I am such a fan of Julia Whelan and her audiobook narrations, so reading her sophomore novel, I was overjoyed! I found the theme of this romance to be so fun-it had every popular romance trope you could imagine, including that HEA! I appreciated that her main character, Sewanee, had depth and was overcoming her new life with a physical impairment as a result of an accident. I also enjoyed the love interest along with the supporting cast of characters-especially her grandmother! What a wonderful sneak peek into the world of audiobook narration written as a fiction contemporary romance! I would definitely recommend this one, especially to fans of Julia Whelan!

Sewanee is a former up-and-coming actress who was just on the verge of becoming a household name when an accident claimed her right eye, and ruined her career as she was forced to permanently wear an eye patch. Instead, she becomes a star audiobook narrator (not being into audiobooks myself, I didn't know this was a thing). While attending a convention in Vegas, she has a one-night stand with a book editor, Nick, which is super steamy... but then she's paired up to record an audiobook with the mysterious Brock McKnight (another audiobook narrator who goes by a pseudonym and has never been public about who he really is) and starts bantering with him via text / email. She feels torn between the two - how can she be interested in Brock when she can't forget Nick? No spoilers, but I loved this funny and sweet rom com, which was extremely satisfying, and also really enjoyed seeing behind the scenes of rom com audiobook recordings. It kind of made me want to become an audiobook narrator, haha!

This book is such a delight! Only Julia Whelan can write an adorable romance about audiobook narrators! Sewanee was once an up & coming actress, but an accident lead her to retreat from the spotlight. She found a new place in audiobook narrating, starting with romance books, but leaving them behind for other genres. Fans of her work have longed for her to return to romance, and when one of her beloved authors passes away, she finds herself back in the romance world thanks to some meddling of said author! Sewanee is put together with a male romance narrator (true identity hidden!), Brock McKnight, for this steamy project. Will the two meet? Did the author set them up together on purpose? Read (or Listen!) and find out!
I loved the characters, the setting, and how the story unfolded so much! I will definitely be recommending this!

Some authors unfortunately suffer from sophomore slumps, however, Julia Whelan is definitely not one of them. She is not just a fantastic narrator, but a terrific writer as well, fast becoming an auto-buy author for me.

Thank You for Listening delves into the world of audiobook narrators, with Sewanee Chester and Brock McKnight, two of the most sought after in their own genres, at the forefront. Sparks fly between the two albeit while communicating anonymously under their pseudonyms.

There is everything to love and nothing to hate about this book: the opening scene which is every romance audiobook listener's nightmare, that had me cackling, the chemistry that burns through, the humorous bantering, the neverending innuendos, the female friendship, even the sex that's not really a sex scene.

While I'm thankful to Avon Books, NetGalley and the author for my early copy of this book, I couldn't resist getting this on Audible as well. I got to say, truly worth the credit!

Funny, I was imagining Julia Whelan herself and Zachary Webber, two of my most favorite audiobook narrators as Sewanee and Brock respectively.

I really enjoyed this book! It ticks all the boxes for me; funny and smart while also being sincere and heartfelt. Two characters who are pining for each other in two different ways and they turn out to be the same person?? Fantastic voice and also fantastic voice acting? A straight romance that I actually enjoy? Great chemistry? Mistaken identity? Honestly I took a week off reading but I kept coming back to this book because it is just that compelling, and not that serious, but serious enough where there were stakes. Four and a half stars, rounded up for NetGalley/Goodreads. (The half star reduction is due to the fact that this is a straight romance.)

This was a cute book, a little bit predictable, but that’s comforting in romance, you know what to expect, you know the clichés and know you’ll get w happy ending, the joy is the journey.
I liked the characters and was cheering for them, it is really amazing how life can change on a second and you have to find ways to adapt.
I definitely loved the emails, I love that in books, although I haven’t seen that in a while, maybe because there’s more texting now, I don’t know, but I definitely enjoyed that part.

In Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan, former actress Sewanee Chester is a successful audiobook narrator that embarks on a journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance after contracting to narrate one last romance novel with the hottest voice among romance book narrators. I love that we are given a first-hand POV of the audiobook narration world and process directly from an audiobook narrator. We also get a second-hand perspective from a romance audiobook narrator Brock. It’s interesting how both Sewanee and Brock have strong feelings about the romance genre that are influenced by personal, real-life baggage they choose not to deal with or are in denial about. Whelan’s exploration of this world is an enlightening and entertaining read for an obsessed romance audiobook listener.
Whelan’s one of my favorite narrators. So, it’s hard not to see aspects of her career sprinkled through the novel, which makes me curious about what other parts of herself she shares with her characters. Along that same line of thought, she also shows a glimpse at the not-so-glamorous side of acting/Hollywood and how it treats actresses as disposable if they don’t meet the exacting, arbitrary requirements.

Whelan creates a diverse and fascinating cast of characters to fill Sewanee’s world and help us learn more about who she is and why she is that way—aside from past trauma/an accident that heavily influences her life. I couldn’t help feeling she might be a bit of an unreliable narrator because of her view of herself, her relationships—especially concerning Brock and acting—and the world. I love Adaku Obi, Sewanee’s best friend. Adaku is an extraordinarily intriguing character who left me curious, wanting to know more about her. She’s a wonderful friend to Sewanee —encouraging, supportive, but willing to tell her the hard truths she doesn’t want to hear when necessary. Whelan’s beautifully written exploration of Sewanee’s relationship with her ailing grandmother is, touching, funny, sweet, heart-wrenching, and developed/written with nuance and care.

I love Whelan’s development of Brock and Sewanee’s relationship through emails and texts. Their banter is sexy, funny, sweet, intimate, and emotionally raw. They kick each other in the butt to open their eyes, jolting them out of their states of denial and the stasis they’ve chosen to live. I also like all of their in-person interactions as well. However, for whatever reason, I felt like something was missing. At times, I wondered whether having Brock’s viewpoint would have made a difference in developing their relationship. But at heart, Thank You For Listening is Sewanee’s emotional journey of making peace with her past and present and finally planning for her future with hope, and is, therefore, rightfully told from her POV.

Sewanee has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident. While she misses her days of stardom working on film sets, narrating audiobooks has been a successful and satisfying career that helps her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. She takes her friend/editor’s place at a book convention last minute. Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger. A beloved romance novelist wants Sewanee to perform her last published book with Brock McNight, who is the industry’s most secretive and hottest voice. After her own dreams were catastrophically cut short, Sewanee stopped believing in what romance novels sell. So, she stopped narrating romances. However, she’s swayed by being able to get more help for her grandmother’s care and her admiration of the late author and accepts the job.

While recording the book with Brock under her old romance pseudonym, Sewanee and Brock develop a genuine connection—comfortably hidden within the shield of anonymity. But, of course, the moment Sewanee begins to dream again and believe in possibilities, secrets are revealed that once again bring the harsh realities of life to the forefront, threatening to destroy the new life she’s worked hard to build. Can she be brave and risk it all for the dreams and longings she’s buried so long to discover the acceptance, intimacy, and love she’s never dreamed of having in her life?

I wanted, expected to love it more than I did. Still, Thank You For Listening is a heartfelt, funny, thoughtful, and entertaining novel about the relationships that make us who we are, challenge us, and help us grow and heal.

Advanced review copy provided by Avon Books via Netgalley for review.

Charming, sexy and a unique premise! Loved the plot surrounding audiobook narrators and loved all the romance trope references! This book was truly written for romance lovers of all types. Some parts were a little heavier than I was expecting, especially the parts surrounding the MC's grandmother. But overall, I found the FMC very likeable and easy to relate to, especially through her struggles to find herself and her place.

This is one that really needs to be experienced on audio. It's a gorgeous, meta take on the audiobook industry from one of the biggest stars in the field, with a swoony romance to boot. This was clever and often fun, but also looked seriously at trauma and issues in the entertainment industry. With lots of interesting details on the making of and quirks of audiobooks, this is a must for fans of that format.

