Romance
Float plan
Doller, Trish, author.
FICTION Doller Trish
Romance
Since the loss of her fiancé, Anna has been shipwrecked by grief. When a reminder goes off about a trip they were supposed to take together, Anna impulsively goes to sea in their sailboat, intending to complete the voyage alone. After a treacherous night's sail she realizes she can't do it by herself and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help. Keane is also struggling with a very different future than the one he had planned. As romance rises with the tide, they discover that it's never too late to chart a new course.
The road to tender hearts : a novel
Hartnett, Annie. author.
FICTION Hartnett Annie
Literary Fiction, Romance
At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren't for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn't have much time left--he's had three heart attacks already. But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he's going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back. Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother's grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. PJ also thinks he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter who's adrift in her twenties, to come along to babysit. And there's one more surprise addition to the roster: Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ's home. This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for--a fresh shot at love and parenting--but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It's very possible his heart can't take it.
(Road trip!) -Madison C
Here we go again : a novel
Cochrun, Alison, author.
FICTION Cochrun Alison
LGBTQ+, Romance
A queer rom-com following once childhood best friends forced together to drive their former teacher across the country.
(Road trip!) Maybe you're in the mood for a road trip full of second chances and even some unexpected romantic sparks? Alison Cochrun's queer rom-com is a great car trip escape, making memorable stops at Old Wounds Station, Chemistry Junction, and the Forgiveness Café. Exploring life's past choices and the road still ahead, this is a summer trip you won't want to miss. -Madison C
It's a Love Story
Annabel Monaghan
OverDrive Audiobook
Fiction, Humor, Romance
“Poignant, funny, and bingeable, Annabel Monaghan writes five star reads.” —Abby Jimenez From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV actress-turned-Hollywood producer whose “fake it till you make it” mantra sets her on a crash course with her past, forcing her to spend a week on Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love. Love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth. Jane Jackson spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punch line on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s trying to be taken seriously as a Hollywood studio executive by embracing a new mantra: Fake it till you make it. Except she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she claimed that she could get mega popstar Jack Quinlan to write a song for the movie. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years. Now Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan as she faces down her past is Jane's idea of hell, but he just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?
I got to be the lucky "First Hold" on this audiobook. Two days in, and I feel like it's a whirlwind love affair between me and this story! It took a few chapters for me to get into the narration, but the slow burn love story is so engrossing that I'd love it no matter what. As usual with the books I recommend, the main characters are quite likeable. I do want propose shame plays a key role in this book as well, as so much of the main female character's life is shaped by the emotion's influence on her. There is some fun meta-romance in this book as well, like a fun enemies-to-friends argument about The Notebook and discourse about what makes a love story truly wonderful. The relationship building is paced nicely. There's no first-date-lap dance like you get in Hannah Grace's Wildfire. I'm only about halfway through the book, and there's only been thoughts of kissing rather than any action-packed lip-smacking. But the anticipation is what makes it so good! Gotta remember that for future book choices: give me yearning over instant gratification. -Melody
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House
Laurie Gilmore
OverDrive Audiobook
Fiction, Romance
Every book in the Dream Harbor series can be read as a standalone. As a world-renowned chef, single dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive. Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when it's suggested that Archer is looking for a live-in nanny, she almost runs in the opposite direction. Now, Iris finds herself in a whole new world. One where her gorgeous new boss lives right across the hall and likes to cook topless... Keeping everything strictly professional should be easy, right? The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is a cozy romantic mystery with a single dad and found family dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed! Tropes: Single Dad, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn, Found Family
This romance novel makes for a nice and easy listening audiobook. The drama isn't too hot to handle, the scars are only emotional, and no one gets murdered. So I guess that's my way of saying I'll happily live in a strawberry pancake house for a week. Both main characters have their own way of being a hot mess. One: a scatterbrain yoga and swim instructor; the other: a perfectionist, exacting chef who can't make Bisquick pancakes right. I sometimes get so emotionally wrapped up in the mental lives of a novel's protagonists that it's hard to remember I live in the real world. This book didn't make me work so hard. It was gentle and tame with mild but interesting love scenes. -Melody
The Jewel of the Isle
Kerry Rea
OverDrive Audiobook
Adventure, Humor, Romance
Two very indoor people rough it on a remote island after getting swept up in an archaeologist’s hunt for a famed jewel in this dazzling new adventure rom-com by Kerry Rea, author of Lucy on the Wild Side. If Emily Edwards knows one thing, it’s that you don’t go to a remote island by yourself. Ever the type A personality, Emily doesn’t want to hike around an unfamiliar island, but she’s determined to fulfill her late father’s national park bucket list, starting with Isle Royale National Park—home to wolves, bears, and hundred-year-old shipwrecks. She has no choice but to hire a tour guide, and there is only one that isn’t booked solid. Ryder Fleet, co-owner of Fleet Outdoor Adventures, wouldn’t call himself a wilderness expert, and he definitely doesn’t know how to find true north. But when his dormant adventure guide business suddenly finds life again after a random inquiry, Ryder somehow finds himself on a ferry to Isle Royale with a very beautiful, no-nonsense woman. What this woman doesn’t know is that his brother Caleb, who died two years ago, was the outdoorsman of their business, while Ryder just did the marketing. But how hard could it be to hike up a few mountains? Pretty difficult, actually, when murder is involved. Emily’s perfectly planned trek turns disastrous when she and Ryder witness a brutal crime and are suddenly forced to evade a group of archaeologists on the hunt for a jewel. As they spend nights together too close for comfort, they realize their shoddily built fire isn’t the only thing that’s kindling, and that they must trust each other if they want to escape the island with their lives—and hearts—intact.
