Over the past two weeks all three Gals have reviewed the five Audie finalists for the Romance category. Tonight, the winners will be announced at the Audie Awards Gala in New York City.
The 2013 Audie Romance Finalists:
Don’t Cry for Me – Sharon Sala Narrated by Kathe Mazur Audible Inc.
The Witness – Nora Roberts Narrated by Julia Whelan Brilliance Audio
Scandalous Desires – Elizabeth Hoyt Narrated by Ashford MacNab Hachette Audio
Never Seduce a Scot – Maya Banks Narrated by Kristen Potter Tantor Audio
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie – Jennifer Ashley Narrated by Angela Dawe Tantor Audio
And AudioGals’ choice for the Romance Audie Award is …
The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie
by Jennifer Ashley
Now let’s see if it wins the official Audie tonight!
Credit must be given to our second choice, as well, The Witness by Nora Roberts
Check out the individual links of each title to see our 3 Gal Reviews as we prepared to predict the winner.
Lea Hensley
Good choice – let’s hope the voters feel the same. This title has the massive benefit of a truly unusual hero for the genre who was incredibly well written. I did have problems with the narrator because her accents were so variable; the Scottish ones were uneven and the valet, Curry, was distinctly Australian rather than a Cockney, as he is written.
This is one of the reasons I’m so interested to hear the results of Lea’s panel; accents are a real issue for me, and I’d certainly downgrade a rating of an audiobook if the performer was unable to be suitably convincing. So I’m keen to hear if such things are of as much importance to other listeners and reviewers, and how it might impact on the way narrators are chosen.
It’s become nearly a mantra for me – most accents are pleasing to my ears but I don’t know if they are correctly done – and I’m glad of it! :)
I’m guessing it depends on where the majority of the judges originate from in this case.
There was a lot of discussion on the topic during the Speaking of Audiobooks Narrator Forum at AAR. My take from that discussion along with some here at AG is that those casting / choosing the narrators rarely take accents into consideration.
It’s then up to each narrator to decide how they will handle accents. Some go with their gut, some use a light shading to define accents, some use sources available to them online and some hire voice coaches to make sure they get them right.
While I may prefer that narrators choose the last option I’m still grateful for effort with accents in general for the variety and separation of characters they add to a listen.
I’m the first to admit that I’m picky when it comes to accents. . Also, because I listen mostly to historicals, the majority of which are set in the UK, there’s probably more scope for me to be picky!
Having always lived in parts of the US that have no accents is advantageous when it comes to audiobook listening. :)
Hahaha! When we get around to our Skype chat we can trade accents:) I’m a Londoner born and bred, but I sound nothing like the Queen! I can’t sustain a convincing Welsh accent, though, so don’t ask me to do that one!
Agree completely with your choice!!