Audiobook Review: With a Kiss We Die by L.R. Dorn
With a Kiss We Die
Author: L.R. Dorn
Narrator: Full Cast Narration
Published: July 11, 2023
Audiobook: 9 hours 29 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: July 5-11, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Two college lovers suspected of a brutal double homicide enlist a podcasting crime journalist to proclaim their innocence in this psychologically riveting and compulsively enjoyable novel of love, lies, and murder, perfect for fans of The Lady Vanishes podcast and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.
I’m Ryanna Raines. And welcome to “The Raines Report.”
Ryanna Raines is the host of a popular true-crime podcast. Her specialty is investigative journalism, her style is truth-seeking moxie, and with millions of listeners along for the ride, her star is rising. But when an intriguing message is left on her tip-line, the reporter is pulled into the most challenging case of her career.
The mangled bodies of a husband and wife have been discovered in their multi-million-dollar estate in Southern California. The prime suspects are their twenty-two-year-old son and his girlfriend, two college theater students who are now facing arrest and indictment. In a surprising move, they only want to speak with Ryanna, offering exclusive interviews in exchange for her help getting their side of the story told.
Instead of a badge or a weapon, Ryanna carries her voice recorder onto the battlefield of the high-profile murder investigation. Through a series of interviews, Ryanna examines her subjects from multiple angles and diverse points of view, breaking past the walls of “he said, she said” to pierce at a dark and horrible truth.
Written in the style of a true-crime podcast, With a Kiss We Die is a heart-racing mystery and thought-provoking tale about love and secrets that unfolds episode by episode as it hurtles towards an explosive conclusion. L. R. Dorn has crafted a suspenseful examination of our cultural obsession with true crime, the complicated moral obligations between journalists and their subjects, and the often-deadly line between performance and deceit.
Jessica’s Review:
This is a book that is meant to be listened to! I can’t imagine reading it after listening to the audiobook. If you enjoy true crime podcasts/ documentaries then you will enjoy this! And I have been on a Netflix true crime documentary kick lately. I’ve been watching so many of those that it is interfering with my reading of physical/kindle books, but I am seemingly addicted to them right now. Thanks to The Crash I have fallen down this rabbit hole!
In With a Kiss We Die, we have a college couple Jordan and Victoria who are accused of brutally murdering Jordan’s parents. They then went to a resort in Mexico. Arrest is seemingly imminent and they contact popular podcaster Ryanna Raines to give their side of the story before their silence happens. They want to give their side in a unique way: Podcast interviews as the story seemingly unfolds in real time. Ryanna agrees and finds herself in a unique situation and as she uncovers more as the case progresses, things are not as they seem! And yes, there are Romeo and Juliet references including the title throughout the novel.
This is my first novel by duo L.R. Dorn and I really enjoyed it. The audiobook enhanced the story 1000%. We have a full cast of narrators which includes a couple of my favorites: January LaVoy and Thérèse Plummer. This novel definitely has a unique premise with what is becoming a more popular subgenre of thriller/crime novels dealing with podcasts. As our world constantly evolves, so do our stories that we love to read or listen to!
Audiobook Review: No More Boring Bible Study by Faith Womack
No More Boring Bible Study
Author: Faith Womack
Narrator: Faith Womack
Published: November 18, 2015
Audiobook: 5 hours 30 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: June 25-June 30, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
The Bible can feel overwhelming, but studying it is easier and more exciting than you think.
Christians are supposed to love the Bible, right? They’re supposed to tell Bible stories, explain their beliefs, and recite favorite verses from memory.
But Scripture is sometimes hard to read! It can be complex, boring (yes, you can say that), and difficult to apply. Many of us carry secret shame about how little we read the Bible. We want to grow as Christians, but we don’t know how.
Faith Womack understands those feelings. Growing up in a home where Bible verses were used to control her, she yearned to grow close to God but found the Bible confusing and boring. After a spiritual wakeup in college, she discovered the life-changing power of real Bible study. Free of the spiritual abuses of her past, she has devoted her life to helping readers like you get excited about Bible reading.
In No More Boring Bible Study, you will:
- Learn quick, easy study methods
- Get energized by the story of Scripture
- Grasp new concepts that bring the Bible to life
- Have fun (yes!) doing close study
- Grow closer to God
Learning to read and study the Bible is life-changing. It’s time to free yourself from the guilt of not getting it. Make your Bible study exciting again!
Jessica’s Review:
No More Boring Bible Study (NMBBS) is a great study piece for beginners in their faith and those not familiar with the Bible. The Bible can be intimidating in the first place, and then to choose the ‘correct’ version for you to read and understand it can be just as confusing. Faith Womack understands this and strives to help those who need assistance with reading and understanding the Bible, myself included.
NMBBS is easy to understand and is a short 5.5 hour listen. You can feel how passionate Womack is with bringing her words to life in this study as narrator. You can even feel her emotion as she narrates this Bible study.
At no fault of this Bible study book, for me personally the audio was a good introduction, but I would definitely benefit from a physical copy to be able to study on my own. I found myself wanting to go back and be able to actually study, but was not able to with the audiobook. And this is the point with this book! To learn to actually study the Bible. There are mentions of a PDF attachment which were not included in my review copy. I felt having this would have also have improved on the book.
I did like how Womack summarized at the end of each chapter with what she calls ‘Bible Nerd Notes’. One thing that did surprise me were that there were two sentences in different parts of the book that came off as ‘political jabs’ to me. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but I actually listened to those sentences a second time. Political jabs are not necessary with a Bible Study book, if you agree with the statements or not.
Overall, I enjoyed this Bible Study and hope to get a physical copy of this book at some point.
Thank you to the publisher for having the book available as “Listen Now” on NetGalley. I most likely would have never heard of the book if it had not been there.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Happy July 4th!
Happy July 4th! Enjoy today with whatever you do! I hope it includes some kind of reading…
Yesterday I was off for the 4th as working for a county since the holiday is over the weekend, we got Friday too. Even better…. This started stay-cation for me! That’s 10 days away from the daily work grind!
