Contemporary Women Audiobooks | Fiction & Literature

Wollie Shelley, the plucky amateur sleuth Kirkus Reviews called "funny, brave, smart, and altogether the fetchingest crime heroine since the early Stephanie Plum," returns to face suspect lovers and unlovable suspects in this hilarious sequel to Dating Dead Men. Wollie Shelley is a greeting card artist struggling to keep afloat financially and to pursue-despite a series of recent disasters-the search for the love of her life. She reluctantly agrees to be a contestant on the reality television show Biological Clock. The show's premise: Six eligible singles date each other, and the audience votes on which couple would make the best parents. Alas, Wollie isn't having much luck finding a man she'd like to date "off the air," much less father her child. As her own biological clock ticks away, Wollie gets caught up in a much more pressing demand on her time. Her friend Annika has vanished into thin air, and Wollie is convinced that she's in grave danger. When Wollie reports the disappearance to the Los Angeles Police Department, however, the detective assigned to the case seems more interested in dating Wollie than in finding her friend. So Wollie springs into action-and lands right in the middle of an FBI investigation into an international drug cartel. She soon finds herself being stalked by an assortment of threatening characters, including her fellow television contestants, who will stop at nothing to beat the clock. With Dating Is Murder, Kozak delivers another sparkling treasure, a laugh-out-loud-funny, literate mystery for readers of Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton and for Kozak's own growing legion of fans.

Harley Jane Kozak (Author), Bernadette Dunne (Narrator)

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Demon Rumm

When Rylan North flashes Kirsten Rumm his heart-stopping smile, she knows she can't refuse him...even if letting the actor share her home for a week will force her to relive the last terrible days before her stunt pilot husband fell prey to his own daring acts. Rylan is the perfect choice to play "Demon" Rumm in the movie about his life: no one is more brash, bold, or demanding. But before Rylan immerses himself in Kirsten's world, he must exorcise the explosive secrets that haunt her dreams...and gamble she'll find the courage in his arms to risk loving again... "From the Hardcover edition.

Sandra Brown (Author), Staci Snell (Narrator)

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The Snake Tattoo

Linda Barnes (Author), C.J. Critt (Narrator)

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Hissy Fit

Keeley Murdock's wedding to A.J. Jernigan should have been the social event of the season. But when she catches her fiance doing the deed with her maid of honor at the country club rehearsal dinner, all bets are off. And so is the wedding. Keeley pitches the hissy fit of the century, earning herself instant notoriety in the small town of Madison, Georgia. Even worse is the financial pressure A.J.'s banking family brings to bear on Keeley's interior design business. But riding to the rescue -- in a vintage yellow Cadillac -- is the redheaded stranger who's bought a failing local bra plant. Will Mahoney hires Keeley to redo the derelict antebellum mansion he's bought. Her assignment: decorate it for the woman of his dreams -- a woman he's never met. Only a designing woman like Keeley Murdock can find a way to clear her name and give her cheating varmint of an ex-fiance the comeuppance he so richly deserves. And only Mary Kay Andrews can deliver such delicious social satire. With Hissy Fit, she's created a story as outrageous, dishy, and true as Savannah Blues and Little Bitty Lies. Performed by Isabel Keating

Mary Kay Andrews (Author), Isabel Keating (Narrator)

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Changing Habits

They were sisters once. Almost forty years ago, in a more innocent time, two girls enter the convent. Angelina and Joanna come from vastly different backgrounds, but they have one thing in common -- a desire to serve, to join in the community of sisters. Despite the relative seclusion of the convent house in Minneapolis, they\'re not immune to what\'s happening in the world around them. In 1972 Angie\'s involvement with a pregnant teenager triggers a crisis of faith. At the same time, Joanna\'s relationship with a Vietnam veteran brings her face-to-face with the choices she made -- and didn\'t make -- in her own life. Then, Angie and Joanna leave the sisterhood, abandoning the convent for the exciting and confusing world outside. The world of choices to be made, of risks to be taken. Of men and romantic love. The world of ordinary women ... Debbie Macomber illuminates women\'s lives with compassion, with love and with grace. In Changing Habits she proves once again why she\'s one of the world\'s most popular writers of fiction for -- and about -- women. Performed by Trini Alvarado

