The Garden of Promises and Lies Audiobook – Found Things Series, Book 3

There’s something about the promise of spring that always stirs my heart, so it felt only right to press play on The Garden of Promises and Lies while sitting in my backyard, mug of chamomile tea in hand, listening to the distant chime of windbells. From those first moments, Paula Brackston swept me into a world where time is as fluid as memory and love feels both dangerous and utterly fated.

As someone who grew up fascinated by old things—my grandmother’s cameo brooches, dusty antique shops—I instantly felt kinship with Xanthe, our resourceful heroine who can sense stories humming beneath the surface of found objects. The premise—a woman “spinning” through time at the beckoning of such items—is magical realism at its most tender and imaginative. This third installment does what every great series continuation should: it raises the stakes emotionally while deepening our connection to characters we care for.

I was especially moved by how Brackston frames Xanthe’s struggle not just as a battle against evil (Benedict Fairfax remains deliciously menacing), but as an internal journey toward self-acceptance. Anyone who has ever tried desperately to keep part of themselves hidden—be it talent or secret pain—will recognize themselves in Xanthe’s longing for both safety and belonging. The risk she takes in confiding her abilities to Liam, inviting him into her perilous travels between eras, spoke volumes about vulnerability within love. Their romance has matured into something less whirlwind-fairytale and more tested-by-fire; you genuinely root for them.

The split settings are gorgeously realized. Modern-day Wiltshire with its quirky Little Shop made me yearn for leisurely afternoons browsing treasures; meanwhile, 1815 Bradford-on-Avon conjures ballgowns and candlelit suspense without ever feeling cliché or stuffy. There were several scenes—the moment Xanthe slips on the wedding dress portal comes vividly to mind—that gave me chills: a mix of historical detail layered with fairy-tale possibility.

Brackston doesn’t shy away from examining fate versus agency either—a theme close to my heart since my own winding life path led me from teaching classrooms full of restless teens all the way here, immersed in story after story through audiobooks each night. Xanthe grapples with whether destiny binds us or if we shape it ourselves; I found myself pausing playback just to reflect on those questions long after chapters ended.

My only real quibble—and perhaps this will differ depending on which edition you find—is that the narrator remains unknown here (and potentially changes across platforms). While I did notice a certain reserve in tone that kept some secondary characters from fully springing off the page for me aurally (especially compared to other lushly narrated titles), overall pacing was steady and atmospheric enough that immersion never broke.

If you’re craving an audiobook that pairs time-slip magic with genuine emotional resonance—think Outlander meets Alice Hoffman—you’ll find much to savor here. The concluding revelations are satisfying without tying everything up too neatly; there’s room left for hope amid uncertainty.

In short: This is exactly what I crave when days feel repetitive or gray—a book capable of rekindling wonder through history, mystery, and steadfast love strong enough to weather any era.