Audiobooks narrated by Mary Alice Monroe

Whisking you back to the shores of her bestselling Beach House series, Mary Alice Monroe weaves together a tale of the struggles and triumphs of the historic Rutledge family of Charleston, South Carolina. Beautifully wrought and rich with keen insight, this is an illuminating tale of new beginnings, resilience, and one family's enduring love. Cara Rutledge returns to her Southern home on the idyllic Isle of Palms. Everything is comfortingly the same, yet each detail is rife with painful memories. Only through reconnecting with family, friends, and the rhythms of the lowcountry can Cara release the hold of the past and open herself to the possibility of a new love, career, and hope for the future. Meanwhile, her niece Linnea, a recent college graduate who doesn't know where her life will take her, leaves her historic home in Charleston, with all its entitlement and expectations, and heads to her aunt's beach house. On the island, she is part of the freer, natural ocean lifestyle she loves, rejoining the turtle team, learning to surf, and falling in love. Remembering the lessons of her beloved grandmother, Lovie, the original "turtle lady," Linnea rediscovers a meaningful purpose to her life and finds the courage she needs to break from tradition. In this heartwarming novel, three generations of the Rutledge family gather together to find the strength, love, and commitment to break destructive family patterns and to forge new bonds that will endure long beyond one summer reunion.

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

Beach House for Rent

New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe returns to her beloved Isle of Palms to tell the poignant, charming story of two women, one summer, and one very special beach house. When Cara Rutledge rents out her quaint beach house on Isle of Palms to Heather Wyatt for the entire summer, it’s a win-win by any standard: Cara’s generating income necessary to keep husband Brett’s ecotourism boat business afloat, and anxiety-prone Heather, an young artist who’s been given a commission to paint birds on postage stamps, has a quiet space in which to work and tend to her pet canaries uninterrupted. It isn’t long, however, before both women’s idyllic summers are altered irrevocably: the alluring shorebirds—and the man who rescues them—begin to draw Heather out of the shell she’s cultivated toward a world of adventure, and maybe even love; at the same time, Cara’s life reels with sudden tragedy, and she wishes only to return to the beach house that had once been her port amidst life’s storms. When Heather refuses to budge from her newfound sanctuary, so begins the unlikeliest of rooming situations. While they start out as strangers, as everything around the women falls apart they learn that the only thing they can really rely on is each other. And, like the migrating shorebirds that come to the island for the summer, these two women of different generations must rediscover their unique strengths so by summer’s end they, too, can take flight in ways they never imagined possible.

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Lowcountry Christmas

A wounded warrior and his younger brother discover the true meaning of Christmas in this timeless story of family bonds. A poignant continuation of the Lowcountry Summer series. As far as ten-year-old Miller McClellan is concerned, it’s the worst Christmas ever. His father’s shrimp boat is docked, his mother is working two jobs, and with finances strained, Miller is told they can’t afford the dog he desperately wants. “Your brother’s return from war is our family’s gift,” his parents tell him. But when Taylor returns with PTSD, family strains darken the holidays. Then Taylor’s service dog arrives—a large black Labrador/Great Dane named Thor. His brother even got the dog! When Miller goes out on Christmas Eve with his father’s axe, determined to get his family the tree they can't afford, he takes the dog for company—but accidentally winds up lost in the wild forest. The splintered family must come together to rediscover their strengths, family bond, and the true meaning of Christmas.

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Lowcountry Wedding

Wedding season has arrived in New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe's next novel in the "distinct, complex, and endearing" (Charleston Magazine) Lowcountry Summer series, set against the romantic, charming Charleston Lowcountry.Nothing could be more enchanting than a summer wedding-or two!-in Charleston's fabled lowcountry. A centuries-old church, an avenue of ancient oaks dripping moss, a storied ballroom, a sand dune at sunset... Yet when a stranger arrives, a long held family secret could silence the bells ringing for the Muir sisters. Scandals surface, family bonds are questioned, and promises are broken and renewed. In A Lowcountry Wedding Monroe delves into the heart of marriage, commitment, and family ties. Huffington Post calls the Lowcountry Summer series "the perfect beach read and a whole lot more."

