Julia Whelan

this is a near perfect romance novel. there was one little bump (for me) about 90% of the way in, and she actually addressed it later, so maybe it wasn't a bump after all. this is extremely well written, actually funny (i had to pause the narration a few times i was laughing so hard), mixes and matches so many of the tropes so beautifully, and is also about more than romance. it's also about what it's like to lose yourself and whether it's possible or not to get that person back, when show more they're changed. this is both for the main character, her love interest, and her grandmother (who has dementia and so physically can't get herself back, so what it's like to lose herself over time). i loved learning a little about what audio narration is really like, and honestly never thought that dual narrators collaborated at all, that it was all just done in the production. but that was just fun added bonus for me.

this book just shines. brava. show less

Juilliard-trained actress Sewanee Chester is an audiobook narrator whose best friend, Adaku, has achieved the stardom they both dreamed of, before an accident took one of Swan's eyes. Now, Swan has been offered an unusually lucrative deal to co-narrate the late romance author June French's last project with Brock McKnight. Swan doesn't do romance anymore, but agrees to do the job because it will help pay for her grandmother's move from assisted living to a memory care unit. And when Swan show more (under her pen name) and Brock McKnight (also a pen name, obviously) begin working together - and texting - they have a connection. But then, at the Audie awards, they discover each other's true identities: months ago, they hooked up at a book conference in Vegas. Can the two (four?) of them reconcile all their identities, and can Sewanee accept herself for who she is now, instead of seeing herself as a damaged version of who she was?

Loved this for the humor (I laughed out loud several times), the friendship between Sewanee and Adaku, the romance ("Alice" and Nick, Swan and "Brock"), and the peek into the world of audiobook narration. show less

Julia Whelan is as strong of a writer as she is a narrator. I'm always delighted by her work.

I was especially delighted that this story started out with my worst nightmare. Her audiobook disconnects with her phone on an airplane without realizing it and lets just say she was not listening to a sweet little romance. I cackled. I have daymares about this exact situation at my desk at work at least once a week.

This book was so fun to get to see the behind the scenes of the audiobook industry. show more Carb-loading so your stomach isn't growling during recording? Limiting red wine during a romantic evening so your voice doesn't sound weird the next day? Emails back and forth to discuss how moany you want a moan to be in a recording? So many things to think about in the background of these stories I enjoy.

I'm not going to recap the plot so I don't spoil any of the fun on who Brock McNight is but boy does he give good banter. I loved that instead of the main female character having some tragic backstory that makes her as reserved in her relationships as she is, she's wearing hers right on her face. I was anxious that someone did this to her and I was so relieved that it was a freak accident.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own. show less

The multi-talented Julia Whelan (actor,author, audio book narrator) gives a wink and a nod to the audio book community in this entertaining and clever rom-com (not to be confused with women’s fiction! -as she gives us the distinction between the two, primarily defined by the presence of HEA, happily ever after). Sewanee is a talented, successful audio book narrator, much in demand. She is pretty content with her CA life- a great work environment, time to hang out with her best friend, show more rising star Adaku, and visiting her beloved grandmother Blah-blah at her memory care facility. But a series of events upends this comfort: Sewanee feels a bit left behind when Adaku gets a primo role; she too was a rising star when a horrible accident scarred her face and destroyed her eye. Blah-blah’s care requires a lot more money and another level of supervision, and a recently deceased romance writer has requested her as narrator with an elusive, mysterious, publicly adored male narrator, Brock McKnight. Throw in a trip to Vegas and a great night with Irish charmer, Nick and Sewanee is in an emotional roller coaster of frustration, fear and facing the past. Whelan does all the voices of all the characters -amazing! But assures us in an afterword, that despite many similarities, this is not an autobiographical novel. What it is is great fun, a showcase of talent, and a unique meta experience of being inside and outside the story simultaneously. show less