Apart from this book being wonderful, I loved how Tia Williams hit the press circuit with her daughter for this one!!

Huge thanks to Hachette Audio and Libro.fm for the ALC—I absolutely loved this audiobook! The duet narration was chef’s kiss and made the story even more engaging. I’m obsessed.

I'm so glad Tia Williams decided to give Audre her own spotlight. I’ve been a big fan since Seven Days in June, and Audre was a standout character, so I was thrilled when I heard she’d be front and center in her own romance. The story is cute, heartwarming, and honestly hilarious. Audre and Bash together? Adorable. Their chemistry and banter made the whole thing such a fun ride.

It was also great to revisit Eva and Shane and see where life has taken them since SDIJ. Seeing them through a more domestic lens gave their story some new depth—and Shane stepping into a father figure role? Hilarious and surprisingly touching. Eva’s still my girl, but I can’t lie—she worked my nerves here and there with her full-on helicopter parenting. That said, knowing her backstory from Seven Days in June, her behavior made total sense.

Overall, I loved this book. These characters feel like family, and I already miss them.

OHHH MY SHAYLAS😭😭😭
TIA WILLIAMS YOU DID MY (FICTIONAL) NIECE’S STORY JUSTICE AND THEN SOME.

I don’t know if this story was pre-planned or written to satisfy fans of Audre's sharp wit in Seven Days (me) . Regardless , this was a vital end-piece to themes explored in Seven days in June while deftly balancing the needs of William’s YA audience .

I’m twenty —meaning I was literally a teen a year plus ago — but Audre and Bash are Just Friends made me feel like I was a teenager again. Messy , terribly cringe and melodramatic, carefree yet painfully self-conscious (all in an endearing way) It was pure magic from beginning to end .

I love when publishers invest in the production of an audiobook cause this was top notch ! From the narrators, Jordan Cobb and Torian Brackett, whose chemistry was electric with the duet narration , to the notification pings whenever Audre and Bash would text . There was a lot of care taken , making it one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC!

I was so excited to be with these characters again after Seven Days in June, and Audre and Bash did not disappoint!

Audre and Bash's book brings themes of mother and son relationships, the pressures that come with coming of age, and how not everyone's lives and experiences look the same, and that's okay. The premise of this book made me emotional from start to finish. The whole book felt like a way for Tia Williams to feel closer to her daughter after having another baby and meeting her where she is. As a recovering people-pleaser, high-strung teenager, and kid who was never the problem and went under the radar, this one felt nostalgic and somewhat healing. I wanted to give Audre a hug, but I also wanted to give 17-year-old me too.

Characters' relationships with religious trauma hit close to home. Both Audre and Bash's relationships with their parents painted a great picture of how different spectrums of parental experiences can shape and harm young people. Even side characters added new colors to this grand painting Tia Williams created to find and console young adults everywhere.

The queer stories that were interwoven throughout the story were added in such a way that explored exploration in teens, as well as allowing spaces for queer joy. She also didn't stray away from the harm that is inflicted upon young people exploring their sexuality and how adults react. Tia Williams brought mature conversations to a young adult book that was written with so much love and respect for young people. As a seasoned young adult author, this one packed an emotional and mature punch that both adults and teenagers can read and relate to.

I enjoyed the dual narration. However the story was just too slow for me and there wasn't enough to keep me engaged. Now, I'm in my 40s so maybe I'm not the target demographic.

🎧🅰🆄🅳🅸🅾🅱🅾🅾🅺 🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆🎧


✨𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓻𝓮 & 𝓑𝓪𝓼𝓱 𝓐𝓻𝓮 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓕𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 by Tia Williams✨

𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: Jordan Cobb & Torian Brackett

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: YA Romance | Contemporary Fiction
𝗟𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵: 10 hours, 13 minutes

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗶𝗯𝗲: Flirty | Fast-Paced | All the Feels

❣️ Big thanks to @hachetteaudio & @libro.fm for the ALC❣️ 

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𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝘀𝘁:
Audre Mercy-Moore is a junior with a plan: Stanford-bound, self-help book in progress, and zero time for distractions. Bash Henry is the new senior with charm, chaos, and a checkered past. When Audre hires him as her “fun consultant” to complete a list of summer dares, things get complicated. Fast.

