Writing the Speaking of Audiobooks column for the past three years, moderating the Romance Audiobooks Goodreads group since 2010, and now as part of AudioGals, I’ve certainly seen a lot of wishing going on. Romance listeners love to talk about those books they most want to see in audio format and you know what? We’re discovering that wishing works. There really, truly are those in the audio industry that pay attention to what romance listeners want to hear.
Today I’m summarizing the many notes on the subject I’ve kept over the past few years from past conversations with fellow romance audio enthusiasts. To that I’m adding the poll results from the 2011 and the 2012 Speaking of Audiobooks Favorite Romance Audiobooks Poll in the Romance Author’s Backlist You Most Want to See in Audio category. And we can’t forget the numerous mentions over at our Romance Audiobooks Goodreads group or even the discussions and features here at AudioGals. Later, be sure to check out the Gal’s Wish List. It’s a permanent page we update on a regular basis.
So, let’s start at the top – those authors we see requested more than any others. Note: All numbers refer to full-length books – no short stories. Past audio releases refer to unabridged format.
Loretta Chase
Of all the wishes I’ve seen, Loretta Chase always leads the pack. Since 2004, her Lord of Scoundrels has rated the number one book at AAR’s Top 100 Romances Poll. Hey, it’s been my top pick too.
Writing historical romance, Ms. Chase has nineteen romances to her name and hardly ever is she considered to be off her game. Some of her most talked about favorites (after the astounding Lord of Scoundrels) are Mr. Impossible, The Last Hellion, Your Scandalous Ways (a more recent personal favorite), and Captives of the Night.
Judith McNaught
Writing both contemporary and historical tales, Judith McNaught is a strong second on romance listeners’ Wish List. She hasn’t released a book since 2006 but her backlist remains immensely popular today. Of her fifteen book backlist, I personally have given eight an A grade. Her last release, Every Breath You Take, was released in 2005 and I believe it is the only McNaught unabridged audio. Favorites you see mentioned repeatedly are Paradise, A Kingdom of Dreams, Almost Heaven, and Perfect.
Pamela Clare
With both romantic suspense and historical romance found in her backlist, we can mark this wish a success as Tantor is releasing her I-Team series this fall. Now to see her historical backlist in audio as well! We’re still hoping and waiting for her MacKinnon’s Rangers series and the Kenleigh/Blackwell Family trilogy to be picked up in audio.
Laura Kinsale
Known as one of the best writers of sophisticated romance historicals, Laura Kinsale’s tales are layered and full of emotional intensity. In her review of The Shadow and the Star written for AAR in 1997, Lisa Kleypas opened with these words:
When I read Laura Kinsale’s unique and startling first novel, I remember thinking either it was a fluke or I had just come across one of the best writers in the history of the romance genre. Her subsequent works proved that she was no fluke, but in my opinion it wasn’t until The Shadow and the Star that she came to full maturity, finding the perfect balance in story and characters. Laura Kinsale has a gift for expressing powerful emotions with incredible subtlety. Her writing is clean and easy to read, but her simplicity is deceptive – she chooses words with the sensitivity of a poet.
Kleypas’ words define the romance community’s attitude towards Laura Kinsale’s writing to this day. Her ten books carry original release dates of 1986 to 2010. Although any one of her books is considered a treasure, readers most often mention The Shadow and the Star and Flowers from the Storm as their two favorites.
Rachel Gibson
Gibson writes contemporary tales and seven of her seventeen titles have found their way into audio although the releases by both Recorded Books and Harper Audio have been sporadic. For the most part, her older titles have yet to be released. Number one on this wish list? True Confessions (my absolute favorite as well) followed by See Jane Score, Daisy’s Back in Town, Truly Madly Yours, and any others!
Anne Stuart
Romance listeners have asked for Stuart’s older titles again and again. We know Anne is a strong proponent of romance audio and hopes to see her books in audio as well. Recently Harlequin released three of her older titles and we can hope this is an indication of things to come. To Love a Dark Lord and A Rose at Midnight are requested often and I’m taking the liberty of asking for my favorite, The Devil’s Waltz.
Kristan Higgins
A popular romance author who borders on women’s fiction at times, I personally can’t get enough of Higgins’ books. Just this year, Tantor released Catch of the Day and Somebody to Love. With a total of ten titles, that leaves another eight out there to be picked up – all refreshing tales with a boatload of fans just waiting to listen.
Joanna Bourne
With five historical romance books, I believe romance listeners clamor for more of Bourne’s works after listening to The Spymaster’s Lady, her only book in audio format (released in 2010 by Penguin).
Linda Howard
A number of her 1986 to 1992 titles. Some of her favorites are missing in audio such as Duncan’s Bride, Midnight Rainbow, Diamond Bay, and White Lies.
Laura London
The Windflower – of all the individual books I’ve seen requested, this one has received the most attention.
Penelope Williamson
She hasn’t released a book since 2005 but her backlist is full of rich stories and unusual settings. Ever hear of Heart of the West or The Outsider or Keeper of the Dream? Superb entertainment.
