
Exceeding Expectations
The Charlie Series, Book 1
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $17.16
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Amy Landon
-
By:
-
Lisa April Smith
About this listen
Palm Beach, 1961. Socialite, irresistible rascal, and devoted father Jack Morgan stages his suicide to shield his beloved daughters from scandal and disgrace. His daughter, Charlotte (Charlie), is an overindulged 23-year-old girl struggling to cope with the loss of her beloved father, her sister's resulting mental breakdown, and the discovery that she's now penniless. Fortunately Raul, an admiring young attorney, offers assistance to the traumatized young woman.
As terrified as she is about paying for her sister's costly treatment and her own daily survival, Charlie soon realizes that she must learn what drove her father to kill himself. With Raul's much-needed ego bolstering, she pursues a career that makes practical use of her lanky, five-foot-eleven frame. Despite roadblocks and emotional upheavals, she embarks on an ocean-spanning journey that leads to a family she doesn't know, distressing truths about her father, crimes great and small, and a diabolical villain.
©2011 Lisa April Smith (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Blessing Way
- By: Tony Hillerman
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homicide is always an abomination, but there is something exceptionally disturbing about the victim discovered in a high, lonely place: a corpse with a mouth full of sand, abandoned at a crime scene seemingly devoid of tracks or useful clues. Though it goes against his better judgment, Navajo tribal police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn cannot help but suspect the hand of a supernatural killer.
-
-
A 'Blessing' Indeed!
- By Carole T. on 03-15-16
By: Tony Hillerman
-
Homecoming
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Claire Foy
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, a local deliveryman makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia. Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. Until a phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney.
-
-
Loved the compelling audiobook version!
- By Melissas Bookshelf on 04-07-23
By: Kate Morton
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
The Magnolia Palace
- A Novel
- By: Fiona Davis
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, 21-year-old Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists' models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge
-
-
This isn't my favorite but entertaining
- By Linda on 02-01-22
By: Fiona Davis
-
Infected, The Shiners
- By: Tara Ellis
- Narrated by: Tara Ellis
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An alien plague. A sixteen-year-old girl. A fight to save the world. When a rare meteor shower unleashes a mind-altering infection, the people Alex loves begin to change. They’re smarter, faster, emotionless, and they have a plan. One that doesn’t include her. Guided by cryptic clues left behind by her deceased father, Alex follows a trail of increasingly shocking discoveries. Earth’s history isn’t what she learned in school, and a new hive mind threatens to rewrite the future.
-
-
Enter a Future of mystery and suspense.
- By cosmitron on 06-07-18
By: Tara Ellis
-
One Last Child
- Tallman's Valley Detectives, Book 1
- By: Anni Taylor
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was summer in the mountains when five small children vanished from their nursery school picnic. The heat was stifling that day, the tinkle of an ice-cream van in the air.... Three-and-a-half years later, in the dead of winter, the children are returned to their families...one by one. All except for Ivy - the granddaughter of Homicide Detective Kate Wakeland. The other four children say Ivy is dead.
-
-
Decent story racist narration
- By Charisma on 10-15-22
By: Anni Taylor
-
The Blessing Way
- By: Tony Hillerman
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homicide is always an abomination, but there is something exceptionally disturbing about the victim discovered in a high, lonely place: a corpse with a mouth full of sand, abandoned at a crime scene seemingly devoid of tracks or useful clues. Though it goes against his better judgment, Navajo tribal police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn cannot help but suspect the hand of a supernatural killer.
-
-
A 'Blessing' Indeed!
- By Carole T. on 03-15-16
By: Tony Hillerman
-
Homecoming
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Claire Foy
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, a local deliveryman makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia. Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. Until a phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney.
-
-
Loved the compelling audiobook version!
- By Melissas Bookshelf on 04-07-23
By: Kate Morton
-
The Librarian of Crooked Lane
- The Glass Library, Book 1
- By: C.J. Archer
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.
-
-
Fun to be Back
- By Meg on 10-12-22
By: C.J. Archer
-
The Magnolia Palace
- A Novel
- By: Fiona Davis
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, 21-year-old Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists' models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge
-
-
This isn't my favorite but entertaining
- By Linda on 02-01-22
By: Fiona Davis
-
Infected, The Shiners
- By: Tara Ellis
- Narrated by: Tara Ellis
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An alien plague. A sixteen-year-old girl. A fight to save the world. When a rare meteor shower unleashes a mind-altering infection, the people Alex loves begin to change. They’re smarter, faster, emotionless, and they have a plan. One that doesn’t include her. Guided by cryptic clues left behind by her deceased father, Alex follows a trail of increasingly shocking discoveries. Earth’s history isn’t what she learned in school, and a new hive mind threatens to rewrite the future.
-
-
Enter a Future of mystery and suspense.
