When I was a preteen, I loved reading. I couldn’t get enough of it. I basically had Jacquline Wilson books on a drip. Then, when I was 11, I became very ill with ME. I spent three years in bed, unable to go to school or do much because of intense fatigue and pain. I tried to read, but my brain couldn’t make the words make sense or my eyes were too exhausted to focus.
When I recovered a little, I started reading again - but the love (and attention span, because while I did get much better, I’m sitting here 17 years later still very much an ME sufferer) I once had for it had gone. I tried to read so many different genres, and occasionally I would find a book that captured my attention. The Lovely Bones, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (anything by Eva Rice actually), Phillipa Gregory’s Tudor and Plantagenet books and the odd “chick lit beach read” book are the only things in about ten years that I can remember reading. I would buy endless books, determined that this would be the book that got me back into reading only to find them gathering dust on my bookshelf within weeks.
Earlier this year I signed up to Audible (mainly because I developed a weird thirst for Richard Armitage after a rewatch of North and South) and downloaded a few books. None of them grabbed me; I found myself getting bored, mentally fatigued or just distracted. So I dismissed audiobooks; maybe they just weren’t my thing either. Maybe I just don’t read much anymore.
I’m a very keen amateur writer. I mainly write fanfiction, and have done for many years. I’ve dabbled in smut (and would fully drop down dead if anyone in my family ever found it) and love to write romance. In the past year, I’ve written almost two hundred thousand words of fanfiction and realised just how desperate I am to write my own work. I’ve got this idea (I talked about it on The Chase when I went on it last year and people on twitter made fun of how dumb it sounded) of a romantic comedy with a “finding who you are” twist set on a small island in Scotland. I’ve written a bit of it, but not nearly as much as I should. It kept playing in my mind that I should write it; maybe other people love fluffy romance as much as I do!
Anyway, what does all this have to do with romance novels?
Back in October, I downloaded a Richard Armitage narrated romance novel called Wanderlust. You can read that particular blog post here. Looking back, that novel doesn’t even make it into my top ten favourites. However, it was the book that made me realise - there is a genre for me. This was the fluffy (and a little bit steamy - see The Casual Fangirls twitter thread for my live tweeting of ‘the shower scene’) romance I’d been looking for! Why didn’t I know this lovely world was out there?! Granted, I live under a rock (just call me Patrick) but I honestly didn’t realise these novels existed. I thought romance novels were all 50 Shades of Grey and “stick a peeled root of ginger up her arse” intimidating. These books were fun - basically like a Hallmark movie with a bit of “how’s your father” thrown in at about chapter 18.
I don’t want it to sound like I’m making fun of these books or the authors - this is absolutely not the case. These books are brilliant; clearly geared towards a female audience, each author has her (the authors are usually women) own distinct voice. The books I’ve read so far are witty, intelligent and like I’ve said about four times - fun. They’re not trying to be pretentious or “worthy”. They are fluffy, sometimes ridiculous, rollicking good fun.
Romance novels are one of the top selling genres of books, so I’m hardly discovering fire here - I am ridiculously late to the party. Despite making more than $1 billion in sales in 2013 alone, these books are still somewhat hidden away, particularly in England I think. I'm not saying it's a niche genre, because it obviously isn't, but nobody TALKS about them. Twitter has been a great place to chat to fans, authors and narrators (what a lovely bunch of people they all are) and I feel like I've found my people.
I can honestly say that these books have brought something special into my life, even if it is just something as simple as enjoying books again. My health hasn’t been great lately, and I love that I can just switch a book on and enjoy it without having to think too deeply. There’s none of this “hidden meaning” stuff like all the books I had to study at a level (maybe, just maybe, the author chose the colour red because they liked red?!) - the books are just enjoyable. It sounds simple but when you have brain fog, it is so refreshing to be able to get absorbed into a book that is utterly unpretentious.
Here’s a quick guide to my top 5 favourite books that I’ve listened to in the past month. I would really recommend these, and also anything by these authors. I particularly reccomend anything by Louise Bay, who has fast become my favourite author. Plugging another podcast, there's a really enjoyable interview with her by Shane East, which you can listen to here.
