Recommendations - Make One or Save Another

[Brittany B.]

Brenda wrote: "I checked out the narrator Brittany and I was excited to see it was Kirsten Potter, she was excellent in the first book I heard by he..."

I have quite a few by Kristen Potter. I am always happy with her performance. She is one of my favorites. She makes her job seem easy. :)

[Brittany B.]

Brenda, I buy the new release of the older books. I have so many unread is my problem... I don't know what to read next. I might try Carnal Innocence. I think you told me it was a favorite HTF of yours, right?

I dream of having Laura Kinsale and the old classic Loretta Chase books. Add in Pamela Clare, and I'll stop wishing... Wait and Judith Mcnaught. It's truly absurd that Mcnaught doesn't have a better listing on Audible.

[Brenda]

I have so many unread is my problem... I don't know what to read next.

LOL I was just thinking in the past few days that if I lost access to Audible for one reason or another I could still listen to a new book from my personal library every two or three days for a year! I'm an audiobook junky. :)

And then we get these re-releases of old favorites - yes Carnal Innocence is one of mine - and they must be re listened to to see if they still hold their magic - and this one does, heroes don't come better than Tucker Longstreet. ;)

[Brittany B.]

Is it steamy at all? Not necessary to have wild bedroom scenes, but I do need some chemistry, enough for the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling. I have heard Nora is short on romance. That's the only thing holding me back from starting it. I haven't read a NR book since I was a senior in high school. I still buy her audiobooks. I just havent listened. (Right now, I have Angels' Falls, Northern Lights, Sea Swept, Rising Tides, and now Carnal Innocence.)

(I have read first two JD Robb books, but I haven't taken to Eve yet. She reminds me of a Psy sometimes... From Psy-Changeling series. Lol. I know I will be shunned for saying it. But Roarke rocks my world. I plan to relisten to the them. Maybe I missed something)

Anyway, thoughts on NR romance in CI? I'm chatty today. But I'm in reading limbo after No Rest For the Wicked.

[Brenda]

There is definitely this "I do need some chemistry, enough for the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling." in Carnal Innocence - woven through the suspense plot.

Carrie wrote an excellent review to give you a feel for what you can expect

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

as did Kaetrin for a more neutral stance
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

and Lea who also enjoyed it.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

from our group if you want more input. :)

[Carrie]

Brittany B. wrote: "Is it steamy at all? Not necessary to have wild bedroom scenes, but I do need some chemistry, enough for the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling. I have heard Nora is short on romance. That's the on..."

I loved the romance between Tucker and Caroline! Not graphic sex scenes, but definite chemistry, imo! I loved his slow, persistent pursuit of her! Tucker is like a slowly rising tide and Caro is the sand castle. ;-) He's in no hurry, but the ending is inevitable.

[Brittany B.]

Thanks gals! Im looking forward to it!

[Carrie]

Brittany B. wrote: "Thanks gals! Im looking forward to it!"

I hope you like it, Brittany! I'm always a little nervous when I recommend books, but this really is a favorite of mine. My daughter loves it, too, and she's not a Nora Roberts fan.

[Brittany B.]

Carrie wrote: "Brittany B. wrote: "Thanks gals! Im looking forward to it!"

I hope you like it, Brittany! I'm always a little nervous when I recommend books, but this really is a favorite of mine. My daughter lov..."

Well dont worry, Ive heard a lot of praise for the book from this group, so you aren't alone. And I will keep my expectations at a reasonable level. What I needed was this push to start reading Nora Roberts- (I have many unread audiobooks by her, I need to start listening:)

But lol, I get nervous rec'ing books as well. I feel surprisingly embarrassed when the readers/listeners don't like the book.
I forgot about your daughter-reading buddy. That's a wonderful bond. ;)

[Brenda]

"I do need some chemistry, enough for the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling."

I'm 1/3 of the way into my re-listen with the new "digital" release of Carnal Innocence and I had to stop at one of these moments to post. :)

"He wasn't supposed to ache over a kiss. His head wasn't supposed to swim when she locked herself around him. He wasn't supposed to tremble when she moaned out his name.
He knew what it was to want a woman. It was a natural, pleasurable part of being a man. It didn't rip at you or carve a hole in your gut. It didn't make your knees shake until you were afraid you'd fall down on them and beg."

with Tom Stechschulte's perfect delivery - Yum! :)

[D.G.]

Oh I added Carnal Innocence to my Audible WL! I've heard so many things about this audio.

[Brenda]

I had to give this a try, 100% directed toward Audible sales of an old favorite.

Twenty six seconds - to hear the above quote. You don't have to sign in or join to hear it.

http://soundcloud.com/abookl/
sample-to-match-goodreads

ETA the right link this time, it's the same link I added below.

[Carrie]

Brenda wrote: "I had to give this a try, 100% directed toward Audible sales of an old favorite.