Julia Whelan creates a fun, atmospheric romance in Thank You for Listening, but she also tackles tougher matters. She addresses love through many vantage points - a grandparent with failing health, an absent parent, a close parent, a best friend, a lover, and finally self-love. The author cleverly weaves in the ups and downs of each relationship, while also maintaining some glitz and glamour. The immersive settings beg you to enter the story and the witty banter between protagonists propels you through the pages. Not to mention, there's some inside scoop on the life of an audiobook narrator, which is fascinating for any book nerd. All in all, Thank You for Listening provides a frothy romance with lovable characters, fantastic settings, and much to mull over regarding relationships, life choices, and career decisions.

You need to listen to Julia Whelan 's newest book THANK YOU FOR LISTENING when it comes out next week Tuesday - August 2nd. You can read it but honestly hearing Julia Whelan narrate the fiction book she wrote about an audiobook narrator was pure perfection!

I've listened to audiobooks consistently since 2016 and have listened to over 400 audiobooks since then. Julia Whelan was the first narrator I remember absolutely loving and when I needed a new audiobook and I would search my library app by books she narrated! I loved My Oxford Year and I love seeing all of the accolades and praise she is getting!

Thank You for Listening is a beautiful story about an audiobook narrator and is a funny and sweet rom-com while at the same time looking at family, love and self discovery. I pretty much listened to it in one day. I just couldn't stop!

The audiobook is just over 11 hours and I want to listen to it again, I enjoyed it that much! It will probably be in my top 10 of 2022!

So put this at the top of your audiobook list and fall in love with Sewanee and Brock like I did!

This book is pure joy!

As a lover of both audiobooks and romance novels, it felt like this was written specifically for my enjoyment. It was fun to get a behind the scenes look at audiobook creation.

The storyline is great, Sewanee is a former actress turned award winning narrator who only read romance to get into the genre and doesn't believe in happily ever afters. But now she is considering returning to romance for a huge project. As she bonds with her co-narrator, she also considers returning to acting. It's a romance with great humor but it also covers some heavy territory.

Overall, this book is everything I want from a romance novel and I highly recommend it.

This book is a delight! The friendship between Sewanee and her bestie, the relationship she has with her grandma, the sexy banter with Brock - all of it is so good! Do yourself a favor and get this on audio. Julia is the GOAT of audiobook narrators and she absolutely kills it in this book.

I am about a week out from finishing this book and I’m still not sure what to think about it. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t one that I would recommend. First of all, there are a bunch of different storylines/pieces of this book and instead of flowing well together, if felt like they are just chopped together in order to make the story have a place to go. It felt forced. The famous friend, the one night stand, the sick grandma, the deadbeat dad, the mom conveniently in another country for a visit when things get rough… There was some funny moments and overall the plot was cute but it seemed like something that would never really happen. Also, it was definitely smutty which made it even less enjoyable.

This was a cute read! I really liked that there were several relationships I was invested in: the one with the grandmother, the one with the bestie, and of course the one (or TWO haha) with the love interest. There was plenty happening in every different setting to keep me hooked and turning pages. Fun read!

I've long been a fan of Julia Whelan's book narration, but this is the first book that I've read that was written by her. It was a beautiful story, with wonderful relationships, romance, and was a provided fun insight into what goes into narrating a book. Plus I always love a book that has an epistolary element to it.

Sewanee Chester had dreams of becoming a successful actress, and was on her way when an accident left her with scars and only one eye. She went on to build a career as an audiobook narrator but never fully embraced who she became after the accident.

The relationship Swan has with her grandmother, and her depictions of what it’s like watching a loved one slip into dementia really struck a chord with me, and my experience with my own grandmother in her later years. I’ll admit to shedding a tear or two while reading those parts.

I loved Swan’s growth and journey and this is a book I will 100% be reading it again.

As a fan of audiobooks, this one hit the mark for me. Sewanee is a former actress who, after a serious accident, uses her acting skills to narrate audiobooks. When she decides to narrate a romance novel, a genre she said she'd never narrate again, she gets more than she bargains for. This book had some great laugh out loud moments, and the chemistry was definitely there.