Other requested authors
Julia Quinn – a number of titles are in audio format
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
LaVyrle Spencer – a few titles are in audio format but are older recordings
Joan Wolf
Mary Stewart
Lisa Marie Rice
Alexis Morgan
Connie Brockman
Robin Schone
Gaelen Foley
Allyson James – Stormwalker series
Jennifer Ashley’s Pride series
Elizabeth Hoyt – The Princes series
Lauren Dane’s Captivated
Shelly Laurenston
Looking over our past wishes, I noticed a good number that are now offered in audio format. I’ll write about those in more detail later.
Lea Hensley
The Spymaster’s Lady is such an incredible book on audio that I can’t imagine why the publisher hasn’t tripped all over itself getting the rest of the series recorded (hopefully with the same narrator).
I’ve only read one book by Judith McNaught, but from that short exposure I think I would enjoy her works better on audio. I’d also love to see Connie Brockman and Lavryle Spence on audio. I’ve only read The Outsider by Penelope Williamson, but that was an incredible book, and I’d love to listen to a good recording of that.
Here’s to hoping the right people are listening!
From talking with Penguin, my understanding is that The Spymaster’s Lady was chosen as a single title along with Julie James’ Just the Sexiest Man Alive. My impression? They didn’t seriously consider picking up anymore books by either author. It’s like they dipped their toe into romance audio in 2010 (and even talked about it at Speaking of Audiobooks) and then decided they would offer only strongly paranormal romance or erotic romance. So, please – some other publisher – take a close look at Joanna Bourne! And yes, we want Kirsten Potter! Fortunately Tantor picked up other Julie James’ titles and continued with the same narrator, Karen White.
What Spencer books do you most want to see in audio? I’d like to compare to mine and learn as well. :)
And McNaught – she was a slow discovery for me when I first started reading romance about ten years ago. I was keeping track of all my reading and one day I looked at my McNaught books and saw that the six I had read were all As. I continued searching out every title and as indicated above found a couple of more As as well as two B+s and one B. I think you would enjoy her work. Can you tell me what book you read?
I’ve only read a couple of Spencer books, but I’ve enjoyed them both and would love to see audiobooks of both of them: Morning Glory and Endearment. which do you recommend?
I’ve only finished Every Breath You Take by McNaught. I tried Paradise but didn’t get far. She feels a little old fashioned to me, and perhaps a little dramatic? Anyway, I was thinking with a good narrator, that might actually translate well for me on audio…better than in print. Which are your favorites?
Ha! McNaught IS dramatic and old-fashioned when it comes to her contemporary writing. I still get dragged in. Every Breath You Take is not one of my top reads. Those are Almost Heaven at #1 followed by Something Wonderful, Perfect, Paradise (it is hard to get into), and the controversial Whitney, My Love (the only book I ever graded a F only to turn around and give an A a year later).
Spencer is still one I am exploring. My favorite, Morning Glory, is a hard-to-find audio and fantastic – a must listen if you can find it. I’d like to hear November of the Heart, Hummingbird, and Years – I haven’t read any of these but they are greatly loved by Spencer fans.
I agree– Judith McNaught is definitely more of the Old Skool (and epic) persuasion, even with her contemporaries (the latter ones of which I’m not really a fan of, even though I’ve read them). Her novels tend to be somewhat plodding and slow to get going– even when they start off with a bang, a la PERFECT– but once they do, they’re emotionally-wrenching page-turners. My favourite two are A KINGDOM OF DREAMS and PARADISE (which, yes, is especially slow to get going), followed by ALMOST HEAVEN and SOMETHING WONDERFUL. I’ve found most of the others to be good or okay, though I’ll admit that I haven’t yet read WHITNEY, MY LOVE… one of these days I’ll get around to snagging a copy of the old version with the controversy fully intact!
There are some ridiculously abridged (seriously?? how do you pare down ~500 pages of McNaught-ness into two cassettes??) versions of several of her books, but if I’m not mistaken, an old unabridged version of ALMOST HEAVEN exists. I should dig it out of my external hard drive!
I’m a huge fan of romantic suspense, so now that the I-Team has finally seen the light of day in the audio world, I’d love to see Laura Griffin’s Tracers series picked up :)
Oh! and I meant to include Rachel Gibson on my “wish list.” And if I include Gibson, I will add Susan Andersen (there are a few available, but not too many) and Susan Donovan. I’m not crazy about Donovan’s recent stuff, but her earlier works were lots of fun and would make great audiobooks.
Rachel Gibson speaks my language. Her guys sound like such guys. I’m currently rereading some of my favorites (there are many).
I would like to add Grace Burrowes to the list. I love her books so much and think they would be great on audio
Having just done a re-read of Marsha Canham’s Under the Desert Moon (American Western historical), I have to say her works BEG to be read! And made into action movies! My goodness, she rarely lets you rest, with all the action taking place. Her writing is so visual, visceral – well, I love it!
As for Lavyrle Spencer, I glommed her early on and have read every one in print, and as many of the audiobooks as I can. That Camden Summer – I see Audible only has the abridged now, but I have the unabridged from them – is a treat, narrated by the late actor David Dukes. I’m not sure I understand the business model of taking downloads out of the catalog – what is up with that?
I just thought of a book I’ve been wanting on audio for ages: All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz. It’s a great book with super dialogue, humor, and a decent suspense plot. A good narrator would make this book so much fun on audio.