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February Romance #ReadingBracket2025
I 💖 Julia Whelan

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Famous real-life audiobook narrator Julia Whelan spins a fictional story centered around, well, audiobook narrators. Self-acceptance/discovery/love play a big role. The little bits of homage to the industry, even when satirical, were great. I loved the inside glimpses of the process. This was just a delightful listen, cleverly showcasing Whelan‘s voice and accent range. Predictable, but a fun read!

Good on audio! My absolute favorite scene of all time was in the senior living center bar. It was comedy gold! The conversation between the three older women that lived there and the two younger women visiting was so funny it had me laughing out loud. I'd recommend it just so you can experience that part of the book alone.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

You're welcome! This is very enjoyable. I did feel the main character was harsh on the romance genre, but she came around in a pretty believable way. (Although the plot is quite deliberately tropey.) Laugh out loud funny at some points -- Whelan likely had a field day with creating characters she could have fun voicing -- but also genuinely painful and touching at times.

#WinterGames Team @XmasChaCha

A romance novel by my favorite audiobook narrator? Sign me up. Thank you, Libby!

Looking for an audiobook to listen to on my drive up to Vermont!

Something light, floofy, and possibly romantic, with a good dash of humor would be nice. Can be realistic or fantasy. Of course, I have a ton of memoirs queued up but that‘s not what I‘m in the mood for. Excellent narrator a must!

TIA. 🙏🏻

This was excellent!

I highly recommend listening to Whelan read her book.

The main character also happens to be an ex-actress who is now primarily doing audiobooks.

There is so much to this story - family drama that includes an aging grandmother, friendship, healing from a major accident, and romance. All of that and more.

Smart, witty, and moving.

I loved it!

Has anyone else checked this out? I‘m intrigued…

I always love books about books. This one was unique and I felt connected to the characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I haven‘t liked a book this much in a long time. Outstanding.

This was really cute and different. I enjoyed the story and the way it was written. I definitely thought it was a unique idea and a good one on audiobook for sure. Fun little romance story to listen to!

Litsy definitely made me do it, & I have no regrets. Thanks friends! The story is engaging, & the narration is top notch — among the best I‘ve “read”. If this is your genre, do the audiobook.

My tbr for the #reversereadathon that starts tonight and goes until 8pm EST tomorrow! (or, for me, until I go see the Barbie movie at 7!) My tbr seems to be all romance, and is also made up of a bunch of books I've started and would like to actually finish. @DeweysReadathon

I loved this. Funny & lighthearted but with surprising depth, as it explores lost dreams & coming to terms with a different future than you‘d imagined. It‘s a bit romance, a bit “women‘s fiction”—with its own fantastic metacommentary on those labels—but with a bit of a cynical edge that I appreciated. And for this book about an actor turned audiobook narrator, written & narrated by an actor turned audiobook narrator—of course, I read it on audio.

“HEA is too much of a setup. It makes you believe we just need to get back what we lost, and life will be rainbows forevermore. But it doesn‘t address what happens if you try to get it back and fail, does it? There‘s also the possibility it‘s not a problem with romance, it‘s a problem with us.”

Flip, what a BRILLIANT audiobook. From a hilarious beginning to a full cast of fabulous characters, I adored this book. I‘m not usually one to put romance in my top reads of the year but I think this might make it to my top 10. Do the audio if you can, a book about audiobooks written by an audiobook narrator just slaps in this form! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finally got to finish this this morning. It was nice to sit around in my PJs in the quiet house, drink my coffee, and finish a book. Most of this I did ‘listen‘ to, and man does Julia Whalen do a phenomenal job at narration. But I got the book in a swap, so it was nice to alternate. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the world we all love so much: books/audiobooks. The romance was nice too. The ending a little cliche, but not enough to dislike.

This is going to be one of my favorites this year. If you would have asked me 10 years ago about the mix of physical, e-books, e-audiobooks & ARCs that would make up my nightstand today- well, I would have laughed my head off at the suggestion. There is just something about a well done audio production that makes my lack of TV absorption understood. A well done narration has the ability to give me everything I need to build the settings and...

This is really fun! An audiobook narrator (IRL & in this story) gets back into romance for one last story with THE current male narrator for romance. It‘s fun to me to break the fourth wall with romance specifically because of the corniness and predictability of the genre so I loved the way they talked about the genre & tropes within the story. There‘s disability rep too!

This was really great until the last 2 hours when the story became so cliche but still really impressive from Julie Whelan, who can both write and narrate perfect dialogue and one line zingers. The story of a female audiobook reader who has given up on all things romance until her very own HEA might be possible. Obviously go audio 😉

10am in Israel #YomHaShoa #HolocaustRemembranceDay An entire country comes to a halt as a 2 minute siren sounds to honor and remember the 9 million murdered due to one man‘s hate of “others” ( Jews, Gypsies, Queer )

JDL annual “Audit of Antisemitic Incidents,” documented 3,697 antisemitic incidents in 2022, up 36% from 2021, and the highest level in the US since the group started keeping records in 1979. #NeverAgain #StopTheHate #🟦 #WeRemember

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Not my go-to genre but boy-oh-boy did I enjoy this! The banter alone gets the 4 stars, and the narration was - of course - excellent.

I did find the last 10% or so of the story to be a little rushed, although at around 11 hours on audio, it was getting to be time to wrap it up.

