By: Julia Whelan

I liked this book; I did. I am not sure what this says about me, but when I realized the FMC had lost an eye under some sort of tragic circumstances, reading this book made me extremely anxious. I was very worried people were going to be mean, and I just…hate reading that. I know this is the exact opposite of the point of the book, that we need to learn to accept certain things, that we are all deserving of love and of loving ourselves, etc., etc., but I, personally, don’t like that type of angst from a book. It just stresses me out. I read these books for an enjoyable escape, and while this book has the requisite HEA, it was just not for me. 

Sewanee Chester, or Swan, is a talented audiobook narrator. Seven years ago, she was injured in a shocking and gruesome way, causing her to lose an eye and wear an eye patch. Prior to that, she had graduated from Julliard with her best friend, Adaku, and was an up and coming starlet. Currently, she performs audiobooks because it allows her to use her acting talents, but not have to be physically seen by an audience. She still suffers from unresolved feelings about her accident and spends her time caring for her grandmother, BlahBlah, who is increasingly ailing from dementia in a senior living facility. Swan also has a strained relationship with her father, BlahBlah’s son, who lost his job as a professor when he was caught sleeping with one of his undergraduate students. Swan has a lot going on and seemingly no therapist. 

As a favor to her boss, Swan agreed to moderate a convention-style panel on romance audiobooks in Las Vegas. While waiting for Adaku to return from an audition, she ends up meeting a charming Irish stranger in a bar named Nick and they have an amazing night together. He doesn’t mind her eye patch or disfigurement and makes her feel like pre-accident Swan. But she gives him a fake name, job and used an accent so she assumes they will never see each other again. 

After Vegas, she receives an offer from the estate of June French, a beloved romance novelist. She wanted Swan, under her former romance audiobook narrator name, Sarah, to voice her last novel, along with Brock McNight, a famous, but secretive male romance narrator. Swan accepts, in large part, because the offer will allow her to help pay for her grandmother’s increasingly expensive medical care. Swan as Sarah, begins to develop a relationship with Brock via emails and later text messages. Neither knows the other’s true name, however. They finally decide to meet in person the evening that Swan must present a lifetime achievement award to June’s family. When presenting the award, she realizes that June’s nephew is actually Nick from Vegas. And, after some shenanigans, Swan realizes that Nick from Vegas is ALSO Brock, her co-narrator and email-pal. 

While predictable, I did find the reveal from that series of events to be refreshingly told– there is no double-down on the lie or a whole new lie to try and cover the old lie nonsense. I also appreciated that Swan called, and not texted, Brock when she thought she would miss their meeting, because all the revelations occurred simultaneously. The Reader did not have to wait for another shoe to drop, so that was all really well done. 

Swan’s feelings are very realistic for her situation. Once the reader learns the cause of her accident, and how it affects almost everything she does, it is easy to see why she has had a hard time accepting her new life. While there is some talk of past or future therapy, I really, really think it would have been good to have that depicted on the page. Swan seems to have a fairly quick epiphany about the course of her life, after hitting near rock bottom with both Nick and Adaku. Luckily, she has a supportive relationship with her mother, who now lives with her boyfriend in Europe, and her mother helps steer her back to herself. 

Nick, on the other hand, did not seem as developed of a character. I am not fully sure of Nick’s issues. I guess he doesn’t start anything because he is afraid of failure? His parents died when he was young and the aunt that raised him was not very maternal toward him? So, he continues to narrate these romance audiobooks and doesn’t pursue his true dreams of creating music in a band? Idk. There is also no real discussion about why Swan’s accident and disfigurement never really mattered to him. I could see if it was that he fell in love with her through their emails and texts, etc., but he also approached HER at that Vegas bar, and I just don’t think his motivations were ever really fully clear and explored. We really understand Swan; Nick, while charming and kind, is a bit of an enigma. 

The book is well-written. The author is, herself, a former actress and audiobook narrator, so she really describes the work in a wonderfully realistic way. The stress of possible unkindness that this book gave me just wasn’t worth it for me. 

Rating: 🌟🌟/5

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Listening-Julia-Whelan/dp/0063095564

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/thank-you-for-listening-julia-whelan/1140276914?ean=9780063095564

Or a local, independent bookstore! Try Meet Cute, a newish romance bookshop in San Diego! https://meetcutebookshop.com/item/MEgaIBq6_d-ZjL4PGdoJhw