Kingdom Come Audiobook By Daphne Simpkins, DAPHNE SIMPKINS cover art

Kingdom Come

A Mildred Budge Adventure

 Virtual Voice Sample

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Kingdom Come

By: Daphne Simpkins, DAPHNE SIMPKINS
Narrated by: Virtual Voice
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This title uses virtual voice narration

Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks.
Mildred Budge returns in Kingdom Come, a story about setbacks and how to face them.

The fourth novel in the series, Kingdom Come, continues with the stories of Mildred, Fran, Winston, Janie, and Chase.
In this story, Mildred’s Cloverdale bungalow is crowded.
Her best friend Fran observes, “For a single woman, Mildred, your quiver is getting very full.”
And it is.
There is little room in Mildred’s Cloverdale bungalow for solitude and extended prayer, and Mildred Budge needs both.
Many people do. And it is harder to find that kind of quiet in a world where background noise is as prevalent as televisions hanging from ceilings everywhere you go.
It is still possible to find the peace that passeth understanding, and that is the story here about how to face a setback.
Setbacks abound in daily life, but no day's trouble is bigger than the love of God who gives help and wisdom freely to those who ask for it.
Join Mildred and Fran as they live out the kind of forged friendship that is as strong as any sisterhood.
Hard copies and paperback are available for Christmas giving, so think about your friends who love to read when you think of Mildred Budge. She's a reader too.
This paperback book is available in a slightly larger font size than previous books for easier reading.
Preceding titles in this series are:
Mildred Budge in Cloverdale Book 1
Mildred Budge in Embankment Book 2
The Bride’s Room Book 3
Shorter works include the short stories:
Miss Budge in Love
The Mission of Mildred Budge
Miss Budge Goes to Fountain City
Belle: A Mildred Budge Friendship Story

About the author: Daphne Simpkins is an Alabama writer best known for the Mildred Budge stories, but she has also written extensively about caregiving. Check out her memoirs:
The Long Good Night
Blessed
What Al Left Behind
Follow Daphne Simpkins on Amazon, or contact her through her website: www.DaphneSimpkins.org Women's Fiction Royalty
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I really don't care for the virtual voice reading. but that being said I love the book. Mildred makes me want to be a more caring person.

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I am posting this same review for each of 10 related books. In the course of a few weeks in early 2026, I listened to all of Daphne Simpkins’ Mildred Budge books. Like many before me, I fell in love with main character Mildred. There is much I recognized from my own experience in the stories. I was born in Alabama (AL), & lived 57 of my 64 years in the South (AL & Tennessee). My mother lived in Mongomery’s old Cloverdale neighborhood a few years, so the setting was familiar. The “church lady” stereotype struck me as a bit dated or too extreme at times, but there is much truth in it. The material is funny, practical, & very accurate as far as human nature. It portrays a church community living out faith, shares the truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; & what it’s like to have the Christian experience over the long haul of life, to be convicted & grow as a Christian, & to have the Holy Spirit in your ear.

There are three series featuring the same character (primary, short adventures, friends/friendship). The “primary” four are continuous stories that follow in order from first to last. The short adventures & friends/friendship ones fit around/before/during/after the time frames of the “primary” four. Some of the same events overlap, but titles across the three series do not fully follow each other sequentially, including if you read from oldest to last by original publication date. It is obvious where some would fall, but debatable where to place others. If you want to go everywhere Mildred does, you want to consume all titles as much in order as possible. There are numerous Internet references that list the books in order (not all the same). Here is the order I recommend - (1) Miss Budge in Love, (2) Mildred Budge in Cloverdale, (3) The Mission of Mildred Budge: Short Stories About Church Life in the South, (4), Mildred Budge in Embankment, (5) Belle, (6) Bride’s Room, (7) Miss Budge Goes to Fountain City, (8) Kingdom Come, & (9) A Gentle & Lowly Christmas. Christmas in Fountain City can go anywhere near the beginning, but works best before Mildred Budge in Embankment. It makes no mention of main character Mildred Budge, but lays groundwork for when she & Dixie go there later, & refers to an earlier different Christmas than the one where Mildred Budge visits.

At the close of A Gentle & Lowly Christmas, there is plenty of story for the cast of characters that could still be told IF the author chooses to produce more!

I purchased the main four in large print hard copy paperback to donate to the local Sellersburg, IN library near me. I know plenty of ladies from age 60s into 90s who would very much enjoy them. The author herself helped me to find these through Amazon, as they were not obviously available when I searched. It was a pleasure to correspond with her via electronic mail.

I always prefer authors reading their own works, but most non author narrators on Audible are good. These books were my first Audible experience with artificial intelligence (AI)/virtual narration. I AM NOT A FAN! It was dismal to me. Despite loving the first book & falling in love with the main character, I considered not listening to any more due to the this factor alone. Though it was was generally annoying, I forged ahead due to my affinity for the material, & because the titles were available as part of my membership without costing credits or extra funds. There were mulitiple AI voices - young to middle aged sounding women (black & white) & two males, at least one of which was black. The best fit for narrator would be a white female, aged 60+, from the deep South/with a clear natural Southern accent (such as Fannie Flagg or me!) & familiarity with lingo. It would also be more pleasant to the listener to have the same voice do all titles in the series. The cadence was off. “Breaths” were taken/pauses occurred at wrong places. Emphasis was not always on the correct syllable. Pronunciation was often incorrect. I called Audible & complained & was told my input was being noted. I contacted the author in case she had input into the process & was not aware of how her work sounded. She explained that she had agreed to participate in a program to implement & develop the use of AI/virtual narration with Audible.

Mildred Budge & her community are fun to follow

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