It’s time for a look at the month’s new and upcoming romance audiobook releases, and March has quite a few interesting titles on offer. From Rom-Coms to Road Trips and Suspense to the Supernatural, we hope there’s something here that takes your fancy! Do drop by and tell us which new audiobooks YOU’RE most looking forward to getting into your ears.
Narrated by Alan Carlson and Tara Langella
Though the book has new narrators I’m not familiar with, I’m looking forward to this second book in Kristen Ashley’s Misted Pines romantic suspense series. – BJ
I liked the first book so I’ll definitely be listening to this one. – Kaetrin
Narrated by Kas Vadim and Simone Lewis
This 2018 novel is being released on audio this month. I usually enjoy Tessa Bailey so I might give it a try. – Kaetrin
Narrated by Olivia Vinall
I love retellings of classic stories (Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles is a favprite and I’ve got Circe on my TBR pile), and this is one story that I’m not super familiar with. And a story about a wronged woman plotting vengeance? How could I pass that up! – Jenna
Narrated by Simon Goldhill
Two of my favourite m/m romance authors teamed up back in 2021 for this grumpy/sunshine, “angsty rom-com” about a TV exec who falls for his PA. I loved it then and am looking forward to loving it again. Narrator Simon Goldhill was excellent in Joanna Chambers’ A Gathering Storm, so I have high hopes! – Caz
Narrated by Martyn Swain
KJ Charles is the best author of historical romance around, and her latest book, set in the remote Kent countryside, is another winner. A retiring baronet and a dashing smuggler become embroiled in a dangerous mystery and fall in love along the way. Martyn Swain is a new-to-me narrator, but the samples I’ve heard sound promising! – Caz
I had the pleasure of reading this in print and it was fantastic. I think it will be great in audio too. – Kaetrin
Narrated by Sarah Naughton
I had the pleasure of reading this one already. It’s great. – Kaetrin
Narrated by Helen Laser
New to me author, new to me narrator but intriguing premise so I may give this one a go. – Kaetrin
Powder & Pavlova by Jay Hogan (No Amazon link yet.)
Narrated by Gary Furlong
Jay Hogan’s Southern Lights series comes to audio beginning with this age-gap romance featuring a young man struggling to come to terms with grief over his mother’s death, to manage her failing business and reconnect with his younger brother, and a former champion snowboarder. It’s funny, it’s sexy and it’s full of poignant, real emotion. Gary Furlong is back in the narrator’s chair and is sure to do another fabulous job. – Caz
Narrated by Nick J. Russo
This fourth instalment in the Valor and Doyle mysteries is another terrific instalment in the series. The guys are moving forward with their relationship despite a couple of sticking points, and the mystery is a masterpiece of misdirection. I loved the book when I read it, and am on tenterhooks waiting for the audio version! – Caz
Narrated by Mark Sanderlin
I hadn’t heard of this author before, but I picked up the ebook version of this for review and really enjoyed it. It’s the story of two guys who meet while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and who fall in love over all their shared conversations and experiences and hundreds of miles. It’s a quiet, deeply emotional tale featuring two engaging, well-written characters, and there are some real lump-in-the-throat moments along the way. I’m not familiar with the narrator, but the samples of his work I’ve heard sound good. – Caz
Narrated by Nicholas Boulton
I confess I’ve chosen this one purely because of the narrator! I’m not familiar with the author, but this fantasy enemies-to-lovers romance between a fae prince and a grumpy botanist sounds like fun. – Caz
Narrated by Curt Bonnem
A double instalment this month with one release at the beginning of March and the other at the end. I’ve read the first two seasons of this addictive series and am loving going back to visit the stories in audio. The mysteries are clever and often quite dark, and the central relationship between Mal and Seong-Jae is absolutely dripping with sexual tension and longing. Curt Bonnem’s interpretations of the two leads is spot on and I’m really loving his narrations. – Caz
Narrated by Maura Tierney
I’ll admit that this is one where I’m intrigued by the narrator, Maura Tierney. Throw in the back blurb’s claim that this is “An exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women…” and I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. – Jenna
Narrated by Greg Boudreaux
More fun and snark with Locke and Sylvain as they venture into the Verdance to meet Sylvain’s parents, hunt for a missing unicorn and continue to search for a way to stop the Withering. Nazri Noor’s writing is sharp and inventive and with Greg Boudreaux back at the microphone, this is bound to be an enjoyable listen. – Caz
Narrated by Erin Mallon and Jacob Morgan
This one is technically a late February release, but as I didn’t know it was coming out, I’ll be looking to listen to it this March! – BJ
Narrated by Moira Quirk
Elizabeth Wein is a go-to author for me. Codename Verity was just so good. I’m down to listen to any of her titles. – Jenna
PLEASE NOTE: Where not available for pre-order, self-published audiobooks generally do not have purchase links available until the day of publication. The links given will take you to the Amazon book page, and you can purchase from there as soon as it is released.
Other New and Upcoming Releases
This looks like a good month for audiobooks that I’m interested in! I read A Rake of His Own and really enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed the entire Stariel series. I listened to one on audio with Finty Williams narrating and loved it. Nicholas Boulton is such a great choice here. I do think reading the previous books might be important, though. There are a LOT of players and worldbuilding.
I’m looking forward to Powder and Pavlova, Total Creative Control, and several others. I’m listening to the KJ Charles book now and unfortunately, the narration isn’t working for me. I hope it works better for you all.
I’m listening to the Charles now as well – I had some problems with the pacing early on, but I found it less so after the first couple of chapters, although I do think there are a few odd pauses here and there. I do like the way he handles the interactions between Joss and Gareth – there’s a real sense of connection there.
I haven’t read or listened to the other Lancaster books – four m/f books on the trot would be too much for me these days! so I’m hoping I’ll be able to listen to this one as a standalone.
The earlier Stariel books are fantasy (really clever fantasy) with a slowly developing romance. This is by far the most romantic book of the series, although I really enjoyed them all. It might be worth reading some reviews of the earlier books, or look for synopsis. Not my reviews, mind you, because I basically just said, “Good book! You ought to read it” for all of them :-D
I’m over halfway through The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen and it’s still bothering me. Sometimes there’s a sort of staccato sound to his delivery, each word pronounced carefully and separately. It reminds me of how people sometimes read poems aloud, separating the words for emphasis, and small pauses for effect. I do like his fluency in the accents and his character voices are great.
Hah! Good idea though, I’ll have a look through some of those reviews before I listen to the Lancaster.