This is a story about chemistry, ambition, and the blurry line between friendship and something more. More importantly, it’s a story about being young, Black, and brilliant EVEN when the world already has ideas about who you are. Audre & Bash just want to figure it out FIRST.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗲:
Audre’s voice is sharp, funny, and deeply vulnerable. Tia Williams nails the emotional rollercoaster of being a teen with big dreams and a messy heart. The banter sparkles, but the real magic is in the quiet moments when Audre and Bash let their guards down.

𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀:
Jordan Cobb and Torian Brackett are a dream duo. Cobb captures Audre’s wit and inner turmoil perfectly, while Brackett brings Bash’s charm and depth to life. I think their chemistry is off the charts.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲:
* Summer dares and secret feelings
* Smart girls with soft hearts
* Banter that bites (in the best way)
* Stories that center Black joy and complexity

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨(4.5 stars)

QOTD: 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩—𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙮?

🏷 #AudreAndBashAreJustFriends #TiaWilliams #YAromance #AudiobookReview #BlackGirlMagic #Bookstagram #CandiceReads #wellreadblackgirl

Author Tia Williams always has a way with penning fun characters you want to see through. The romance, the relationship, the experiences, all of it is so captivating, rich, and a ride readers will want to get on again and again.

Tia Williams is an auto buy author for me, and I absolutely adored 7 days in June which follows Audrey’s mother Eva so this was a no brainer request for me.

In Audre and Bash are just friends we follow Audre, Class president, aspiring therapist and perfectionist, as she spends the summer trying to check things off a summer check list devised by her best friend. When she realizes she’s going to need more encouragement she decides to enlist the help of rumored playboy Bash Henry. Bash has decided to stop saying no to things and enjoy his life after being disowned and shipped off to New York to live with his absentee mother by his controlling father and agrees to help Audre. The two end up bonding over shared experiences and a friendship and maybe something more quickly blooms.

I really loved this one, seeing how Audre struggled with sky high expeditions from her mother along with pressures that come from being brought up by a single mother really resonated with me as a former AP/Gifted kid who was raised by a single mother who tried her hardest. I also loved seeing Bash’s storyline and really appreciated seeing him embrace things he loved that he was unable to do due to his father’s feelings on what defined masculinity. Another bright spot for me was the parts from Reshma’s POV, she was a wonderfully complex side character and I hope that we will see a book focused on her in the future. I also adored seeing a bit more of Eva and Shane from 7 Days in June, seeing Shane fully committed to caring for his family was so heart melting.

The narrators are also both amazing I always love Jordan Cobb’s narration and Torian Brackett, who id a new to me narrator does an excellent job and I look forward to listening to more from them in the future.

I have watched Audre Zora Toni Mercy-Moore grow up and, frankly, I feel like an auntie cringing that she is finally old enough to talk about sex. I think that makes it clear that Tia Williams created some pretty amazing characters. But I was completely invested in Audre and Bash, because they both deserve hugs and puppies.

The relationship between Audre and Bash isn’t even the most important one. Eva and Audre have things to deal with, and if you’ve read Seven Days in June, the way it’s dealt with is perfect. Audre doesn’t understand her mom but the reader aches with understanding about why Eva is the way she is. And even though we don’t have the same history with Bash, we love him (almost) as much.

On top of everything else, the author deals with panic attacks, golden child syndrome, and parental pressure so well. I think Tia Williams is a genius.

I may not be the target audience for this book (YA), but I love Tia Williams so I HAD to read this. It's a great summer read and a fun setting of NYC. I'm very thankful for the dual narration for the audiobook.

