As I searched for December’s audiobook releases, I decided to take a peek at 2010 and get an idea of what the year has in store for us audiobook romance lovers. Many of next year’s audio releases (for the most part we’re talking Jan-April) are not too surprising with authors such as Debbie Macomber and Nora Roberts offering numerous books, both old and new. But there were a number of satisfying discoveries as well with such releases as Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s Wild Ride (March) and the “Untitled Historical” by Lisa Kleypas.
Sabrina Jeffries is arriving on the audio scene in a big way with three books in early 2010, (January), The Truth about Lord Stoneville (January), Never Seduce a Scoundrel (March), and Only a Duke Will Do (May). Ms. Jeffries has two audiobooks to date – a short story, Gone But Not Forgotten, and an audio cassette version of A Dangerous Love from 2001. Let’s hope the powers that be choose to give us some of her earliest titles as well (my favorites).
The audiobook standard of excellence in my opinion is undoubtedly the unabridged version of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series as told by narrator Davina Porter. Specifically, I am talking about the first four in the series: 
After our Speaking of Audiobooks 
In many ways, listening to an audiobook these days is far simpler than six years ago when I first discovered my love for them. At the time, I still relied on a cassette tape player and frequently changing tapes or turning a tape over to side B were all necessities for listening. I never thought to be annoyed or saw stopping what I was doing to attend the cassette player as an inconvenience.
One truly unique aspect of listening to a book rather than reading the printed word is the feeling of existing within that narrative. There is no need for me to stop reading to cook dinner or run errands since an audiobook keeps reading the story to me wherever I may be. And never have a felt that sensation as strongly as I do now as I listen once again to Diana Gabaldon’s 
Years ago, I considered audiobooks useful for one of two things – inspiration or instruction. At the time “books on tape” was the operative phrase and I rarely listened to an audio tape unless I was in my car commuting to and from work. Listening to a book meant gathering information to improve myself in some manner but it also started to feel a lot like work. The thought of utilizing a “book on tape” for the simple purpose of enjoyable entertainment wasn’t even a consideration.
Writing a review for an audiobook differs significantly from the writing of a general review, especially when the site you write for often has a complete review of said book already online. Audiobook fans want to know about production, sound quality, affordability, accessibility, and of course, most importantly the narrator. Can that narrator differentiate effectively between characters and deliver the story in a manner pleasing to the listener’s ear? And if you have already read a particular book, did hearing rather than reading change your opinion of a specific character or the book in general?
July and August in Oklahoma can be particularly hard to bear with temperatures hovering around the 100 degree mark and more days than not of high humidity. I just want to stay in and ignore the fact that my garden still needs tending or my dog needs walking. But gardener and responsible owner that I am, I trek out into the heat anyway and find, yet again, an audiobook to be the perfect distraction. I’ve had some real luck with my summer listening choices and books such as Linda Howard’s 
I can’t think of a better companion for walking on a treadmill than a good romance audiobook to help fight off the sheer boredom of it all. Before discovering audiobooks, I’d tried music, TV, movies, and even reading a book (I don’t advise it), but all failed to provide the level of distraction I craved to complete my day’s walk. But one thing I quickly realized as I listened to my first audiobook was that my ears demanded a higher volume level to catch each detail as the story unfolded. That didn’t prove to be much of a problem since I lived on two acres and needn’t worry about bothering my neighbors and I let my little boom box blast away. With an extra pep in my step, knowing I had found the answer to my treadmill boredom, I walked on, thoroughly enjoying Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ 
