Romance Audiobooks discussion
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Hi, My Name is ... *Introductions*

I'm Krissie, I live in VT, been listening to audiobooks for about three and a half years.
Favorite authors -- Anne Stuart , Lisa Kleypas, Jeaniene Frost, Judith Ivory, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Patricia Briggs, Kelley Armstrong, etc etc.
Favorite series -- the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, Cat and Bones, Clay and Elena, the ICE series, the Rohans (hey, I'm not trouble by false modesty). Oh, and of course Outlander.
Favorite narrators -- Davina Porter, Barbara Rosenblat, Xe Sands (Fire and Ice is my favorite of the ICE books in terms of audiobooks), Anna Fields, etc. I don't mind Rosalind Landor but have a hard time with Flosnik.

I'm Brenda from the mountains of ID.
I've been listening to audiobooks for close to 20 years but with the advent of downloads and iPods, totally addicted to them for about 7 years.
I recently discovered that the favorites question is a real toughie to limit. I'll go with my top in genre's for now.
UF Renee Raudman/Kate Daniels series - Ilona Andrews
and Lorelie King/Mercy Thompson - Patricia Briggs
Contemporary Anna Fields/Susan Elizabeth Philips
Romantic Suspense with a twist Tom Stecschulte/Feehan's Ghostwalkers
and Susan Erickson/JD Robb

I live in Oklahoma and have most of my life although I'm a Texan by birth. I've also lived in the Washington D.C. area, Atlanta, and Omaha as an adult. I'm an avid flower gardener and have been for 25 years. Lately I've been trying my hand at mixed media art and I absolutely love every minute of it.
I’ve listened to romance audiobooks for seven years. I only listened to instructional or inspirational audiobooks prior to that.
My favorite authors in audio are Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Diana Gabaldon, Judith Ivory, Linda Howard, Karen Marie Moning, Charlaine Harris, and Sandra Brown (newer). My favorite authors I wish were in audio? Penelope Williamson, more Rachel Gibson, Judith McNaught, Kristan Higgins and another narrator performing Lisa Kleypas.
My favorite narrators: there are now many but I'll go first with the ever popular Davina Porter and Anna Fields. Then, Victor Slezak, Phil Gigante. Johanna Parker, Barbara Rosenblat, Richard Armitage, Natalie Ross, Virginia Leishman, Jill Tanner,& Karen White. There are many I'm leaving out plus ones I KNOW will be good once I listen to their performances. Up for first time listening soon are Xe Sands, Angela Dawe, Kate Reading, and Tavia Gilbert.

Some of my favorite audiobook authors: Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Sharon Shinn, Georgette Heyer, Diana Gabaldon, Kim Harrison, P.J. Tracy, Laurie R. King... I better stop there or this could be a long list.
Narrators I have really enjoyed: Davina Porter, Angela Dawe, Marguerite Gavin, Holter Graham, Emily Gray, and Laura Flanagan.
I've recently been enjoying a lot of YA audiobooks and I wish there was more SFR audiobooks out there. I also wish there was more variety in Historical Romance narrators available but maybe I just need to look harder.
If you are new to this group, welcome. If you are anything like me, joining will completely trash your audiobook budget with all the great recommendations that people share.

Name is Vicki and have been listening to audiobooks since early 90s. I've lived in Northern Virginia all of my life. I first got into them so I didn't turn into one of those crazy people throwing some road rage around after 2 or so hours in rush hour traffic. I started with renting books from Recorded Books and Books On Tape and library. Back in THOSE days, most abridged versions were 1 - 2 cassettes and no more than 3 hours so unabridged was the way to go (and still is!) I then graduated to buying some of my favorite audiobooks on cassette/CD/MP3 CD. I'm now an audible addict and have managed to hook hubby on audiobooks to help justify my AB budget ("Hey honey, I can get 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 night at the movies and we can still both enjoy them!").
I mostly go for romance suspense, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and mystery/thriller. I have a some historical fiction, young adult and memoirs.
Favorite narrators: Davina Porter, Jim Dale, Holter Graham, Angela Dawe, Justine Eyre, Emily Gray, Kate Reading (also known as Jennifer Mendenhall and Johanna Ward), and Phil Gilante.

In the past year or so I've broadened by horizons by listening to SEP's Chicago Stars series, as well as books by Jennifer Crusie. More recently I've been paying attention to the SoA column, and the posts here, and decided to do the Listening Challenge as a way of getting myself out of my comfort zone. I've also been trying to do more treadmill time, so audiobooks are a great help there.
I have limited exposure, but my favorite narrators are Tom Stechschulte, Phil Gigante, Eve Matheson, Cornelius Garrett, Phyllida Nash, and Anna Fields. Frances MacDormand did an amazing job on Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day but I don't think she narrates other books. She should, though! Grover Gardner narrated Shard of Honor and it was flawless, imo.
I've listened to one book narrated by Jennifer Van Dyke (Black Ice) and thought she did a good job. I have mixed feelings about Susan Ericksen, (loved her narration one book, didn't care for her narration in another), but plan to give her another try.
In a recent discussion on amazon I mentioned that the male voices are critical for me in romance audios. I generally prefer male narrators for that reason, the exceptions being Anna Fields and Eve Matheson who both do excellent male voices. The male lead needs to have a sexy voice, and when a female narrator tries to make her voice gravely or whatever, it generally leaves me cold. I actually do better with male narrators who don't do great female voices than female narrators who don't do great male voices. Just personal preference!
ETA- meant to say I live in central North Carolina