I gave this one 3.5 stars :)

5 Stars

Tia Williams's "Seven Days in June" was incredible, and my favorite part was Audre and her mini therapist self, so to get a continuation of her story as she breaks free of her perfect child self and into a young woman in love was *chef’s kiss*. The same depth and humor (and cameos from Audre's mom) that were the driving force in her adult novel are also very present in this incredible YA romance. Also, Bash is a perfect cinnamon roll.

5 Things I Love About Audre and Bash Are Just Friends
The 1-2 punch combo of having a female and male narrator. The contrast of their voices and their differentiation between characters were chef’s kiss!
Bash’s super chill, Cali attitude that provided for some hilarious responses to the perfectionist teen therapist Audre
The super cringe and hilarious parent-child discussions. Everytime Audre’s mom gets heated with her, the change in her language and mannerisms is peak Black mom.
The way the narrator plays Reshma, Audre’s best friend and characterizes her through a divalicious, London accent is the best!
I love it when a literary universe expands! If you read Seven Days in June, then you will recognize some folks. If you haven’t then you will be adding that as your next book on your TBR.
I thought this was a sweet rom-com that also dealt with some serious family issues and mental health situations. It’s great for an older teen and could possibly be a buddy read between a mom and daughter. I thought the Mother/Daughter relationship was very interesting and if you haven’t read Seven Days in June by Tia Williams, you will want to go check that out next (if you are an adult reader.) This has been one of my fave books of the year. I definitely recommend an immersive reading experience with the physical book (so you can see the text features) and the audiobook (because the narrators made me wish the book wouldn’t end).

Beautiful, breathtaking enticing and wonderful in glad to have read this and miss the way reading this for the first time made me feel, thankyou for this chance and this world

Thank you Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the review copy!

I really enjoyed the multi-layered nature of this story. At once the story detailed Audre & Bash’s story, what comes after the “happily ever after” in Seven Days in June, and the secondary romance plot. It also delved into generational trauma and put a name to golden child syndrome.

I enjoyed the balance between Audre and Bash and how they handled their burnouts in different ways. I think it captured the broad range of teen experience. It made good sense in the context of the story.
While I understand it is part of Audre’s character, I did get annoyed with her therapizing everyone & how deeply intellectualized a lot of her feelings were. It was handled well and made sense within the narrative, but I found it unpleasant to read.

Also, I am not so far removed from being a teenager that I didn’t cringe at some of the author’s attempts to sound like a teen. It mostly worked, but there were some flaws to it that were hard to overlook.

The narration was great and the text tones helped with clarity. I knew I recognized Dain Aetos (from the Fourth Wing Dramatized audiobook) so I’m impressed with the narrator’s range.

Overall, a great read! It was heartwarming, cute, and a very real portrayal of how messy life can be. I definitely recommend it!

Jordan Cobb and Torian Brackett narrate Tia Williams’ Audre & Bash Are Just Friends in duet, through multiple POVs. After Audre’s dad cancels her annual summer visit to his Malibu house, she’s stuck in a claustrophobic apartment where she lives with her mom, stepdad, and one-year-old baby sister and sleeps on the couch. That’s on top of the fact that her life already is a mess. Audre fears she’ll never finish writing the self-help book she hopes will help her get into Stanford. In need of inspiration for her book, she plans to complete five wild dares for the experience challenge.

She asks recent graduate Sebastian (Bash) Henry to be her fun consultant and help her with the challenge. Audre needs his help with learning to be fun and live in the moment. As they spend time together, they grow closer despite him not being boyfriend material, and Audrey not looking for a boyfriend. Will they keep things professional without giving in to the connection and attraction they share and keep growing stronger?

