Download the Most Popular Audiobooks in Fiction, Historical Most Popular

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Tempting Torment

Author: Jo Goodman

Narrator: Jill Tanner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-25-08

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 128 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Jo Goodman's best-selling novels of romance and adventure unite brave, beautiful women with their charismatic soul mates.Tempting Torment tells the breathtaking story of Jessa Winter and Noah McClellan. In 1787, desperate to leave England, Jessa marries the mortally wounded Noah expecting to become his widow and escape to America. But she hasn't counted on his will to survive - nor his desire to make her his wife in body as well as name.

©1989 Jo Dobrzanski; (P)2003 Recorded Books,LLC

Members Reviews:

Fun story

I liked this story. I was able to listen while cleaning and was kept entertained. I liked the narrator as well!

I'd forgotten what a great book this is...

My personal benchmark for a good book has always been whether or not I would read it again. Some books are actually better the second, or even third time around. Tempting Torment is one of them.

I left this one on my "shelf" for longer than usual because it isn't really my favorite time period. I generally prefer Regency or early Victorian settings. This one is set after the Revolutionary War, with a hero who is involved in re-writing the Articles of Confederation.

It begins in England with a heroine desperate to save an infant heir from an unscrupulous pair of guardians, moves to America and includes just about everything anyone might want to see in a period romance novel. Highwaymen, a nasty ex-fiancee, a huge loving family in the background, a hero behaving like a jackass, and a long suffering heroine - not to mention a background written so well that you feel as if you are there.

I hope the author will make more of her books available on audio - and you will, too after you hear this one.

Romantic, engaging, enthralling!

Any additional comments?

The story is well written with romantic attraction, impossible obstacles, forgiveness, and revenge. The characters are human, frustrating, adorable, and redeemable. There is all kinds of love; romantic, sexual, family, parental. And all kinds of selfishness, hatred, and resentment. Jo Goodman writes a wonderful, complete romantic tale -- there is none better.

Better than expected.

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did, it was worth it! The heroine's devotion to doing the right thing and the hero's determination to see things through helped me hang on too.

I will give another one of her books a try.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Mistress of the Sun

Author: Sandra Gulland

Narrator: Diana Leblanc

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-25-08

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 33 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Unmarriageable, and too poor to join a convent, she enters the court of the Sun King as a maid-of-honor, where the King is captivated by her athleticism and her striking grace. As their love unfolds, Louise bears Louis four children, is made a duchess, and reigns unrivaled as his official mistress until dangerous intrigue threatens her position at court and in Louis's heart.

A riveting love story with a captivating mystery at its heart, Mistress of the Sun resurrects a fascinating female figure from the shadows of history, and illuminates both the power of true and perfect love and the rash actions we take to capture and tame it.

Members Reviews:

A pleasant surprise

A pleasant surprise - had trouble adjusting to narrator accent but once I did - the book is very involving-couldn't wait to finish it. Good, smart interpretation of one of Louis XIV mistresses. Good Story - worth listening to.

Splendid!

This is a wonderful tale, it carries you through the lifetime of a mistress at King Louis Court-I did not want it to end.

Narrator ruined it for me

Not to be unkind, but the book needed a younger crisper narrator. Diana Leblamc sounded like a grandmother reading a bedtime story to children. At times she sounded like she needed a drink to clear up her throat. I almost didn't finish the book because of her, but I forced myself. What a pity......please cast your narrators with a better ear.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Flashman on the March

Author: George MacDonald Fraser

Narrator: Toby Stephens

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-24-08

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 72 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A master of lechery, treachery and poltroonery, Flashy's undeserved reputation for heroism renders him the British Army's candidate of choice when it comes to skulking behind enemy lines in Ali Baba attire. After all, who but the great amorist could contemplate navigating a land populated by hostile tribes and the lovliest (and most savage) women in Africa, from leather-clad nymphs with a penchant for torture to de-ballocking Amazons and a voluptuous barbarian queen with a reputation for throwing disobliging guests to her pet lions?

Members Reviews:

Another Great Flashman!

This is a great series "Flashman". The history of the British empire told by the rogue who always comes out smelling like a rose. I recommend this to anyone that likes history and has a sense of humor.

I gave in.

I don't often give in on a book. This one, this time, I did. And about 80% of the way through! On the rare occassions when I abandon a book it is usually early on but this one took hours to grind me down.

I suspect that I kept giving it the benefit of the doubt because I have enjoyed other tiles in the Flashman series.It may be because the historical background to this one is little known to me. It may be because the narration didn't strike me as well fitted. It may be because even a great author (MacDonald Fraser is quite good but definitely not great) pushes out a dud every now and then. More realisically it is a mix of all of them.

I came to this after relistening to an old Flashman favourite (F in the Great Game) and a new addition (Flashman).

The first of these is narrated by Timothy West who is perfect for the part.

The second by Rupert Penry-Jones who was startlingly adequate at the role. I was wthin a whisker of abandoning that one when it finished.

