Our Valentine to Romance Audiobooks

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we decided to take a look back at our first days of discovering our love of romance audiobooks. It’s likely we were already romance fans when we started listening to titles for our own entertainment. A number of us were familiar with audiobooks as we had listened on family trips in the car or some, like me, thought the purpose of an audiobook was to instruct or inspire – period.

But discovering wonderfully performed romance audiobooks – now that’s in another realm entirely. You know – that almost mystical experience of listening to a beloved author’s words faithfully delivered by a talented narrator who understands the romance of it all. Once you learn how to navigate choosing the right audiobook for you, a whole new way of experiencing the written word opens up to you and it’s doubtful you’ll stop with just one.

So, our Valentine question up for discussion today…

What early romance audiobooks hooked us and turned us into longtime listeners?

All of us who write for AudioGals chipped in today to each share our personal little Valentine tale of our love affair with romance audiobooks.

I’ll start with mine…

Lea

My love affair with romance audiobooks started around ten years ago on a treadmill – or I should say, one of those dreaded treadmills. Nothing I did could keep me from thinking how much I disliked walking/running in place – not the TV playing well-loved movies in front of me – not the rock and roll music blaring all around me – not even reading a paperback (I was quite good at it but the looming probability of injury made me give it up). Asking at an online exercise forum for help, I was advised to try audiobooks and discovered when seeking out a title that, not only was there a large selection of fiction, but there were romances (my newly discovered genre of choice in print)!

At the time, downloads were not yet available (or not easily) and I had a trusty old boom box that played cassette tapes. I started with gold – Anna Fields narration of two Susan Elizabeth Phillips (SEP) titles – It Had to Be You and Nobody’s Baby but Mine – still two of my all-time favorite romance audio titles. Others such as Josie Litton’s Dream of Me narrated by Josephine Bailey, Judith Ivory’s The Indiscretion narrated by Barbara Rosenblat, Katherine Sutcliffe’s Whitehorse narrated by Kate Reading, and Elizabeth Lowell’s To the Ends of the Earth narrated by Laural Merlington only fueled my enthusiasm all the more. Within my first six months of romance listening, I moved on to Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander narrated by Davina Porter.

When I look back on my first six months of romance listening, it’s no wonder I became such an ardent fan. Of these seven titles, the two SEPs, Dream of Me, and Outlander each still rank solid A’s in my book. Whitehorse and The Indiscretion remain strong although when compared to other audiobooks over the years, their grades are more along the lines of a B+. Only To the Ends of the Earth has lost its status as a relisten.

 

Kaetrin

I think it was about four years ago.  I was trying to find some exercise that worked for me (i.e. that I could do and not entirely hate) and I thought maybe if I tried walking with an audiobook on in my iPod that would make the prospect more palatable. My first foray was not a success (Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer with an old fuddy duddy lady narrator (June Barrie) who bored me to tears. Even walking was more interesting than listening and I kept vaguing out. :) I thought I’d give it another try and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander was $4.95 on special at Audible and it was super long so I felt like it was a bargain. Davina Porter was not at all boring and I was enthralled. Jamie Fraser takes a little while to appear in the story but when he does, he kind of takes over. Even though it’s told from Claire’s first person POV, I’m a hero-centric reader and Jamie Fraser seemed larger than life. The romance between Jamie and Claire has always been compelling to me and Davina Porter’s magnificent narration made the story come alive in my ears. I think my first four or five audiobooks were Outlander stories and after that, I sought recommendations from the Speaking of Audiobooks column at AAR where I met you lovely ladies!

 

Megan

That first romance audiobook that made me realize the possibilities was Match Me If You Can (MMIYC) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips narrated by Anna Fields. I think that was only three or four years ago! I’d read MMIYC in print when it came out, as I had followed SEP’s Chicago Stars series. Then to hear Phoebe, Dan, Molly, Kevin, and especially, Heath and Annabelle come alive … that just blew me away. The dialogue was witty and funny in print, but the snap and timing in Ms. Fields delivery, along with her portrayal of all those unforgettable characters – that was what hooked me. I had read a wonderful story by SEP that Ms. Fields brought to life.

