Put on your comfiest pajamas, go to your favorite spot in the house, and grab a great book! The holidays can be especially relaxing and cozy, so we created a collection of our favorite holiday reads- ranging from romance to mystery. You will definitely be able to find a good book to fit the season!
Give one of these books a try and let us know what you think!
Happy Holidays!
November has come and gone, but these audio books are here to stay! If you are looking for a great new audio book keep scrolling, because we have a lot to offer.
We work hard alongside our authors to give the audience a different approach to a novel. An audiobook can help you visualize the characters and story better in your own mind by listening to it. Allow your eyes to rest, and your imagination to take over.
Which one is your favorite?
I’m going to be honest, I haven’t touched Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series but from the looks of it…I’m going to have to start, haha.
Jamie Fraser just sounds like my type of guy: intelligent, dreamy, a natural leader. And all I’ve seen are the gifs of Sam Heughan portraying this hunk of burning love but I have not had a single complaint since I came across him.
Looks like I’ll be updating my Goodreads books tonight…
For $14.95 a month, audiobook fans can indulge in a simple romance package Audible has recently launched. If romance is an extra pleasure of yours, Audible is allowing current members to add the service for just $6.95.
As for discoverability, the website goes into detail about the different ways to find your next Audible listen. You can search the original romance subgenre page, breaking it down into the subgenres everyone loves to read. If you have a favorite type of romance story, the Romance Package opens the door to searching for your ideal character type. There are also story themes (similar to romance tropes) you can browse through if you have an idea of what you enjoy reading. The best part about searching for your next read is searching for the right steaminess level to fit your romance needs.
There is a variety of authors available as well- from bestselling authors to Audible originals and Audible exclusives. Whether you tend to navigate to a few select authors and those similar to them or if you are looking for a completely new flare – there are so many options to choose from, with only more to come. On select titles, celebrity narrators take you on an unforgettable journey through the romance story of a lifetime.
The package membership offers unlimited listens, taking a step away from the one credit a month Audible offers on their other services. So, go ahead and listen to every book you can fit onto your phone – we dare you…
As an author of romance herself, Alisha Rai spoke in an interview about her experiences incorporating feminism into her writing. In her novels, her lead female is the one in power, such as being a billionaire with a huge company in the palm of her hands. Matter of fact, most of her female leads take on some form of dominant position (and no, I’m not talking about in the bedroom!) where she is “overpowering” her male counterpart. That’s the not the usual trope you see. From reading many of the romance novels on the market today, one would think that women like to be controlled and compliant. But, authors like Rai are telling us that’s not always the case and why it shouldn’t always be that way.
In a way, romance novels can be feminist works even without Rai’s juicy switch. Romance is a special genre already. But, we can revolutionize the genre even more by adding in more feminist elements to the stories and characters. This is important if we want to keep the genre evolving and relatable. It will also keep the genre ‘special,’ for more than one reason. One writer points out why romance is special, in 7 ways:
Seeing women that have it all may be refreshing and encouraging to read, but if none of that appeals to you, there will always be authors writing about the classic romance between two individuals- which we definitely don’t want to lose either.
Also known as “chick literature,” chicklit was created in the ‘90s. It reached its peak in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s, mainly following middle-class white women. The plot normally follows these female character’s lives with a humorous and light-hearted story about ordinary troubles in womanhood – sometimes focusing on the romantic relationships, female friendships, and issues in the work place. As a genre that seemed to be “for women, by women”, men took their turn in writing their own versions of what chicklit seemed to be as well.
Unfortunately, chicklit is not as popular as it once was. In a day and age where the gender divide is slowly being demolished, titles published with a label like chicklit aren’t taken as seriously as say… a romcom with a shapeshifter billionaire lover who falls for the mail-order bride, who just so happens to be pregnant with his baby from a forgotten encounter. The romance market has become so oversaturated that readers are more drawn to unique characters with unique story lines. It’s also hard for chicklit to hold up against a classic horror from someone like Stephen King.
Don’t get me wrong, we all love a classic or creative story – but what about a story about everyday life? To me, that is what chicklit is all about. It’s also the very reason that chicklit will always be necessary. Chicklit not only brings normalcy to an anything-goes literary market, but it also serves as a safe place for women who need a place to escape and not feel alone in the issues of their everyday lives. Most chicklit plots are more relatable than any other novel (since, you know…shapeshifter lovers are pretty hard to find nowadays). Chicklit reminds its readers that they aren’t the only one with romantic strife, back stabbing girlfriends, or work place drama. Writers in the chicklit genre often write based on experience. So, if the story was penned then there is at least one other person out there experiencing something similar to you and that goes a long in way in making a scary world seem more friendly. And trust me, there are many more women experiencing the same thing, not just one. Women’s fiction, feminist authors, chicklit titles … they’re all needed now more than ever.
