We look forward to our chats about what we’re listening to each week – we squee over the good and sigh over the not-so-good, tap each other up for ideas for future listens and generally gossip about what’s making our ears happy.
Here’s what the Gals are listening to this week.
BJ
Narrated by Amanda Ronconi
Caz
Narrated by Steve Marvel
Kaetrin
Narrated by Stella Bloom & John Hartley
Melinda
Narrated by Shane East, Vanessa Edwin & full cast
I’m reaching the end of ‘Us’ by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. I like both Teddy Hamilton and Jacob Morgan as narrators and can see why these audiobooks are so popular.
I’m not sure what I will go on to listen to next. I’ve got ‘Epic’ by the same authors, ‘Hither, Page’ by Cat Sebastian, ‘Firestorm’ by Rachel Grant and ‘The Same Breath’ by Gregory Ashe in my listening queue, all audios that I think I will enjoy.
However, I’m rereading Gregory Ashe’s Borealis series ahead of the new one out later this month and think that I might get the audiobooks so I can get total immersion in the series! I see they have good reviews on here so will decide when I finish listening to ‘Us’.
Charlie David does a good job in the Borealis audios – not without flaws (and he’s no J.F. Harding!) but he gets North and Shaw and their relationship pretty well and he’s a good vocal actor; he seems much more engaged with the material than TJ in the H&S audiobooks. All your potential “nexts” are good choices; I’m just writing up my review of The Same Breath (short version – awesome and JFH should narrate All The Audiobooks!).
I think I’d go ahead with Epic since it’s quite short and it’s a great way to end the series.
I started the week off with a bang by listening to Give Up the Ghost by Jenn Burke,book two in the Not Dead Yet series. With Boudreaux’s narration it was a near perfect experience.
After that it was Arctic Sun by Annabeth Albert,narrated by Cooper North (on Caz’s recommendation). I enjoyed it and thought North did a great job.
I also listened to The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase, narrated by Kate Reading. The book was great, although there were just a couple of things about it I couldn’t quite put my finger on that didn’t work super well for me, making this a B for story instead of an A. Overall, though, It was lots of fun and at times emotional and Kate Reading only makes it that much better.
Yesterday I finished A Gentleman’s Position by K.J. Charles, narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies. While in some ways not as intense as the previous two book,it was still emotional and satisfying. I’m amazed at how well Davies kept the cast of characters distinct through three books. Such a great series.
I’m planning on listening to Book 4 in the Boundary Magic urban fantasy series, Boundary Broken. This series is free on KU and by accident I realized the audiobooks were downloading to my husband’s Audible account for free at the same time. He’s reading them and I’m listening to them. They are above average urban fantasy with interesting world-building, likable characters and solid plots. They are narrated by Kate Rudd, who started out decent, but has either gotten better or has grown on me as the series progresses.
MLD’s Silas is my favourite character in that series, and yes, he achieves an amazing consistency throughout with all the lead characters, which can’t be an easy thing to do.
Did I say before that Jenn Burke’s follow up series – which is ‘starring’ Evan is starting in May? It’s coming to audio as well, with Tim Paige narrating. Shame it’s not GB, but Tim is pretty good, so I think we’re in safe hands.
Glad the Albert worked for you – I’m a big fan and even her weaker books are still a lot better than most. I don’t know why CN didn’t narrate the other books in the series, but I’m not complaining because Iggy Toma did them :) My favourite is the middle one (Arctic Wild) but I enjoyed them all.
You did tell me about Burke’s follow up series. I can’t wait! I haven’t listened to Paige except for some of his video posts on FB, but I know he’s well liked as a narrator, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. GB is pretty amazing, though…
I really like North’s narration, and I wish he were doing them all, but I like Toma, too.