My #1 favorite romance right now is Linda Howard's To Die For, but I haven't listened to it (yet) because of the fear of a bad narration. I'm incredibly critical and picky - even Davina Porter makes mistakes.
My #1 favorite romance audiobook - hmmm, I'm going with Barbara Rosenblat's narration of The Indiscretion by Judith Ivory. It's funny, it's sexy, it's clever, and very re-readable. And Rosenblat is a marvel to hear.
My theory about romance books is that it's all about the writing: some authors can take any tired, over-used cliches and write a story that is a golden reading experience. My theory about audiobooks is that the narrator can make it or break it: a fabulous narrator of any gender can bring life to mediocre prose; a mediocre narrator can choke the life out of the best story. And even then it's personal, because everyone has a different perception, colored by her own life experience.
I've been known to give some authors and some narrators plenty of chances: I'm not a Lisa Kleypas fan, but it took reading 8 of her historicals before I stopped trying. Now, there's narrator Anne Flosnik... OK, my first time hearing her was a non-romance, and she was wonderful! But Regencies set in London? She "annoys" me with her interpretation... "annoy" being the kindest way I can say it, when what I mean is wall-banger-inducing. But have I stopped listening to her? no.
I think this was way more than originally asked for! But I've enjoyed reading everyone elses! Favorite Series: Outlander; favorite authors and narrators: read LeaAAR's post, since I agree with her about 99%!

(Another hint for churchgoers who are grieving -- don't sing the hymns. Just move your mouth. Less likely to fall apart).
I think that might be why I stopped listening for a while. And of course, the books I loved weren't on audio. I was listening to mysteries at the time, Tony Hillerman and John D. MacDonald.

Hey, I went easy, I've seen several that actually ask for your age! :D
But I've enjoyed reading everyone elses!
Me too Melinda, I'll be watching for more, it's interesting stuff.

2) I've been listening to audiobooks for about 2 years now.
3) My favorite genres are historical & paranormal romance (some contemporary).
Favorite authors on audio are Diana Gabaldon, Lisa Kleypas, Karen Marie Moning, Linda Howard, Elizabeth Hoyt, Julie Garwood, Larissa Ione, JR Ward, Gena Schowalter & Sherrilyn Kenyon.
A few other favorite authors I wish were on audio are Robin Schone, Gaelen Foley, Judith McNaught, Pamela Clare & Kresley Cole.


favorite series on audiobook is Diana Gabaldon's outlander series narrated by Davina Porter, but also enjoyed the Fever series
fav. narrators are Davina Porter, Phil Gigante, Simon Vance and just added Elisabeth Rogers to the list (the Succubus series by Richelle Mead)

@Delicious - I'm in No. VA so I definitely feel your pain! I live about 10 min. N of Quantico and commute to either Ft. Belvoir (contractor) or Herndon so audiobooks make life much less stressful!




Hi I'm Laurie :) If I didn't have audiobooks to listen to on my long drive I probably would not be sane. I've been listening to them since the late 90's when all I had was a crappy cassette player and borrowed tapes from the library that would fail midway through the story. I am as addicted to audios as I am to paperbacks/ebooks. I can't get enough and can listen to just about any genre as long as the story is engaging enough. I also tend to give audios more of a chance than paperbacks. For some reason, those are easier to put down (and never pick up again) but when I'm trapped in a car for long stretches of time I'll forgive just about anything!

I feel the same as you do about giving audios more of a chance. They prevent me from going all Jekyll on fellow commuters who have no clue how to drive. ;)


Since Mercy Thompson and the Alpha and Omega series are easily in my top ten listens it looks like I need to try out the Morganville Vampires.


I too have a Platinum membership at Audible. Please tell me how you renew four times a year! I want to get on that bandwagon.

Lea, if you go into your account details and click the Switch Membership link it shows what you currently have and lets you click to renew it. They also just started displaying a Renew Early link next to the total credit count at the top of the page (at least mine did when I was down to 8 credits).


I don't know if that happens every time or if I just happened to run out while they were running a special of some kind, but it was nice.


I'm Bec (Rebecca) from Melbourne, Australia. I love to read and started listening to Audio Books about 3 years ago. I like romance, science fiction, fantasy, suspense.
Some of my favourite audio books/authors are : Susan Elisabeth Phillips (can relisten to SEP again and again), Patricia Briggs (love Mercy), Lisa Kleypas (I wish someone else would read her books), Georgette Heyer, George R.R. Martin, Nora Roberts.
At the moment, I'm enjoying buying more audio books due to the Aussie Dollar being on par with the US Dollar :-)

I still have my second account which I got when I had to get a new ipod, amazon and audible offer $100 credit on buying something on amazon with a audible membership for a year. I figure with the $100 savings that means I got 12 credits for $80 :) Gold +12= $180 - $100 credit. :)
Favorite readers, James Marsters, Diana Gabaldon, Reading, Neil Gaiman, off the top of my head.
I tend to read UF, Sci fi, Fantasy, PNR and some Mysteries and fiction.
I have a small horse farm and pottery studio and I homeschool my kid...well, I DID, he's just graduated and will be heading to NC State next year. So, I tend to listen all day as I'm working around the farm or house. I also have a really bad back injury so I have to lie down frequently to take pressure off my back so I read a lot also. When I can I prefer audio so I can keep moving.