- By cosmitron on 06-07-18
By: Tara Ellis
-
One Last Child
- Tallman's Valley Detectives, Book 1
- By: Anni Taylor
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was summer in the mountains when five small children vanished from their nursery school picnic. The heat was stifling that day, the tinkle of an ice-cream van in the air.... Three-and-a-half years later, in the dead of winter, the children are returned to their families...one by one. All except for Ivy - the granddaughter of Homicide Detective Kate Wakeland. The other four children say Ivy is dead.
-
-
Decent story racist narration
- By Charisma on 10-15-22
By: Anni Taylor
-
Babylon Sisters
- By: Pearl Cleage
- Narrated by: Pearl Cleage
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Catherine, busy working with refugee and immigrant women through her small firm, Babylon Sisters, has taken on a powerful new client. She doesn't have much time for Phoebe's complicated questions of paternity - that is, until Phoebe's real father, B. J., a renowned investigative reporter, shows up in town to work on a story connected to Catherine.
-
-
Sister Love
- By Florence Graydon on 03-26-21
By: Pearl Cleage
-
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
- By: Therese Anne Fowler
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When beautiful, reckless Southern belle Zelda Sayre meets F. Scott Fitzgerald at a country club dance in 1918, she is seventeen years old and he is a young army lieutenant stationed in Alabama. Before long, the "ungettable" Zelda has fallen for him despite his unsuitability: Scott isn't wealthy or prominent or even a Southerner, and keeps insisting, absurdly, that his writing will bring him both fortune and fame. Her father is deeply unimpressed.
-
-
Great! From the first page to the last.....
- By L.W. on 03-30-13
-
A Flickering Light
- Portraits of the Heart, Book 1
- By: Jane Kirkpatrick
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother's photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman's pursuit of her dreams. She took exquisite photographs, but her heart was the true image exposed. Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows.
-
-
Historical: Love of photography
- By Dana C. Nicolay on 11-19-09
By: Jane Kirkpatrick
-
The Masterpiece
- A Novel
- By: Fiona Davis
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this latest captivating novel, New York Times best-selling author Fiona Davis takes listeners into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two very different women, 50 years apart, strive to make their mark on a world set against them. For most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design. But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite different. For Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future. It is 1928, and Clara is teaching at the lauded Grand Central School of Art.
-
-
If you want a novel that has everything...
- By Debra Jo on 09-10-18
By: Fiona Davis
-
Getting Some of Her Own
- By: Gwynne Forster
- Narrated by: Saidah Arrika Ekulona
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Susan Pettiford hasn't been home to North Carolina in 16 years. But then she inherits her aunt's home, givingher an opportunity to start her own interior design business. After a passionate fling with handsome architect Lucas Hamilton, Susan is tormented by mixed feelings.
-
-
Getting Some of Her Own
- By Arlena on 03-09-11
By: Gwynne Forster
-
Doing It Over
- A Most Likely To Novel, Book 1
- By: Catherine Bybee
- Narrated by: Cristina Panfilio
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Voted Most Likely to Succeed, Melanie Bartlett ended up anything but. The down-on-her-luck single mom wants a complete do-over - is that too much to ask? With her family long gone from River Bend, strong, independent Mel is as surprised as anyone to end up in the quaint small town she once called home. But with her friends, Jo and Zoe, by her side, and a comfortable room at Miss Gina's quirky bed-and-breakfast, she just might have turned the corner on a new life.
-
-
Disappointing...
- By MrsAlex on 09-18-17
By: Catherine Bybee
-
The Banishment
- The Daughters of Mannerling, Book 1
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Lizzie Stanton
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isabella Beverley is blessed with unparalleled beauty but, unfortunately, has been raised in the most snobbish and haughtiest of families. When her father gambles away their fortune - including Mannerling, the exquisite family mansion - Isabella discovers there is very little sympathy for her plight. As the eldest, Isabella is chosen to court Mr. Judd, the roguish bachelor who won Mannerling. Surely no sacrifice is too great to regain Mannerling? But tempting her away from Mr. Judd is Lord Fitzpatrick, an Irish rake who fears Isabella can never love a man as she does her home.
-
-
Well done
- By Cyndi on 01-06-18
By: M. C. Beaton
-
Another Woman's Husband
- A Novel
- By: Gill Paul
- Narrated by: Laura Aikman
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1911: When 15-year-old Mary Kirk meets Wallis Warfield at summer camp, she’s immediately captivated by her fearless, brazen, and self-assured personality. Though Mary’s family isn’t crazy about Wallis, Mary stands by her side - even years later when rumors swirl about Wallis and her reckless behavior with the Prince of Wales. But when Mary’s loyalty to Wallis comes into question, their friendship will be put to the test. 1997: After a romantic proposal in Paris, Rachel and her fiancé Alex are in a cab when the car ahead crashes.