Debbie Macomber (Author), Trini Alvarado (Narrator)

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Echoes

Against a vivid backdrop of history, Danielle Steel tells a compelling story of love and war, acts of faith and acts of betrayal…and of three generations of women as they journey though years of loss and survival, linked by an indomitable devotion that echoes across time. For the Wittgenstein family, the summer of 1915 was a time of both prosperity and unease, as the guns of war sound in the distance. But for eldest daughter Beata, it was also a summer of awakening. By the glimmering waters of Lake Geneva, the quiet Jewish beauty met a young French officer and fell in love. Knowing that her parents would never accept her marriage to a Catholic, Beata followed her heart anyway. And as the two built a new life together, Beata's past would stay with her in ways she could never have predicted. For as the years pass, and Europe is once again engulfed in war, Beata must watch in horror as Hitler's terror threatens her life and family-even her eighteen-year-old daughter Amadea, who has taken on the vows of a Carmelite nun. For Amadea, the convent is no refuge. As family and friends are swept away without a trace, Amadea is forced into hiding. Thus begins a harrowing journey of survival, as she escapes into the heart of the French Resistance. Here Amadea will find a renewed sense of purpose, taking on the most daring missions behind enemy lines. And it is here, in the darkest moments of fear, that Amadea will feel her mother's loving strength-and that of her mother's mother before her-as the voices of lost loved ones echo powerfully in her heart. And here, amid the fires of war, Amadea will meet an extraordinary man, British secret agent Rupert Montgomery. In Colonel Montgomery, Amadea finds a man who will help her discover her place in an unbreakable chain between generations…and between her lost family and her dreams for the future-a future she is only just beginning to imagine: a future of hope rooted in the rich soil of the past. With the grace of a master storyteller, Danielle Steel breathes life into history, creating a bold, sweeping tale filled with unforgettable characters and breathtaking images-from the elegant rituals of Europe's prewar aristocracy to the brutal desperation of Germany's death camps. Drawing us into a vanished world, Echoes weaves an intricate tapestry of a mother's love, a daughter's courage…and the unwavering faith that sustained them-even in history's darkest hour. From the Hardcover edition.

Danielle Steel (Author), Simon Prebble (Narrator)

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Angel Falls

Angel Falls is a dramatic, richly nuanced story of an ordinary man who makes an extraordinary decision and gambles with a thorny, painful question. Michaela, beloved wife and mother of two, lies in a coma. It is now up to her husband, Liam, to hold the family together, to care for their grieving, frightened children. Doctors have told Liam not to expect a recovery, but he maintains hope that love can accomplish what medicine cannot. Day after day, he sits by her bedside, holding her hand, sharing the stories of their life together. Then he discovers the evidence of his wife's secret past-a long-hidden first marriage to international movie star Julian True. When he sees photos of her glowing happiness with Julian, he knows the actor was more than simply Michaela's first husband. He was the love of her life. Liam senses that Julian is the one person who can bring her back to life, but at what cost? And does Liam love his wife enough to risk losing her to a man no woman could resist? His decision strikes deep into the heart of his family, transforming each of them in unexpected ways.

Kristin Hannah (Author), Bruce Reizen (Narrator)

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Bet Me

Min Dobbs knows that happily-ever-after is a fairy tale, especially with a man who asked her to dinner to win a bet. Cal Morrisey knows commitment is impossible, especially with a woman as cranky as Min Dobbs. When they say good-bye at the end of their evening, they cut their losses and agree never to see each other again. But Fate has other plans, and it's not long before Min and Cal are dealing with a jealous ex-boyfriend, Krispy Kremes, a determined psychologist, chaos theory, a mutant cat, Chicken Marsala, and more risky propositions than either of them ever dreamed of including the biggest gamble of all - real love.

Jennifer Crusie (Author), Deanna Hurst (Narrator)

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Summer Island

Thirty-four year old Ruby Bridge is a not-too-successful comedienne who uses her mother, a nationally-syndicated "moral and spiritual counselor" as the main fodder for her cynical, rather bitter humor. Her mother Nora, long divorced from Ruby's father, is a woman whose past is just about to catch up with her - in the form of blackmail by a former lover. After an accident (an attempted suicide?) Ruby returns to care for her stricken mother - bitterly resenting the fact that once again her mother's life has colonized hers. When she is approached by a publisher to write a biography of her mother, Ruby is desperate for the princely sum offered. Yet her research into her mother's past reveals a woman very different from the one Ruby expected. And what began as "mommy dearest" ends as a love story - not only between mother and daughter, but involving two very different men who play a key role in linking the past to the present.