Did you see anything in the audible 48 hour sale that looked good? I need something new and I'm sort of at a loss. Not on the sale but I was thinking of Eon by Goodman, have you heard anything about that?


Glad you're here.

Holy crap! We need to get together. Michael is going into the computer program at State. I'm just outside of Rocky Mount. You wanna see a horse farm? LOL Not as good as it sounds. The most I had here was 4 horses, I ride dressage. With my back issues I'm down to two.

You can PM me if you'd like. I doubt the other posters are real interested in my horsemanship or homescholing! ;-)



I look forward to going back and re-reading your comments while making a list of must have audio books.

We'll look forward to hearing about your favorites as a long time audiobook lover. We are always on the lookout for a hidden gem or a successful new release when it comes to listening!

My name is Jody and I reside in California. I am more of a lurker, so this is a big step for me.
I have been listening to audiobooks for about 5 years now and have been a huge fan of your Speaking of Audiobooks blog.
My favorite authors to listen to are: Linda Howard, Suzanne Brockmann, Anne Bishop, Amanda Quick, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Robert Crais.
My favorite narrators are John Sharian, Anna Fields, Nathalie Ross, Jeff Daniels, Anne Flosnick, Phil Gigante, Joyce Bean and Patrick Lawlor.
Most of the books I listen to are ones I have previously read.

Do you have a favorite Linda Howard or SEP? My Howard favorites in audio are Death Angel, After the Night, and Dream Man - I could go on and on. With SEP, it's just about all of the Chicago Stars series and Kiss an Angel.
Again - welcome!



@Jody - I'm assuming you mean the Black Jewels series for Anne Bishop? Love that series. John Sharian was one of those narrators that had to grow on me and there are still idiosyncrasies that annoy if I allow myself to focus on them (the pausing he does when reading certain characters). But I have listened to all the books in this series multiple times and just relistened to the Prince of Ebon Rih short story yesterday! I have Sebastian in audio but wasn't able to get into it.


Ok I'm Susan and I'm in Norman, Oklahoma.
I love audiobooks and have had an audible membership for years now.
Favorite audio series, JD Robb's In Death.
Favorite American Narrators - Susan Ericksen for her narration of In Death, and Renee Raudman (love The Edge books) and Thomas Stechshulte for the Ghostwalker series.
Favorite British Narrators - Divinia Porter, Simon Prebble and Rosalynde Landor.
But I really like lots of them. I also listen to a fair amount of Classics because it's easier to get thorugh them on audio than reading.

Yes, I was excited to see another Okie around (there seem to be so few of us). I live in Tulsa and attended Oklahoma University so I know all about Norman. My son was born in OKC while we lived there. And he also is an OU grad.
I like your idea about listening to the Classics and I have only started thinking in those terms. I'm getting ready to tackle a few of those that I love in movie format but fine the text a little too tedious.

I have been lurking on AAR for about a year and decided to take the plunge and follow this forum over to goodreads. My local library is very limited on CD selection (my car no longer has a cassette player) so I am looking at taking the plunge into downloads! And I don't even own an iPod.
Listening to books on tape broadened my reading beyond what I thought of as my favorites. For example, I never would have "read" "The Cat Who" series if it wasn't for the wonderful narration by George Guidall. I "read" a lot of classics and even made it through Moby Dick!I love Barbara Rosenblat and Davina Porter.
Last summer while not working/dealing with breast cancer, I discovered the romance genre. I had always been a bit embarassed to admit I liked romances. Now I devour them. My favorites list will reflect much of what has been mentioned before- Diana Gabaldon, Linda Howard, Suzanne Brockmann, Amanda Quick, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Anne Stuart.
Sorry this is so long but I am very excited to figure out a way to get my audiobook fix by download and find people who enjoy recorded books as much as I do.

Our favorite author lists are very similar. I turned to romance (after a life of listening to none) during a time of recovery about 8 years ago. I always had a book on my bedside table and one of my favorite activities was spending hours searching the aisles of a bookstore. But I never touched a romance. Once I discovered the genre, I too devoured them. That bedside book grew to a stack of books.
Are you actively looking for a digital device? One of our Speaking of Audio columns centered on this subject and we had a lot of participation from listeners so the discussion area is long and very informative. It was written in October, 2009 so the info may be a little dated but I think you'll find some good advice. I'm planning on writing another such column in a year or so.
http://www.likesbooks.com/blog/?p=2834
Enjoy our Goodreads group!
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2) How long have you been listening to Audiobooks?
3) Favorite Audiobook Authors, Series or Narrators.