I thoroughly loved every minute of Audre & Bash are Just Friends. Cobb and Brackett’s lively narration and voices perfectly fit how I envision Bash, Audre, and the secondary characters. Although it’s more intense and emotional than expected, it’s a fun, sweet YA/teen romance. I love Williams’ narrative style, vivid description, world building and how she uses language. She has a beautiful way with words, characters, and storytelling that draws you in and takes hold of your imagination and heart. I started listening, and, before I knew it, the novel had flown by. The dialogue is colorful and flows naturally, authentic to the characters, story, and setting, adding to the richness of her characters’ connections and development. Audre and Bash’s flirty banter wonderfully highlights Williams’ dialogue, which had me smiling and laughing for most of their scenes, when I wasn’t close to tears (or crying) for the emotional ones.

Audre and Bash are complex, relatable, and likable but also fallible. You can’t help but want them to find a way to resolve their issues, give in to their feelings for each other, and ultimately find happiness together. Williams is so gifted at making you eager to learn how the story will end and making the journey of discovery entertaining. She does so by not giving you all the information right away, keeping things mysterious, and leaving you clues within the text to help you figure out what’s going on with the characters and the secrets they’re keeping from each other. (Though some you never will.) For example, Audre’s mother’s secrets, why Audre’s so afraid/stressed about the texts, what’s going on in Henry’s life, the tension between him and his father, and his mother’s abandonment.

Cobb and Brackett’s expressive narration complements Williams’ multilayered, emotional, humorous, fun, romantic, and radiant writing style. They perfectly fit Audre, Bash, and the secondary characters, capturing their emotions, personalities, ages, etc., and bringing them to life from the written word into your imagination. Both narrators are equally skilled at narrating for characters of varied ages and ethnicities and providing distinct voices for them that differentiate the characters using accents, dialects, pacing, inflection, and emotion. Cobb’s narration/voice makes Audre sound like a Black prep school teenage girl. She shines brightest when Audre is emotional and during her panic attacks, capturing her fear, emotional distress, and the physical and emotional effects of the attacks. Cobb’s voice/narration for Audre’s mother feels familiar and just right, especially when she’s upset and scolding Audre. Audre’s BFF’s British Indian accent is well done. Cobb captures her personality in her tone and posh accent which comes and noted by another character.

Cobb’s voice/narration and rich New Orleans/Louisiana accent for Audre’s grandmother exudes disdain and criticism for her daughter. Brackett’s narration/voice, manner of speaking, and tone give Bash the laid-back, chill, Black, artistic surfer vibe called for. He deftly expresses Bash’s emotional trauma and PTSD from his past.

Responsible, practical, brainy, and earnest, Audre is the junior class president and an unlicensed therapist to friends and classmates with plans to become a professional therapist. Audre isn’t comfortable in social situations, especially involving boys. Burdened by the pressure to excel and haunted by a night she wishes never happened causes Audre to have panic attacks. She pretends to have it all together, but her life’s a mess, she’s a mess. Once super close with her mom, she feels left out because they’ve grown apart. With so much going on, having to take on babysitting her sister, she fears she won’t get her writing done. Crossing paths with Bash becomes a lifesaving happenstance.

A fine, tatted, chill, surfer, extremely talented track star, Bash is a new senior at a rival prep school. Bash has a wild reputation because of scandalous rumors circulating about him. But no one knows the real him since Bash doesn’t let anyone in to get to know him before meeting Audre. Although he’s a generational track star talent, Bash wants to be a tattoo artist. Raised by his father, Bash’s drama-filled family life is complicated. Last year, a traumatic experience (he doesn’t talk about) irrevocably changed his life. He moved to Brooklyn to escape.

Audre & Bash Are Just Friends is a funny, sweet, sexy, emotionally intense, melancholy, fast-paced romance. It’s an audiobook I highly recommend for fans of friends-to-lovers, teen/ya romance, Black love, dating lessons/coach, heroes who fall fast and hard for the heroine, family-centered romances, family secrets, writing/author characters, tattoos/artist characters.

CW: parental abandonment, toxic parent, parental abuse, panic attacks, emotional trauma

Hachette Audio provided an advanced listening copy via Netgalley for review.

