This was a DNF for me.- I love JW but I was just bored listening and found myself not really caring - I got about 30% in and just wasn't into it - reviews are super great for this already though so I think I'm an outlier.

Sewanee Chester is a riveting audiobook narrator. A former actress, she now spends her days narrating fantasy worlds and visiting her grandmother. Due to a tragic accident, she prefers to spend her days in a booth and away from the spotlight. However, after filling in at a book convention and spending an unexpected and extraordinary night with a stranger, she returns home to a request. If she resurrects her romance narrator persona for a popular romance author, she will be rewarded handsomely and will be able to continue caring for her grandmother. She soon forms a connection with her co-narrator but everything may not be as it seems.

I loved this story and these characters so much! The fact that this book was written by a renowned narrator just makes it so perfect. The banter between characters was amazing and I often found myself laughing, blushing, and swooning like a teenager. Beautiful!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! I ended up loving this book SO MUCH. With Whelan's penchant for evoking intense emotion (hello, My Oxford Year), I knew this was going to be a wild ride, but it really hit at my romance-loving, audiobook listening heart. In this story we see former actress, Sewanee, now working as a successful audiobook narrator--in anything but romance. While she entered the game under a pseudonym, and ultimately recorded for the most successful romance novelist of all time, she's frustrated with their constant HEA's, given the way her original career went up in flames when she suffered a terrible accident seven years prior that resulted in her losing her eye. But when he agent receives word that she was specifically request to record for a now-deceased, famous novelist, along with the romance's current hottest male voice, Brock McNight, she can't turn down the money. In the most self-aware moment, the book acknowledges the many, many tropes it manages to fit in seamlessly, including Snowed In, Epistolary, Secret Identity, and more.

I can't recommend this book enough--it brought me so much joy. While I would have loved even more to the ending, which is somewhat abrupt despite an epilogue, romance readers will rejoice about this love-letter to the genre. And isn't it ironic that this romance masterpiece stars a romance-hating heroine? And I would be remiss if I didn't remind readers not to skip the quotes at the beginning of the chapters (which I am guilty of normally doing). These are worth catching!

Thanks to Avon for my eARC of Thank You for Listening! All thoughts and opinions are my own. I'm tempted to try this one out on audio now, just to see what it's like...

5 stars - 10/10

I loved Julia Whelan’s debut novel, so I was super excited to get an early copy of her next and it did not disappoint! It was a bit slow to start, but once I got invested in the story and the characters, I couldn’t put it down! I enjoy that Whelan writes characters that feel like real people, with flaws and passions, who sometimes make mistakes, but communicate and come together in the end. I also really enjoyed the “perk behind the curtain” of making audiobooks. I definitely recommend picking this one up when it releases in August!

Publication date: August 2, 2022

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the early copy!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for the eARC of Thank You for Listening.

I was drawn to this title since I adore audiobooks and Julia Whelan has narrated a good quarter of my Audible favorites.

While the premise of the book didn’t immediately suck me in, I somehow unknowingly fell in love with the characters. A plot both equal parts ridiculous and too based in reality made for the perfect unexpected read.

I will be sure to track down the audiobook after release day to see how Julia’s voice can add even more life to these dynamic characters.

(3.5/5)

I’ve never been one for audiobooks (just a personal preference, audiobooks are 100% real books!), but after reading this, I might have to try one! I really liked this look into the world of audio narration. It was really interesting! Sewanee was a really great MC. I like her confidence, but also her vulnerability and feelings of not being good enough. I loved how much she cared about her grandmother. The scenes with those two were really sweet and well done. The texting and emails between Sewanee and Brock McNight (fantastic name) were really clever and funny and cute. I loved their flirty banter and jokes. The book did keep my interest, but I did feel like it dragged in a few spots. I liked that all the chapters were named after romance tropes, that was a cool touch. Overall, I enjoyed this contemporary romance!

What else can I say but that I just really enjoyed this book. It was delightful from beginning to end!

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan tells the story of Sewanee Chester, an audiobook narrator, who once had aspirations of being a famous Hollywood actress. When she goes to Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger. When Sewanee returns home she’s given an opportunity to return to narrating the final romance book written by June French – who has recently passed away – with the industry’s hottest, most secretive voice, Brock McNight. Neither of them actually believe in what romance novels are selling/peddling, but by working together they gradually form a real connection behind their anonymity. Through this friendship both characters ultimately find their true selves and each other in the process.