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Summer's End

In the powerful and heartwarming conclusion to her bestselling Lowcountry Summer trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe brings her readers back to the charm and sultry beauty of Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, to reveal how the pull of family bonds and true love is as strong and steady as the tides. It is summer's end, and Sea Breeze, the family's beloved estate on Sullivan's Island, must be sold. It is an emotional time of transition as Mamaw and the three sisters each must face loss and find a new place in the world. Harper, the youngest sister, arrives at Sea Breeze intending to stay only a weekend. But a rift with her wealthy, influential mother leaves her without direction or a home. During this remarkable summer, free from her mother's tyranny and with the help of her half-sisters, Harper discovers her talents and independent spirit. But summer is ending, and the fate of Sea Breeze hinges on her courage to decide the course of her own life. To do so she must release her insecurities and recognize her newfound strengths. Harper must accept love fully into her life-the love of Mamaw, Carson, and Dora, the love of Sea Breeze and the lowcountry, and most of all, the love of a wounded warrior who has claimed her heart.

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

Second Star to the Right

Sometimes fairy tales do come true… As a single mother of two, Faye O’Neill has no time for fairy tales. She’s not even certain she believes in luck. Practical, smart, and desperate to escape a shadowy past, Faye takes a job at a top advertising firm in London where she hopes she and her children can find a fresh start. When she finds the beautiful two-story flat for rent in a stately old Victorian complete with a neglected but tumbling English garden, she can scarcely believe her good fortune. But it isn’t long before Faye realizes not everything in the old home may be as peaceful as it seems. A strange light begins to appear in her children’s rooms at night, and then there’s the reclusive elderly tenant, Crazy Wendy, her landlady warned her to steer clear of, the woman who spends her evenings spying on Faye’s children from her garret-room window. The woman who believes she is Peter Pan’s Wendy. To make matters worse, Faye, who has sworn off men, discovers her downstairs neighbor Jack is a disturbingly handsome professor with a talent for charming women and children alike. Before she knows it, Faye has embarked upon a whole new adventure into a world where anything might be possible, where broken hearts can be healed by a kiss, and where Neverland may not be a place of fables but a forgotten land one can still find if they are only brave enough to follow the second star to the right. “The magic of innocence and the romance of hope will charm the reader.”—Nora Roberts

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Summer Wind

The Summer Wind is the second book in Monroe’s Lowcountry Summer trilogy, following the New York Times bestseller The Summer Girls. This series is the poignant and heartwarming story of three half-sisters and their grandmother, who is determined to help them rediscover their Southern roots and family bonds. It’s midsummer, and Eudora, nicknamed Dora, is staying at Sea Breeze, the family’s ancestral home on Sullivan’s Island. For years, Dora has played the role of the perfect wife and mother in a loveless marriage. Now her husband has filed for divorce, her child is diagnosed with autism, and her house is on the market. Dora’s façade collapses under the weight of her grief, and she suffers “broken heart syndrome.” Mamaw and the girls rally around Dora—but it’s up to Dora to heal herself as she spends the summer prowling the beach, discovering the secrets of the island and her heart. This is a summer of discovery for all the women of Sea Breeze. Carson returns from Florida to face life-changing decisions, Lucille confronts a health scare, and an unexpected visitor has Harper reconsidering her life’s direction. When tropical storm winds batter the island, the women must band together and weather the tempest—both the one outside their windows and the raging sea of emotions within each of them. They must learn again what it means to be a sister. It is up to Mamaw to keep the light burning at Sea Breeze to guide the girls through the lies, the threats, and the rocky waters of indecision to home.

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Butterfly Called Hope

The colorful flowers in Mama's garden reveal a strange-looking creature. "What is it? Does it sting, does it bite?" Join in this photographic journey as the young girl and her mother care for the caterpillar. Watch as it transforms into a chrysalis and then emerges as a beautiful monarch butterfly. How can the young girl "claim" the butterfly as her own but still let it go free?

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Summer Girls

Three sisters reunite on Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina after years of separation in this heartwarming first novel in a new trilogy from a beloved author. Eighty-year-old Marietta Muir is a dowager of Charleston society who has retired to her historic summer home on Sullivan’s Island. At the onset of summer, Marietta, “Mamaw,” seeks to gather her three granddaughterCarson, Eudora, and Harper—with the intent to reunite them after years apart. Monroe explores the depths and complexities of sisterhood, friendship and the power of forgiveness. The Summer Girls is a perfect beach read and anyone who “enjoys such fine southern voices as Pat Conroy will add the talented Monroe to their list of favorites” (Booklist). “Mary Alice Monroe has taken the rich waters of the Atlantic Coast as her own field of dreams. In The Summer Girls, she sings a song of praise to the bottle-nosed dolphins that bring so much joy to the men and women who gaze at the creeks and rivers of the low country each evening. Like all her books, The Summer Girls is a call to arms.”—Pat Conroy, New York Times bestselling author

