Love Is a Four-Letter Word
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 $18.48
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Charlotte Strevens
-
By:
-
Claire Calman
About this listen
An endearing novel about navigating the ups and downs of relationships by bestselling author Claire Calman
Sex. Yes. She remembered that.
Wasn't that the thing that happened somewhere between the talking-and-going-out-to-dinner bit and the sobbing-and-eating-too-many-biscuits bit?
Still, Bella was sure she could handle some -preferably before her as yet unopened packet of condoms reached their expiry date. She must be practically a virgin again by now, all sealed over like pierced ears if you don't wear earrings for too long.
But the 'L' word? Uh-huh. No way. She never wanted to hear it again. There were things in her past which needed to be put well away, like the 27 boxes of clutter she'd brought from her old flat. And having changed her job, her town, her entire life - the one thing she wasn't about to change was her mind.
Love is a Four-Letter Word is an uplifting story with a heroine you'll be rooting for. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Katie Fforde.
©2020 Claire Calman (P)2021 Boldwood Books LtdListeners also enjoyed...
-
A Second-Hand Husband
- By: Claire Calman
- Narrated by: Tilly Vosburgh
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carl has just announced he has bought their first home at auction without telling Natalie where it is, never mind showing her a picture of it. Natalie is horrified to discover that the dream home is mere minutes away from Carl’s ex-wife, Antonia. Antonia is Little Wyford’s Queen Bee, mistress of the book club, organiser of the Christmas Fair and leader of the ladies-who-lunch. No matter how hard she tries, Natalie just doesn’t fit in, and when Antonia insists on referring to Carl as ‘Our Husband’, Natalie’s dreams of happily-ever-after take another nose dive.
By: Claire Calman
-
The Personal Shopper
- Annie Valentine, Book 1
- By: Carmen Reid
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Annie Valentine: stylish, savvy, multi-tasker extraordinaire. As a personal shopper in a swanky London store, Annie can be relied on to solve everyone's problems...except her own. Because as a busy single mum to two kids, Annie’s realised there’s a gap in her life as well as her wardrobe. But with her heart still hurting from losing the love of her life, Annie’s discovered that finding the perfect partner is turning out to be so much trickier than finding the perfect pair of shoes!
By: Carmen Reid
-
New Family Required
- By: Carmen Reid
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sasha Greenhope has a very lovely life. Her marriage is solid, her only daughter is delightful and the family business is going full steam ahead. The only blip on the horizon is the upcoming family reunion for her parents 40th-wedding anniversary at Chadwell House—the family pile. Sasha just does not fit with her rich family. Her French mother, Delphine thinks everything Sasha does is a faux pas... And siblings, Adele and Beau, are clearly the favourites, leaving Sasha surplus to requirements.
By: Carmen Reid
-
Fred and Breakfast
- By: Phoebe MacLeod
- Narrated by: Jess Nesling
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daisy’s life is going nowhere, but that’s just how she likes it. Unable to move on from the tragic accident that killed her parents ten years ago, she’s living each day as it comes. After all, what’s the point of plans and dreams if one random event can rip them all from you? She’s quite comfortable with her dead-end job and her lacklustre love life, thank you. When she and her sister inherit a run-down café from a distant relative, her first instinct is to sell it.
By: Phoebe MacLeod
-
Not the Man I Thought He Was
- By: Phoebe MacLeod
- Narrated by: Victoria Fox
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madison reckons she’s a pretty good judge of character. When a disaster at work brings professional photographer Toby into her life, she has him all worked out within minutes. As their work collaboration blossoms into friendship, her preconceptions about him are only strengthened. The problem is that Madison has got one aspect of Toby completely wrong, and it tears their friendship apart when she finds out. How will she make sense of his revelation and, more importantly, how on earth will she get him to talk to her again?
By: Phoebe MacLeod
-
Worn Out Wife Seeks New Life
- By: Carmen Reid
- Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tess Simpson needs a break. No one appreciates her at home. No one appreciates her at work. And now her dog has died. She’s had enough! Maybe what she really needs is a break from hopeless husband, Dave, the ungrateful ‘kidults’ and the lacklustre job.
-
-
This is not a RomCom
- By cimiller on 07-13-24
By: Carmen Reid
-
A Second-Hand Husband
- By: Claire Calman
- Narrated by: Tilly Vosburgh
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carl has just announced he has bought their first home at auction without telling Natalie where it is, never mind showing her a picture of it. Natalie is horrified to discover that the dream home is mere minutes away from Carl’s ex-wife, Antonia. Antonia is Little Wyford’s Queen Bee, mistress of the book club, organiser of the Christmas Fair and leader of the ladies-who-lunch. No matter how hard she tries, Natalie just doesn’t fit in, and when Antonia insists on referring to Carl as ‘Our Husband’, Natalie’s dreams of happily-ever-after take another nose dive.
