Looks like some of the Gals are getting a head start into spooky mode!
Here’s what we’re are listening to this week.
BJ
Narrated by Julia Whelan
Caz
Narrated by Declan Winters
Kaetrin
Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella
Melinda
Narrated by Natalie Duke & Stephen Dexter
Shannon
Narrated by Katherine Littrell
This past week I’ve listened to Red Dirt Heart 4 narrated by Joel Leslie (I loved the entire series), Sailor Proof by Annabeth Albert, narrated by Joel Leslie and Greg Boudreaux (great narration, OK story), and Better Not Pout by Annabeth Albert, narrated by Sean Crisden. Crisden does a good job. I was struck by the fact that Better Not Pout and Sailor Proof are very similar stories-One protagonist is older, military, quiet, and a bit stiff. The younger protagonist is non-apologetically open, outgoing, messy, and has a large extended family. Both stories revolve around similar tropes (age-gap, forced proximity, one bed, younger man makes a move, MCs think they can have a fling without feels, older man thinks he’s not worth it, etc). Sailor Proof had some interesting parts, but over all I give the nod to Better Not Pout, mostly because I felt so too time was spent with the family in Sailor Proof.
Right now I’m listening to Dangerous Ground by Rachel Grant, narrated by Eva Kaminsky, A.T. Chandler, and Michele Yatchmeneff. So far only the first two have appeared, so I’m thinking the latter narrates the villain. So far the narration is fine. Chandler’s voice is a little too deep for my liking, but that’s minor. I’m at 40% and it’s taken me a while to get into the story, but hopefully it picks up from here.
I don’t think this is a spoiler as it’s in the publicity info – Michele Yatchmeneff reads the chapter near the end from the PoV of the Unganax leader, so no, she’s not portraying the villain :)
A.T Chandler = Aiden Snow (I’m reliably informed it’s okay to mention that as he doesn’t mind his aliases being known.)
It’s been almost 2 years since I listened to Better Not Pout – I admit I didn’t pick up on the smiliarities between it and Sailor Proof. I have to say that I found the family situation in SP a bit problematic; the idea of being basically forced to take part in a week of games and activities I have little to no interest in is my idea of hell on earth, and although I liked the characters and their romance, that part of the story irked me no end.
I’ve been mainly reading since I finished listening to Conscious Decisions of the Heart. I started The Dream Guy Next Door by Lauren Blakely (because one of the narrators is Shane East – I’m shallow! – and it was free) but it didn’t grip me at all so I gave up on it. Honestly, though, there have been so many really good books being released over the last few weeks that I’ve needed to concentrate on reading them!
This week I saw that the audio of Merry Measure by Lily Morton was released, so I’ve listened to that. Merry Measure was my favourite Christmas book last year and I still very much enjoyed listening to the story. I thought Joel Leslie’s narration was okay, but not great. He is very good at presenting the dramatic scenes but I had some minor niggles with his voicing of the two main characters. However, my main criticism is with how rushed the narration is. Every time I started to relisten it felt like – whoosh, we’re off! – so fast….. I don’t think I’ve noticed that in other narrations by him?
Off to the races! :-) I listen to all my audiobooks at 1.2X or 1.25X (depending on the app) because regular speed always feels too slow for me. Could by my ADHD brain! I’m hoping to listen to Merry Measure soon even though I reread it recently. Maybe I can listen to this at normal speed. :-)
Hah, it seemed so fast that I checked that I hadn’t increased the speed by mistake!
I’ve got a copy of Merry Measure for review, but haven’t started it yet – actually I’m listening to Best Man and I can’t say I’ve noticed the narration being especially fast. But then, I generally talk a mile a minute, to maybe it will sound completely natural to my ears!
Shane East (actually, his alter ego) was long ago dubbed “Mr. Sexy Voice” by my eldest :) I’ve pretty much given up on the idea of LB producing anything good now. I enjoyed some of her earlier stuff – Mr. O and others in that series (narrated by Sebastian York) for instance, but I haven’t liked anything of hers in years, and as for her more recent forays into m/m – forget it. After the dreadful One Time Only, I should probably have known better, but I tried listening to the first book in her Teddy/Jacob narrated Men of Summer series (Scoring With Him) and I was bored witless well before the halfway mark. The narration was excellent of course (although I couldn’t help a niggling feeling that JM was just phoning it in at times), but here was yet another non-exsistent story drowned in acres of mental lusting and “I/we can’t do this” hand-wringing that drove me up the wall. It’s another m/f book that just happens to feature two guys.
She can afford to employ excellent narrators – and then gives them drivel – when there are fantastic books out there that go unrecorded, often for financial reasons.
I think Sebastian York has a beautiful voice, but I’ve never thought he was very flexible. He sort of has the one voice, instead of all the variations that narrators like Joel Leslie or Greg Boudreaux have. I mean, I wouldn’t kick him out of my audiobook, but, just saying….
Oh, I agree. He’s very good at a certain thing and style, but he’s not very versatile.
“Mr Sexy Voice” indeed! I’ve just found the alter ego quite easily – gotta laugh! I just wish that either of them narrated some of my favourite authors. The only LB book that I’ve got through is the one about the bar in London, which was basically two hot voices having sexy times and worked as ear fluff whilst gardening on hot days during the first lockdown!
Mr. SV has been around a fair bit longer as Mr. W than Mr. E – she’s only listened to Mr. W so far :). I’m sure I’ve seen on Twitter that there is another book for Mr.E and Joe Arden in the works; the last one was okay but if it ends up being more of the rubbish Teddy & Jacob have been given, I’ll be giving it a miss. I know all of them (except maybe JM?) record other genres under their other names – they seem to do (non-romantic) sci-fi, fantasy, mysteries and YA, for instance – but those aren’t genres I listen to much. It’s such a shame that when they do record in a genre I listen to, the books are mediocre at best.