Round up from 3.75

While I did enjoy this book there was something missing for me. I absolutely loved the behind-the-scenes we get for the audiobook world. And everything that Sewanee does to prepare and record them. I loved how meta it was and how aware the characters were of the tropes playing into their lives.

But I felt like I was missing out on Sewanee's relationships, I wanted to see more of her with BlahBlah, Adaku and even Nick

Thank you to netgalley and avonbooks for this advanced copy.

I didn't have any plans to read this book. I had actually forgotten that I got an eARC of this from Wednesday Books because I didn't add it to my arcs shelf. When I later got an audio advance copy from Libro.fm, I finally thought it sounds interesting and maybe I will pick it up when I find myself in the right mood. And I guess I finally was, and this turned out to be quite a fun experience.

I didn't realize that Julia Whelan is such a prolific narrator, mostly because while I do own multiple audiobooks narrated by her, I've only listened only to a couple, the most recent one being Emily Henry's Book Lovers. Which is I kept thinking that wow this voice sounds so familiar. And she really is spectacular in her narration. While the writing itself is good - a nice balance of romance, family drama, self-reflection and more - it's Julia's narration that steals the show, as well as the actual premise and it's execution. As both our main characters are audiobook narrators in the book, the author does a wonderful job giving us a glimpse of the behind the scenes about what it takes to give us readers the best produced audiobooks which we so love. As it's also a romance novel that our MCs are narrating, we get quite a bit of discussions about the romance genre, the HEA, the tropes, and ofcourse how it feels to be narrating all those sex scenes. I found the romance genre discussions between our characters to be full of cheeky inside jokes and poking fun at the tropey-ness of everything and it was all quite entertaining, and I feel seasoned romance readers will find it quite hilarious ( I bet you all to find the Nicholas Sparks stand-in). On the other hand, we also have the author handling themes like a grandparent's dementia and our main character's coming to terms with her disability and moving forward in her life, and I thought she managed to write it all with empathy and heart. And for all epistolary lovers, you also have some of that here, so basically what I wanna say that this book has a bit of everything, and you won't be disappointed.

The only POV we get is of our heroine Sewanee who was an upcoming actress until she lost one eye in an accident and is now an audiobook narrator. She is no fan of romance novels when we begin the story because she has become cynical, feels like she has lost an important part of her, and almost finds it disbelieving that she can still find happiness, love and contentment. Nick on the other hand has lost a lot in life too and is now scared of taking risks because he doesn't wanna lose more. The way they meet and their relationship develops has all the romance tropes, which they recognize too and make fun of which was quite funny actually. I loved how they really seemed perfect for each other right from the beginning but there were still many issues underneath they had to work through before they were able to accept each other's love, and the author makes this progression seem very realistic. At the same time, their interactions with their friends and families, and how those relationships also played a part in the main character's arcs felt very organic.

While I went in not expecting much, I had a good time with this book and I can definitely say that if you are a romance genre audiobook listener, you can't give this a miss. It's well written, has some interesting characters, takes an inside look at the romance genre and audiobook production, and gives us many laughs and tears on the way. And the way Brock McKnight's voice is described, it really reminded me of my favorite male romance genre narrator and his absolutely sexy voice, making me realize that I haven't heard his narration in a while. Time for a re-listen then? Who knows..

I have been seeing this book everywhere which feels right since Julia Whelan can actually do it all narrate books wonderfully and write books that are compulsively readable. I loved this one.
While this story is definitely a rom com, with rom and com very present and probably at a 50:50 ratio, it’s
way more than that. It deals with tragedy and loss, second chances and believing in yourself. It’s full of flawed characters with intense backstories and sizzling chemistry, and it carefully handles intense topics while being witty, intelligent, entertaining, emotional and funny. It’s a story about moving forward after tragedy and loss and pivoting and realizing that life can still be beautiful even if things don’t turn out exactly how you envisioned it. It is both heartwarming and a little sad - a beautiful tale.
It’s definitely a good one !