Reviews You’ll Soon Be Seeing: Autumn 2015 Edition

We’re always busy here at AudioGals, listening to a wide selection of audiobooks and then giving readers our honest opinions, so we’ve always got a large number of reviews in the pipeline.  Here’s just a selection of the reviews you should be seeing in the next couple of months.

 


all I wantAll I Want by Jill Shalvis, narrated by Karen White

Pilot-for-hire Zoe Stone is happy to call Sunshine, Idaho, her home base. But her quiet life is thrown for a loop when her brother’s friend, Parker, comes to stay with her for a week. The US Fish and Wildlife special agent is a handsome flirt with a gift for getting under her skin. And the situation only escalates when Parker hires her to fly him around the area while he collects evidence on a suspected smuggler. Now she has to live and work with the guy. But when they’re in the air, she sees another side of him. He’s driven, focused, and sharp. And while he enjoys giving commentary on her blind dates, she quickly realizes that it’s Parker who gets her engines going….


 

all night longAll Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz, narrated by Amanda Cobb

Shy, studious Irene Stenson and wild, privileged Pamela Webb had been the best of friends for one short high school summer. Their friendship ended the night Pamela dropped Irene off at home – and Irene walked in to discover her parents’ bodies on the kitchen floor. It was ruled a murder-suicide, and Irene fled Dunsley, determined to wipe out every memory attached to her Northern California hometown. But now she has been summoned back.

Pamela’s email had been short and cryptic. More alarming, it included the code word they had used as teenagers, suggesting an urgency and secrecy that puzzled Irene. What could be important enough to make her former friend get in touch after all these years? She won’t find out – at least not from Pamela, who lies dead in the luxurious home of her father, a US senator, pill and liquor bottles beside her. The shock has barely subsided before the rumors begin to swirl.

Irene had planned to get out of this place as quickly as possible. But her reporter’s instinct – and her own hunger to know the truth – compel her to extend her stay at the local lodge. Even more compelling is the man who runs the place – a hazel-eyed ex-marine who’s as used to giving orders as Irene is to ignoring them.

Luke Danner can see the terrified young girl hidden beneath Irene Stenson’s black-clad, confident exterior – and he is intent on protecting her. But he is also driven by passions of his own, and together they will risk far more than local gossip to sort out what happened to Pamela Webb and what really happened on that long-ago summer night.


 

Autumn-Duchess-Lucinda-Brant-Alex-Wyndham-audiobook-1000Autumn Duchess by Lucinda Brant, narrated by Alex Wyndham

Hampshire, England, 1777: Antonia, Dowager Duchess of Roxton, has been mourning the loss of her soul mate for three long years. Her despair is all-consuming until into her life steps a devilishly handsome younger man. Unconventional and self-assured, wealthy merchant Jonathon Strang will stop at nothing to convince Antonia she can love again, and deeply.

 

 



cold hearted rakeCold Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas, narrated by Mary Jane Wells

A twist of fate…

Devon Ravenel, London’s most wickedly charming rake, has just inherited an earldom. But his powerful new rank in society comes with unwanted responsibilities…and more than a few surprises. His estate is saddled with debt, and the late earl’s three innocent sisters are still occupying the house – along with Kathleen, Lady Trenear, a beautiful young widow whose sharp wit and determination are a match for Devon’s own.

A clash of wills…

Kathleen knows better than to trust a ruthless scoundrel like Devon. But the fiery attraction between them is impossible to deny – and from the first moment Devon holds her in his arms, he vows to do whatever it takes to possess her. As Kathleen finds herself yielding to his skillfully erotic seduction, only one question remains:

Can she keep from surrendering her heart to the most dangerous man she’s ever known?


 

Highlander UndoneHighlander Undone by Connie Brockway, narrated by Napoleon Ryan

To win her trust, he must betray his heart.