-
-
Binge worthy
- By Amanda on 12-24-19
By: Gill Paul
-
Villa of Sun and Secrets
- By: Jennifer Bohnet
- Narrated by: Julia Franklin
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carla's 50th birthday is approaching when her world is turned upside down. Discovering her husband is having yet another affair and following her mother’s death, she is in need of an escape. Finding an envelope addressed to her mother’s estranged sister Josette in the south of France gives Carla the perfect plan. Seizing the moment, she packs her bags and heads to Antibes to seek out the enigma known as Tante Josette. But as the two women begin to forge a tentative relationship, family secrets start to unravel, forcing Carla to question her life as she has always known it.
-
-
Dreadful recording
- By Gail on 11-28-21
By: Jennifer Bohnet
-
Another Side of Paradise
- A Novel
- By: Sally Koslow
- Narrated by: Ana Clements
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1937 Hollywood, gossip columnist Sheilah Graham’s star is on the rise while literary wonder boy F. Scott Fitzgerald’s career is slowly drowning in booze. But the once-famous author, desperate to make money penning scripts for the silver screen, is charismatic enough to attract the gorgeous Miss Graham, a woman who exposes the secrets of others while carefully guarding her own.
-
-
Narrator interfered with my enjoyment of the book
- By Suzanne Stokes on 10-11-18
By: Sally Koslow
-
The Spies of Shilling Lane
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Ryan
- Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mrs. Braithwaite, self-appointed queen of her English village, finds herself dethroned, despised, and dismissed following her husband’s selfish divorce petition. Never deterred, the threat of a family secret being revealed sets off hot-foot to London to find the only person she has left - her clever daughter, Betty, who took work there at the first rumbles of war. But when she arrives, Betty’s landlord, the timid Mr. Norris, informs her that Betty hasn’t been home in days - with the chaos of the bombs, there’s no telling what might have befallen her.
-
-
Loved It!!
- By Jomo on 06-20-19
By: Jennifer Ryan
-
The Diary
- By: Eileen Goudge
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the two grown daughters of Elizabeth Marshall discover an old diary of their mother's in the attic, it comes as a shock to learn that the true love of Elizabeth's life was not their father. But is all as it seems? That's the mystery the two daughters must unravel as they stay up late reading the words penned by Elizabeth so long ago.
-
-
Good Listen
- By Sara on 06-28-09
By: Eileen Goudge
Great story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Robotic narrating
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My rating range of this story... 2 - 4 Stars
If significant, why? The h and her mother and father are not very likeable. The sister seemed to be to only good part of the family.
Main Character Ratings...
H = 8/10
h = 3/10
Narrator Rating(s)
M = n/a
F = 8/10
If below 5/10,why?
Was cheating involved? Yes and No (h) - they were technically broken up because the h is a selfish and unreasonable person.
Any major triggers to be aware of? No
If Comedy... Type? n/a
Genuinely Funny
Cringe Inducing
Just No!
Angst Level? Moderate
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop
3 Stars for me!
Internal Monolog? Moderate
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop
Scenes with heat... Yes
What point does it start? 40%
How much of the story? 5%
Anything beyond M/F? No
If yes, explained
Heat Rating... 4/10
Clean or Fade to Black - 1 or 2
Normal to Descriptive 3-5
Detailed Descriptive Sex - 6-7
Um, Wow, Beyond Descriptive Sex - 8 or above
The back story... Read the blurb as it is complicated.
The Romance... None that I could see in either relationship. The mom/dad relationship felt like a business relationship and the H/h was driven by the H and constantly rebuffed by the h.
The drama explosion... There really wasn't one.
Did it feel Real, OK or contrived? n/a
Was it OTT? No
Separation involved? n/a
Was it resolved properly or rushed? Left for book 2.
Final Notes... The h's dad was a piece of work and his daughter absorbed as much as she could. The h's mom was cold and had zero care or interest in her children. The H was a good and caring person who helped the h even as she was treating him horribly. She forced him to drive in a dangerous snow storm instead of staying safely at a home they were visiting.
The ending itself is quite brutal as it details what happened to the mother. Even after all she went through, she was still completely selfish in her thoughts and refused to see her part in the loss of her husband and daughters.
The 3 Stars are due to excellent writing and world building (in this case, two worlds).
HEA or HFN? Who knows
Good Writing but I couldn't stand the family
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
HIGHLY Recommend!
Absolutely Awesome! History comes alive!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The writing is very good and the narration is above par. Small criticisms are that the dialogue does not always sound natural, and the pacing of the narration in the first two books speeds up and slows down (this was not present in the 3rd book). Although both the narration and the writing improve greatly by book three, the first two books are my favorite. Hopefully there will be one more book to finish up the story.
This trilogy is an exceptional find (I would even say it is a "hidden gem"), and an even better deal if you have the romance package. It makes for a nice change from regency romances and is much better than most contemporary romances.
The Series You've Been Looking For!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved this book, could not stop listening to it,
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Captivating and Smart
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
GREAT STORY.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The “sex” part people complain of was very tasteful and no big deal imo.
A lovely exciting story !
Far exceeded my expectations!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.