fixed smile that exudes normalcy. But behind her polished mask lurks a much different Camille—one with a padlocked vault of secrets. Raised by a vindictive and psychotic woman, Camille has gone to great lengths to bury her past and for good reason: if her mother ever finds her, she will kill her. But nothing can prepare Camille for the day her six-year-old daughter, Georgie, starts showing signs of unsettlingly familiar behavior, including an imaginary new friend who casts a disturbing influence on everything the little girl says and does. Worse than that, Georgie’s imaginary friend knows things about Camille’s childhood, things Camille has never told a soul. Is it a coincidence or is Georgie’s imaginary friend not so fictional after all? As the family’s stability cracks, so does Camille’s facade, because the past isn’t just coming for her and everyone she loves—it’s already here."

Minka Kent (Author), Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Think of Me

"A heartbreaking new novel of grief, family and the enduring power of love from the author of We Must Be Brave When I open my eyes I see a small dark shape at the end of the pew under the window. A piece of cloth, a handkerchief perhaps? No, a woman’s headscarf. The blue is bright, Mediterranean. I can’t for the life of me remember seeing it before. But all the same it seems familiar. More than familiar. As if I’ve held it in my hands before. As if it’s been next to Yvette’s skin. James Acton has come to the village of Upton to begin again. As his grief over the death of his wife eases, he hopes to find new purpose as the vicar of this small, Hampshire parish, still emerging from the long shadow of the war. James’s own war was in the Western Desert, where he fell in love, first with the thrill of being a hurricane pilot and then with Yvette Haddad, the captivating, enigmatic young Alexandrian with a penchant for dangerous driving. The past has a way of clinging on to us, and even as James embarks on new beginnings, finding friends – and even love – among the people of Upton, the secrets he has held on to so tightly for years threaten to break loose. But Yvette had secrets too, and as James follows a trail that leads him back through the landscape of their marriage, what he discovers about both of them will change everything …"

Frances Liardet (Author), Nicholas Guy Smith, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

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Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters

"A hilarious and moving story of one girl's fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal phrase containing all the letters of the alphabet, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island's Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is 'a love letter to alphabetarians and logomaniacs everywhere' (Myla Goldberg, bestselling author of Bee Season)."

Mark Dunn (Author), Lauren Ezzo, Michael Crouch, Renata Friedman, Sara Morsey (Narrator)

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The Break-Up Book Club

"Named one of 2021's Best Beach Reads by Bustle ∙ Country Living ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ Augusta Chronicle ∙ E! Online ∙ PureWow ∙ SheReads ∙ and more! Breakups, like book clubs, come in many shapes and sizes and can take us on unexpected journeys as four women discover in this funny and heartwarming exploration of friendship from the USA Today bestselling author of Ten Beach Road and My Ex-Best Friend's Wedding. On paper, Jazmine, Judith, Erin and Sara have little in common - they're very different people leading very different lives. And yet at book club meetings in an historic carriage house turned bookstore, they bond over a shared love of reading (and more than a little wine) as well as the growing realization that their lives are not turning out like they expected. Former tennis star Jazmine is a top sports agent balancing a career and single motherhood. Judith is an empty nester questioning her marriage and the supporting role she chose. Erin's high school sweetheart and fiancé develops a bad case of cold feet, and Sara's husband takes a job out of town saddling Sara with a difficult mother-in-law who believes her son could have done better - not exactly the roommate most women dream of. With the help of books, laughter, and the joy of ever evolving friendships, Jazmine, Judith, Erin and Sara find the courage to navigate new and surprising chapters of their lives as they seek their own versions of happily-ever-after."

Wendy Wax (Author), Cassandra Morris, Hillary Huber, Nicole Lewis, Renata Friedman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Renata Friedman

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