• Waiting in the Wings

  • By: Melissa Brayden
  • Narrated by: Betsy Zajko
  • Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (731 ratings)

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Waiting in the Wings  By  cover art

Waiting in the Wings

By: Melissa Brayden
Narrated by: Betsy Zajko
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Publisher's summary

If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found.

Jenna McGovern has spent her whole life training for the stage. She's taken dance classes, voice lessons, and even earned her performance degree from one of the most prestigious musical theater programs in the nation. At graduation, she's stunned when a chance audition lands her a prime supporting role in the hottest Broadway touring production in the country. In more exciting news, Jenna discovers acclaimed television star Adrienne Kenyon is headlining the production.

Jenna settles easily in to life on tour and has a promising career laid out in front of her, if only she plays her cards right. She's waited for this opportunity her entire life and will let nothing stand in her way. The one thing she didn't prepare for, however, was Adrienne. Her new costar is talented, beautiful, generous, and the utmost professional. As the two women grow closer onstage and off, they must learn how to fit each other into a demanding lifestyle full of unexpected twists and difficult decisions. But is Jenna ready to sacrifice what she's worked so hard for in exchange for a shot at something much deeper?

©2011 Melissa Brayden (P)2014 Audible Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: Romance

What listeners say about Waiting in the Wings

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good Story; Well Told.

With my ever growing cadre of female friends and relatives who practice a more inclusive type of sexuality I appear to be destined to listen to every lesbian fiction book in the Audible library. Three of the main authors of this genre featured thus far are Melissa Brayden, Meghan O'Brien and Georgia Beers. Of these my favorite to this point is Melissa Brayden.
In this edition girl-on-girl love two actresses; one a product of pushy stage door parents; Adrienne Kinyon. The other Jenna McGovern a college graduate, veteran of summer stock theater. These two ladies have the two leading female roles in a play and a romance blossoms quickly. Well naturally the road to true love must be a long and winding one. The two have a huge disagreement and don't see each other for four years.
When they're reunited in a millennial ode to St. Elmo's fire they reconnect; but will the two of them be able to overcome their history; leaving the pain of their pasts behind? Yes of course the answer is obvious but the getting there makes for a good listen. All four of the listeners in our group gave this one five stars.

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15 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good performance.

Enjoyed the length and depth of the character building.
Betsy is a tremendous reader.
Fun read and I love a good love story.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Raise the curtain and buckle in for romance...

Jenna is ready to start her professional career on the stage, and by fortune, talent, and hard work, she lands a dream role on a show that's generating some amazing noise. Her role is awesome: she plays the "sweet" best friend who is revealed to be a betraying villain, and she gets to play opposite Adrienne, a once-teen-star who is blowing the theatre world away with her singing, her dancing, and her performance. Being a part of this musical with Adrienne is everything Jenna thought she wanted out of life: her big break, and a chance to start her way up the ladder to entertainment success.

Things get a bit complicated when feelings get involved, and it turns out there's chemistry to spare between Jenna and Adrienne. As the show goes on, the feelings get deeper; is this just a theatre romance, or is this something more?

Too soon that decision has to be made, and while the show must go on, it's not without heartbreak between the two women. Worse, the entertainment world isn't a big place, and later in life they find themselves once again forced to work together, something neither of them are finding easy to do.

But sometimes the best love stories happen in the final act.

Jenna is a joy to read, another gift from Brayden, who always manages to craft characters you want to take out to lunch (and maybe slap them with some advice, to boot). The dialog in this book just zings, and the supporting cast were so solid and well-drawn that I initially wondered if this was a series where we'd get some of the other characters in later books (alas, no). The characters develop and change (this book takes place over years, which was a refreshing take, actually: so often in romance everything is very immediate), and nothing feels forced or awkward at any point. And the payoff is just sweetened for the wait.

The audio performer was solid. The right amount of emotion was portrayed, and the characters had some great vocal quirks (especially the supporting cast of strong personalities). Intentional or not, there was cadence to the performance that made the descriptions of dance quite easy to visualize, and I found myself wishing the musical described in the first quarter of the book was a real presentation I could nab a ticket to go see. Brayden's theatre background is very much clear in this book, as all the notes strike true, and that translated through the performer's voice.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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LOVE IT

One of my all time favorite books. Definitely going to be listening to this frequently lol

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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AMAZING!!!!!!

I laughed, cried, and just couldn't stop listening. It kept me guessing through out. It was absolutely AMAZING!!!

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Truly enjoyable, far exceeded my expectations!

ADORED the narrator, Betsy Zajko! Storyline was very refeshing and a must for an acting/theatre lover!

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story

I was hooked from the start. such I real story, heartfelt, raw, lots of aww moments. laughed, and that gosh I really love this book moments. It's such a sweet love story, with real life issues. real drama I'm sure many have been through. Thanks to the great narration you really get a sense of how each character felt.
wonderfully written. So worth reading ,even better listening to it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Best Brayden Book Ever

I was said to see this one come to an end.... Great story!!! Definitely will hear it again.

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2 people found this helpful

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Loved!!

Great listen!! The character development and two time periods explored made it a interesting listen!! Steamy!!

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1 person found this helpful

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My favorite audio book

If you could sum up Waiting in the Wings in three words, what would they be?

heart wrenching, intriguing, inventive

Who was your favorite character and why?

Adrienne

Have you listened to any of Betsy Zajko’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not this is the first book

Any additional comments?

I loved this book so much I had to buy it on audiobook as well. The narrator brings the characters to life in a whole new way.

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