Another week almost done, and it’s time for the Gals to check in with this week’s listens.
BJ
Narrated by Alexandra Harris
Caz
Narrated by Kirt Graves
Kaetrin
Narrated by Charlotte North
Melinda
Narrated by Andrew Eiden
Shannon
Narrated by Lauren Fortgang
It’s been a very slow listening week for me. I’m part way through Gregory Ashe’s ‘Misdirection’ and enjoying Charlie David’s narration a great deal. I haven’t yet got to THAT bit!
I need to have a rant and if I can’t do it here, I don’t where else I can! So………….
I currently read mostly m/m contemporaries or suspense. Because this genre seems to have very regular freebies/promotions that require you to enter your email address to receive the book, I get loads of promotional emails when authors have new releases, offers or audiobooks being released.
I’ve noticed that when many of these authors are promoting the release of their new audiobooks they do this without mentioning the name of the narrator. IMO this is just plain RUDE.
Interestingly, it seems that the more well-known authors DO acknowledge/praise/link to their narrators………….
That annoys me, too. A while back I actuallty sent an email to a PR firm that regularly pitches me audiobooks for review, saying that anyone who is serious about audiobook reviewing will want to know the name of the narrator before they commit to anything. Okay, so if I’m interested, I can look it up on Audible or Amazon, but that’s not always possible, depending on the timing. And anyway, they’re being PAID to do a job – and they’re not doing it properly. I used to work in PR myself, and I can tell you that I made damn sure I knew my audience.
If you’re in any of the m/m and/or audiobook FB groups, maybe a rant there might get some traction.
I don’t have any social media accounts so I can only read, not post, on twitter etc.
One of the things that annoys me is that you read the blurb, think the book sounds like a load of old bobbins, then discover it’s narrated by one of the really good narrators!
This week I started with Copper Beach by JAK, narrated by Tanya Eby. The book was mediocre. The narration was decent, but not inspired and didn’t increase the level of enjoyment.
Next was The Dichotomy of Angels by N.K. Walker, narrated by Nick Russo. I enjoyed the book, not perfect but quite funny at times. Russo’s narration was great. I then relistened to A Flight of Magpies, enjoying it the second time around as much as the first.
After that I listened to Arctic Fire by Keira Andrews and narrated by Joel Leslie. I really enjoyed it, only wishing it were a full length book so we could get to know the characters more and see how they worked out the details. (It’s a hopeful HFN.)
Right now I’m listening to Aftermath by L/A. Witt, narrated by Greg Boudreaux and John Solo. I’m enjoying the story and Boudreaux’s narration, but John Solo has a soft voice, and is almost whispering in parts. While I find his voice pleasing, I’m not sure how I feel about on this book. While I was out walking the dog today I had to jack up the volume a little to hear his portions clearly.
Hah – I have both those titles for review (Arctic Fire and Aftermath – which I enjoyed in print) so watch this space. I confess that I wasn’t wild about the pairing for the Witt – anyone who gets paired with Greg B had better be damn good, and while I think John Solo has improved a lot over the last couple of years (and I’ve given him some good grades) I’m not sure they’re a great match voice and talent wise.
I really liked the Walker and agree that NJR did a great job :)
I picked Aftermath and Arctic Fire after seeing them listed here. :-) Actually, the same with the N.R. Walker books I’ve been reading. I got them off the Author’s Direct site you posted a like to. Audiogals is hell on my book budget! :-) (But I’m not really complaining.)
Um… #sorrynotsorry! We’ve all got to have some pleasures in life, right?! I like that more authors are starting to use Author’s Direct – it gives them more control over pricing and stuff, although it doesn’t give them the same visibility as Audible. It’s also not all that easy to use – you have to know who you’re looking for rather than being able to look through lists of titles to see what you fancy. But quite a few authors are using it, so it’s worth looking them up!
If you know more authors that you’d recommend, let me know. I’ve searched for a few other authors, but didn’t find them. I wish they had a way to search by genre.
I know Josh Lanyon, Joanna Chambers, Jay Hogan and RJ Scott use it (JL has a sale on now that’s due to finish soon.) If I come across any more, I’ll let you know.