Twenty six seconds - to hear the above quote

http://soundcloud.com/you/tracks"

I can't get this to work, Brenda. It keeps bringing me to my archives, which are empty since I just joined. (I think it's the "you" in the URL link.)

[Lea's Audiobooks]

It won't work for me either. But I figured it was the user - not the link. Of course, if you tell me the position, I can listen to my own copy.

[Brenda]

Thanks for the feedback guys, it was my first try with Soundcloud and I didn't grab the public link.

The good news is you don't have to join or become a member in order to listen when I do it right. :)

http://soundcloud.com/abookl/
sample-to-match-goodreads

[Carrie]

Thanks, Brenda! I enjoyed the two Feehan books I listened to that Stechschulte narrated, but this one is my favorite by him. His voice just fits this book to perfection.

It's time for a relisten!

[Brenda]

Absolutely Carrie, he is perfect with this one - voicing men or women.

I think I could listen to Aunt Lulu's arrival at Sweetwater everyday and still LOL each time, he gives her personality so much punch.

And that screech of Yan-Keeee when she hears Caroline speak for the first time, oh my, I have so many sections bookmarked either to laugh or to drool. :)

"Caroline I'm asking you if that's all you want. I've got more, I need to give you more ....."

[D.G.]

Yeah Baby!

Thanks for posting that tidbit, Brenda! Sounded really good. :)

[Brenda]

Glad you liked it, I could go a little crazy with these sound bites, especially out of this book. :D

[Brittany B.]

Works great. Nice job.

[Shari]

Brenda wrote: "My favorite deleted scene was from book 2, One Foot in the Grave, and was about Bones seeing Cats tattoo for the first time.

I so wanted to read about that in the book! JF explains why it was dele..."


Holy Cow! I had no idea there were posted deleted scenes! Thank you so much for posting this.

[Brenda]

Glad you found out about these scenes Shari. B & N and Amazon sold a special copy of Halfway to the Grave that included all the deleted scenes and told you at what point you should read them - but I don't see now - maybe they'll offer it again soon?

[paula]

For a hot highlander series, I recommend - .

[JF]

I would like to recommend Maya Banks KGI series on audio. I have so far listened to Echoes at Dawn, Whispers in the Dark, and Hidden Away. I have read the series, she has another coming out soon. These are romantic suspense stories. I would recommend listening/reading them in order. Maya brings the characters forward from the previous books. I give this series 5 stars.

[Stephanie]

I'm interested in a romantic suspense recommendation --other than Nora Roberts or the big names. Anyone new?

[Carrie]

Julie James is relatively new, and her FBI series is available on audio narrated by Karen White. The first one is: Something About You.

Pamela Clare's I-Team series is also available on audio now: Extreme Exposure

[Sue]

I'll recommend a few RS titles, I love serials so I have alot to share and some authors specialize and others don't.

Sandra Brown - Envy - Contemporary/RS
Linda Howards - Death Angel - Contemporary/RS
Jayne Ann Krentz - She has several series, I love her Arcane series but that might not be your cup of tea.
Amanda Quick - Slightly Shady - 1800's English/RS series
Julie Garwood - Heartbreaker - FBI series
Maya Banks - This is a repeat from above, love her KGI series.
Christy Reece - Rescue Me - Contempoary/RS similiar to Maya Banks KGI Series
Cindy Gerard - Show No Mercy - another KGI type suggestion RS series
Suzanne Brockmann - She has a troubleshooter series alot of folks like, I'm batting 500 with her work but that could be taste.
Added:
New author Diana Miller's Dangerous Affairs is excellent Lea recommended it last month and it was an excellent book.

[Lea's Audiobooks]

Yay! on Carrie's recommendation of Clare's I'Team series and Jame's FBI/US Attorney series.

An even bigger yay! on Sue's recommendation of Brown's Envy and Howard's Death Angel. Both are quite different from your usual romance however. Two of my favorites.

[Carrie]

I agree about Envy. May a top 5 audiobook for me. I love many of her audiobooks. Also many of Linda Howard's.

I know the OP wanted some new names, which is why I thought of Clare and James, but dear Stephanie, if you haven't listened to Nora Robert's Carnal Innocence, run, don't walk, to get it. Another absolute favorite, as much for the narration by Tom Stecheshulte as the book. Yum!

[Sue]

Looking for recommendations and I'm not sure where this belongs, so here goes. I'm looking for two types of recommendations.

1) Tear jerker romance recommendations, I must somehow be avoiding these. Because in my hundreds of reads over the last year I can count how many I've read in the last two years easily which is disappointing. Would really appreciate a few recommendations because my "shopping" around isn't cutting it.

2) I want the cliché romance recommendations, i.e. famous character falling for the not famous character, can be anything... Rock Bands, Hollywood and sports figures...

[Brenda]

Sue I missed this and now your question is several months old - maybe you've had it answered elsewhere but my two cents for your 2nd criteria:

Julie James narrated by Karen White was the first to pop into my mind.

