The queen of audiobooks wrote about audiobooks and I love that! If you’re unaware, author Julia Whelan is the gold standard for audiobook narrators.

Okay. Now to this book. Sewanne “Swan” is a former rising star actress. But after a terrible accident she turned her career into narrating audiobooks. Though she started her career in romance, Swan has a strict “No Romance” rule. That is until one day she’s offered the salary and romance job she can’t refuse. Which ultimately has her working with romance legend Brock McNight.

The banter in this book was top notch. Think Emily Henry level banter but about sexy romance books. 🫣😂 I adored both Swan and Brock. I adored the ode to audiobooks.

I did find the format odd and a bit lackluster. But overall a fun read!

Thank You for Listening is a romance novel for those who do and don't like reading romance. I absolutely LOVED it. Julia Whelan's writing is smart and she takes clever jabs at romance novels while writing a rom com. Her characters (and supporting characters - I loved the grandmother) are well developed. Her heroine, Sewanee, models Whelan's own career as an audiobook narrator, and if you have a tendency to have literary crushes like me, then Nick is going to steal your heart. Another thing I loved about this book is that lack of communication does NOT lead to the crisis between the love interests in fact their dialog is entertaining, laugh out loud funny, pokes fun at euphemisms in romance novels, and (mostly) honest. I also loved the deep dive into what it takes to be a skilled and quality audiobook narrator. This book is my first by Whelan and my only complaint is that it's only the 2nd novel she's written so I don't have enough backlist titles to read now. I have pre-ordered the audio version for a reread. Many thanks to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager publishing , and Julia Whelan for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “Thank You for Listening” in exchange for an honest review. There’s a lot I liked about this book. I enjoyed the meta nature of referring to romance novels and the HEA. I appreciated how there were different relationships that I was invested in, other than the protagonists’ romance. This novel has a depth that you don’t always find in romance books. I also enjoyed reading about the experience of audiobook narrators. Despite subplots, there were moments that I felt like the story was a little slow. I was more invested in some of the characters than others and, with the different plot lines, felt myself thinking of the adage that sometimes less is more.

What a fabulous book!

I have come to know and love Julia Whelan as a superb audiobook narrator, and I thought her book, My Oxford Year, was outstanding. It is so fun to see her incorporate her experiences as a narrator into this new book!

This book is packed with so much great content! There’s a lot going on, but it all works.
Some of what Whelan gives to her readers here includes:
- A fun look at the world of audiobook narration
- Las Vegas antics including snow and romance
- Dealing with a past trauma
- Supportive friendships
- Family drama
- Tough decisions about the care of an elderly family member
- Funny side characters
- Career challenges and decisions
- Secret identities
- Text and long distance romance
And so much more.

Somehow the book has a wonderful combination of fun and lighthearted situations with lots of comic relief, and plenty of depth and challenging situations. It’s both heartwarming and heartbreaking. A big part of the overarching storyline is about a romantic connection, but it’s so much more. I became invested in the characters and cried a lot.

This is truly such a great book. I’d definitely recommend it!

I love Julia as an audiobook narrator so this was a fun insight into that through her authorship. It was a nice romance with some deeper themes that I really enjoyed.

3.5⭐️Thank You For Listening follows Sewanne, a former actress who, after an unfortunate accident, became an audiobook narrator. After a one-night stand in Vegas with a charming stranger, she is presented with an opportunity she cannot say no to; one of the world's most popular romance novelists wants her to record her last book. Despite not recording this genre for years, Sewanne accepts the position, ultimately to support her Grandma's care. The catch is that she has to record with the mysterious and popular male narrator, Brock McNight, and record under her former ghost name.

What I loved:
-All the commentary on audiobook narration. I learned A LOT!
-The story was laugh-out-loud funny, especially during Part 3 when the interactions were primarily via texting and email
-How Sewanne and Nick had great communication and even better chemistry
-Hearing Julia Whelan's voice across the pages
-How each chapter title was a common trope or theme in romance stories

What I did not love:
-The five separate parts felt like different stories, and I wish they were woven together a bit more seamlessly
-Along with that, the timeline hopped around too much
-How Sewanne called her grandma "Blah"

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: 8/2

When I first started reading this title, I was a little confused by how she went from character to character for some reason, but once I picked up on the cadence, I was off and running.

I thought it was perfect that her main characters were audio book narrators. Sewanee and Nick meet each other by happenstance one night in Vegas. They have great chemistry and an amazing night together before going their separate ways.