So, I encourage you to pick up a chicklit at your local bookstore or download a quick read through your Kindle. If you are feeling really empowered, maybe even take your fingers to the keyboard of your computer and create your own work for women because we can certainly use it. The literary market needs more strong female leads who don’t fight misogyny that has been internally brewing since her birth. We need more female CEOs of multi-billion-dollar companies, we need more average 20-somethings who are climbing the social ladder by NOT sleeping with anyone but perhaps by just being a decent human being with a sparkling personality.
Who knows, maybe it’ll get picked up for a movie deal and Beyonce is cast as your main lady squeeze. We can all dream, right?
Romance. It’s the genre that dates as far back as Ancient Greece. Today, the genre has become so complex that is it now broken down into many subgenres. Sometimes it feels as if we are discovering a new ‘type’ of romance novel daily. It is a genre which has historically targeted women readers, written by mostly women authors.
Despite the stagnant nature of the romance genre for thousands of decades, times are certainly changing and we are starting to see a shift in the composition of romance readers and authors. We are starting to see that there are many men who enjoy reading and writing romance novels too.
Very seldom have men taken to writing in the romance genre and have been successful under their own names. Just like women, pseudonyms have appealed to authors because a new name enables them to become someone they aren’t. Think of Leigh Greenwood, Beatrice Parker, Jessica Blair, Madeleine Brent, and Emma Darcy – yep! These female pennames are actually men (or men and women teaming together to write the perfect novel) and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Of course there are a few exceptions – Nicholas Sparks, Dean Koontz, John Greene, Sylvain Reynard and many more male authors have found success in writing romance novels under their own names.
There are many men out there who have declared their love for the romance genre and we want more to follow their lead. An interview with one individual focused on the connection he had with a military romance he had randomly picked up. He claims the romance between the lead lovers helped him to gain insight about women and how to spice things up.
If you are a romance author looking to gain more of a male following, think about making your male protagonists more realistic characters in order to make them more relatable to the everyday man. In the same light, some suggest that taking a unisex author name leaving you ambiguous to readers which might entice more male readers to give the book and genre a chance. The male reader from the interview brought to light how many romance clichés have been overused. To create a unique story and grab some new readers, consider blending a few clichés that you rarely see complimenting each other. Something different might just attract different readers. Similar to our post about romance tropes, the successful mixture of tropes has proved to create a unique telling of the “same ol’ tale.”
Good luck and write on!
Romance novels have been in existence from as far back as Ancient Greece. More recently, romance has mingled with other genres to create a long list of subgenres, including: Fantasy romance, Historical romance, Paranormal romance, Science fiction romance, etc. If you’re an avid consumer of romance novels, you’ve probably come across some interesting titles and arousing book covers that have made their way to the top of the Kindle best-seller lists. Sometimes the cover includes a half- man with an impeccable abdominal section and sculpted pectorals. On other covers, you might find a man covered in scales (to embody a dragon romance) or artfully decorated in tattoos and a motorcycle (to appeal towards the motorcycle club vibe). These carefully crafted covers are merely used to help the potential reader understand the plot device within the novel.
Tropes in romance are used as plot devices that bring two or more characters together. Over time, these tropes have become far more creative than ever before. The tropes often intermingle with other tropes to create the hot and steamy novels readers love to purchase. Here are just a few of our favorites:
Hand in hand with these tropes come some of our own titles that can make your heart jump out your chest, especially when you listen to them read out loud:
There was recently an article in THE GUARDIAN by Hannah Ellis-Petersen about the FIFTY SHADES OF GREY phenomenon, due to the most recent release of GREY. If you aren’t a fan, you are probably beyond fed up with all the hype. When are we going to stop talking about it? Why do we care so much?
Hannah’s article perfectly captures why we should never stop talking about FIFTY SHADES- it has completely transformed the erotica genre, let alone the publishing landscape itself. Despite if you read the book or not, nor if you find the genre enticing or sickening, there is so much we can learn from this single book.
As we all know, the book was self-published fan fiction before being “discovered.” The author was unknown and the genre was taboo. Critics are harsh on E.L. James, many label her writing as “boring and clunky.” Some aren’t afraid to say that it is the most poorly written book to ever be published. Putting all the book’s challenges and criticisms aside, somehow it still managed to do the impossible- becoming one of the most read and talked about books of the past few years.
