The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (Hart & Mercy #2), by Megan Bannen (author), Nicol Zanzarella (narrator)

Hachette Audio, ISBN 9781668642139, July 2024

Twyla Banneker and Frank Ellis lived next door to each other for years, in the town of Eternity, on the island of Tanria. Along with their spouses, they've been friends for years. But Twyla's husband died, and Frank's wife left him, and their children are all grown.

They're still friends, and still living next door. In fact, they are now both Tanrian marshals, Frank with two more years of service than Twyla. They're also regarded as a very cute couple by everyone but themselves.

They are tasked with patrolling the dangerous area that was the former prison of the Old Guards, and they love their rather exciting work. Twyla found it a welcome break from being a mother and perceived as nothing else.

Except it's not so dangerous, or so exciting, anymore. The creatures called drudges have been eliminated, and the old prison territory is much, much safer.

They're spending a lot more time doing, essentially, community outreach.

Love on the Run, by Suzie Tullett

Bloodhound Books, March 2023

Divorced mother of teenaged twins Hannah imagines a blissfully relaxed month on her own, while twins Beth and Archie go on a vacation in France with ex-husband Carl and his new girlfriend, Monica. She's even taken the month off from her job to fully enjoy it.

She spends the first week cleaning and grocery shopping, and has a scarily clean house, more food than she'll be able to use before it goes bad, and nothing to do. Her friends, Liv and Mel, coax her into signing up for a charity "fun run," a 5K. She almost immediately regrets it, but it's not easy to back out.

Her mother bulldozes her into taking her Aunt Dorothy for a few weeks, because she's lonely and depressed with the recent death of her husband, Denis, and Janice (Hannah's mother) currently has her house in an uproar with renovations. Hannah has time on her hands... Hannah flatly refuses.

You, Me, and Us, by Liam Hurley

L. Hurley, December 2017

Jimmy Rowland doesn't have a perfect life, but he does have a decent one. He's singing with a band and they're starting to get some breaks. He's got a steady job working in a bar he likes. His two best friends are his bandmates, Tom and Ryan, and they happily share a flat in Manchester--the best city in the world, in Jimmy's opinion--which is quite inexpensive when split three ways.

Then he meets Erin Poppet, and his life blows up. She's beautiful, exciting, and, inexplicably to him, attracted to him.

The construction of the story is interesting. At first we don't know who is narrating the story, not their name, not their gender, not their orientation. We just know that this person is going to meet another person in a coffee shop, a person they were involved with, split up with, and are going to see for the first time in months. It's the feelings and experiences that matter here, not the mundane personal details. It's very well done, and I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing in even mentioning names. Yet the cover matter does, and perhaps I'm alone in thinking that ignoring this information is a better way to experience the book.