By: Claire Calman
-
The Personal Shopper
- Annie Valentine, Book 1
- By: Carmen Reid
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Annie Valentine: stylish, savvy, multi-tasker extraordinaire. As a personal shopper in a swanky London store, Annie can be relied on to solve everyone's problems...except her own. Because as a busy single mum to two kids, Annie’s realised there’s a gap in her life as well as her wardrobe. But with her heart still hurting from losing the love of her life, Annie’s discovered that finding the perfect partner is turning out to be so much trickier than finding the perfect pair of shoes!
By: Carmen Reid
-
New Family Required
- By: Carmen Reid
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sasha Greenhope has a very lovely life. Her marriage is solid, her only daughter is delightful and the family business is going full steam ahead. The only blip on the horizon is the upcoming family reunion for her parents 40th-wedding anniversary at Chadwell House—the family pile. Sasha just does not fit with her rich family. Her French mother, Delphine thinks everything Sasha does is a faux pas... And siblings, Adele and Beau, are clearly the favourites, leaving Sasha surplus to requirements.
By: Carmen Reid
-
Fred and Breakfast
- By: Phoebe MacLeod
- Narrated by: Jess Nesling
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daisy’s life is going nowhere, but that’s just how she likes it. Unable to move on from the tragic accident that killed her parents ten years ago, she’s living each day as it comes. After all, what’s the point of plans and dreams if one random event can rip them all from you? She’s quite comfortable with her dead-end job and her lacklustre love life, thank you. When she and her sister inherit a run-down café from a distant relative, her first instinct is to sell it.
By: Phoebe MacLeod
-
Not the Man I Thought He Was
- By: Phoebe MacLeod
- Narrated by: Victoria Fox
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madison reckons she’s a pretty good judge of character. When a disaster at work brings professional photographer Toby into her life, she has him all worked out within minutes. As their work collaboration blossoms into friendship, her preconceptions about him are only strengthened. The problem is that Madison has got one aspect of Toby completely wrong, and it tears their friendship apart when she finds out. How will she make sense of his revelation and, more importantly, how on earth will she get him to talk to her again?
By: Phoebe MacLeod
-
Worn Out Wife Seeks New Life
- By: Carmen Reid
- Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tess Simpson needs a break. No one appreciates her at home. No one appreciates her at work. And now her dog has died. She’s had enough! Maybe what she really needs is a break from hopeless husband, Dave, the ungrateful ‘kidults’ and the lacklustre job.
-
-
This is not a RomCom
- By cimiller on 07-13-24
By: Carmen Reid
-
You've Got This
- By: Maxine Morrey
- Narrated by: Gloria Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fleur French does not have the best of luck when it comes to life and love, and her current boyfriend Jasper is yet another person who only seems to like Fleur when she moulds herself into his idea of the perfect partner. So, when she finds herself single, jobless and homeless, Fleur has to decide if she’s ready to finally be herself – if only she knew who that was.
-
-
So much potential but it didn’t totally deliver.
- By Michelleb Avery on 07-17-24
By: Maxine Morrey
-
A Day That Changed Everything
- By: Beth Moran
- Narrated by: Rose Robinson
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amy Piper is a loser. She’s lost her confidence, her mojo and her way. But one thing she has never lost is her total love for her 13-year-old son, Joey, and for his sake she knows it’s time for a change. But first she has to be brave enough to leave the house. What she needs are friends and an adventure. And when she joins a running group of women who call themselves the Larks, she finds both. Not to mention their inspiring (and rather handsome) coach, Nathan.
-
-
Good story
- By Cyndi on 01-22-23
By: Beth Moran
-
Take a Chance on Me
- By: Beth Moran
- Narrated by: Rosalind Steele
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma has four younger sisters, all of whom are married or getting married, and an Italian mother who can’t understand what is ‘wrong’ with her eldest daughter, who seems to be stranded on the shelf. Despairing of her own ability to find a suitable husband, Emma agrees to be part of a compatibility project to get married at first sight.
-
-
This book turned me off the author
- By Elisa on 11-14-22
By: Beth Moran
-
We Belong Together
- By: Beth Moran
- Narrated by: Marie Lawrence
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleanor Sharpley has been living a lie. Needing to escape her London life quickly, Eleanor throws her things into the back of her car, and heads to her erstwhile best friend Charlie’s family farm. But Charlie isn’t there. Instead she finds Charlie’s grieving brother, Daniel, her eight-month-old daughter, Hope (a daughter Eleanor had known nothing about) and a crumbling and unloved Damson Farm.