Like a reward to myself, I listen to audiobooks while doing house chores, commuting, or exercising. I first downloaded audiobooks that were free from my public library. When I’d exhausted those, I joined Goodreads, found AudioGals, found Audible, and now I find so many possibilities to listen to!

 

Carrie

When I first start listening to “romance,” I didn’t know that’s what I was doing! A good friend who knew I loved Jane Austen told me about the very hard-to-find in print books by Georgette Heyer. At that time (in the late 90’s), you were fortunate to find a Heyer book at a library or a used bookstore. I found several and loved them. Then I found out our library actually had several of her books on cassette audio. My oldest daughter and I started with Cotillion narrated by the wonderful Phyllida Nash. I then discovered The Talisman Ring also narrated by Ms. Nash, and I was forever hooked. I started looking for more books like Heyer’s and stumbled into the romance section of my local bookstore. I’ve never looked back! Interestingly, for years my go-to romances have been contemporary or romantic suspense, but Georgette Heyer’s witty and wonderful historicals have a place of honor in my audiobook library and on my bookshelves.

 

Brenda

My audiobook days started twenty years ago as a way to occupy the kids on long road trips. Those infrequent listens eventually led to my romance audiobook obsession when I came across a favorite author’s name while perusing the library shelves for an upcoming car trip. My surprise at seeing Amanda Quick’s Mystique in audio turned to joy after listening to Barbara Rosenblat bring it to life.

It wasn’t long (the selection of romance audio was sparse in the late 90’s) before I come across Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips with Anna Fields narrating. It holds a favorite first spot as it led to the rest of the Chicago Stars series. Other early favorites narrated by Anna Fields/Kate Fleming are now Hard-To-Finds – Jayne Ann Krentz’s Flash (Chivers Sound Library – Yoo-Hoo Blackstone?) and Susan Andersen’s Head Over Heels narrated by Anna Fields/Kate Fleming (Books on Tape – Yoo-Hoo who?)

Favorite Nora Roberts titles from those early days are Montana Sky narrated by Erika Leigh (who sounds so much like Anna Fields with this title that I’d swear they have the narrator name wrong) and Carnal Innocence narrated by Tom Stechschulte which tops the list of my first audio loves, ahh Tucker…

 

Shannon

In 1997, I flew to New York to get my first guide dog. It was a really stressful and rewarding time. I needed something to focus on aside from all the dog-related stuff. I read (listened to) The Velvet Promise by Jude Devereaux, and found myself hooked. I sped through the rest of the Velvet quartet, and then began reading some Johanna Lindsey. Prisoner of My Desire was the first one I listened to, followed by a slew of others. I’ve been a devoted romance listener ever since.

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria

The first time that I got hooked on narration was in 1964, when my parents had me listening to Disney fairy tales on an LP to keep me from asking for one more glass of water at bedtime. When my kids were little (around 1994), I found cassette tapes that would win National Storytellers contests, to entertain my three when we took vacation trips. True audiobooks for me started with Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander; I realized you could join a librarian service through which you could check out tapes or CDs (I could not find the unabridged CDs anywhere)  – Diana Gabaldon and Davina Porter capitvated me forever.

 

Katherine

I started listening to audiobooks in 2004 (gotta love Audible for keeping track) and one of the very first audiobooks I ever listened to was A Rush of Wings by Kristen Heitzman, narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan. This turned into a series that I loved! I remember choosing the book because it was LONG, 17 hours and 2 minutes to be exact. I wanted to get my money’s worth and I felt that would do it. :)  I was also thrilled because it was an Inspirational Romance. I think what hooked me is that it was romantic, but didn’t make me blush. What most sold me was that I could “read” and do other things at the same time. Thus began a love of audiobooks, especially the kind that make me swoon. :)

 

 

Caz

I’ve listened to a lot of audio drama over the years, the majority of it produced by the BBC and, more recently, to a lot produced by a British company called Big Finish, who produce – among other things – a superb range of audio drama spin-offs of Doctor Who. (I’m a big Doctor Who fan!)

