Audiobook Review: Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh

 

Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh

Publication Date: June 10th 2025 by Thomas Nelson

Pages: 353

Audio Book Length: 11hrs 10min

Narrator: Jorjeana Marie

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Rosie’s dream of becoming an actor has been worn down by years of trying to catch a break only to land bit roles and suffer rejection. Desperate for a job and money, Rosie sends out dozens of resumes and lands a creative director position in Door County, Wisconsin. However, Rosie fails to read the job offer over carefully and so she’s shocked to discover that the theatre is in a retirement community and her actors are all seniors. Little does she know that the job she didn’t realize she applied for is about to change her life in the most profound and wonderful way!

 

There’s a whole collection of interesting characters: the varied group of seniors cast in her play, an ornery stage manager, and surly teenager Rosie enlists as a volunteer.  Most notably, however, is Booker, the handsome physical therapist! He’s a sweetheart, listening without judgement and always there when Rosie needs him! Their friendship turned into a romance that was everything!

 

I absolutely loved Everything’s Coming Up Rosie! Found family, romance, and finding happiness where you’d least expect it! Such an inspirational, feel-good story!

 

I also loved the author’s note where she talked about her dreams, (similar to Rosie’s) and how coming to realize your dream can shift and pivot without meaning you’ve given up.

 

I listened to the audio version narrated by Jorgeana Marie and it was perfection! She performed male and female in a wide range of ages seamlessly! Definitely enhanced this heartwarming story!

5 Stars

Book Description:

Sometimes what you think you want and what you actually want turn out to be different things . . 

Rosie Waterman has one to become a working actor. But lately, that hasn't been working out. When she loses her apartment and her job on the same day, she does what she always does--puts herself out there, ready to find the next big thing. But a trip home makes her realize that while she's been struggling to make this dream come true, all her friends have become real adults with careers and weddings and babies on the way. Rosie's been at this for years, and she has nothing to show for it. But how does she simply let go of her dream?

When she's offered a job as the director of a regional theatre's production of Cinderella, she jumps at the chance--even though she's only directed in college and the job is in Door County, Wisconsin, and not in New York. She has no other offers, and at least she'll be getting paid to do something theatrical. But when she arrives, she quickly realizes that the "regional theatre" is actually in a retirement community, and the "actors" are actually senior citizens with no acting experience whatsoever.

Working on the show presents new challenges, forcing Rosie to learn how to step up and be the leader this fledgling theatre troupe needs. The more time she spends with her new cast, the more she begins to rethink what it means to dream big, especially when that big dream hasn't turned out to be at all what she thought it would be. It's not at all what she expected, but could it be exactly what she needs?

Review: That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

 

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

Publication Date: July 22nd 2025 by Park Row & Harlequin Audio

Pages: 352

Audio Book Length: 11hrs 54mins

Narrators: Jorgeana Marie and Kimberly Farr

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Phoebe was struck by lightning when she was a child. Since then, she’s had premonition dreams. As soon as she could she left home to live across the country to escape the premonitions and family drama. It disappointed her mother that she didn’t care about being a Southern belle like her sister, Addie. Phoebe was more interested in exploring the beaches and marshes, spying birds along the way.

 

Now Phoebe must return home to help to care for her ailing mother and she has a lot of mixed feelings. Her dreams come back, the most disturbing one back in full force. Old resentments between Phoebe and Addie rise to the surface and her mother’s condition brings all the hurt into sharp focus. I felt bad for Ophelia, Addie’s young daughter.

 

I had my ideas about the dream. Things made sense as more came to light and I felt for all involved.

 

In all of this, Phoebe meets Celeste a woman whose granddaughter went missing years ago. Celeste her grandson, Liam and great grandson, Will are all big players in the story as well.

 

I enjoyed how each chapter opened up with interesting bird facts, how they sometimes related to human behavior. The setting of South Carolina was almost another character, hot, vibrant and mysterious.

 

That Last Carolina Summer was a captivating story with mystery, family secrets, reconciling the past and a bit of romance! I loved every minute!

 

I alternated between the audio and e-copy. I can recommend either version. Jorjeana Marie did a wonderful job with Phoebe’s chapters, the range of ages, male and female voices and emotions. I thought Kimberly Farr performed Celeste well, age appropriate, but there was little change with other voices making it a little hard to distinguish who was speaking at times. Still, I really enjoyed the audio version!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Beloved New York Times bestselling author Karen White returns with a brand-new contemporary stand-alone novel about sisterhood, secrets and one woman’s reckoning with the past

As a child, Phoebe Manigault developed the gift of premonition after she was struck by lightning in the creeks near her Charleston home. Plagued throughout her life by mysterious dreams, and always living in the shadow of her beautiful sister, Addie, Phoebe eventually moves to the West Coast, as far from her family as possible. Now, years later, she is summoned back to South Carolina, to help Addie care for their ailing mother.

As Phoebe’s return lures her back into deep-rooted tensions and conflicts, she is drawn toward Celeste, whose granddaughter went missing years ago. Their connection, woven through shared losses and hope, brings comfort to Phoebe, while Celeste’s adult grandson Liam resurrects complicated emotions tied to Phoebe’s past.

But the longer Phoebe spends in her childhood home, the more her recurring nightmares intensify—bringing her closer to the shocking truth that will irrevocably change everything. Unfolding against the lush backdrop of the South Carolina Lowcountry, That Last Carolina Summer is an unforgettable family drama and mystery about the unbreakable bonds of family and the gift of second chances.