-
-
“Nora Sharp” review following
- By Shelly G on 05-12-22
By: Beth Moran
-
Better Off Wed
- By: Portia MacIntosh
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia can’t believe it when her boyfriend, Teddy, proposes out of the blue. She loves him (of course she does!) BUT it does seem sudden, especially when they don’t even live together yet. There is only one place that Olivia has ever wanted to get married - a gorgeous venue on the Cornish coast, built by her grandfather. The problem is they only have one date available - and it's only a few weeks away! Olivia isn't so sure about rushing but Teddy jumps at the chance to be married within the month. Thrown into a whirlwind of wedding planning, alarm bells start to ring for Olivia.
-
-
I love Portia but
- By Lady Eon on 07-23-23
By: Portia MacIntosh
-
An (Un)Romantic Comedy
- By: Phoebe MacLeod
- Narrated by: Meg Travers
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poppy is a therapist. You’d think her parents would be proud. But Poppy is the type of therapist that makes her mother cringe - she helps people with their, ahem, bedroom problems… Normally Poppy deals with her difficult family - two parents, one brother, a couple sisters and an assortment of nieces and nephews - by keeping a county or two between her and them. But with her little sister about to get married there’s no avoiding the week-long family holiday in Cornwall.
-
-
Good story, but some of it got very tedious at the end.
- By mom reading on 01-23-24
By: Phoebe MacLeod
-
Because You Loved Me
- By: Beth Moran
- Narrated by: Paula Masterton
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marion Miller needs a fresh start. Her childhood in Northern Ireland wasn’t easy, with a father who passed away when she was young and a mother who got lost in grief. Now grown-up and with family relations as tense as ever, Marion heads to England, to find out the truth about her father’s mysterious past – and hopefully an extended family who will love her as much as he did.
-
-
Good story line.
- By Michael & Nancy Ayala on 08-01-24
By: Beth Moran
-
Someone Else's Honeymoon
- By: Phoebe MacLeod
- Narrated by: Victoria Fox
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Charley finds herself suddenly single on Christmas Day, it feels like her world has fallen apart. Forced to move back in with her parents, she embarks on a journey of re-invention. When she meets Ed, who is on honeymoon alone after being jilted at the altar by a bride he's never met, it looks like her life may be taking a turn for the better. Fate, however, has other ideas, and she and Ed are forced apart.
-
-
Easy listening
- By Blee on 12-18-23
By: Phoebe MacLeod
-
Just Say Yes
- By: Maxine Morrey
- Narrated by: Gloria Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wedding planner Madeleine lives in a picture-perfect thatched cottage, in a picture-perfect English country village. There’s only one problem - dream cottages take a lot of work, and with a leaking roof, and not enough money to pay for it, what Maddie needs now is a big wedding to plan. So she’s delighted when she takes on the wedding of Californian heiress Peyton, to all-round good guy Patrick. She’s less delighted to find out that she's going to have help – from the admittedly gorgeous, but equally maddening, tall, dark and handsome best man Lorcan.
-
-
Great story
- By Anonymous User on 11-12-23
By: Maxine Morrey
-
Let's Not Be Friends
- By: Phoebe MacLeod
- Narrated by: Victoria Fox
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
City girl Sophie has married the prince (or landed gentry - close enough), moved to his pile (which is more accurate a description than she’d anticipated) and is set to live happily ever after - until she finds the other half of her perfect life in the stables with the stable girl, and they’re definitely not grooming the horses. Shocked and appalled, Sophie’s no happier to learn that she’s supposed to 'just get on with it'. After all, according to her mother-in-law, she got the title...they even overlooked her family’s ‘new money’ status.
-
-
Not be friends
- By HOMara on 10-25-24
By: Phoebe MacLeod
-
Always on My Mind
- By: Beth Moran
- Narrated by: Rosalind Steele
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jessie left home at eighteen, she swore she’d never go back. But when life takes a turn for the complicated, she’s forced to move in with her twin, Isaac, and his two best friends. To her dismay, one of these is Elliot, the boy Jessie once loved, until his life was changed forever by a terrible accident that Jessie still blames herself for.
-
-
Move over, Jane Austen.
- By Heather Snow-Flamer on 10-10-24
By: Beth Moran
-
Heading Over the Hill
- By: Judy Leigh
- Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy and Dawnie may be in their seventies, but that won’t stop them taking chances or starting again. Their grown-up children have families and lives of their own, so now it’s Billy and Dawnie’s turn and a life near the sea in Devon beckons. But the residents of Margot Street (or Maggot Street as Dawnie insists on calling it), don’t quite know what to make of their new neighbours.