Sewanee has sworn that she is never narrating a romance book again when she gets an offer she can't refuse in order to help her grandmother stay in her current retirement home. It is going to be in dual narration with Brock McKnight. Sewanee gets to know him as Sarah Westholme which is her narrator name. They talk through text only as they are in different locations recording. They, too, soon realize they have a great chemistry and decide to meet in person.

There are many dramatic turns of events and even quite possibly the dreaded HEA. Not only do you have their relationship, but you find out Sewanee's aka Sarah's back story as well as her grandmother's and Brock's. Once you get to part 3 where it becomes largely epistolary through texts, you won't want to put it down.

I really enjoyed Whelan's writing and hope to read future novels as well.

The Oxford Year is a hard act to follow, but Julia Whelan has done it again with Thank You for Listening! I loved this book. Loved it from the first page to the last and especially the relationship between the characters. Highly recommend!
Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5⭐

After a tragic accident forces Sewanee “Swan” Chester, a graduate of Juilliard and former up-and-coming actress, to forgo her dreams of an acting career, she ventures into the world of audiobook narration, a profession in which she earns repute and a respectable income. However, memories of her accident and subsequent disfigurement and her unrealized dreams cast a shadow on her present life. Initially, she gains recognition as a popular narrator of romance novels (under an assumed name) but has since moved on from the genre (she detests the unrealistic and impractical tropes and the promise of HEA in romantic novels!) to more serious books and is presently a successful audiobook narrator, under her real name. A chance meeting with a handsome stranger at a book convention in Las Vegas leads to a very interesting night for her and provides a welcome change from her monotonous life in LA.

Upon returning to LA she is offered the chance to perform the last novel of a famous romance writer, who has recently passed away, with the elusive and extremely popular narrator Brock McKnight. Initially reluctant, she ultimately accepts the offer as it would enable her to afford an upgrade in her grandmother’s care at a swanky retirement facility. The audiobook is scheduled to be released in episodic format and what follows is a collaboration between Swan (using her previously discarded pseudonym) and Brock, lots of humorous communication, sharing and attraction which also brings its share of tension, misunderstandings, secrets and other challenges. As the narrative progresses, we see how Swan tries to balance her personal and professional aspirations, deal with her grandmother's failing health and navigate her way through tension with both her father and her well-meaning best friend who is a successful actress trying to help Swan revive her acting career, all in an effort to move on from her disappointments and allow herself to finally be happy.

Julia Whelan’s Thank You for Listening is an entertaining read with loads of heart and humor. Yes, the usual tropes (the chapters are actually named after the more common tropes in romance novels) make the story predictable ( it is a rom-com, so no surprises there), but the cast of interesting characters, their backstories and the humorous banter over emails and texts between the main characters (reminiscent of one of my favorite Meg Ryan/ Tom Hanks movies) make for an entertaining read. Though the story did drag in a few places (400+ pages is a bit too long), it still managed to hold my interest. What upped my rating (from a 3 to a 4) was the inside look into the hard work that goes into the process of audiobook narration and the challenges faced by professional narrators. Also, reading a romance novel that pokes fun at the genre and the concept of HEA, while the narrative progresses in a similar direction was an amusing experience.

May thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet love story with a literary twist! I loved the relationships between the characters and especially the friendships.

Just, wow. I loved this so much. I fell in love with Julia Whelan as the narrator for many of my all time favorite audiobooks (if you haven’t listened to her reading, go find her. She is on so many major books). When I saw her book I knew I had to read it immediately.

While this was fiction, I could tell her personal expertise as a audiobook narrator infused the details of her writing. It was real and I could picture it all.

The banter between the main characters was pure gold. They were hilarious, sexy, and perfect. All of the characters were rich and truly came alive on the pages. The epistolary structure worked well for the sections it was featured and made the characters more tangible for me. I loved this moments full of euphemisms and connection. It completely enthralled me.

This book had it all: romance, friendship, heartache, self-discovery, banter…. Seriously everything.

I 100000% will be listening to this very soon when it comes at as she is narrating it herself and I know it will be absolutely phenomenal. I cannot get enough.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

You know it’s a good book when it stays with you for weeks/months after you’ve finished. The premise of this book is so wonderfully meta, with lots of references to the romance genre, and my goodness, the dialogue/banter is top notch! At times, the book tries to cram too many storylines in (the dad stuff in particular feels unnecessary and unresolved), but the side characters are so fully realized and the world so rich that I can forgive the maybe overly ambitious plotting. I can’t wait to listen to the audiobook read by author Julia Whelan.