It is now very clear what made this book so successful- the readers. It proved that all readers are really looking for is a good story and they don’t care how they get it. Historically, as Hannah points out, the publishing industry’s opinion used to be the only thing that mattered. If they didn’t like your writing then you were out of luck, it wasn’t getting published. Their opinion was mostly based on the literary style and quality of writing. We are now seeing that readers have a completely different opinion how what makes good writing and that opinion is really starting to matter.
Not only did FIFTY SHADES start to force writers/authors to think more about their audience rather than their editors or agents, it also catapulted digital publishing. It showed that digital publishing is actually a fantastic way to publish quickly, build a platform, and reach the masses. The print publisher followed the trends of digital publishing when releasing the print books, releasing each book really close to each other. “Thick and fast” worked in the digital world, why wouldn’t it work in the print realm as well? FIFTY SHADES shattered traditional print habits and never looked back.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY also completely legitimatized the erotica genre, pushing it from the back of the book shelf into the spotlight. It took what many readers want (a deep love story) and cast it in light of a completely different world (BDSM). It was new, intriguing, and risky. It was wanted, or perhaps it was needed. Reading should be enjoyable and no one can be the judge of that better than the readers themselves.
That is why we shouldn’t stop talking about or learning from books that overcome the impossible, whether we want to rip the pages to shreds or keep reading. Write On.
Romance is a hugely popular genre in the audio market. Listeners seem to crave romance above most other topics. Add some sexy steam to it, a few shirtless dudes, and a happily ever after- you’re golden. But, the hard thing about the romance genre is that there are so many different types of romances. There’s contemporary, historical, erotica, new adult, regency, gay/lesbian, western, paranormal, and the list of sub-genres can go on and on. Which one should we focus on? Where is the biggest market/audience? What qualities lock a book into a particular category? Is one category more perceptible to audio than another? The answers to these questions are often complicated, long winded, and often changing. But the one thing we always know is that romance sells, whether you are a sexy duke, hot cowboy, or irresistible vampire.
The same problems/challenges can also come up when writing a good romance novel as well. There are so many possibilities, how do you know where to start? Which category do you want to lock into? Do you need to pick one? Or is there potential for a crossover? Unfortunately, I can’t answer those questions for you. You need to feel what you write. You need to write from your heart, staying true to your own interests, and go from there. But, there is always room for advice- especially from those with more experience. That’s why I was pretty excited to run across an article in The New York Times Magazine by Malia Wollan, entitled “How To Write A Romance Novel.”
My mind immediately went, BINGO! Right? Well, sort of. There’s obviously a lot that goes into writing a romance novel, or any type of book, but this article gives some great advice to help get writers to where they need to be.The article featured Jayne Ann Krentz, a New York Times bestseller romance author, and her advice to romance authors.
Krentz immediately points out that romance novels end happily. No matter the struggles that the characters go through within the story, they always need to end up together at the end. You might think, well that takes the suspense out of it- right? But think about it- would it really be a romance novel if it ended without any happy, sappy love?
She also recommends reading many different types of romances before starting to write. Figure out where you fit within these categories, but don’t get bogged down by it. Krentz wants writers to remember that romances focus in on one particular relationship and “every twist in the plot must create a twist in the relationship, and vice versa.”
Krentz encourages writers to send their work to editors, but don’t shy away from self-publishing, especially if you are a new author. Romance is a vast genre and there are many other writers out there doing the exact same thing you are. Taking the self-publishing route can actually make you stand out. It opens up the possibility to brand yourself better, which is really important. I can’t tell you how many totally different romance books I get on submission that pretty much have identical covers from each other. At a certain point they all start to blend together and you don’t even know what you are looking at anymore. When you self-publish, you control that image. It’s the first impression that readers get of your book- make it count.
The best part? As Krentz mentions, you can brand yourself as many times as you want. You can create different pen names if you want to branch out onto other romance platforms. Self-publishing gives you an immense amount of flexibility. She also cautions against using too many alias’ because it does create double, triple, or quadruple the amount of work for yourself. If you can’t give each name your 100%, then don’t do it.
Her bottom line is that sex sells. Don’t be afraid to add it in and have some fun with it. But, don’t lose sight of the what romance novels are all about, “The heart of the romance novel is animated by the classic heroic virtues like honor, courage and a belief in the healing power of love.” I couldn’t put it better myself. Write on.
