firewhiskeyreader

I hope that you are still finding things that bring you joy while stuck inside and trying to protect those around you or still going to work because you’re essential or otherwise exempt from stay at home orders. If you need to escape into an audiobook or five, I hope these posts may prove helpful. There are already two others on the blog, part one is here and part two is here. Happy reading!

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Knitting in the City by Penny Reid

This series evokes a lot of opinions and I’m not going to really wade into that because other than my feelings about this series being called a “Smart Romance”, I’m not positive what all of the other opinions are. So, if you don’t like Penny Reid, steer clear. If you haven’t tried Penny Reid and are interested in romantic comedies, allow me to introduce you to the Knitting in the City series. While I personally much prefer the Winston Brothers series, this one is about a group of women who have knitting nights and each of their romances. We start with Neanderthal Seeks Human, which is about the head of a security company falling in love with a woman who is very down on her luck suddenly and is also probably somewhere on the spectrum. I really like Janie and Quinn. My personal favorite in the series though is Beauty and the Mustache because it intros the Winston Brothers. Also there’s a Heaving Bosoms episode on Love Hacked and it’s hilarious. I love Erin. (Spoiler alert: They don’t like Alex.)

His Perfect Partner by Priscilla Oliveres

This book is about ad executive and single father, Tomas Garcia, falling in love with his daughter’s dance teacher, Yazmine Fernandes. Yazmine is back in her hometown taking care of her father, having left her Broadway aspirations at least partially in the past. For now. She still plans to get back there, despite wondering if that’s really what she wants. She cannot deny her attraction to Tomas, but both of them know that they can’t make this work if Yazmine is going to really pursue her dreams. It’s a really lovely romance and I enjoyed my time listening to it. Also, if you don’t like open door sexy times in your romance audiobooks, this is a good choice for you.

Remedial Rocket Scientist by Susannah Nix

This is the first book in the series and it looks like the first three are available on Audible Escape so if you like the first (I did) then maybe you’ll want to pick up the next two (I have not yet). This one is about Melody Gage meeting a man at a bar, Jeremy, and having a one night stand. Fast forward to her accepting her first big girl job (aka fresh out of college) and it turns out Jeremy’s the CEO’s son of the company she works for. Their immediate connection remains, but there’s a complication, which is that Jeremy has a girlfriend. I enjoyed this book and I don’t remember there being cheating on the part of Melody/Jeremy, but I could definitely be misremembering so maybe check Goodreads if that’s something that could affect your enjoyment…

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Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

This is an extremely beloved historical romance novel and one of the Fated Mates “Books that Blooded Me” books. For myself, I adore this one. I think I want to re-read it though. Jessica and Dain had me two seconds from throwing this book across the room and DNFing before Dain finally got his ish together. Basically, Jessica is trying to help herself by helping her brother and Dain is in the way. And she shoots him at one point? I really need to reread this one…

Lucky Suit by Lauren Blakely

Lucky Suit is a quick (short) read, but it was really fun. Kristen is over set-ups, so, of course, her grandma finds a way to neatly set her up. It’s a really fun book that you can fly through. It is only two hours and twenty five minutes, but I would absolutely recommend it for a short listen.

Repeat and Lies by Kylie Scott

Repeat is a relatively quick listen about a woman with amnesia who tracks down the person who gave her a tattoo only to discover that he’s actually her ex. So it’s also a second chance and comes highly recommended by Sarah MacLean. I enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. I definitely don’t regret my time spent listening to it though so if it sounds like something you might like, I would encourage you to give it a try!

Lies is about Betty who thinks her boyfriend has gotten quite boring, until their condo explodes and she’s kidnapped. I think Sarah’s recommended this one too. I haven’t listened to it yet, but am very keen to finally get around to it!

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The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

I’m guessing everyone has heard of The Kiss Quotient by now, but if you’ve not heard of Hoang’s bestselling debut novel, it’s about a woman named Stella who is on the Autism spectrum trying to figure out how to be better at dating. Her solution is hiring an escort. Michael is Vietnamese and his family stole the show for me personally, but I really liked the fake dating this book turned into. I could have done without some of the angst that didn’t make sense to me, but *shrug emoji*, most people disagree with me and love this book passionately. The Bride Test is the follow up and my favorite of the two that are out so far. In this, Esme comes over from Vietnam to potentially be Khai’s wife. The problem is that (a) Khai doesn’t actually want a wife, this is entirely his mother’s plan and (b) that Esme is kind of keeping a big secret from Khai. Khai is also on the Autism spectrum so there’s quite a bit about learning to communicate effectively on both of their parts. I really enjoyed it and hopefully you will too.

The Ravenswood Series by Talia Hibbert

So all three of the main books in the series are in Audible Escape! The series begins with A Girl Like Her, which is about Ruth, a web something or other, and her neighbor, Evan. Ruth is a bit of a recluse and town pariah and Evan is basically Chris Evans and a darling man who cooks for Ruth. There’s autism rep in this one too, which I believe is own voices. It’s really good. The second book is Untouchable, which follows Hannah, Ruth’s sister, and contains one of the best opening chapters in the world. Hannah winds up nannying for Nate’s children. Nate is a widower and Hannah had a crush on him when they were in school together. This book deals a bit with mental health, specifically depression, so if that’s something you’re looking for, this is a good choice. The final book in the series is That Kind of Guy, which is about Zach, who has certainly gotten around if you know what I mean, but is actually demisexual. He’s now determined to not just fall into bed with people because it’s easy since it doesn’t feel great for him. But he’s also pretending to be Rae’s date at this writer’s convention he agreed to accompany her to and is wrestling with his growing feelings for her. I feel like I did such a poor job explaining that, but I assure you it’s handled brilliantly. (In my non-authority on the matter opinion.) Also, the novella in this series is Damaged Goods and it’s not on AE, but I just really want to encourage everyone to read it because it’s one of my favorite novellas of all time.

Every Last Breath and Nothing to Fear by Juno Rushdan

I was so excited when I discovered Every Last Breath was available on Audible Escape and then that excited quadrupled when I realized I could move straight onto book two. Every Last Breath is the first installment in Rushdan’s romantic suspense series with Sourcebooks. It follows Maddox Kincaid who gets assigned a new case, tracking down a man named Cole Matthews so that her very off the record agency can hopefully prevent a deadly strain of smallpox from being used like a bioweapon. So… Maybe don’t read if that will cause pandemic related stress. It did not for me, but obviously that’s a YMMV aspect! I also kind of feel like this romance is best gone into pretty blind because that would make the reveals more fun. So I’ll just say that it’s pretty angsty and very action packed and a delight. The sequel picks up where Every Last Breath left off plot wise, but picks up with two different characters: Gideon Stone and Willow Harper. Apparently I’m all about the books with autism spectrum disorder rep in them this post because Willow falls on that spectrum as well. Also Willow is in danger and Gideon takes it upon himself to try and protect her and that is a top notch trope. These books will keep you on the edge of your seat so if that sounds appealing to you, I would definitely recommend!

And as usual that’s more recommendations than I really meant to give, but I hope you found something that caught your eye! As always, please feel free to leave me any recommendations you might have down below.

xx