But listening to audiobooks read principally by one narrator is a much more recent thing for me, something I really only started doing consistently in the last two or three years. The first romance audio I listened to was Lisa Kleypas’ Devil in Winter narrated by Rosalyn Landor in March last year and that hooked me completely. I was lucky to have randomly chosen one of the best historical romances read by one of the best narrators around – and I haven’t looked back. That was also a time when I was at rather a loose end in a number of ways, so I was fortunate to have the time to browse the local libraries (which don’t have a great selection of romance audios, sadly) and to hunt around for CD bargains, as well as to make good use of my Audible membership; I’ve built up quite a large audiobook library over the last year as a result. These days, if I haven’t got my nose in a book, I’ve got my ears in one!

Anyone who know me and/or reads my reviews will already know that I’m a Rosalyn Landor fangirl of the first order, so the listens which followed included More than a Mistress, which is one of my favourite books by Mary Balogh, Ruined by Rumor by Alyssa Everett, and Courtney Milan’s The Governess Affair, which is such a firm favourite that I’ve got it on three different devices (MP3, phone, and Kindle Fire) for whenever I get the urge to relisten to it!  I also revisited several Georgette Heyer books – The Unknown Ajax narrated by Daniel Philpott and Frederica narrated by Clifford Norgate, in unabridged recordings as well as the (sadly) abridged versions of Venetia and Sylvester – both narrated by Richard Armitage.

 

Melinda

In 2007, my first audiobook was Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, followed by Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager, all narrated by Davina Porter. These were Audible downloads that I burned to CDs and listened on the computer or in the car.

It was a few months before I started listening to actual romance genre audio, and the first few weren’t that great (and therefore will remain unnamed). I loved Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked and It’s in His Kiss, both narrated by Simon Prebble; Christine Feehan’s Dark Prince and Dark Desire narrated by Juanita Parker almost ruined audiobooks and romance for me completely; then I stumbled onto Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Kate Fleming/Anna Fields and was totally, irreversibly hooked. My next major favorites were Suzanne Brockmann’s Into the Fire (Patrick Lawlor/Renee Raudman) and Linda Howard’s Death Angel (Joyce Bean), in 2008. By then I had an iPod nano I wore on a lanyard around my neck pretty much all the time.

Listening to the audiobook added dimensions I wasn’t even aware of. For one thing, since I couldn’t skim (and I’m really bad about doing that), suddenly the book had new meaning, new dialogue, new scenes I didn’t even remember. In addition, Davina Porter brought Jamie and Claire to life in a way that even my three or four rereadings of the print book didn’t do; she gave them accents and attitudes and all manner of depth I didn’t see in black and white. The combination of incredible writing and brilliant narration isn’t something I can do in my head, and it’s something awesome indeed. Outlander set an impossibly high standard that I would estimate less than half of the audiobooks I’ve listened to have met.

I have not read Susan Elizabeth Phillips in print – I’ve listened to all of them in audio. But these days I often read a book before listening to it, partly because it’s so easy to get the ebook, partly because I sometimes want to get the plot in my head before hearing a narrator’s interpretation (especially when I’m not familiar with the narrator). And partly I want to know if the book is worth investing the hours in listening – with a print/ebook I can skim and skip to the end pretty quickly if it doesn’t catch my fancy; if a print/ebook does catch my fancy, I generally will then listen to the audiobook of it.

 

Coming in March – A Month of Old Favorites

In March, we will be featuring reviews of many of these old favorite mentioned here. We’ll have reviews of new audiobooks as well but we want to take the time to celebrate a number of these titles that are so near and dear to our hearts and converted us to the romance audio devotees (fanatics) we are today!

Lea