All About Romance’s News & Commentary Blog

So, you’re a romance fan who’s new to audiobooks.  Where do you start?  Or, say you are an audio fan and want to explore the romance genre.  Yet, when you look at the overwhelming number of available romance audiobooks, you have no idea where to start.

In our April column, Friends Helping Friends, we discussed the importance of seeking recommendations from those who have similar tastes to your own.  As a beginner, it is all the more important that you seek solid recommendations since outstanding audiobooks are a combination of an author’s talent and a narrator’s skill.  If a narrator can’t effectively deliver an author’s work, the audio version suffers.  On the other hand, a talented narrator can transform a ho-hum read into an above average listen.  And, as a beginner, you should consider these facts before committing to an audiobook.

Since the choosing can be difficult for the romance audio beginner, I’ve joined together with our audio reviewers to develop A Beginner’s Guide to Romance Audio.  It’s a list of audiobooks by sub-genre that we consider easy listens.  Not only is the story of high quality, but the narration is of such high quality as well that it flows effortlessly to a new listener’s ears.

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There’s a definite methodology to finding an audiobook that fits your tastes.  If you don’t subscribe to that theory, you may liken the entire hunt for a successful audio experience to finding a needle in a haystack.  Others may highly recommend an audiobook and after you run to buy it, you might realize it’s not to your taste.

What’s first on the list for your consideration?  The basic story or that presented to you in print.  Second is the sound of a narrator’s voice.  It either sounds good to your ear or it doesn’t.  Third is the narrator’s performance of the characters and differentiating voices adequately for your listening ears.  And finally, there is that all-too-important interpretation of the story – does the narrator’s match yours?

Because of these many personal preferences, it’s difficult for me to recommend an audiobook to a listener cold turkey.  Often I am asked one-on-one for recommendations and I try to gather some basic favorites information first.  What authors do they favor?  What is a favorite book in print?  What narrators have they enjoyed in the past?  What is a favorite audiobook?  What is their favorite romance sub-genre?  And, very important, can they share with me audiobooks that didn’t work for them?

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Fortunately I encounter few audiobooks that I out and out dislike.  Recommendations from trusted audio friends, taking the time to research the narrator, and reading reviews of the print version usually provide me with at least an average audiobook experience.  But when an audiobook does go wrong, it’s usually due to the narrator’s misinterpretation of a primary character, indistinguishable characters, or worse of all, an effeminate sounding hero.  Nothing gets my audio dander up more.  Sure, there is an element of my own listening interpretation buried somewhere deep but, don’t make me guess if it’s the hero speaking rather than the heroine and don’t ever, ever make him sound feminine.  Since I can’t see him, I need him to sound extra male.

Male narrators, as one would expect, usually get the hero thing right.  He may not interpret a character to my liking but at least he has the whole “sounds like a male” thing going and that is a huge head start.  Female narrators, however, must prove to my ear first, that he is actually male, before I even start considering if he is as male as his character requires.  Unfair?  Possibly, but after years of listening to audiobooks, I have finally accepted the fact that it’s just the way my brain wraps itself around a female’s performance of a male character.  So, do I penalize a male performer as much for misperforming a heroine’s voice?  Probably not, and thus the question begs to be asked.  Would I rather listen to a female narrator who can’t deliver a convincing male voice or a male who can’t deliver a convincing female voice?  Or even more to the point, would I prefer to listen to an effeminate sounding hero or a drag queen heroine?

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Searching for March’s new releases, I was surprised not only by the impressive list of over 50 upcoming romance audiobooks (many more will be released digitally with no pre-release notice) but also the books that I see just around the corner.  I was thrilled to see that Tantor is releasing Jennifer Ashley’s The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie in late March, a vastly popular book in print that was voted Best Romance of 2009 in AAR’s Annual Reader Poll and ranked #10 in AAR’s 2010 Top 100 Romance Poll.  Let’s hope Tantor continues with the Highland Pleasures series.

Looking ahead to May, I noticed a book on Harper Audio’s site that I’ve had on my eBook wish list for years, never imagining that it would even be considered for release in audio.  The book?  Adele Ashworth’s Winter Garden – another favorite with romance fans that won Favorite Romance of 2000 in AAR’s Annual Reader Poll and made the cut for both 2004 and 2007 Top 100 Romance Poll at AAR.  It’s being released in both eBook and audio format on May 29^th.  Thank you, Harper Audio – hope we see more from this beloved author.

And another sure-to-be-delight is Harper Audio’s May release of Rachel Gibson’s Rescue Me.  It’s the first time I have seen a Gibson audiobook released simultaneously with the print version.  In the past, Recorded Books kept an occasional Gibson title for their own exclusive use and listeners couldn’t be certain of wider availability.  As romance fans, we say, “Well done, Harper!”

In addition to March releases we also have six audiobooks up for review today Meljean Brooks’ Heart of Steel, Iris Johansen’s Always, Jayne Ann Krentz’s Copper Beach, Susan Mallery’s The Unexpected Millionaire, Lisa Marie Rice’s Dangerous Passion, and Linda Howard’s A Game of Chance.

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Today it’s all reviews here at Speaking of Audiobooks.  Nine audiobooks are up for review including The Next Always by Nora Roberts, Lord of Ice by Gaelen Foley, Future Perfect by Suzanne Brockmann, When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James, Lie with Me by Stephanie Tyler, Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis, Captured by the Highlander by Julianne MacLean, Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke, and Cross My Heart by Carly Phillips.

The Next Always – Nora Roberts

Review written by Kaetrin

Narrated by McLeod Andrews

I usually enjoy Nora Roberts’ books, but I must confess I started The Next Always with just a little trepidation since I had read reviews stating that there was too much detail about the Inn renovations and not enough about the romance between the main characters, Beckett Montgomery and Claire Brewster.  Other commenters didn’t care for the Inn Boonsboro’s resident ghost and the part she played in the story.

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Although today’s column features our usual list of upcoming romance releases and a number of audiobook reviews as well, we’re starting out with a close look at Jeaniene Frost’s Halfway to the Grave, an urban fantasy romance with a kick.  What’s the kick?  Bones the hero.  Read on!

Bones and Cat and Tavia Gilbert

As I wrote my review for Blackstone Audio’s Halfway to the Grave, I found myself wanting to talk with narrator Tavia Gilbert about the choices she made in performing Bones’ character.  When I contacted her with my request, she graciously agreed to join us today and give us a view of this audio production from the inside out.

But first – the review for all who have yet to listen to Halfway to the Grave:

Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series is one that garners a good bit of attention from time to time here at Speaking of Audiobooks.  Halfway to the Grave is the first in this excellently written series that has a boatload of fans both in print and audio although the audio version carries with it some cries of disappointment over Tavia Gilbert’s depiction of Bones, a vampire around 200 years of age.

Bones is front and center in the series and I believe he is one of the best-written heroes – ever.  I can’t recall when I have found one single character as entertaining and I fell for him immediately.  Ms. Gilbert understands Bones perfectly but she also performs his character as written complete with a Cockney accent from around 1800 although this fantasy world is set in present day.  And that is where the complaints come from.  I guess we want Bones to sound like the American modern day hero he is.

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