But this title is narrated by Toby Stephens whose performance was as patchy as they come. The reason West is perfect is because these are the memoirs of a man being read in his later years relating his exploits as a young man. They should be read by an old duffer and Timothy West does old duffer about a hundred times better than either of the other two. I'll be willing to bet cash money that he costs more than either of the other two but the quality is there all the way through the recording. It just sounds very very wrong to have a 12 year olds voice reading an old man story.

So I'm left up a stump now. I had intended to build a listening career on this series but now find that unless they are narrated by West I am quite likely to abandon them.

My advice is probably to either only listen to the ones narrated by West or never listen to them. Without his performance they are pretty insipid stuff.

Not the same without David Case.

I admit, I am biased. David Case IS Harry Flashman. His performances in the Flashman series are the best. I was so disappointed when I discovered this book had a different narrator, but I love the books, so have tried several times to listen to this audiobook...and so far cannot get beyond chapter one. If you own and love the other audiobooks, I recommend you listen to the sample for this one before you buy.

Flashy At His Worst (And That's A Great Thing)

If you could sum up Flashman on the March in three words, what would they be?

Hilarious, Exciting and Fascinating

What other book might you compare Flashman on the March to and why?

Pick any one of the Flashman novels by GMF.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Tin Angel

Author: Kat Martin

Narrator: Rebecca Cook

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-16-08

Publisher: Books in Motion

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 40 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

At first, Jake had no intention of sharing the Tin Angel with a know-it-all female from Boston. But Jessica's spirited independence and irresistible beauty made him swear off other women. So when Jessica is first shipwrecked, then kidnapped and almost killed, Jake vows to do whatever is necessary to keep her safe...whether she wants his help or not!

Members Reviews:

Mediocre

This book could have been so much better if the lead female character wasn't so irritating! She was so naive and yet so headstrong that she kept getting into messes or jumping to wrong conclusions. After a while it just became tiresome and I found myself forwarding through much of it. The male lead was pretty good, and the overall plot of the story was interesting. I usually love historical western romances, but Jessica's character drained much of the enjoyment of the story for me.

Good old west romance

Would you listen to Tin Angel again? Why?

I wish I could find more of these on Audible. I'm so tired of British period romance novels I could...well, I don't know what. This was a great book and I've listened to it many times over the years.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: In Distant Fields

Author: Charlotte Bingham

Narrator: Kim Hicks

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-12-08

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Partita's parents are enchanted by Kitty, and she soon becomes part of their privileged and glamorous lifestyle. It seems that the family's grand way of life is unassailable. It is not.

Members Reviews:

In Distant Fields - (I should have stayed distant)

The basic plot of this story is the friendship of two young women, Kitty Rolfe and Lady Partita Knowle, who are friends at their London day school and become close when Partita invites Kitty to her family's magnificant English castle, Bauders, for Christmas 1913.

The story opens well enough. We meet Kitty who is wellborn but poor, with a father who is a disgraceful rake, and it's interesting to watch how she and her mother cope with their lack of money for proper clothing for Kitty's visit to Partita. But the story quickly becomes deadened by its slow pace, predictability, and total lack of lively dialogue.

For some reason never quite clear to me, Kitty is irresistibly attractive to three young men who are a part of the family's life (Partita's brother, Almeric; Harry, the upwardly-moving son of the butler, and Peregrine, a family friend, who is also the brother's best friend). Kitty's somewhat attracted to Peregrine, but because Partita loves him, doesn't pursue him as she could have done, and eventually becomes engaged to Almeric. Then the war intervenes.

I picked this up because I shamelessly love to read British aristocratic-family sagas that are set in Edwardian/First World War/post-WWI England. Although this novel is, generally speaking, readable, it is too sentimental. It also incorporates every possible stereotypical First World War-English aristocratic type and cliche that readers familiar with the period (either through novels, history books or television plays) can imagine.

The family, its servants, and its friends struck me as dry and undeveloped. Worse, the plot and its characters are derivative of other work. If you've ever seen the TV serials "Upstairs, Downstairs" (the old version, for which the author and her husband wrote some early scripts), or "Downton Abbey", or "Berkeley Square", elements of this book will seem too familiar, and unoriginal.

And I don't think I've read a more idiotic, unlikeable character than Partita Knowle, who is supposed to be so charming and lovely, but who absolutely comes across as a selfish, empty-headed fool.

Even when certain characters are lost in the war, it means nothing at all - it's impossible to feel any emotional involvement in this story or these frustratingly unreal characters. I could barely finish the book and felt annoyance with its contrived soap opera of a plot and weak characters.

Far from one of her best

Charlotte Bingham has for years been one of my favourite authors, but her latest books have been somewhat disappointing. Both "Friday's Girl" and "Daughters of Eden" failed to live up to my usual expectations.

I got "In Distant Fields" in hardback with high hopes. I liked the idea, setting and characters. The description of life of the aristocracy in England before and during the first world war is detailed and accurate. Likewise, the mood of the people as was is approaching. Even the differences in the ways of speech between the upper and lower classes are faultless.