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

Beach House Memories

Autumn brings its own haunting beauty to the sun-soaked beaches and dunes on Isle of Palms, where Olivia "Lovie" Rutledge lives in her beloved Primrose Cottage with her daughter, Cara. Looking back as summer fades, Lovie can remember many island summers, but especially one. . . . In 1974, America was changing, but Charleston remained eternally the same. Lovie had always done what was expected - marrying the son of a historic Charleston family, Stratton Rutledge, and turning over her fortune and fate to his control. But one thing she steadfastly refuses to relinquish: her family's old seaside cottage. The precious summers spent on the barrier island are Lovie's refuge. Here, she can escape with her children from the social expectations of her traditional Southern mother, and her overbearing husband's ambition and philandering. Here, she indulges her lifelong vocation as a "Turtle Lady," tending the loggerhead sea turtles that lay their eggs in the warm night sand and then slip back into the sea. This summer, however, is different. Visiting biologist Russell Bennett arrives on the island to research the loggerheads. What begins as a shared passion for the turtles changes to a love far more passionate and profound than Lovie has ever known - but one that forces her to face the most agonizing decision of her life. For Charleston's elite, divorce is an unforgivable scandal, and Stratton's influence is far-reaching. If Lovie dares to dream beyond a summer affair, she risks losing everything: her reputation, her wealth, even her precious children. Beach House Memories - a poignant and emotional tale of a strong, passionate woman torn between duty and desire, between the traditions of the old South and the social changes sweeping America - will capture your heart. For Lovie, it is an empowering journey of seasons of self-discovery. Until this autumn, this time of changing tides, of holding on and letting go. . . . "This luminous tale - set in the South Carolina Lowcountry that we both love so deeply - was hard to put down. Fans of The Beach House will at last discover what happened during the summer of 1974. But readers new to Mary Alice Monroe need not worry, for this emotional story of love and loss stands alone." - New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Butterfly's Daughter

The legend of las mariposas - the beautiful monarch butterflies that every year fly more than two thousand miles on fragile wings to return to their winter home in Mexico - is Luz Avila's birthright. She learned of their ways and their mystical powers from the grandmother who was the only family she ever knew. Now it is her turn, like the butterflies, to make that long, perilous journey. In order to honor a promise to her beloved abuela, Luz must return her grandmother's ashes to her ancestral village in the mountains of Mexico. But while this ofrenda, a tradition so old its origins are lost in the mists of time, will mean leaving behind a man who loves Luz deeply, the journey promises to bring deep spiritual meaning to the life of a woman who cannot find her way into the future until she comes to terms with the past. As Luz slowly makes her way south from blustery Milwaukee in a VW Bug so ancient it has no business on the highway, a series of seemingly random encounters touches her life: a desperate mother-to-be, even younger than her, fleeing an abusive lover. An anywhere-the-wind-blows free spirit. A lonely career woman who is determined to live, really live, for the first time. It is in San Antonio, however, that a truly startling revelation awaits Luz: a reunion with a shadowy figure from her childhood. Together, they cross the border into Mexico, but they also must somehow cross the border that separates past from present, bitterness from love, and truth from lies. They will honor the memory of another beloved woman by standing in the Sacred Circle to witness the spectacular, glittering river of orange monarchs descend from the sky to return home. If they can share in this age-old ritual, perhaps they will be able to find their way back to love, and take their place in the enduring cycle of life.

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Beach House

Caretta Rutledge thought she'd left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother - coming just as her own life is spinning out of control - has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before long, the rhythms of the island open her heart in wonderful ways as she repairs the family beach house, becomes a bona fide "turtle lady" and renews old acquaintances long thought lost. But it is in reconnecting with her mother that she will learn life's most precious lessons - true love involves sacrifice, family is forever and the mistakes of the past can be forgiven. "Mary Alice Monroe is helping to redefine the beauty and magic of the Carolina Lowcountry. Every book she has written has felt like a homecoming to me..." - Pat Conroy

Mary Alice Monroe (Author), Mary Alice Monroe (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Mary Alice Monroe