While recovering at his uncle’s estate from wounds sustained in the Sudan, Jack Cameron – a loyal Scottish captain in the British army – is haunted by the words of a dying officer: one of her majesty’s Black Dragoons is aiding the slavers they were sent to suppress. But how will he uncover the traitor without sending the culprit to ground? He finds a way while listening to the voices beneath his open window – particularly those of Addie Hoodless, a beautiful widow, and her brother, Ted, a famed artist commissioned to paint portraits of the Black Dragoons’ senior officers.

Posing as an artist, Jack decides to infiltrate the close circle of friends at Ted’s studio to listen in on the unguarded conversations of the officers. But first, he must win Addie’s trust despite the emotional wounds of her past. Will Jack dupe the only woman he has ever loved or stand down from hunting the traitor? If his real identity is exposed, Addie’s life will be in terrible danger.


 

kultiKulti by Mariana Zapata, narrated by Callie Dalton

“Trust me, I’ve wanted to punch you in the face a time or five.”

When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. Keywords: “supposed to”.

It didn’t take a week for 27-year-old Sal Casillas to wonder what she’d seen in the international soccer icon – why she’d ever had his posters on her wall or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-playing soccer babies.

Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the history of imaginary relationships with a man who hadn’t known she’d existed. So she isn’t prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team’s season: a quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he’d once been.


 

The Last Time I Saw HerThe Last Time I Saw Her by Karen Robards, narrated by Ann Marie Lee

In this world, Dr. Charlotte “Charlie” Stone skillfully probes the twisted minds of incarcerated serial killers to better understand what makes them tick, and to help nab those who remain at large. But in the next world, Charlotte’s ghostly lover – convicted killer Michael Garland – is facing death yet again. It seem the only way Charlie can snatch Michael from the jaws of oblivion is by proving his innocence. And this dead man’s dead ringer may just be the key.

A mysterious stranger has turned up in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and Charlie is shocked to realize he could be Michael Garland’s identical twin. But she suspects the resemblance is only skin deep–and that behind the handsome face may lurk the perverse mind of a killer. While using all her keen profiling gifts, Charlie risks her life to discover the shocking secret that will clear Michael’s name.

Then a breakout at Wallens Ridge State Prison forces Charlie to contend with a sudden swarm of psychopaths bent on spilling blood. No one has a better chance of tracking down the deadly fugitives than Charlie – unless the rampaging killers manage to find her first and make this case her last. But Michael will move heaven and hell – and even make a devil’s bargain – for the chance to save Charlie’s life, and feel her touch once more…if only for the final time.


 

make mine a rangerMake Mine a Ranger by Kate Aster, narrated by Tanya Eby

Twenty-four-year-old Bess Foster has a three-year-old daughter she cherishes, friends she adores, and an Army Ranger she’s been fantasizing about for nearly four years. But she also has a past that haunts her: an abusive ex-boyfriend she fled from to protect her child. She thought that she was free of him…until she saw his face again.

Sharing a house with a single mom and a preschooler might not sound like the best fit for an Army Ranger. But when First Lieutenant Tyler Griffon finds out that the waterfront house where his longtime friend, Bess, lives with her daughter has a vacancy, he can’t resist the jaw-dropping view of the Chesapeake Bay. And when he signs the lease, this Ranger will get more action than he bargained for….


 

named of the dragonNamed of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley, narrated by Jill Tanner

The charm of spending the Christmas holidays in South Wales, with its crumbling castles and ancient myths, seems the perfect distraction from the nightmares that have plagued literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw since the loss of her baby five years ago. Instead, she meets an emotionally fragile young widow who’s convinced that Lyn’s recurring dreams have drawn her to Castle Farm for an important purpose – and she’s running out of time. With the help of a reclusive, brooding playwright, Lyn begins to untangle the mystery and is pulled into a world of Celtic legends, dangerous prophecies, and a child destined for greatness.