Almost of these are narrated on Audible by Shane East which is slightly embarrassing, my library is entirely him. I just like English men. My Scottish boyfriend was definitely in no way offended when I told him that..! I've linked each book on Audible if you'd like to go and check them out.
Mr Mayfair - Louise Bay
Narrated by Shane East and Saskia Maarleveld
My favourite rom com of all time is The Wedding Date. So imagine how thrilled I was when this book referenced The Wedding Date and basically turned into an even better version of it. Although, there was no boat sex scene set against the soundtrack of Maroon's 5 "Secret". Ah, Dermot Mulroney.
Anyway.
Mr Mayfair sees Beck, an ambitious property developer, track down Stella to ask her for a favour. He needs to accompany her to a wedding in order to talk to someone who owns a building he wants to buy. The problem is, the person getting married just happens to be Stella’s ex boyfriend of only three months - who’s marrying her ex-best friend. So Stella needs Beck to pretend to be her boyfriend during the week long festivities. Honestly, I've never been so mad at a fictional character but Karen was a boyfriend stealing witch. Always the sign of a good story when you start shouting at an audiobook, right..?
No spoilers, but Mr Mayfair has possibly one of the finest opening lines since “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
The Earl of London - Louise Bay
Narrated by Shane East and Imogen Church
This book is one of "The Royals" series (and I have to admit I am so thick I didn’t realise the characters were connected until like halfway through the second book). I started with The Duke of Manhattan and I think there are a couple before that (I have to admit I haven’t listened to those yet as I only found them after I finished all the ones set in England). They can also be listened to as stand alone books, but the characters from the previous books all crop up.
The protagonists are Darcy Westbury and Logan Steele (what a sexy name. I only seem to know men with names like John Jones. Booooring.) Darcy lives on her family’s sprawling country estate when a sexy handsome stranger spooks her horse and makes her fall off. She’s even more furious when she later finds out he’s planning to develop the sleepy village into a stylish members club (Soho Farmhouse vibes). Can she convince him to change his mind? Will he get over his daddy issues? Will they get naked?
The “Royally” series - Emma Chase
Narrated by Shane East and Andi Arndt
Set in the fictional land of Westco (I actually don’t know if I’m spelling that right because I’ve only listened to the book and I’m too lazy to properly research this half arsed blog post), these books each focus on a different member of the royal family and their entourage.
The first book, focusing on heir to the throne Nicholas and his American commoner girlfriend Olivia, is called Royally Screwed. The next focuses on his brother Henry and is called Royally Matched. The third is called Royally Endowed and is my favourite in the series. It focuses on royal bodyguard Logan and Olivia’s younger sister Ellie. The fourth takes us back in time to Nicholas and Henry’s grandmother, Queen Lenora - Royally Yours. I loved that one too; it was sweet, moving and beautifully written.
If you’ve ever watched A Christmas Prince and thought “I really wish this had more banging in it”, this is the series for you.
Part Time Lover - Lauren Blakely
Narrated by Shane East and Grace Grant
Part Time Lover is the sort-of-sequel to Wanderlust, focusing on secondary characters Christian and Elise. This was the first book I listened to after Wanderlust, and the first one narrated by Shane East. He has a really warm, enthusiastic voice which was a world apart from Richard Armitage’s narration which, although enjoyable, lacked the humour that Shane brings to everything he does. Maybe that’s why I’m yet to listen to a book without him. This book has my favourite trope - posh rich bloke needs a favour to save his company. The favour in question is getting married - no big deal right..?! This couldn’t possibly end in real love..!
Wanderlust - Lauren Blakely
Narrated by Richard Armitage and Grace Grant
Okay, I lied! I had to put Wanderlust on here, the book that started it all..!
It’s a lovely book that makes you feel like you’re in Paris. I’ve never been to Paris, but if there’s someone who sounds like Richard Armitage there, book me a ticket.
“Is that that English bloke reading you another one of those topless men books..?”
Yes. Yes it is.
Written by Caroline
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