This was a fun read! I’ve heard of the author a lot lately and I just recently heard her narrate “The Four Winds.” It seemed rather serendipitous that I was also starting to read this book! While this is not a “romance” situation, I feel like everything fell into place and I got my HEA!

I usually read very quickly, but this one took me close to a week to finish! It wasn’t that I didn’t like the book, I loved it. I wanted to savor each word and really thing about the characters and their story. This book made me love contemporary romance even more.

Don’t let the summer end without getting your hands on this book.

Not gonna lie - my first instinct was…”wait, I’m not gonna HEAR her iconic voice?!” This book is just wonderful and while I couldn’t *hear* her voice - I just knew it was her. What a gem of a story that only she could tell!

I loved Whelan’s first book, My Oxford Year, so I thought I would give this one a shot. Swanee is an audiobook narrator that is cast in a huge project. During this time, she meets Nick, whom she falls for. At the same time, she also starts talking to the co-narrator, Brock. When Swanees two different men suddenly meet, the end is near.

Digital ARC provided by NetGalley.

A twisting, meet cute (x2!) fated love story that is set in the audiobook world. While I found the plot entirely predictable, that didn’t take an away from my overall enjoyment.

Sewanee aka Swan is a thriving audiobook narrator who has been sent to Vegas for a romance novel convention even though she hates romance. While decompressing at a bar after work, she meets Nick who is in from out of town and up for a night of fun.

After a whirlwind evening, Swan returns home to find a narration offer she can’t refuse. Unfortunately, it’s a romance serial and requires her to work under an alias and with the number one voice in romance narration, Brock McKnight.

As Swan and Brock get to know each other through electronic communication, the reader starts to make some connections that will ultimately change all of the relationships within the novel.

This was a very sweet book! I liked it a lot, and I will definitely be recommending it to anyone who loves lighter reads.

A sweet and sometimes steamy romance from one of my favorite narrators. A fun read, but with some serious elements.

What I found most fascinating was the behind-the-scenes look at audiobook production. I’ll never listen to them quite the same way again, because I have a new appreciation of what goes into them. I look forward to eventually hearing Julia Whelan’s audio version, because I’d love to hear what Swan, and especially Brock, sound like. And Blah!

Is it women's fiction? Is it romance? Is it realistic fiction? YES! As a not very avid reader of romance, I was a little worried that this story of an audiobook narrator who was practically forced to read a romance with someone was going to be predictable. Not so! I should have had more faith in Julia Whelan! This book delivers it all: romance, humor, sadness, and a big dose of reality.

This was a unique book that kept me reading. It wasn't just frothy romcom, nor did it stray too far into the darker elements that it presents. It was a well-balanced story that had me bingeing the last half in one go.

Thank You For Listening presented a neat fusion of genres for me: it was part romcom, a series of coincidences and comedy of errors bringing together the main couple. It was part contemporary women's lit, portraying deep female friendships and coping with several levels of emotional trauma, from Sewanee's disability to contending with the oncoming loss of her grandmother. It was also part insightful look into the world of audiobooks. As an audiobook lover, the last part was particularly interesting, how they record and what they eat and stuff to get their voice in prime condition.

Lastly, it played with the idea that consumption of romance, a hot topic in bookland that often ends in belittling or outright insulting of readers, is actually a reliable, honorable bulwark of the book industry. Sure, some erotica reads as straight porn or the HEA trope can be exhausting and fake, but there's a reason romance is such a presence still today. The characters' disparagement of the genre within this story is more a statement to what's going in their own lives rather than ROMANCE SUCKS. I really appreciated the author going for that angle and giving the genre the respect it deserves.

I can't really think of anything I disliked in this book, other than a few jarring sad parts and the story of what happened to our disabled, disfigured protagonist.

The depiction of female friendship between Sewanee and Adaku was so, so grounded and adorable simultaneously. Despite their existence within the entertainment industry and the potential for rivalry before Sewanee's accident, they were good, supportive friends. I loved their banter throughout the book.

The handling of Sewanee's disfigurement was well done in my opinion; even if she didn't love herself for most of the book, she was pragmatic and had learned to live with it as part of herself. It never hinders the romance in the book or the significant relationships in her life.

The coping with her grandmother's worsening memory and health, an aged starler herself, was interesting and gave Sewanee's own character more depth, as a would-have-been movie star herself and a caring granddaughter.

In short I just felt this book was...remarkably well-rounded and I was impressed with its tackling of several issues within the guise of a comedy of errors romance.