 

racing the sunRacing the Sun by Karina Halle, narrated by Erin Bennett

It’s time for 24-year-old Amber MacLean to face the music. After a frivolous six months of backpacking through New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia, she finds herself broke on the Mediterranean without enough money for a plane ticket home to California. There are worse places to be stuck than the gorgeous coastline of Southern Italy, but the only job she manages to secure involves teaching English to two of the brattiest children she’s ever met. It also doesn’t help that the children are under the care of their brooding older brother, Italian ex-motorcycle racer Desiderio Larosa. Darkly handsome and oh-so-mysterious, Derio tests Amber’s patience and will at every turn – not to mention her hormones. But when her position as teacher turns into one as full-time nanny at the crumbling old villa, Amber finds herself growing closer to the enigmatic recluse and soon has to choose between the safety of her life back in the States and the uncertainty of Derio’s closely guarded heart.


 

rescue me maybeRescue Me, Maybe by Jackie Bouchard, narrated by Teri Clark Linden

If you lost both your spouse and your dog to cancer within weeks of each other, but you were sadder about the dog, would you tell anyone? Maybe your closest friends. Unfortunately, Jane Bailey’s closest friends are on the other side of the country. That’s where Jane plans to go now that she’s free to leave Philadelphia, the too cold, beachless, street taco-deficient city her husband dragged her to six years ago. But with no job prospects in her hometown of San Diego, Jane is roped into helping out temporarily at her uncle’s southwestern small-town B&B. En route to her new role as innkeeper and breakfast chef, she finds a stray at a rest stop. With her heart in pieces from the loss of her dog, she’s determined not to let this mutt worm its way into her affections. She’s also determined to have next-to-no interaction with the B&B’s irritating guests, and the even more annoying handyman who lives next door. Can Jane keep her sanity – and her secret that she’s not really a grieving widow – while trying to achieve her dream of getting back to the place she thinks is home?


 

single undead mom's clubThe Single Undead Mom’s Club by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Widow Libby Stratton arranged to be turned into a vampire after she was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. It wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had, but she was desperate – she wasn’t about to leave her seven-year-old son to be raised by her rigid, overbearing in-laws. On top of post-turning transition issues, like being ignored at PTA meetings and other mothers rejecting her son’s invitations for sleepovers, Libby must deal with her father-in-law’s attempts to declare her an unfit mother, her growing feelings for Wade – a tattooed redneck single dad she met while hiding in a closet at Back to School Night – and the return of her sire, who hasn’t stopped thinking about brave, snarky Libby since he turned her. With the help of her new vampire circle, Libby negotiates this unfamiliar quagmire of legal troubles, parental duties, relationships, and, as always in Harper’s distinct, comedic novels, “characters you can’t help but fall in love with”.


 

sisters of versaillesThe Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie, narrated by Elizabeth Wiley

Set against the lavish backdrop of the French Court in the early years of the 18th century, The Sisters of Versailles is the extraordinary tale of the five Nesle sisters – Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne – four of whom became mistresses to King Louis XV. Their scandalous story is stranger than fiction but true in every shocking, amusing, and heartbreaking detail.Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife. The race is on to find a mistress for the royal bed as various factions put their best foot – and women – forward. The king’s scheming ministers push Louise, the eldest of the aristocratic Nesle sisters, into the arms of the king. Over the following decade, the four sisters – sweet, naïve Louise; ambitious Pauline; complacent Diane, and cunning Marie Anne – will conspire, betray, suffer, and triumph in a desperate fight for both love and power.


 

the visitantThe Visitant by Megan Chance, narrated by Julia Whelan

After she nearly ruins her family with a terrible misstep, Elena Spira is sent to Venice to escape disgrace and to atone by caring for the ailing Samuel Farber. But the crumbling and decaying Ca’ Basilio palazzo, where Samuel is ensconced, holds tragic secrets, and little does Elena know how profoundly they will impact her. Soon she begins to sense that she is being watched by something. And when Samuel begins to have hallucinations that make him violent and unpredictable, she can’t deny she’s in mortal danger.

Then impoverished nobleman Nero Basilio, Samuel’s closest friend and the owner of the palazzo, arrives. Elena finds herself entangled with both men in a world where the past seeps into the present and nothing is as it seems. As Elena struggles to discover the haunting truth before it destroys her, a dark force seems to hold Samuel and the Basilio in thrall – is it madness, or something more sinister?


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