Julia Whelan is one of my absolute favorite audiobook narrators, so when I came across this book I knew I had to read it. A book about an audiobook narrator, written by someone in the business? I don’t think anyone ~could~ write it better and more realistically. Swan and Nick are just perfect for each other. The banter was fantastic and just the awareness of every single romance trope that fit seamlessly into the story really sold it for me. Every chapter title was a romance trope and it worked so well. I only took so long reading this book because I just didn’t want it to end!

If you enjoy the tropeyness of romance novels and love the banter between characters this is one you should definitely pick up!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Julia Whelan for sending this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I, once again, waited far too long to read this one!

This story is about Sewanee, an Audiobook narrator. We follow her as she meets Nick at a book convention in Las Vegas, has a one night stand, and then we don't know what happens. Sewanee has a grandmother who is at an assisted living community and slowly declining. She's then offered a job, in Romance. She hates Romance and quit it years ago. But.. this offer was too good to pass up. She is to work on the famous June French's last story, with the famous male narrator Brock McNight. Through various exchanges with Brock, the decline of her grandmothers health, her journey to get back into acting after a life altering incident, and dealing with her father, we follow Sewanee in how she navigates these changes in her life.

I could've easily finished this book in one sitting (I was already up late trying to finish it in one sitting.) Julia Whelan is the queen of audiobooks, so obviously she can write a book about an audiobook narrator that is also amazing. I partially read and partially listened to this book and both were 10/10. It is heartbreaking, funny, and cute. As someone who has had a grandma who had memory problems, it hit home in a few areas. I loved all of the characters, how the story flowed, the relationships, and how Julia included text messages/email exchanges. It makes me immediately want to either listen to another book narrated by Julia or read My Oxford Year!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Julia Whelan is my favorite audio narrator and I jumped at the chance to read her book.

It has some hilarious moments, and an interesting cast of characters who had great banter with each other. It falls in the slow burn category-which is a favorite of mine. I didn’t except it to pack an emotional punch, but it did, so be prepared for that.

I also loved that we got a behind the scenes look at the audio book industry. It so fun when you can read about something that you enjoy- it feels like a bonus added to the book.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank-you Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon and NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC.

I'll start by staying that I'm currently listening to this on audio so it's my second read of this.
This just demands to be listened to and the fact that it's THE Julia Whelan writing and narrating is just a plus!
I loved the characters here Sewanee was a such a joy and you can't help but love her and I loved whenever Brock was on the page.
Overall this is a wonderful book that you'll want to read and listen to!

REVIEW

Thank You For Listening ~ Julia Whelan

READ IF:
* You love reading audiobooks.
* Romance is your genre - the smuttier the better!
* You need to outgrow your own BS!

REVIEW: Sewanee Chester used to love the spotlight as an actress, but a tragic accident has changed all that and now she prefers being behind the scenes as a audiobook narrator. She had made her mark in the industry and it is during a book conference in Vegas that she also makes a mark on a handsome mystery man.

When she arrives home, she is presented with the chance of a lifetime - narrate a series of romance novels authored by one of her mentors - but there’s a hitch. She has a partner this time - Brock McNight who is famous in his own right as the industry’s hottest male voice. Their connection forces Sewanee to be vulnerable, open her heart, and take a good look in the mirror but can the romance she feels in real life really be like romance between the pages? She’s about to find out!

REVIEW: I loved Whelan’s first novel, My Oxford Year so I jumped at the chance to read this and it did not disappoint! This had it all - romance, humor, friendship, struggle, and a peek into the literary world. As someone who doesn’t listen to audiobooks, this peaked my interest for sure and had me considering the power of voice in storytelling. It is no surprise that Whelen herself is an audiobook narrator - she writes dialogue to PERFECTION! Part of me wished I listened to this one just to hear her in action.