I really loved how all of the chapter titles were romance novel tropes, and the banter during the episolatary chapter was just *chef’s kiss*, as I’m a sucker for a book with great email/text exchanges that help the characters get to know each other better, but also let you as the reader really get to know the characters. I also really enjoyed the interview quotes from June French during the different sections/parts. Especially the one about there needing to be an HEA in romance books – because of course as an avid romance reader it’s what we want when we pick up these books!

Overall, a really good read, like I said before I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Julia Whelan and Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Wow, I really adored this one. There is no secret that Julia Whelan is my favorite narrator and she knocked it out of the park writing and narrating this one.
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This is a meta story about the world of audiobooks and their narrators, but it’s so much more than that. This had me in tears of sadness and laughter, and it captured every other emotion. This story has so much heart and emotion and definitely is one of my favorite audiobooks of the year.
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Thank you so much #Avon and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Oxford Year is one of my all-time favorite books, so I definitely had very high expectations for Thank You for Listening, and while I enjoyed the book, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.

I enjoyed all of Swenaee and Brock’s back and forth before they met, parts had me laughing out loud. And I liked how vulnerable they were able to be with each other. I did find myself getting lost multiple times throughout the book. This may not have happened had I read it over listening, but at times I felt like too much was trying to be packed into the book.

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan is about Sewanee Chester. Sewanee is a former actor who lost an eye in an accident, causing her to give up her acting career and become an audiobook narrator instead. She hates romance novels, but out of desperation, she takes a job co-narrating a romance novel with one of the industry's hottest voices, Brock McKnight. What follows is a delightful romance that manages to hit a bunch of stereotypical romance plot points in a fresh and fun new way.

This was such a fun read! The romance was cute, the banter was great, and I loved the You've Got Mail-ish plot. It was interesting to read about audiobook narrators, which is not a profession that I have ever given much thought to. But reading about their lives behind the scenes was fascinating!

This is a clever and entertaining romance book, and one that I definitely recommend for fans of the genre! It would make a great summer beach read, and it's out on August 2!

I loved this story. The Sewanee, Nick, Brock, Alice, Sarah, connection was such a good read. The vulnerability Alice showed to Nick the night they were together was amazing. The ending with June's original letter to Sarah was interesting. June said she wasn't playing matchmaker but yet she did arrange their meeting at a later time. Just so good! Now I want to go back and reread My Oxford Year!

I’m actually not an audiobook fan, but I was drawn to this novel by its concept alone. I enjoyed Whelan’s freshman. Over, and high hopes for this one. I was not disappointed. I loved the behind the scenes look at the audiobook industry and the nods to both the book industry and romance fans. Very early on, I guessed the “twist” of the character connections. I thought Whelan’s characters were both diverse and well-developed. It was refreshing to not read a romance with one dimensional characters. The banter between Sewanee and Brock McNight was my favorite part of the book—it drew me in and kept me reading well past my bedtime. I also enjoyed the friendship and family dynamics that were developed throughout the book. Enjoyable read that I highly recommend. Thank you for the Advanced Copy.

This is a hard book to review because I enjoy Julia Whelan's writing and thought she wrote these characters well, but my main critique that kept taking me out of the novel was that these characters hate romance novels and are judgey towards romance readers. These thoughts from the characters are 100% valid and make sense with their characterization, but in a romance novel? Who is reading this novel if not for romance readers and lovers of romance novels? I kept waiting for the characters to change their minds or at least show a bit more respect to the lovers of their work, but they never did. Which I would've been fine with. Except this is being marketed as a romance novel. As a romance reader, romance novels are a safe and happy place away from the judgment that is often shown towards us, I don't want to be reminded that people judge romance readers while reading about two people falling in love.

If the two characters had been slightly less judgey or if this had not been marketed as a romance novel I think I would've enjoyed it a lot more.

Thanks to @avonbooks for an advance copy of Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan, out August 2nd!

Actress slash beloved audiobook narrator Julia Whelan has authored a novel about an actress slash beloved audiobook narrator because OF COURSE 🤣 but for a romance reader and audiobook listener, it was basically catnip. I had to read it.

