TOP AUDIOBOOK PICKS OF 2019

Liza’s Top Audiobook Picks of 2019

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Random House Audio)

New to me author and OMG I loved this story so much. I’m really hoping it’s true it will soon be made into a show on Amazon Prime.

Veronica Speedwell series 1 – 4 by Deanna Raybourn (Recorded Books/Audible Audio)

I glommed this series as quickly as I could after listening to the first book in the series. I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in the series!

The Lemon Sisters by Jill Shalvis (Harper Audio)

One of my favorite books ever from Jill Shalvis! The romance was strong in this story, but it’s the sisters’ relationship that makes this such an amazing story.

Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep (Harper Audio)

Loved the growth of all the characters in this book. I can’t wait to read the 3^rd book in 2020!

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen (Harper Audio)

Somehow this was my first book from Sarah Dessen, and I loved her voice. Her books are classified as YA, but her voice speaks to everyone.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Audible Audio)

I really enjoyed this story very much. While I figured out most of the mystery involved in this story rather early on, it was still such an engaging story from start to finish.

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins  (Harper Audio)

I admit it…somehow this is my first book by Ms. Bev. I absolutely loved her voice and was pulled into the story from page one.  Yes Rebel was my first book, but definitely won’t be my last!

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews (Harper Audio)

I love the Hidden Legacy series of books and really loved the first book with Catalina as the head of House Baylor.

Barenuckle Bastards series by Sarah MacLean (Harper Audio)

I listened to both books after hearing Sarah MacLean speak at RWA in July. I absolutely fell in love with her voice in these books, and can’t wait to see what happens in the 3^rd Barenuckle Bastards books.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca (Penguin Audio)

This romantic comedy story was one of the best stories I listened to this year. I actually had tried to get a print copy at RWA at the publisher’s signing and Ms. DeLuca ran out as I got to her table. I have to say it was more than worth the wait to listen to the story!

The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole (Audible Audio)

Alyssa Cole could probably write and updated phone book and I’d love it. Her Reluctant Royals books have been some of my favorites from the very beginning. I grabbed The A.I. Who Loved Me as soon as it hit Audible and loved every minute of this story. I really hope we get more stories in the future with these characters as well.

Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec & Andi Arndt (Audible Originals)

I signed up for Audible Escapes in December and one of the books suggested to me was this book. I literally was laughing out loud as I was grocery shopping and again at work while listening to this story. It hit on all my happy places and I could read about these characters over and over again.

Nikki’s Top Audiobook Picks of 2019

Cold Fury Hockey series by Sawyer Bennett

1. Alex
2. Garrett
3. Zack
4. Ryker
5. Hawks
6. Max
7. Roman
8. Lucas
9. Can
10. Reed
11. Marek

All Tantor Audio

The Cold Fury Series by Sawyer Bennett 

This series was my first foray into Sawyer Bennett’s amazing world of romance novels. It took me a while to get there, I missed the bus so many times, but sweet Baby Jesus...I have arrived! 

I was looking for an audiobook from my local library to fill the silence while I was knitting a blanket, and I downloaded book 1 in the series, Alex. I was floored by how much much I loved it. I’m not typically a fan of sports romance, but the Cold Fury won me over. It’s an 11 book series and I gobbled them all up, in audiobook, over the course of 4 weeks. If I had to pick my favourite, I think it might be Zack. It’s book 3. It’s full of angst and heartbreak...my weakness in romance! I love that the book was narrated by both a man and a woman. All the books are read by Cris Dukehart and Graham Halstead. They did an amazing job bringing the characters to life.

Ethan Frost series by Tracy Wolff

1. Ruined
2. Addicted
3. Exposed

All Tantor Audio

The Ethan Frost series by Tracy Wolff

I really loved this series. It was dark and twisted, and heartbreakingly beautiful. This series deals with some sensitive, possible trigger inducing, topics. But the love story between Ethan and Chloe consumed me until I read all the books. I will say that I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator, Tess Chalmers. Her voice grated on me a bit. It reminded me of a stereotypical “valley girl” from the 80’s. Sometimes, her voice would pull me out of the story, but most of time I was able to brush it off. 

A PRINCE ON PAPER (RELUCTANT ROYALS #3)

The Reluctant Royals series returns with a good girl searching for the life that's not too big, and not too small, and the bad boy prince who might be just right for her... 

Nya Jerami fled Thesolo for the glitz and glamour of NYC but discovered that her Prince Charming only exists in her virtual dating games. When Nya returns home for a royal wedding, she accidentally finds herself up close and personal-in bed-with the real-life celebrity prince who she loves to hate.

For Johan von Braustein, the red-headed step-prince of Liechtienbourg, acting as paparazzi bait is a ruse that protects his brother-the heir to the throne-and his own heart. When a royal referendum threatens his brother's future, a fake engagement is the perfect way to keep the cameras on him.