Can you kinda predict how this one is going to end? Sure. Does the dialogue get a bit sappy? Yes. But trust me when I say - it doesn’t matter! The charm and warmth that this book provides wraps you up and has you believing that no matter what, anything is possible. In today’s world, I could say we all need a little bit more of that hope in our lives. This is a win - perfect to round out those summer days!

Julia Whelan can do absolutely no wrong. This was such a delight. I kept looking for reasons to listen to more on audio and cannot recommend that format enough.

I loved so many things -
✨ perfect combination of romance, family drama, coming of age
✨ laugh out loud funny
✨ romance references you’ll love if you’re a fan of the genre
✨ narrated by the queen herself
✨ author’s note you don’t want to skip over
✨ the ending

Thank You for Listening is out TODAY!!! So snag your copy asap!

4.5 ⭐️

Romance -

This was a fantastic read and I gobbled it up very quickly. It wasn't a typical romance novel and while there are scenes that are pretty sexy, they were not overdone.
Sewanee narrates audiobooks, she used to be an actress, but a terrible accident left her disfigured and she felt it ruined her chances to be on screen. Her best friend and former Julliard roommate is just starting to receive the bigger movie roles. She and Sewanee are pretty inseparable. One night in Vegas, however, Abaku has to leave and fly to LA for a few hours to audition. Sewanee is just about to call it a night when she meets an interesting man, Nick. For some reason, she gave him a fake name. They have a wonderful time and when his flight gets cancelled they spend one amazing night together. Never to be repeated.
When Sewanee returns home, she learns that her beloved grandmother needs to be moved into memory care, which will cost a significant amount of money. Money she doesn't have until an offer to narrate a romance series lands in her lap. The money is crazy good and will allow her grandmother to stay in the best facility.
The audiobook is a romance. She hasn't narrated these books since the beginning of her career and when she did she used an alias. This audiobook series will be a duet with a male voice actor. THE male voice actor - Brock McKnight. They begin a correspondence, but Brock thinks her name is Sarah. He cops to using an alias, but doesn't tell her what his real name is and she doesn't have a chance to tell him her real name until by chance they run into each other. Brock is Nick - no surprise there.
The relationship goes through the required ups and downs. We have to deal with Sewanee's insecurities after her accident, all the aliases and misdirections, etc. It seems like it could be trite or follow all the tropes of the genre, but the story really sings.
I really enjoyed this novel and will look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this novel.

when i went back to look for notes and bookmarks on this book to write a review, i found zero. and then i remembered that's because i absolutely BLAZED through it--no pauses, did not pass go, did not collect $200, just reveling in its delightful froth.

the short summary is that Sewanee Chester, a former actress turned audiobook narrator (this part is autobiographical, though Whelan takes pains to point out that the rest isn't), has a run-in with a man at a conference akin to book expo, then later is wooed into a romance narration collaboration with a well-known but intensely private male audiobook narrator. it may feel from that set-up like you know exactly what's coming, but as with her debut, My Oxford Year, Whelan writes outside the box. here, rich friendships, a beloved aging grandmother full of moxie, and an entertainingly populated work setting feed the plot. interstitials quoting a (fictional) romance author interrogate classic romance beats to great effect, and the final product is more than the sum of its parts: a smart and thoughtful exploration of finding one's way, in or out of a relationship.

an unexpected welcome to the first half of my year of reading has been a spate of books that take the conventional tropes of their genre and turn them on their head. TYFL falls into that category, along with Book Lovers, One Night on the Island, Linda Holmes' latest, and Mhairi McFarlane's forthcoming Mad About You. it is also--and this is one of the greatest compliments i can give a book or a person--laugh out loud funny. avid audiobook listeners will enjoy a whole bunch of insider-y info and niche jokes.

huge thanks to @harperaudio and @librofm for the chance to listen to this ALC early, and to @avonbooks and @harpervoyager for the dARC! THANK YOU FOR LISTENING cemented Julia Whelan as an auto-buy author for me, and i cannot wait to read and relish this one all over again.