Depth of characters, solid female friendship, witty dialogue, not-too-saccharine love story. Well done and entertaining!

1️⃣8️⃣ The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy ➡️ 1️⃣9️⃣ Thank You for Listening

#ThingsInCommon: plots with anonymous interactions

#awesomeapril

Such a fun listen! Narrated by the author and about audiobook narrators. Whelan‘s range of voices is amazing!

Thank you so much @CarolynM for my birthday present! I‘ve been wanting to read this for awhile now. The bookplates are absolutely gorgeous! I‘ll have to pick some of my special editions to match their beauty. And the chocolate looks delicious too. You are the most amazing & lovely person I‘ve had the privilege of meeting. Much love right back at you😘♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

4 out of 5

This was my fav January read. Already one week passed in Feb I am still finishing my books from last month😬 This book is light hearted, feel good read I like all the characters. I like those details about audiobook production. Perfect book to listen to during this valentines month🥰 4⭐️

Hemingway

A very meta story (though, Julia Whelan, actress turned audiobook narrator turned author is eager to point out, not an autobiography) about a woman who is an actress turned audiobook narrator. There‘s a discussion between the two love interests about genre: romance vs. women‘s fiction (a rightfully reviled term) vs. fiction, which leaves you wondering which you‘re reading (& if you really must choose). Spoiler alert: all of the above (so, no).👇🏻

This was a hysterical and very grounded in reality of romance and life. Excellent narration by the author. I loved this book. One of my favorite of 2023 so far. I am behind by 4 books this month and may be able to finish one more book before the end of the month.

My January book club‘s pick for this month was simply a delight from start to finish! I‘ve been looking forward to reading this one since I first heard about it- a romance from one of my very favorite audiobook performers?! My only regret is not listening to it- but I plan on doing that, too! Whelan takes some of the best tropes and combines them with her own knowledge of voice-acting, this side of the publishing business & characters to love!

A book about two audiobook narrators, written by an audiobook narrator! This book was a delight - both a charming look into the audiobook industry, and a warm story full of great connection. Surprising depth, too - a major theme was loss, what you can reclaim and what you can only learn to grieve. It stayed funny and charming, even while handling these difficult issues. It's a very impressive balancing act!

Just started this audiobook, I am loving this book, it's very cute And witty. Love this book.

Really good romance. If you‘re looking for spice, this isn‘t it, but it‘s a really good story of two flawed characters navigating life alone and eventually together. The audiobook is really enjoyable!🎧

A fun audiobook- the author is a gifted voice artist- that cheerfully checks off all the romance novel tropes #Jumpstart2023 @Clwojick @Lizpixie

One of my favourite audiobook readers has written a romance and is doing her own narration. It‘s so good so far - taking a very slow day just enjoying life #Jumpstart2023 @Clwojick @Lizpixie

#12Booksof2022 #September

This story featuring a professional audiobook narrator has a lot of fun with the conventions of genre romance and was ideally suited to audiobook format. It was my favourite read in September.

August top pick

#12Booksof2022

@Andrew65

I read a whopping 22 books in June…has to be a personal best for me. 😳 Obviously, I did nothing EXCEPT read for the entire month! LOL

These two were 5⭐️ with quite a few 4.5/5. 😉

Extra kudos to Namesake (sequel to Fable) for possibly my favorite #coverlove of the year! 💙

#12Booksof2022 #June

I won this book and it came with earbuds!

Finished this delightful rom-com, most of which I listened to while getting my new book dragon tattoo!
The book is about two audiobook narrators, who are both dealing with big life choices and events. It has some serious moments - TW in comments - but is overall a fun visit to the world of romance audiobooks. 4⭐️
#WinterReadathon
#bookspinbingo

I found this to be a very enjoyable audiobook- about an audiobook narrator, and read by the author. Lol, meta much? It‘s romance IMO, with a good foundational story though. Great side characters (I especially love Blah Blah 💕) and a fun peek behind the scenes in audiobook recording.

A nice breather in between more serious reads.

3.5 Stars ⭐️ Charming, emotional, full of wit and with some serious elements, but the story felt forgettable, not very original. Still, very enjoyable :) I loved the insights into what its like being an audio narrator.

This was one of the books I finished in October. I listened to it, which is of course the way to go if you can, in order to hear Julia Whelan do all the voices. It‘s a romance set in the world of audiobooks and while some of it is predictable it was a good read.

I don‘t usually post about books while I am reading them, but this one is making me swoon 😍. When I was younger, it was my goal to marry an Irish man. Perhaps because of the film Sliding Doors. Anyway, Whelan has written my dream lad into being and I‘m loving it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Julia Whelan is one of the best audiobook narrators. So when she wrote a book of her own starring two audiobook narrators? I couldn‘t wait. I only listened to the audio version, and I loved every second. Laugh out loud funny, full tears-streaming moments, and everything in between - highly recommend.
Trigger warning: a realistic (from my experience) depiction of a loved one with dementia. If that would hit hard, please proceed gently.

Book 55 for 2022. This book is absolutely adorable. I highly recommend the audio book!

Julia Whelan serves double-duty as narrator and author of her second book. Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#thank-you-for-listening

Witty, clever and very enjoyable rom-com that has a lot of fun with the tropes and conventions of genre romance while delivering strong characters, interesting subplots and a convincing HEA. Thanks to @rachelm for putting it on my radar.