BEACH READ

Narrator Julia Whelan inhabits the first-person point of view of January Andrews, a bestselling romance writer who was a hopeless romantic until her father died and she learned of his mistress. Listeners share January's despair as she faces a summer of failing to write her next romance novel while packing up her father's secret beach house. She's dismayed to discover that her grumpy neighbor is her college rival, Augustus Everett, an acclaimed author of literary fiction. Whelan perfectly captures January's defensiveness, which soon gives way to laughter and yearning. She portrays Gus in a deep, gruff voice suited to his brooding personality. When the authors make a bet to write and sell a book in the other's genre, both break through writer's block and give in to an intense attraction that sparkles on audio. E.E.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2020]