4.5*

Thank you to Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sewanee is a former actress/current audiobook narrator who is adamantly against narrating romance books until she gets an offer she can't refuse from the manager of a recently departed author. She is very close to her grandmother Barbara aka "BlahBlah" (due to her chatty personality) who is now in an assisted living facility after her sister passed away. She is unfortunately losing her memory and will require more expensive care. Sewanee starts the duet project with "Brock McNight" who is a famous romance narrator under a pseudonym.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Sewanee had an accident that left her disfigured and lacking confidence, and her best friend is a successful actress who is pushing her to get back into acting. I also loved the grandma BlahBlah and her stories about old Hollywood. I learned about audiobooks and the recording process. The "reveal" was not surprising to me, but I liked how a lot of the communication between Sewanee and Brock was through texting and reading the texts. I also liked how Sewanee was a grammar nerd and all the conversations between her and Brock about book tropes and mentions of "HEA" - Happily Ever After.

I would definitely recommend!

Julia Whelan has been my favorite narrator for years. Her work with Taylor Jenkins Reid and Kristin Hannah are particular favorites. So when I heard she wrote a book in which the protagonist is an audiobook narrator?! Say less, I'm there.

Similar to Sewanee, romance is far from my favorite genre. I'm incredibly picky and often find plot lines little more than eye roll worthy. That is not the case with this book. It was the perfect mix of sweet and sexy. The perfect amount of humor (actually giggle out loud humor. Not like when books say they're funny but they're actually not).

This was the kind of romantic comedy you stay up late to finish. The kind that has you carrying your kindle around while you brush you teeth and make your breakfast. I loved the banter between Sewanee and Nick/Brock. And although I knew it was him from the start, I still wanted to keep reading and see how it all played out.

Sewanee Chester, former actress and former Romance audiobook narrator does not believe in Happily Ever After. Narrating anything but, Swan has no hopes of an HEA for herself. After a fantastically tropey one night fling, Swan takes a journey of coming to terms with her life as it is and for the future be dealing with her sick grandmother, daddy issues, reconciling her long lost actress dreams, and a new recording project (and thrilling text chain) with the mysterious Brock McNight. Follow along in this delightful tribute to audiobooks and the power of people in Thank You for Listening.

I have to admit I think I did myself a disservice by reading the ebook version instead of listening to the audiobook, but I loved it just the same. This book had me laughing out loud, swooning, growling in frustration, and almost crying. The story is delightfully written, with all the ebbs and flows of the Romance genre. Super sweet love story with complex personal issues sprinkled about. If you don't listen to audiobooks, you'll want to start after reading this book!

I LOLed this book!!!
I was first introduced to Julia Whelan when I listened to Jessica Parks’ book, Flat-Out Love, and absolutely LOVED her narration and I also really enjoyed My Oxford Year so Thank You For Listening has been one of my most anticipated books of the year. I was not disappointed. I loved Sewanee and her grandmother Blah. From the minute I met Sewanee I was rooting for her. She is sassy and witty and nurturing to the people she loves most. It was also really interesting to get a sneak peek into the audio book world. I’m not going to lie I definitely went down a google hole of how to be an audiobook narrator. This book was truly heartwarming, I was laughing out loud while also thinking about all my most special memories with my own grandmother. The romance was perfect and I loved all of Sewanee’s friendships making it one of my favorite books of the year! Go get your copy out today!

5 stars!

Thank you @netgalley for the early copy!

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I love the way this novel played with common romance tropes, including matchmaker, disguise, snowed in, one-night stand, scars, afraid to commit, epistolary, and second chance/grand gesture. The characters were memorable, the banter was fun, and the romance felt believable. I would have enjoyed this just as a contemporary romance, but what really elevated this story is the way it explored self-discovery and love in all its forms. The familial and friendly relationships were just as touching as the romantic relationships.

I’ve read books where one of the main characters was a romance author, but this is the first time I’ve read a book where the main characters are audiobook narrators. The author incorporates her own knowledge of acting and audiobook narration as well as the romance industry, and I appreciated these insights.

