Welcome to Brian’s Book Blog’s Weekly Showcase of New and Notable Audiobooks for December 10th 2024!
Each week, I handpick audiobooks from various genres that have caught my attention. Dive in and discover your next great listen!
Spot an audiobook I missed or one you’re particularly excited about? Share in the comments below!
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Every Little Thing by Lily Seabrooke
Narrated by Ellie Gossage
The Bayview Romances #3
Tantor Media
Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles narrated by Ellie Gossage
The end isn’t the best time to realize you’ve been in love all along.
Bakery owner Harper has her secrets. She’s always kept to herself, constantly on a career climb that only she can see, with no one allowed close—except the one person in Bayview who won’t take no for an answer.
Paisley’s fallen into bed with Harper twice already over their years of friendship, but it’s never meant anything. Unless it has, in which case—well, she’d have to confront those feelings now, because Harper is on her way out of Bayview for good.
It’s too late now for the two of them to find all the things they could have been. But maybe the ending is the best time for a new beginning.
Contains mature themes.
Know Your Newlywed by Heather Taylor, Hillary Nussbaum, Elena Armas
Narrated by Mary Mouser, Tyler Posey, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Vikas Adam, Jennifer Jill Araya, Ramón de Ocampo, Graham Halstead, Helen Laser, Jenn Lee, Vyvy Nguyen, John Pirhalla, Adriana Sananes, Landon Woodson
Simon & Schuster Audio Originals
Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf) and Mary Mouser (Cobra Kai) star in this swoon-worthy, full-cast rom-com! When two super-fans of a beloved dating gameshow hear that it’s being rebooted, they decide to team up and fake a marriage to compete in the hilarious new audiobook Know Your Newlywed, written by Heather Taylor and Hillary Nussbaum, and executive produced by New York Times bestselling author Elena Armas.
Cleo is a researcher with big dreams of a PhD in anthrozoology, and a guilty pleasure obsession with Know Your Newlywed, a decades-old gameshow where married couples compete by answering obscure questions about each other. She’s more invested in her career than in finding a relationship of her own, though—that is, until she comes across Javi’s dating app profile, which says he’s “looking for someone to win Know Your Newlywed with.”
Sparks fly, and when Cleo and Javi catch wind of a reboot of their beloved show, they apply on a whim, pretending to be newlyweds themselves. Before they know it, they’re cast as contestants, playing the part of smitten married couple better than they could’ve imagined. Their very real chemistry is impossible to ignore, and as the competition heats up, they quickly become America’s sweethearts. But how far can Cleo and Javi take their secret? And as they inch closer and closer to a life-changing cash prize, will the mounting pressure and their individual ambitions get in the way of their blossoming romance? Or is their connection strong enough to last once the cameras stop rolling?
Head Over Feels by Emma Lee Jayne
Narrated by Amanda Stribling, Owen Grayson
Fidgety Firefly Books, LLC
There are two things I can’t get out of my head. My completely inappropriate feelings for my stupidly hot best friend, Keegan, and a vacuum. Right now, the vacuum is taking the front seat. It’s the key for landing a major client—and the only way I’ll finally prove that I’ve been the creative mastermind behind my ad team’s success. Nothing—not even my embarrassing stutter—is going to get in my way. Putting myself in the team’s spotlight also puts me on my ridiculously hot CEO’s radar.
How am I supposed to navigate a lifelong stutter, my boss’s unexpected interest, and Keegan staring in all of my nighttime fantasies, all while nailing the biggest pitch of my career? Head Over Feels is a laugh-out-loud, single POV, friends to lovers rom-com featuring a hilarious squad of friends, a swoony slow burn, and a heart-felt HEA for a woman who thinks she has it all figured out.
Snow Going Back by Emma Tallon
Narrated by Hayden Bishop
Dreamscape Media
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Everyone is heading home for the holidays. Everyone except Kate. Having just run away from her boyfriend Lance’s unexpected proposal (in front of her entire family), Kate was the only person in her office happy to take an unexpected last-minute work trip posting to Boston.
Arriving in the snow-covered, fairy-light-filled city, Kate feels immediately at home. That is until she meets Sam, a cross between a lumberjack and an Abercrombie model standing in the kitchen of her new place. Which also happens to be his home thanks to a work mix-up. Given that it’s Christmas and there is nowhere else to stay, they agree to make it work.
But pretty soon it’s clear that Sam is not the ideal housemate. From drinking all the milk, turning the hot water off whilst she’s showering, and insisting she stay in her room for the entirety of ‘game night’ with the boys, Kate thinks Sam is the absolute worst. And he thinks the same of her.
