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Christa Comes Out of Her Shell
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Narrated by:
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Jesse Vilinsky
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Jonathan Todd Ross
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By:
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Abbi Waxman
About this listen
After a tumultuous childhood, Christa Barnet has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. Happily studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Christa finds her tranquil existence thrown into chaos when her once-famous father—long thought dead after a plane crash—turns out to be alive, well, and ready to make amends. The world goes wild, fascinated by this real-life saga, pinning Christa and her family under the spotlight. As if that weren’t enough, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense physical attraction neither was expecting and both want to act on . . . if they can just keep a lid on it. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationship, and—most importantly—any chance of making it back to her snails before they forget her completely.©2024 Abbi Waxman (P)2024 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews
“Abbi Waxman has done it again! I laughed out loud, I swooned, I … unexpectedly learned a lot about snails? (And they’re awesome, by the way). I live for Abbi’s awkward, lovable-yet-socially-anxious heroines, and Christa Liddle is hands-down my new favorite.”—Colleen Oakley, USA Today bestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise
"If I could go on vacation inside Abbi Waxman's books, the utterly charming Christa Comes Out of Her Shell would be the centerpiece of my itinerary. Waxman's witty voice, complex and oh-so-loveable characters, and knack for writing romance that's both swoony and sexy absolutely shine in this hilarious, tender story about family, fame, and marine mollusks. I'll definitely be screaming about this one to anyone who will listen!"—Sarah Adler, author of Mrs. Nash's Ashes
"While the will-they-won’t-they love story between Christa and Nate is definitely a through line, it seems safe to predict another romance too—that of readers losing their hearts to the eccentric, larger-than-life Liddle clan."—BookPage (starred review)
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When I was a little girl, I dreamed a handsome knight would come and rescue me from my wretched mother. He'd ride up on his white steed and break the curse I've been fated to carry since the day I was born. Funny how things changed over time, how the fairytale twisted into something far more crooked—and darker—than I ever imagined. In reality, my knight is scarred and broken, living alone in a castle of bones that overlooks the sea. He isn’t searching for me. He never was.
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5 STARS
- By AudioObsessed on 03-12-23
By: Keri Lake
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Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
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Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
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Mary Jane
- By: Amy Herzog
- Narrated by: Rachel McAdams, April Matthis, Brenda Wehle, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Original Recording
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Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams stars in Mary Jane, a poignant and intimate drama following a single mother’s journey caring for her chronically ill young son. Set in New York City, the play unfolds in two parts—Mary Jane's small Queens apartment and a pediatric hospital. With unflinching honesty and unexpected humor, we witness Mary Jane's tireless devotion, her interactions with medical professionals, and her struggle to maintain her sense of self.
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Amazing performance
- By Andrew Reynolds on 12-28-24
By: Amy Herzog
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The Grandmother
- By: Jane E. James
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell, Max Dinnen
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Two little girls stand with their heads bowed in my living room. I’m told they’re my granddaughters. Daisy is nine, and Alice seven. Daisy is the spitting image of her mother. This is the first time I’ve met them since my daughter and I fell out after she married that waste of space, Vince. They’ve come to live with me because their mother — my daughter — was murdered. In her own home while they slept close by. I think Vince killed her. But the police can’t prove it. I’ve always known he was no good. He treated my daughter like dirt. I said he’d cheat on her — but she wouldn’t listen.
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Not too outlandish
- By Jackie H on 12-14-24
By: Jane E. James
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Brain Damage
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now, she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.
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Who Else Laughed, Cried, and Shuddered?
- By Jennifer Chichester on 09-16-22
By: Freida McFadden
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Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
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Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- By Keith on 11-20-15
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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Slayers: A Buffyverse Story
- By: Christopher Golden, Amber Benson
- Narrated by: Amber Benson, Charisma Carpenter, James Charles Leary, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Original cast members from the beloved TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reunite for an all-new adventure about connections that never die—even if you bury them. A decade has passed since the epic final battle that concluded Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). The game-changing spell that gave power to all potential Slayers persists. With new Slayers constantly emerging, things are looking grim for the bad guys.
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A dream come true
- By Anonymous User on 10-12-23
By: Christopher Golden, and others
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He Who Fights with Monsters 2
- A LitRPG Adventure (He Who Fights with Monsters, Book 2)
- By: Shirtaloon, Travis Deverell
- Narrated by: Heath Miller
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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But Jason Asano is settling into his new life. Now, a contest draws young elites to the city of Greenstone to compete for a grand prize. Jason must gather a band of companions if he is to stand a chance against the best the world has to offer. While the young adventurers are caught up in competition, the city leaders deal with revelations of betrayal as a vast and terrible enemy is revealed. Although Jason seems uninvolved, he has unknowingly crossed the enemy’s path before.
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Contrary to common reviews
- By Karen on 05-21-21
By: Shirtaloon, and others
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The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
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Story
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all - or mostly all - excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster!
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Engaging story but not well written
- By Rachel A. on 08-16-19
By: Abbi Waxman
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Other People's Houses
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At any given moment in other people's houses, you can find...repressed hopes and dreams...moments of unexpected joy...someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband.... As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors' private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton's wife is mysteriously missing, and now this....
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Overwhelmed by profanity
- By Linda Ottey on 04-06-18
By: Abbi Waxman
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The Garden of Small Beginnings
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years - ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she's just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she's becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed.
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Absolutely Wonderful
- By Lorna on 06-26-17
By: Abbi Waxman
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I Was Told It Would Get Easier
- By: Abbi Waxman
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Overall
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Squashed among a bus full of strangers, mother-daughter duo Jessica and Emily Burnstein watch their carefully mapped-out college tour devolve into a series of off-roading misadventures, from the USA Today best-selling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.
