We have another Rec League request, and this one is from Mary K. Thanks, Mary!
I need suggestions for Christmas audio books. I want something happy without a lot of angst, and I need lots of ideas because I’m finicky about narrators.
I realize that’s a last minute request. I just thought of it today! I want to gather a few good ones to have Christmas audiobooks, like I have Christmas movies, to listen to every year.
Honestly, we’re rather stumped on this request as SBTB HQ doesn’t listen to many holiday romances on audio.
However, Carrie suggests Hogfather by Terry Pratchett ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ), though she warns it isn’t a romance.
Do you have any suggestions for Mary?
Robin Carr’s Virgin River books have a few specifically Christmas themed ones – mostly identifiable by their titles, I think? They are sweet and soothing (and not my usual thing, but got me through a part of dissertation hell). Def on audiobook.
Connie Willis has a collection of Christmas short stories. I read the previous version, which has since been expanded, but the new version has an audiobook. Not specifically romances, though I think some had romantic themes? It’s been years.
(Of course, other Connie Willis books are set over Christmas – absolutely do not read The Dooms Day Book if you don’t want angst. I still think it’s her best, but it’s searing.)
If you are looking for a good narrator, you might want to check out Lauren Fortgang.
She narrates my fantasy audiobooks, as well as those by many other authors. I’m not sure if she has narrated any Christmas books, but she has narrated books for romance authors like Shannon Stacey and Victoria Dahl. Hope that helps.
Debbie Macomber’s Christmas books are the stuff of Hallmark movies and she has several top narrators on her books. I believe Susan Mallery also has several Christmas books set in her Fool’s Gold series.
Well…interesting. I just
wastedspent the past fewminuteshour perusing titles on Audible using “Christmas, romance” as keywords. There appears to be Christmas stories for every taste, some I might not be able to out of my mouth. 😆That said, if you want low angst, sweet, and with the HEA, I’d probably go with Macomber’s books. Samantha Chase also has some, but hers might have a bit more angst. Also Jill Shalvis and Maisy Yates.
If you like historicals, I’d 100% recommend Courtney Milan’s novella This Wicked Gift. It’s so charming, and the audiobook is narrated by Rosalyn Landor.
I also really love Lauren Willig’s The Mischief of the Mistletoe. The hero is a complete sweetheart. The narrator for this one is Kate Reading.
If there’s a book you’d like to hear on audio but it doesn’t seem like an audio edition is available, I learned recently from my editor that you cn request it! Either directly from the audio publisher (Tantor for a lot of romances), or through your library system. Audiobook publishers pay attention to requests, which equal demand for a title. A request from a library system is especially significant.
Good luck–hope you find lots of great books!
I totally agree with Hogfather. It’s always good fun, even though it’s not a romance.
Sarah Morgan’s Christmas Sisters is on audio, I think. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s Sarah Morgan, so it’s a pretty good bet.
Sue Moorcroft does lovely Christmas books, they’re at the intersection of romance and women’s fiction (British romance books usually are). Most of them are on Audible.
If you’re into royal weddings, you might like Christmas At the Palace by Jeevani Charika (which is my alter ego, so apologies for plugging my own book).
Lots of Susan Mallery’s books are on audio too. Low heat, feel good stories.
I enjoy Susan Elisabeth Phillips, and Mary Balogh audio books. Try Linda Howard’s Open Season, To Die For and Drop Dead Gorgeous. All Sarah Morgans’ books are great.
Haven’t listened to them yet, but Jill Shalvis’s books The Trouble with Mistletoe and Hot Winter Nights, are available as audiobooks.
Lisa Kleypas: A Wallflower Christmas, historical novella narrated by Rosalyn Landor. It comes after 4 previous books and there are little scenes with those previous couples, so if you haven’t read Wallflower books, might be not what you want. Also a contemporary by Kleypas, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor, narrated by Tanya Eby. This is the first in a series. Stories fairly low angst.
I haven’t listened to them and don’t know the narrator, Jennifer Woodward, so maybe try a sample, but Miracle on 5th Avenue and Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan were both delightful reads.
Kissing Under The Mistletoe by Marina Adair is wonderful via audible. It’s narrated by Renee Raudman, who has become a favourite. One or two books from this series have become Hallmark movies
Am going to try to hijack this thread. Sorry! Does anyone know the author of a book released probably in the early 2000s, maybe late 1990s — it was set in Texas I think and had two competing psychologists who had had a previous relationship. Maybe she had a baby and never told him? Not sure. They set up some kind of matchmaking game and two of the participants were a bottle blond who everyone thought was a ditz and a virgin geek. Their story was more interesting to me than the main one. Sound familiar?
Thanks for all the suggestions! I usually read more on the angsty side so I’m not as familiar with authors who write more low key. These suggestions are helpful.
Merry Christmas Mr. Miggles. By Eli Easton. Sweatest gay romance novel with a young protage and an older tortured boss. Some Angst, some lust. Love that book.
What a nice list of suggestions. Thanks for posting these. I Yesterday, I downloaded a book called Historical Christmas Stories by various authors. It is published by Harlequin historicals and seems to be part of a series. I hope I can find more of these in audio. From y quick listen to the beginning of this particular collection, they seem like the stories will be a pretty good read.