When Sam surprisingly comes to her rescue, his frosty exterior finally thaws and when they open up to each other, they realize they have more in common than they thought. But when Lance unexpectedly arrives, Kate’s heart is torn. Go home with Lance or spend the holidays with a man she hardly knows, but who could turn out to be the one…
Opposites attract in this heart-warming and truly laugh-out-loud enemies to lovers, forced proximity book. If you enjoy Catherine Walsh, Emily Henry, and Beth Moran, you will love Snow Going Back!
Tour Wars by Carla Luna
Narrated by Sarah Welborn
Romancing the Ruins #3
Bryant Street Publishing
Ten days, two rivals, and a busload of tourists. How bad could it be?
For archaeologist Emilia Flores, landing a fellowship to work at the ancient ruins of Pompeii in Italy is a dream come true. The only catch? She’ll be digging alongside her infuriating nemesis, TJ Mayer, who’s been a constant thorn in her side.
TJ isn’t about to pass up the Pompeii project. Sure, he’ll be stuck working with Emilia, but he thrives on challenging her. And he hasn’t forgotten that secret kiss they shared at an archaeology conference last winter.
Though unearthing Pompeii’s treasures might be a dream, student debt is a nightmare that never takes a vacation. So, when TJ and Emilia are offered a lucrative side job to lead a ten-day tour through southern Italy, they grudgingly agree to tackle it together.
Forced to set aside their animosity and work as a team, they forge an unexpected camaraderie. As the sparks between them ignite, their rivalry gives way to passion, making it easy to forget their years of fierce competition. But what happens when the tour ends and the real world steps in?
Tour Wars is a rivals-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine romance featuring a nerdy cinnamon roll hero, a strong-willed Latina heroine, and plenty of hotel hijinks. It can be listened to as a standalone.
Curated: A Museum Love Story by Nellie Wilson
Narrated by Daniela Acitelli, Paul Brion
Museology #1
Tantor Media
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Emmy Bonaire has built a successful career as a historian by anticipating the worst outcome and avoiding it at all costs. What she couldn’t foresee was her history museum having to combine with the science museum across campus. Even worse, Emmy now has to share an office and design an exhibition with an annoyingly attractive fellow curator, Dr. Ryan Andersson, a paleontologist whose optimism is only topped by Emmy’s skepticism of him.
Ryan considers himself a likeable guy. That is, until he meets Emmy. She seems immune to his midwestern charm and attempts at professional collaboration. Not one to let something go, Ryan embarks on a personal campaign for Emmy to like him. For the museum’s sake, of course. Not at all because the gruff historian piques his interest.
As Emmy and Ryan evolve from begrudging coworkers to steamy stolen kisses in the archives, their academic work benefits as well. But when their collaborative exhibition becomes critical to both of their successes—while their career goals become further unaligned—extinction seems imminent.
Hearing Red by Nicole Maser
Narrated by Lori Prince
Podium Audio
Whispersync Deal with Kindle Purchase
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles narrated by Lori Prince
In a world overrun by an unprecedented outbreak, two young women find themselves on opposite sides of the struggle for survival.
Saff, a determined new doctor in the first year of her internship, had clawed her way out of a tumultuous past, only to be dragged back into it when the zombie outbreak hits. Forced to join her estranged father and his band of raiders, she’s confronted with the harsh reality that desperation can make monsters out of anyone—even her.
Maddie, on the other hand, lived a surprisingly easy life after the zombies first appeared, safe behind the walls of the community at her parent’s lake house. That is until they’re attacked, and she’s ripped away from everything she’s known. Now, she’ll do anything to make it back to her family.
And when Saff’s father dies, she finally has the chance she’s been waiting for. The chance to escape. But only if she can steal the medication she desperately needs and survive long enough to get to safety.
With both girls fighting their way to stay alive day by day, in a world where every circumstance is against them, they realize that maybe traveling together can help them both get what they need.
But Maddie doesn’t know Saff’s secret. She doesn’t know where she came from—what she was. And Saff will do anything, especially lie, to get the medication she needs.
The absolute last thing she needs is to fall for some smart-ass rich girl who will get in the way of that.
Dark Bloom by Molly Macabre
Narrated by Joe James
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
When a disease runs rampant, turning people into cannibalistic horrors, society comes to a halt. Kate manages to escape the sadistic captivity she has endured and collides with Nick, a Marine haunted by the scars of war.
They join forces to navigate a treacherous landscape, battling the undead and hostile survivors. But what happens when the monsters outside are the least of their worries?