I highly recommend this book for fans of women’s fiction and contemporary romance.

Thanks to Avon Books for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley, which I volunteered to review.

I loved this book! I was a huge fan of Julia Whelan’s first book, The Oxford Year, so when an opportunity to read this book presented itself, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. I was even more excited by the chance to listen to the author and narrator extraordinaire read the book. Once I started listening to this one, I did not want to stop. It was so easy to get swept away by Sewanee and Brock’s story.

Sewanee is an audiobook narrator. She started out narrating romance novels after acting became a not-so-viable option. She now narrates more literary works under a different name. She thinks that she is done with romance but when an offer falls in her lap that will pay enough to take care of her grandmother, she can’t say no. I loved the parts of the book that dealt directly with the process of narrating a book and some of the challenges that narrators face. For the romance that Sewanee is working on, she is paired up with Brock. They don’t see each other but do message each other to help each of them narrate their parts of the book but before long they start talking about things other than the book.

I really liked Sewanee, Brock, and the rest of the characters. Sewanee has had some pretty big challenges in her life and is dealing fairly well with them. I really appreciated her relationship with her grandmother and thought that the descriptions of dementia affecting her grandmother were well done. I thought that the romantic aspect of the book was very well done. I loved getting to see Sewanee and Brock slowly get to know each other while they worked on the book and couldn’t wait for the day when they would eventually meet face to face.

The narration was phenomenal. Since the author has narrated a ton of books, I feel that she knows how to present this story in a way that nobody else ever could. She is one of my favorite narrators and her work on this book was top-notch. I loved the various character voices and the emotion she express in her reading. I will definitely be recommending this one to others. Julia Whelan once again proves that she knows how to write ’em and how to read ’em.

I received a review copy of this book from Avon Books and Harper Audio.

This is a story about being trapped by the past. Sewanee Chester is a successful audiobook narrator. It is not what she expected for her career, but she has found satisfaction in the opportunity to bring books to life through her voice. Sewanee started out voicing romance books under a stage name (and developed a strong fan base there). But she found she did not love romance novels, so she moved onto other fiction under her real name. When her boss and mentor injures himself, she agrees to take over as the moderator of a panel on audiobook versions of romance novels at a book convention in Las Vegas. While there, she has a night to remember with an attractive and impossibly charming stranger — and when they part, they do not trade contact information, assuming they will never see each other again.

Back home, she receives an offer too good to refuse. One of the world’s most popular romance novelists who recently died completed one last project before her untimely passing, and she wanted Sewanee to perform the story along with Brock McNight — perhaps the most popular voice in romance audiobooks whose true identity is a secret to all. The offer will give Sewanee the resources to take care of her beloved ailing grandmother so she agrees to do it under her former stage name. While working on this project, she develops a strong connection with Brock through emails and texts under their assumed identities. Sewanee can’t help but wonder if there may be a real-life connection there, even as she is anxious about whether she will ever be able to find the happiness in the messy real world after what she endured in her past.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author adroitly examines the tropes of romance books with a critical eye while also deploying many of the same tropes (often with a wink). Sewanee is a unique character with a universal story — someone whose past experiences have a strong hold over her present and views of the possibilities of the future, shaping and in many ways inhibiting her relationships with those in her life. And the mysteries at the heart of the story combine with the insightful character studies to make this a true page turner. As an aside, I also enjoyed how much I learned about the audiobook industry.

Very highly recommended!

Julia Whelan is one of my very favorite audiobook narrators, but she has also won my heart as a writer. Witty, smart, and understands the romance genre from the inside out.
Thank You For Listening is a book about audiobook narrators and how they got to their respective jobs, respecting their privacy and building relationships within the industry. Of course Ms Whelan would have inside information about this, but she accomplished this story with romance and a twist.