-
-
great little read
- By Dean F. on 06-18-22
By: Judy Leigh
Related to this topic
-
The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir
- By: Lesley Allen
- Narrated by: Bríd Brennan
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Biddy Weir is a quirky girl. Abandoned by her mother as a baby, and with a father who's not quite equipped for the challenges of modern parenting, Biddy lives in her own little world, happy to pass her time painting by the sea and watching the birds go by. That is, until she meets Alison Flemming. Because there are a few things about Biddy that aren't normal, you see. And Alison isn't afraid to point them out to the world. All of a sudden, Biddy's quiet life is thrown into turmoil. If only there was someone to convince her that, actually, everyone's a little bit weird....
-
-
The Lonely Life Of Biddy Weir
- By George Criticos on 08-10-20
By: Lesley Allen
-
I Couldn't Love You More
- A Novel
- By: Esther Freud
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past.
By: Esther Freud
-
What Happens Now?
- By: Sophia Money-Coutts
- Narrated by: Sophia Money-Coutts
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After eight years together, Lil Bailey thought she’d already found ‘the one’ - that is, until he dumped her for a blonde 20-something colleague. So she does what any self-respecting singleton would do: swipes right, puts on her best bra and finds herself on a first date with a handsome mountaineer called Max. What’s the worst that can happen? Well it’s pretty bad actually. First Max ghosts her and then, after weeing on a stick (but mostly her hands), a few weeks later Lil discovers she’s pregnant.
-
-
Good Beach Listen
- By Anonymous User on 06-02-21
-
The Night She Disappeared
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite place for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
-
-
Oh my… gave me chills
- By Kelly on 09-10-21
By: Lisa Jewell
-
Maybe This Time
- By: Jill Mansell
- Narrated by: Esther Wane
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Mimi Huish visits her dad at his new home in the Cotswolds, she immediately falls in love with the eccentric and charming inhabitants of his new community. And when she meets the seriously gorgeous, charismatic Cal Mathieson, Mimi begins to daydream about trading in her city life for country living. But even though Mimi and Cal feel like they might be soul mates, fate (and bad timing) keeps pulling them apart.
-
-
Very enjoyable
- By lapiragua on 01-05-20
By: Jill Mansell
-
The Nothing Girl
- The Frogmorton Farm Series, Book 1
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.
-
-
So much better than I expected
- By MarilynArms on 07-25-15
By: Jodi Taylor
-
The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir
- By: Lesley Allen
- Narrated by: Bríd Brennan
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Biddy Weir is a quirky girl. Abandoned by her mother as a baby, and with a father who's not quite equipped for the challenges of modern parenting, Biddy lives in her own little world, happy to pass her time painting by the sea and watching the birds go by. That is, until she meets Alison Flemming. Because there are a few things about Biddy that aren't normal, you see. And Alison isn't afraid to point them out to the world. All of a sudden, Biddy's quiet life is thrown into turmoil. If only there was someone to convince her that, actually, everyone's a little bit weird....
-
-
The Lonely Life Of Biddy Weir
- By George Criticos on 08-10-20
By: Lesley Allen
-
I Couldn't Love You More
- A Novel
- By: Esther Freud
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past.
By: Esther Freud
-
What Happens Now?
- By: Sophia Money-Coutts
- Narrated by: Sophia Money-Coutts
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After eight years together, Lil Bailey thought she’d already found ‘the one’ - that is, until he dumped her for a blonde 20-something colleague. So she does what any self-respecting singleton would do: swipes right, puts on her best bra and finds herself on a first date with a handsome mountaineer called Max. What’s the worst that can happen? Well it’s pretty bad actually. First Max ghosts her and then, after weeing on a stick (but mostly her hands), a few weeks later Lil discovers she’s pregnant.
-
-
Good Beach Listen
- By Anonymous User on 06-02-21
-
The Night She Disappeared
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite place for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
-
-
Oh my… gave me chills
- By Kelly on 09-10-21
By: Lisa Jewell
-
Maybe This Time
- By: Jill Mansell
- Narrated by: Esther Wane
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Mimi Huish visits her dad at his new home in the Cotswolds, she immediately falls in love with the eccentric and charming inhabitants of his new community. And when she meets the seriously gorgeous, charismatic Cal Mathieson, Mimi begins to daydream about trading in her city life for country living. But even though Mimi and Cal feel like they might be soul mates, fate (and bad timing) keeps pulling them apart.
-
-
Very enjoyable
- By lapiragua on 01-05-20
By: Jill Mansell
-
The Nothing Girl
- The Frogmorton Farm Series, Book 1
- By: Jodi Taylor
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder.... Jodi Taylor brings all her comic writing skills to this heartwarming tale of self-discovery. Known as The Nothing Girl because of her severe stutter and chronically low self-confidence, Jenny Dove is only just prevented from ending it all by the sudden appearance of Thomas, a mystical golden horse only she can see. Under his guidance Jenny unexpectedly acquires a husband - the charming and chaotic Russell Checkland.
-
-
So much better than I expected
- By MarilynArms on 07-25-15
By: Jodi Taylor