Thank you NetGalley for this ALC!
Likes: The story deals with Audre and her panic attacks that she's been hiding from everyone. Eventually, Bash helps her deal with them. The differences between perception and reality are also addressed. Teenagers often don't realize that these two things are often very different (especially in the age of social media). Other pluses from this book include the genuine friendship that forms between Audre and Bash in addition to the back story of Audre's mom (Eva, the main character from Seven Days in June)
Dislikes: both of Bash’s parents for different reasons (boooo!!!), how Audre’s parents (both of them) are “pushing her to the back burner” for her younger siblings, Audre’s prom date
Narrator Rating: 4
Story Rating: 4
Do I recommend? yes

In many ways, Audre & Bash Are Just Friends is an extension of Seven Days in June. Featuring Audre, Eva's daughter, it takes place after the book and examines Eva's future for Audre. I was on the fence about whether this can be read as a stand alone. I think if you're a YA reader, then yes. This has the hallmark difficulties with our parents and not knowing why they do what they do. Why they're so hard on us, what fears they're worried about us repeating. But as an adult, and someone who read Seven Days in June first, we know why Eva is being so hard on Audre and are just waiting for the shoe to drop.

That being said, this dual narrator audiobook was amazing. If you've ever felt like you need to be a parent to your parent this is for you. Audre feels like she's been pushed out. Like Eva's second chance family doesn't include her. Additionally, she feels such a pressure to succeed, to be exceptional. And all of this takes its toll on her. I loved being able to see her voice, and hear the dialogue from Bash within her POV chapters!

I am so excited that Tia Williams is writing for young adults! I can't wait to share this with teenagers who will surely love them.

This was such a lovely, drama-filled YA adventure. I loved revisiting Audre as a character and 4 chapters in, I was feeling for her and the dramatics of your teenage years.

Overall, this was really enjoyable and the audiobook was done very well (dual narrators anyone?). I won’t be rushing to reread this anytime soon, but I do think it’s a fantastic ya romp and I was thoroughly entertained. Unfortunately I don’t think I was the target audience, but that doesn’t take away from the books charm.

Fair warning, this is very YA. So if you’re thinking ‘oh I’d love to revisit Eva and Shane from 7 days in June’ remember that they’re parents in this and you’re reading from Audre’s POV - she’s a teenager, it feels like you a have to make the biggest decisions of your life, there’s so much to do, school pressures, mean girls, kids being asses. It’s full high school drama realness so strap yourself in for the ride that is reliving your teens because Tia captures it quite well.

Final rating: 3.5 ☆

Audre & Bash Are Just Friends is Williams' first YA novel that connects to one of her adult romance books where her Audre's mother is a main character. Since I had read the book it connects to I really enjoyed seeing these characters again, though Audre's stepfather, Shane, was my favorite in both books and was featured in a pretty limited way in this book, seeing as it focused on Audre and Bash. I really like Audre and especially Bash as characters. They were nuanced. They were young. They were growing. They were making mistakes. They were learning along the way. This would be a fun summer read for anyone who likes romance, YA, or Williams' other books. I loved the relationship between Audre and Bash and appreciated the strong central idea of the complexities of mother-daughter relationships. I did feel like Eva, Audre's mother, was over the top/exaggerated at times. For example, she missed an assembly that was important to Audre but barely apologized and didn't make further efforts to be there for her more. I also really enjoyed the audio and felt the narrators did a fantastic job conveying the characters and narrating the story. Overall, I really liked the characters and story and how it all wrapped up. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This book had me grinning cheek to cheek!! Such a fun and cute YA . YA is usually hit or miss for me as an adult because i feel like sometimes the characters feel almost too young and whiney, but that was not the case at all with Audre and Bash!! Both of their personal struggles felt so realistic and well executed. The mother/daughter teenage relationship was protested SO well and felt so reminiscent of my own teenage years. All around a lovely read!!

and MEGA bonus points for the audiobook!! both of our narrators were FABULOUS and i loved the dual narration!! petition for every book ever to have dual narration for real.