Nick’s shame is crushing, and Kate’s distrust is swallowing her whole. Will they overcome the darkness that threatens to consume them from within? And what will become of a world overrun with creatures that cannot seem to stop…laughing?
The Lost Relic by Joshua James
Narrated by Paul Heitsch
ENIGMA Files #1
Check out my reviews of other titles narrated by Paul Heitsch
HISTORY’S GREATEST INVENTIONS HAVE BEEN HIDDEN.
UNTIL NOW.
Indiana Jones meets The X-Files in this thrilling, globe-spanning adventure about the greatest treasure hunt of all time—where ancient secrets collide with cutting-edge technology.
In the high-stakes world of ancient artifacts and clandestine organizations, a trio of unlikely misfits are drafted into a desperate race to prevent the assembly of a long lost device.
Rhett, the stoic ex-military leader haunted by his past Dinah, the conflicted academic with a penchant for solving ancient puzzles Fabien, a dangerous man driven by a personal quest.
All are bound together by a cause bigger than any of them.
With the aid of some of the most powerful inventions of antiquity, they journey from the peaks of the Himalayas to the heart of war-torn Ethiopia, and from the depths of the rainforest to the unexplored realms of spacetime.
But what they seek might be more powerful than they were led to believe, it’s origins more mysterious, and their enemies more numerous. An ancient force waits in the shadows, threatening to unravel the fabric of existence.
How far will they go to save a world on the brink of ruin?
The Lost Relic is the heart-pounding first installment of the ENIGMA Files series, where every relic unearthed can change history, or destroy it.
Artificial Selection by Marianne Pickles
Narrated by Kristin Atherton
Neon Mess Press
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
An AI, an investigator, and a geneticist walk into a library…
It’s the year 2101, and half of England is underwater, but the horrors of the Melt are becoming a distant memory thanks to ArkTech, the company that saved the world.
The ArkTech Territory is the only home Charlotte Vance has ever known, so when Ben, the company’s curious AI, starts asking awkward questions about human behaviour, she’s only too happy to help.
But as she investigates the mystery of why a geneticist is stealing pages from library books, Charlotte is forced to confront unsettling truths about her past, and about the company she’s always trusted.
The deeper she digs, the more she realises her discoveries could threaten everything she holds dear. Charlotte must make a choice – and the wrong decision could cost her everything.
Surrogate Protocol by Tham Cheng-E
Narrated by Benjamin Chow
Storyside
Landon Locke is no ordinary barista. A man of many names and identities, he has lived through many lifetimes, but his memory spans only days.
Danger brews as Landon struggles to piece together reality through his fog of amnesia. A mysterious organisation called CODEX bent on hunting him down, a man named John who claims to be a friend, and women from Landon’s past who have come back to haunt him.
As CODEX closes in, he finds himself increasingly backed into a corner. Battling an unreliable memory, Landon is forced to make a choice: who can he trust?
The Solomon Key by Shawn Hopkins
Narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins
The Solomon Key #1
Banzai Press
Kindle Edition Currently Available with Kindle Unlimited
Check out my reviews of other titles written by Shawn Hopkins
Check out my reviews of other titles narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins
SOCIETY IS BEING REWRITTEN. HE HOLDS THE KEY TO A DIABOLICAL PLOT. WILL ANYONE SURVIVE WHAT HE’S UNEARTHED?
North American Union, the near future. Matthew Scott isn’t proud of the world he helped create. Having abandoned his wife to ensure her safety, the ex-CIA operative has found a sliver of peace by escaping the rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape and living off-grid. So somebody’s definitely in his crosshairs when his last remaining friend receives a mysterious ring in the mail and is then tortured…and killed. Forced to jump into the game once more, Scott delves deep into a twisted realm of Templars, rebels, and terrifying globalist schemes. And with the one thing he’s ever cared about suddenly back in play, the professional killer has everything to gain…and nothing to lose. Can he crack the mystery of the ancient relic before the world falls victim to unrelenting evil? The Solomon Key is an edge-of-your-seat action thriller novel. If you like bold military heroics, diabolical twists and turns, and stunning historical intrigue, then you’ll love Shawn Hopkins’s invigorating enigma.
I’ve loved reading since I was little when my dad would read me Dr. Suess books. Fast-forward a little and I noticed that he was always reading on his lunch breaks at work, and I wondered why.Then, I found a book that took me to another place and time, to another feeling,another sense of “being”.It was the first book that I ever fell in love with, and I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.
