Celebrating 12 Years of Audiobooks, Romance, and the Listeners Who Love Them!
We’re thrilled to be celebrating 12 years of recognizing the audiobooks, authors, narrators, and stories that capture listeners’ hearts.
The Sultry Listeners Awards is the original audiobook awards program dedicated to the romance genre and driven entirely by listeners. Unlike industry awards selected by panels or committees, the Sultry Listeners are about the people who actually listen to these stories. Listeners nominate. Listeners vote. Listeners choose the winners.
In the Beginning....
The Sultry Listeners Awards was born out of a love for audiobooks in 2012, created by Hot Listens. A year later, The Geeky Blogger joined in on the fun, and Viviana, aka Enchantress of Books, along with several other bloggers, soon joined the team, helping host and promote various categories on their blogs.
After several years, Felicia took ownership of the awards with a mission to keep them going for listeners, authors, and narrators alike. Viviana continued to be involved in a variety of capacities over the years, including graphic design, co-hosting, and other behind-the-scenes work.
In 2022, Felicia made the difficult decision to retire from blogging and step away from owning the awards. Rather than see the Sultry Listeners disappear, she asked Viviana if she would take over the awards and keep them going.
And that’s exactly what happened.
A New Chapter
In 2023, Viviana Izzo became the organizer and owner of the Sultry Listeners Awards.
Under Viviana’s leadership, the awards received a fresh new look, updated branding, and new categories designed to continue evolving alongside the audiobook industry and its listeners.
In 2024, the Sultry Listeners celebrated its 10th anniversary with another visual refresh and continued expansion of the awards. Today, the Sultry Listeners remain focused on their original mission: giving audiobook listeners a voice in celebrating the performances and stories they love.
Meet Viviana
Viviana Izzo, also known as Enchantress of Books, is the owner and operator of the Enchantress of Books brand and the founder of the Audiobook Lovin’ Series, a month-long celebration of Audiobook Month held each June, as well as the Audiobook Lovin’ Podcast.
In 2026, the Audiobook Lovin’ Network was created, bringing the Audiobook Lovin’ Podcast together with other book and audiobook-related podcasts under one network. The Audiobook Lovin’ Series continues each June as a month-long celebration of audiobooks and the people who create, narrate, produce, and listen to them.
Viviana has worked in the audiobook industry in a variety of capacities for many years. Long before joining Adler Audios as a producer in 2025, she worked independently as an audiobook producer and casting professional, helping bring stories from manuscript to finished audio through casting, narrator coordination, script preparation, production management, and other behind-the-scenes work.
She is also the owner and operator of Enchantress Bookish Brilliance, providing marketing, promotional, branding, graphic design, project management, and audiobook production consulting and services to authors, narrators, and publishing professionals.
In 2025, her creative ventures also evolved when the Enchantress of Books Boutique became Enchantress Creations, expanding beyond audiobook and bookish merchandise to include handmade and curated creations such as candles, oils, teas, crystals, jewelry, and spell supplies, reflecting the many creative and metaphysical interests that make up the Enchantress brand.
While Viviana works in the audiobook industry in many different capacities, as a producer, casting professional, marketer, graphic designer, consultant, event organizer, and podcaster, she is first and foremost an audiobook listener.
That listener perspective is at the heart of the Sultry Listeners Awards. She understands the excitement of discovering a new narrator, the comfort of returning to a favorite voice, and the emotional connection that can come from a story brought to life through audio.
After 12 years, the Sultry Listeners Awards remain a labor of love, created for listeners, by listeners, with the goal of celebrating the voices, performances, authors, and stories that make us laugh, cry, swoon, and fall in love.
Viviana has a B.S. Degree in Business Management with a in minor Marketing and an A.A. Degree in Culinary Arts.
Viviana is part of the following affiliated programs:
Amazon Associate
Amazon Associate