Yet, in spite of all this, the book never managed to catch my attention. After reading a few pages, I put it dow.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: A Sensible Life

Author: Mary Wesley

Narrator: Anna Massey

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-21-08

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Introduced for the first time to kindly, civilized, and - above all - caring people, Flora falls helplessly and hopelessly in love with not one but three young men. Over the next 40 years, Flora will grow from an awkward schoolgirl into a stunning beauty and explore, consummate, and finally resolve each of these affairs.

Members Reviews:

A wonderful book

Mary Wesley is an amazing writer. Her characters grow in complexity, her plots are entertaining and her style is impeccable.

Not a Favorite

Struggled to finish, mainly because I didn't like a single character. I actually spent the first part of the book wondering what was going on. None of the characters got really great development. Many of them were just superficial caricatures. It was a struggle to get through it and make it to the end. Even then didn't bring a great resolution.

Interesting story

Neglected child grows up and falls in love. Unusual story with a happy ending. Unpredictable story and says a great deal about the English class system and life during the twenties and thirties.

When you've run out of Jane Austen and Barbara Pym...

When you've run out of Jane Austen and Barbara Pym and are casting about for an author of the same ilk, here is someone to try. I'd had it on my shelf forever and finally dipped in. It's a lovely, finely observed novel of manners about an unloved young woman's remarkable lifelong connection to a group of people she spent one defining summer with. It even has a happy ending. If I have one complaint, it's that it features some pairs of characters I had a very hard time keeping straight -- Cosmo and Hubert especially were interchangeable for me right to the end, and I can't help but regret that. I also sensed a pattern unfolding throughout the plot that might strike some as a bit implausible, but I was content to go along for the ride. This book is also very successful as a look at a woman's sexual coming of age -- quite sensual and frank, without being explicit.

Purveyor of chuckling delight

Exquisite - as in my experience all Mary Wesley's writing is. It often seems to me that these mainstream writers - Nevil Shute was one of them, rather a long time ago - have a huge and marvellous talent that is too little celebrated: the number of people they delight is legion, but their reward is to be regarded slightly pejoratively as paperback writers. That is not generally a compliment; it should be; in Mary Wesley's case above all. This lass does more to improve the gaiety of nations than anybody else I know.

How I envy her........

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Toward the Sunrising

Author: Lynn Morris, Gilbert Morris

Narrator: Kate Forbes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-24-07

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

When they make a stop in Charleston, South Carolina, they are unprepared for the turmoil they find around them. Intending to stay for only a short visit, the intrepid pair find the grand old city in the throes of Reconstruction. Determined to do what she can to help, with little more than her faith to see her through, Cheney finds herself up against carpetbaggers, outdated medical practices, and white supremacists.

The doctor is in: listen to more in the

series.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

great book, have read all of the series and wish there were more

The Books about Dr Cheney Duvall and Shiloh Irons Winslow

The whole series of books about Dr Cheney Duvall and Shiloh Irons is extremely interesting. I can't seem to put the books down. I purchased all the books in the series at Christmas after a friend lent me one of her books. I am really enjoying the series

tesa

A very well written book

It was amazing

It kept me wanting to read further to see what was going to happen next. Definitely recommend it to everyone.

Toward the Sun Rising

This book the Duvall series was great! I would highly recommend this book to anyone especially anyone interested in the post Civil War age.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, Volume II

Author: Cuthbert Bede

Narrator: Philip Bird

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-17-07

Publisher: Joyful Productions

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In this second adventure, our hero learns more useful lessons at Oxford and experiences the first disconcerting flutters of his heartstrings.A joyous alternative to the satirical university novel.Philip Bird, narrator, numbers Charles Dickens and PG Wodehouse among his favourite writers and has found Mr Verdant Green to be a very agreeable mixture of the two. Cuthbert Bede, B.A. is the nom de plume of the Rev. Edward Bradley.

© and (P)2007 Joyful Productions

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, Volume III

Subtitle: Married and Done For

Author: Cuthbert Bede

Narrator: Philip Bird

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-17-07

Publisher: Joyful Productions

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In this final installment of the Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, the eponymous hero finds himself perplexed thricefold: by travelling North, by events at Oxford, and by his confused and loving heart.A tale told with enormous charm and wit.

© and (P)2007 Joyful Productions

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Adventures of Mr Verdant Green, Volume I

Author: Cuthbert Bede

Narrator: Philip Bird

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-17-07

Publisher: Joyful Productions

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A wonderfully amusing and engaging account of the escapades of a naive student thrown into university life amongst the hallowed halls of Oxford c. 1850. Widely regarded as a comic masterpiece of its time (it sold over 200,000 copies) it brings to mind the writing of Jerome K Jerome or an adventure PG Woodhouse might have penned for a slightly more academic Bertie Wooster. Cuthbert Bede, B.A. is the nom de plume of the Rev. Edward Bradley.

© and (P)2007 Joyful Productions