There was a lot to love about this book. I love that it gives a glimpse into the book community (book events, Facebook groups, readers who have favorite narrators, what it’s like being an audiobook narrator). I loved its portrayal of family and friendship and grief. Some of the lines and descriptions laid me out flat. It was so funny and kept me up late turning the next page. I love love loved the epistolary element. I loved that there was a disabled female main character but that the story didn’t center on her disability.

I guessed what was going to happen very early on but still enjoyed watching it unfold! Suwannee and Nick are both in pretty terrible places — know going in that this book deals with grief and loss in a number of ways — and I appreciated that this wasn’t glossed over in the process of them finding each other.

My main frustration was that about 75% of the way in I was still feeling pretty defensive about the treatment of romance novels and reading in general (one popular audiobook narrator proclaims he doesn’t read, another that she never listens to audiobooks) but seeing as the book is itself a romance and the author narrates, among other genres, romance novels, I held out hope. And it sort of redeemed itself? But I was left with mixed feelings about that aspect.

Though I read a physical copy, I really would have enjoyed listening to Whelan voice all the characters — I’m sure the audiobook is fantastic. I was super excited by the buzz I was seeing from advance readers, and I too really enjoyed Thank You For Listening!

CW: plane accident, disability, suicide, Alzheimer’s, dementia, grief, loss of a loved one, sexual content

I DNF'd this authors first book so I was really nervous about reading this one. While I ultimately had some issues with the book, I was actually pleasantly surprised with the story and enjoyed reading it!

Sewanee is a former actress turned audiobook narrator due to an unfortunate accident that takes away a lot of her confidence. Though she got her start in narrating romance novels under a pseudonym, she now will narrate anything BUT romance as she doesn't believe HEAs really exist for normal people. Sewanee discovers that one of the most beloved romance authors wanted her to record her last ever book along with sensation Brock McNight, Sewanee decides to take one last dip into the romance world. As they begin to work together, she and Brock form a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of both of their pseudonyms.

My main overarching issue with this book is that there is a balance in writing dialogue that sounds like people would actually say it and writing in a way that readers will actually enjoy it and I don't think Julia Whelan has quite found that balance yet unfortunately. I also had some issues with grammar/sentence structure and found it a bit choppy in places.

After about 40%, I did find myself getting sucked in more and enjoying it a lot more - I think the banter in their emails and texts was really really good and is what eventually got me interested in the story.

Overall this gets a 3.5 stars from me! Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you love audiobooks and you love a love story, this is the book for you. Our audiobook queen Julia Whelan delivered on all counts with this one. We have a fun grandmother, great friends, a cool job, interesting backstory, and of course the love story we all want in a romance book. All of my boxes were checked!

Whelan (My Oxford Year, 2018), draws on her experience narrating audiobooks in this poignant and charming novel about two famous audiobook performers who fall in love during their dual narration of a romance novel.

Starred Review: https://www.booklistonline.com/Thank-You-For-Listening/pid=9763276

3.5. Like most audiobook listeners, I'm a big fan of Julia Whelan as a narrator, but I wasn't a huge fan of her first novel (largely for the Me Before You-esque plot, which is really not my thing). This book has a great premise, especially paired with Julia being an audiobook narrator queen, and I loved everything about those elements in the book. I didn't get very invested in Sewanee and Nick's relationship -- I liked their banter over text, whereas the later section (once their identities have been revealed/figured out) didn't work well for me, and the Nick/Brock pieces didn't all fit together. I honestly would have liked more of Sewanee's personal struggles and background as that was more interesting to me and felt a bit unfulfilled, as well as unconnected to her romance plot and scenes. The sideplots vary, but I loved her relationship with her grandmother, who leapt off the page to me and was particularly affecting as someone whose grandmother is going through similar stages. Overall, the audiobook and romance humor worked best for me, but unfortunately Sewanee and Nick's central relationship was uneven.

***thank you netgalley and Avon publishers for the ARC***

I’m in the minority but this didn’t do it for me. I thought the characters acted like they were in a YA novel, they were very immature. As I was reading, I felt like I was getting whiplash. I think it went overboard with the quirkiness. I skimmed the last half.

Julia Whelan is one of my favorite audiobook narrators, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. Thank You For Listening is a fun romance set in the world of audiobook narration and features a main character who is cynical about love and has to learn to accept herself before she can accept romance. One of my favorite things about Thank you for listening is that romance novels play a very important role in the plot, and Whelan includes several common tropes in a very tongue in cheek way that makes it clear that both the characters and the reader are in on the joke.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.