Nya and Johan both have good reasons to avoid love, but as desires are laid bare behind palace doors, they must decide if their fake romance will lead to a happily-ever-after.

Release Date: April 30, 2019

Avon Harper Collins

Reluctant Royals #3

Contemporary romance

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

A Prince on Paper is the newest release in Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series. Each new installment makes me fall more in love with this series. I absolutely adored every single moment of Nya and Johan's story!

I found A Prince on Paper to be absolutely delightful. Nya and Johan both had reasons for protecting their hearts, though they differed a great deal. I'll be honest, I'm still angry with all Nya's father put her through and continued to put her through in this series. Seriously I really did want to punch him in the face (I think I have a little bit of Portia in me). I understood Johan's fears after losing his mom at a young age. I too lost my mom young, and could see that being a choice to protect oneself from pain in the future.

I really liked that Nya and Johan became good friends before they acted on any sort of attraction. Yes I wanted them together from the first moment they saw each other again on the plane, but I could tell neither was really ready for more than just physical release at that point in the story. As friends they both shared parts of their pasts and really learned what made the other tick along the way. Yes Nya and Johan had amazing chemistry and loved when they finally made love, but I honestly loved their friendship was the main focus for them both through much of the story.

Johan and Nya's story took me to my happy place. I've been absolutely enchanted by the entire Reluctant Royals series and hate to see it come to an end. Alyssa Cole's voice pulls me in from the very first page of each new story. I love her stories are filled with laughter, sigh worthy moments, happiness and even some tears along the way. I love an emotionally satisfying read, and each story in the Reluctant Royals series fits the bill. I'd love to say you could start the series with A Prince on Paper, but really feel like with this series, to better understand all the characters, you need to read the book in order of release. I promise you won't be sorry for investing your reading time in each and every book in this series.

Rating: 5 Stars (A+)

A DUKE BY DEFAULT (RELUCTANT ROYALS #2)

New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and-most importantly-herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she's capable of. And it turns out that she excels at aggravating her gruff silver-fox boss...when she's not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr. Tavish McKenzie doesn't need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armory...even if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprentice-and his attraction to her-but when Portia accidentally discovers that he's the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project. Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?

Release Date: July 31, 2018

Reluctant Royals #2

Avon/Dreamscape Media

Contemporary Romance

Liza's Review:

We first met Portia Hobbs in A Princess in Theory as Naledi's best friend. She had many personal issues going on and honestly wasn't always the best friend to Naledi, but I just knew there was so much more to Portia and was so excited to see we would get her story in A Duke by Default.

Portia has decided to become new Portia and in doing so, she pretty much is trying to reinvent herself. Portia wasn't super likable in A Princess in Theory, so I was so happy to see Portia try and change parts of herself for the better. Portia has always had so many varied interest yet has never been able to stick with just one thing. I hated she always seemed to compare herself to her super organized twin sister Reggie and always see herself as lacking. I absolutely loved moving to Scotland to be an apprentice to a sword maker was what helped her discover what made her tick and what she loved to do with her life.

Tavish McKenzie was pretty much swoon-worthy from the moment he appeared on the page, yet was a bit of an ass as well. He really did push Portia away pretty much from the moment they met thanks to being so attracted to her. However, Portia being Portia, she set herself to helping every other aspect of Bodotria Armory as well as some of the other businesses in the area. I loved how quickly Portia made friends with the locals and her instinctive need to fix things and how she wanted to learn about her temporary home, which led to discovering Tavish was the legitimate son of a duke.

I loved the fact that the more time Tavish and Portia spent together, the closer they became and the harder it was to avoid their attraction to each other. There was serious chemistry between them that had been there from the moment they met. I loved they seemed to get each other in a way no one else really had before and accepted each other quirks and all. They were very clearly friends first and I loved the pacing of their relationship. The slow build up worked for me as Portia needed to understand more about herself before she was ready to be with anyone. Portia also understood Tavish in a way few others did and used her understanding of him to help him as he navigated the new world he was thrust into.

I loved that Portia was able to figure out she had ADHD thanks to a link sent to her from Reggie. I think it was part of the reason she was able to finally figure out how she need to live her life. It pretty much killed me how her parents treated her, yet I loved once she and Reggie had a real conversation about everything that had gone on, they became even closer than before.  I did wonder why Portia never shared her diagnosis with her parents, but also wondered if they would have really listened to her if she had tried. 

A Duke by Default was such a fun and emotional read for me. Ms. Cole has quickly become an auto-buy author for me after just 2 books and I absolutely adore her voice. I loved watching Tavish and Portia fall in love, and I absolutely know they are strong enough to manage anything life throws at them in the future.

Rating: 5 Stars (A)