When judging this book by its cover, I assumed it was going to be a little lame and poorly written. And how wrong I was! This book is a madcap adventure if I ever read one. I don't want to give too much away, but I chortled at every gag our heroes used in an attempt to get out of sticky situations. Who brings a slingshot to a gun fight? These guys. The setting for this book--Isle Royale National Park--was the other selling point for me. I love indulging in books that take me to faraway places. A forested island with no ticks or bears, but plenty of moose and the chance to see a wolf, equals one that will capture my daydreams. Lovers of national park hiking adventures: this one's for you! -Melody
Thank you for listening : a novel
Julia Whelan
FICTION Whelan, Julia
Humor, Romance
The days of being a star on film sets are long behind Sewanee Chester. She has found success and satisfaction as an audiobook narrator, and it allows her to care for her ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger. On her return home she learns one of the world's most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book-- with Brock McNight, the industry's hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee stopped narrating romances years ago, but she works on the book under her old romance pseudonym. Hidden behind the comfort of anonymity, Sewanee and Brock forge a real connection-- until the realities of life come crashing down around her once more. -- adapted from jacket.
If you know you know...audiobook listeners of literary fiction, historical fiction, romance, and most other genres have enjoyed the voice of Julia Whalen, she has narrated over 600 titles. Generally I expect that if I see Julia Whalen as the narrator of an audio title that it's going to be a really good listen for me. Fans of Kristen Hannah, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Abby Jimenez, Emily Henry and various popular thriller writers such as Rachel Hawkins, (she even narrated Gone Girl!) will recognize her voice. I was excited to listen to her narrate her own book, appropriately about a book narrator, and even more appropriately set in the world of "HEA" or romantic comedy. I found the story to be similar to an Emily Henry book, with a mixture of witty banter, personal tragedy, ironic situational humor and some absolutely fantastic narrating by Julia herself, with a large range of characters and accents! -Mari
The True Love Experiment
Christina Lauren
OverDrive Audiobook
Fiction, Humor, Romance
Winner of the 2024 Audie Award for Romance. Sparks fly when a romance writer and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the ultimate Hollywood love story—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script—from the "divine" (Jodi Picoult) New York Times bestselling authors of The Soulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners. Felicity "Fizzy" Chen is lost. Sure, she's got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she's asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn't been practicing what she's preached. Fizzy hasn't ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can't-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she's spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie? Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work but when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too. "Full of big laughs, a few tears, and some seriously steamy scenes" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy's debut in the New York Times bestselling The Soulmate Equation.
Once I got into this audiobook, I had to make sure I only opened it when I had a solid block of time to binge-listen. The story, the narrative performances had me so rapt that any disruption to my attention to it stoked my ire. I missed the fact that it won an Audie; the award is well deserved. And honestly, I'm not a fan of the covers of Christina Lauren's books so I passed this one by every time I saw it. But boy was I missing out! The writing is so funny too, the plot clever. The first book in this series, The Soulmate Equation, is definitely going on my To Be Read list. Can't wait! -Melody
Waifs and Strays
Helen Harper
OverDrive Audiobook
Fantasy, Romance
Nobody is just a cat lady. Kit McCafferty's life is quiet, unremarkable, and filled with cat hair. In the magical city of Coldstream, located on the border between Scotland and England, Kit is viewed as little more than mildly eccentric and mostly harmless. She passes her days caring for her family of five cats, feeding the local feral moggies, and maintaining relatively good relations with her neighbors. All that changes, however, when a teenage werewolf shows up at her door in the desperate hope of renting out a nearby vacant flat. Kit knows that the smart move is to tell him to leave. The last thing she needs is to become embroiled in complicated shapeshifter politics. But something about the secretive young werewolf tugs at her heartstrings. It's not long before Kit ends up caught in a maelstrom of mysterious crime and magical wrong-doing. Fortunately, there's far more to Kit McCafferty than meets the eye and she has a few dark secrets of her own. Of course, anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that you underestimate a cat lady at your own peril.
I haven't picked up a Helen Harper novel for a few years, but I used to burn through her books like nobody's business. Her characters are cheeky and irreverent, getting into all sorts of hijinks and having a range of magical abilities. She is one of my favorite urban fantasy writers, and while the person reading her audiobooks has a rather thick alto brogue, it is well worth training your ear for a listen. -Melody
Can't spell treason without tea : a cozy fantasy steeped with love
Rebecca Thorne
SCIENCE FICTION Thorne Rebecca
Fiction, Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Romance
"All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters ... all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen's private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn't so easy. But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she's thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibly -- all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra near dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams. What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm's biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other ... and the world."--Back cover.
So many romance novels are about the opening stages of a relationship, and it was really refreshing to watch Reyna and Kianthe navigate the conflicts that can arise in an established relationship. Thorne does a great job balancing the cozy atmosphere with intriguing political drama and world building. The sequel, "A Pirate's Life for Tea," was also a great read, and I'm excited to see what else this series has in store later this year! -Chelsea
(Get away on a Cruise!) Sometimes, to move past life's hardships, you need to leave the shore behind. Perfect for a summer full of warm breezes and turquoise waters, Trish Doller's novel will definitely pull at your heartstrings. Book your ticket for this tropical voyage today! -Madison C