Also Susan Elizabeth Phillips's has several with that theme. My faves - Match Me If You Can - Natural Born Charmer - Heaven Texas - Lady Be Good all narrated by Anna Fields.

I'll have to skim my library for others that would fit. I avoid tear jerkers so I'm no help there. :D

[Suzanne]

Sue wrote: "Looking for recommendations and I'm not sure where this belongs, so here goes. I'm looking for two types of recommendations.

1) Tear jerker romance recommendations, I must somehow be avoiding th..."
and the sequel, m narrated by Madeleine Maby, fall into the celebrity category.

[Sue]

Thanks Brenda, Suzanne a few of those I hadn't read yet.

[Megan]

this is an old thread but I wasn't sure where to post this. Am having a dilemma on what to spend my 3-for-2 audible credits on sale for. my, my, those credits are sure prrrrrecious!

for sure, Lover Awakened. now what other 2 to get:

1. Slammed series by Colleen Hoover (don't see any reviews here)
2. Material Girl by Julia London
3. Talk Me Down by V Dahl

any of you listened to any of the 3 before?

[Angie]

I've listened to the first two books in the Slammed series. They were just okay to me. I'm in the minority I think. They are very popular. The slam poetry really didn't interest me. Parts of the story were interesting, but the heroine bugged me for much of the first book. I liked her better in the second book, but the narrator took a little getting used to. If I recall, he read kind of fast. I haven't listened to the last book that came out recently. That probably doesn't help you much. I just can't remember any more particulars about the books than that.

[Megan]

Thanks Angie!

[Sue]

Julie Garwood's For The Roses is now available on audible...I just purchased the CD...Kicking myself now because I prefer downloads. Michael Navarone does a great job with the material. If you liked JG's title Prince Charming...For the Roses would be a great fit.

[JaneA]

I've been listening to Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series on audiobook from the library. I've really enjoyed Ashford MacNab's narration. Now I get to Lord Of Darkness and the audiobook is not available through the library. Additionally, the narrator has changed to Emma Taylor (who?) so if I want to listen to this I'll have to buy it. The reviews on her narration are pretty uniformly poor, should I just read this book in print? I rather like either reading a whole series or listening to it, not changing things up, but I sure don't want to spend $$ on a lemon!

[Lea's Audiobooks]

Jane wrote: "I've been listening to Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series on audiobook from the library. I've really enjoyed Ashford MacNab's narration. Now I get to Lord Of Darkness and the audiobook is not av..."

I'd read it. I couldn't take the narration and gave up.

[Caz]

Jane wrote: "I've been listening to Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series on audiobook from the library. I've really enjoyed Ashford MacNab's narration. Now I get to Lord Of Darkness and the audiobook is not av..."

I agree with Lea. Avoid the audio of LoD like the plague - the narrator is terrible.

[JaneA]

Thanks Caz and Lea. I've saved myself a credit. :) I hope the narrator of Duke of Midnight is an improvement, but at least that audiobook is at my library.

[Lea's Audiobooks]

Jane wrote: "Thanks Caz and Lea. I've saved myself a credit. :) I hope the narrator of Duke of Midnight is an improvement, but at least that audiobook is at my library."

The narrator of Duke of Midnight is a great improvement over Lord of Darkness' narrator. However, I still miss Ashford MacNab and Claudia Harris proved to be just okay for me.

[Caz]

Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "Jane wrote: "Thanks Caz and Lea. I've saved myself a credit. :) I hope the narrator of Duke of Midnight is an improvement, but at least that audiobook is at my library."

The narrator of Duke o..."

I'm echoing Lea' s comments again. Ms Harris is a big improvement in Duke of Midnight, but I thought she didn't quite "get it" and that there was something missing. Have a look at my review here if you'd like and more detailed comments.

[JaneA]

Thanks for your comments and the link to the review. Since it is available at the library, there's no downside to giving it a try, but I'm very glad to see that it gets at least a qualified recommendation. It's interesting LoD is not available. I guess the purchasing powers heard the poor reviews.

[JaneA]

I've seen MJP's Thunder & Roses mentioned here, but heard no clear feedback on the narrator Peter Bishop. It's a W/S title right now for $1.99, so I'm tempted to give it a try, but would love to hear what other people think.

[Dawn]

I have the audiobook of Thunder and Roses. I like the narration. He doesn't do great female voices, but he also doesn't do really bad ones. No crazy falsettos.

[JaneA]

Dawn wrote: "No crazy falsettos."

That's important! :) Thanks for the feedback.

[Dawn]

I agree those falsettos make me cringe. Happy listening

[Sue]

A Veteran's Day recommendation, both are amazing lives. narrated by Edward Hermann or narrated by John Pruden.

[Myra]

What's everyone reading and would recommend ?
Thanks for your input Myra.