Sewanee was an up and coming actress when an accident derailed her career and set her on a path of "acting behind the scenes", aka audiobook narration. She gets her start in the romance genre under a pseudonym and then builds her career into all other genres and refuses to work in the romance genre again. Until a lucrative deal is dropped in her lap and she cannot refuse it. It has her working with one of the most famous male voices in the romance genre, Brock McNight and they soon develop a friendship through email and texts.

I'm not going to give too much in the way of the story and the romance that develops, but I will say that I love the way it came about and how Sewanee grows and discovers herself through conversations.

I love that Julia Whelan took a story within a story and gave so many nods to a few genres and gave us the ultimate romance all while giving us a big taste of the narration world. I enjoyed seeing the character development of Sewanee and Brock and how their pasts affected who they became behind he scenes. I liked that we also had the added bonus of Blah Blah (Sewanee's grandma) and that connection she had with her. While I really enjoyed this story, the characters and the insider knowledge that the author was able to provide, I really wish I would've listened to the audio. I think this is a book that is meant to be listened to and I know Julia Whelan shines. I will be giving this a reread and listening to it very soon. How can I not when it's written AND narrated by THE Julia Whelan!!

Any way you 'read' this story, you are going to enjoy it, especially if you're an audiophile!

I loved this book from the first page. Seriously. The first June French quote had my heart. By the next June French quote I was immersed, and I will not even be embarrassed that I googled that author, hadn't quite caught on yet that she was fictional. HA!

This book is super special. It's about an audiobook narrator and how her life has changed from what she thought it would be due to an accident.

I loved the scenes in Vegas. I laughed SO hard and so awkwardly when Aduko said "aren't all the rooms at the Rio suites?" I mean, just typing that now made me chuckle. So much wit and innuendo in this book, I just couldn't get enough.

Read it in one session, I just put off every other thing I had to do, except taking the dog outside. Highly recommend. Can't wait for more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

While this may be a romance filled with tropes, I found it amusing and touching all at the same time.

Sewanee (Swan) was on her way to becoming an actress when an unfortunate accident took away her confidence. So she turns to narrating books, starts with romance novels, and makes a name for herself, but under a pseudonym. She is roped into attending a conference in Vegas, where she meets Nick. Everything gets turned upside down from that point forward in her life. She is dealing with a grandmother with dementia, a father that doesn't seem to care, a mother that is off traveling the world with her new beau, and a best friend that just wants to see her happy. This doesn't even take into consideration her professional life as a book narrator and the opportunity to do one last book from the author that got her started with another well-known (but unknown) male narrator, Brock McNight. 

When she got this opportunity to record the book, I could see what was going to happen and who Brock might be, but I did not expect another twist to the story...but no spoilers on that, and I haven't even given you any clues!

I laughed out loud a lot when Swan and Brock were recording this last book towards the end. Let's just say he read words that weren't there, which made the situation even that much funnier.

My heart broke a little when Swan was conversing with her grandmother. It is hard dealing with someone you love having dementia, especially on the bad days. It doesn't help that her father wants to stick her in a different home which could only upset the situation. But at the same time, there are some light moments that truly reflect how life is for someone with dementia.

Part of the story is told via text and email exchanges between Swan and Brock. Brock doesn't know that Swan and her pseudonym Sarah are the same person. So he hasn't heard other books she has narrated. I chuckled a LOT reading these exchanges. They are flirty, funny, and full of innuendo. I can only imagine what this book would be like if you listened to it instead of reading it. 

I also learned a little about narrating books and the process they go through to ensure that the book's essence is captured perfectly.

A fun book that I read in no time, and you just might too. We give it 5 paws up.

I don’t listen to audiobooks but they are vastly popular. I thought it would be interesting to read a novel about a narrator.
It’s an ok book. It has a very slow beginning and the plot evolved in dribs and drabs/
I don’t really connect with any of the characters and my interest waned as the book progressed.

This book is a great follow up to my Oxford year and an insiders view of the audiobook narrators profession. I’m a big fan of Julia Whalen so I had high expectations which she met and exceeded! Definitely worth adding to your TBR!