Kristin Hannah (Author), Joyce Bean (Narrator)

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Distant Shores

Elizabeth and Jackson Shore married young, raised two daughters, and weathered the storms of youth as they built a future together. But after the children leave home, they quietly drift apart. When Jack accepts a wonderful new job offer, Elizabeth puts her needs aside to follow him across the country. Until the sudden death of her father changes everything. Grieving and alone, she retreats to an isolated beach house where she packs away the last remnants of her parents' lives. There, the pieces of a past she never knew unfold to reveal a tender story of lasting devotion, the kind of steadfast commitment that Elizabeth admits is missing from her own marriage. Faced with her own disillusionment, she makes a terrifying decision, risking everything she has for a second chance at happiness.

Kristin Hannah (Author), Bernadette Quigley (Narrator)

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Faking It

Publishers Weekly (starred review) raves "Crusie charms with her brisk, edgy style..." Kirkus (starred review) of Crusie's latest, New York Times bestselling Fast Women states "Move over, Susan Isaacs. Crusie is just as smart and sassy about the things a woman has to do to make love work, and a lot funnier to boot." Reformed art forger Tilda Goodnight reluctantly joins forces with semi-reformed con man Davy Dempsey to steal a dubious painting and several million embezzled dollars from a lethal widow named Clea who has targeted a mild-mannered art collector as her next dearly departed. Complications include her sister, the female impersonator; his best friend, the reformed cat burglar; a recidivist embezzler named Rabbit; a hit man, some lousy sex, and a juke box. Trouble ensues...

Jennifer Crusie (Author), Aasne Vigesaa (Narrator)

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The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again: A Novel

The fabulous women from The Hot Flash Club are back in top form, welcoming the stressed-out and pampering-deprived through their discreet spa doors, as Nancy Thayer returns with a witty, sexy, and heartwarming novel. The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again also introduces four new women, ready for massages and seaweed wraps, each struggling to reconcile her secret dreams, biggest fears, and deepest feelings as topsy-turvy events shake up her life. After eighteen years of trying to make peace with her husband's cold-as-ice mother, Polly vows to be the perfect mother-in-law: loving, accepting, and determined to keep her mouth shut. Then her son marries Amy, a Birkenstocked gal whose organic farm and family ooze a rather creepy serenity. Ever the optimist, Polly puts her best foot forward . . . so why does it end up in her mouth? A shy and brilliant professor-to-be, Beth has lived a sheltered life. Then she meets Sonny, a rugged, sexy carpenter who sweeps her off her feet. The problem? Beth may not survive his loud, affectionate, athletic family, especially when the very beautiful and earthy woman everybody wanted Sonny to marry is still hanging around the family dinner table. Heiress to one of New England's oldest paper companies, Carolyn is the driving force behind the brand. Now, at thirty-seven, the workaholic executive is finally pregnant with her first child, and high blood pressure is forcing her to do something totally alien: relax. But how can she let down her guard when her seventy-something father has gone and eloped with a young bank clerk named Heather, whose rather plain looks and unassuming nature still manage to fill Carolyn with suspicion. A free-spirited photographer, Julia has married a man she loves, but he's come packed with baggage. Tim is a widower with a young daughter, and Julia has bravely stepped up to the plate, doing her best to provide maternal support. But as if being pinned down by the child's slightly manipulative ways and (dare Julia say it) spoiled behavior wasn't enough, there's Tim's ex-mother-in-law, whose meddling is getting nastier by the week. For Polly, Beth, Carolyn, and Julia, the time has come to stand up for what matters, for their passions, their hearts, and themselves. As they maneuver through family drama and embrace unexpected change, they come to find that life is much easier (and a lot more fun) when you've got friends, wine, and chocolate along for the ride. From the Hardcover edition.

Nancy Thayer (Author), Carrington MacDuffie (Narrator)

Audiobook

Contemporary Women Audiobooks in Fiction & Literature