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I wasn't told it would be this helpful! But it was
- By Hamutal Schieber on 08-26-20
By: Abbi Waxman
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Adult Assembly Required
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Laura Costello moves to Los Angeles, trying to escape an overprotective family and the haunting memories of a terrible accident, she doesn’t expect to be homeless after a week. (She’s pretty sure she didn’t start that fire—right?) She also doesn't expect to find herself adopted by a rogue bookseller, installed in a lovely but completely illegal boardinghouse, or challenged to save a losing trivia team from ignominy…but that’s what happens.
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Read it 3 times so far!
- By A. L. on 07-30-22
By: Abbi Waxman
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Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
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Just what I needed
- By Anonymous User on 02-18-25
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The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all - or mostly all - excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster!
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Engaging story but not well written
- By Rachel A. on 08-16-19
By: Abbi Waxman
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Other People's Houses
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
At any given moment in other people's houses, you can find...repressed hopes and dreams...moments of unexpected joy...someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband.... As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors' private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton's wife is mysteriously missing, and now this....
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Overwhelmed by profanity
- By Linda Ottey on 04-06-18
By: Abbi Waxman
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- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years - ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she's just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she's becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed.
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Absolutely Wonderful
- By Lorna on 06-26-17
By: Abbi Waxman
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I Was Told It Would Get Easier
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- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Bailey Carr
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Squashed among a bus full of strangers, mother-daughter duo Jessica and Emily Burnstein watch their carefully mapped-out college tour devolve into a series of off-roading misadventures, from the USA Today best-selling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.
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I wasn't told it would be this helpful! But it was
- By Hamutal Schieber on 08-26-20
By: Abbi Waxman
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Adult Assembly Required
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Laura Costello moves to Los Angeles, trying to escape an overprotective family and the haunting memories of a terrible accident, she doesn’t expect to be homeless after a week. (She’s pretty sure she didn’t start that fire—right?) She also doesn't expect to find herself adopted by a rogue bookseller, installed in a lovely but completely illegal boardinghouse, or challenged to save a losing trivia team from ignominy…but that’s what happens.
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-
Read it 3 times so far!
- By A. L. on 07-30-22
By: Abbi Waxman
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Good Dirt
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- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
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Just what I needed
- By Anonymous User on 02-18-25
What listeners say about Christa Comes Out of Her Shell
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Helen R. Drake
- 05-12-24
Narration Is Excellent
The story of a family facing a crisis in LA and in the entertainment industry has plenty of surprises. It’s a coming of age of the youngest daughter in the family adjusting to the crisis, having to leave her scientific research on a small island far away from LA. Her older sisters and mother have also changed. Throw in a romance, and things heat up.
There are some uneven spots with the plot but the narration shines and makes the story easier to take, when it gets too fantastic.
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- Abigail Miller
- 11-13-24
Interesting story, horrible characters
Loved Waxman’s previous book, The Bookish Life…, but this fell so short for me. The idea of the story was wonderful - intrigue, romance, humor! However, the characters were all either one dimensional, idiotic, or (in the case of every male character) complete shitheads. Made for a very long read. I have another of Waxman’s book and will look forward to trying her work again one day.
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- Annie
- 12-10-24
Didn't Finish
It started out interesting but went right downhill and, based on reviews, I wasn't the only one who didn't like it, so I didn't waste my time finishing. Also, the word grinned should not be used so many times in one book. Find a thesaurus.
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- Scarlettleigh
- 04-23-24
Won't pre-order her again
Why do I get the feeling that some editor/publisher/agent told Abbi Waxman to get increase readership she needed to add more romance/sex to her story. I used to read a lot of romance, and occasionally still do read straight romance stories. However, I've branched out and like stories that build on other relationships. So the pages and pages of mental lust was just an irritant. That is not what I come to expect of an Abbi Waxman book.
There were so many missed opportunities here. More exploration of Crista relationship with her mother, or sisters, or even her snake of a father. Instead it seems Nathan was the focus. There were some nice moments -like when he took her to a private beach but other wise, honestly, I didn't see why Nathan liked her. He called her a bad-ass. I thought she was immature and ridiculous. Nathan offers help when the press blanketed her house. She almost jumps out of the car to show she can handle it herself. If they were a real couple I would give the relationship 2 years before it fizzled out.
Not only did Crista's immaturity grate, honestly I sort of got tired of her Jeopardy knowledge. Yes, I get that she is a geek and it must have taken a ton of research to add all those miscellaneous fact but in my opinion it was more distracting to the story then a bonus. I will never remember any of it so it was just noise to get through to get to the actual story.
I reached about chapter 24 and then just jumped to the end, tired of the story, tired of Crista, interested in the Jasper scenario but not that interested to continue listening for almost 20 more chapters.
Next time, I will wait for the book release, and listen/read the samples provided.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Memag
- 05-11-24
Wish I could return it
I won't be pre-ordering again. I was looking forward to this book based on how much I enjoyed her other books, and I can't believe the same person could write this trash.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jessi Johnson
- 04-17-24
highly recommend
twists, turns, spice, intrigue, romance. this book has it all. Jesse Valensky is one of the best narrators I've ever heard. she does the best voices. I swear I forget she is doing the male voices and find myself thinking the mmc sounds so hot. I hope she does way more books. she is the only narrator I can think of that doesn't need a male narrator so duet narration is not needed. the story was really good. crazy though. you definitely need to listen to this book.
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- G. Alfred
- 04-26-24
Feels like a different author
I have really enjoyed all of her other books. This one lacks character development and the love story feels contrived- it seems like someone else wrote the book. I’m super bummed.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jan
- 07-04-24
Fabulous!
I love Abbi’s books. She has a very witty turn of phrase and great story lines.
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