My 2015 Audie Winner Prediction.

Romance Category

When Jennifer at The Literaty Housewife asked me to participate in her awesome annual event, The Armchair Audies, I was more than static.

I thought this would be an easy task, I was hoping to judge and predict the winner with the help of other bloggers. Unfortunately, no one else volunteered to share this task with me, and I was left to judge the Romance category all by myself.

I managed to listen to all the nominees. Some stories I enjoyed way more than others, but one thing is for sure, all the performances were flawless, and I could easily see why they were nominated.

I still don’t understand some of their choices. For a long time romance listener like me, nominations like The Bridges of Madison County or First Love, don’t seem to fit, although they both are about romance.

With that said, I’m going to predict who the winner will be, but I’ll be secretly hoping they pick one of the performances from what I consider a “true romance audiobook”.

So here is prediction for the 2015 Audie Winner in the Romance Category.

Taking everything into consideration, and while trying to put myself in the judges’ head (obviously, a different train of thought than mine when it comes what I consider a Romance novel). I’ve decided to make an educated guess and predicted they will pick, The Bridges of Madison County. I thought their performances were excellent and they managed to convey a lot sentiment in such of short Audiobook.
Here is my review.

The Romance junkie in me would pick any of these two wonderful performances. I loved Renee Raudman in Burn for Me and Karen White in Rumor Has it.

Even though the book didn’t work for me because the story has a really YA feel and  the similarities to Fault In Our Stars worked against it, I can’t forget to mention Lauren Fortgang, a favorite of mine. Lauren’s performances are always aces, and her interpretation of these two young characters and their love journey wasn’t the exception, and while I didn’t find anything particularly exceptional in the story that showcased her talent, she’s just an excellent narrator that easily brings you into the story with the skill of a professional and  of a reader that truly has a grasp of the characters.

Regardless of my feelings for the story, I will be static if she she walks away with a win. She should have already gotten a nomination and a win for her portrayal of The Elemental Assassin series, a favorite of many romance listeners.

Narrator Claire Bocking does an excellent job of bringing the Zealand feel to the listener in Just This Once. I love when the backdrop of a novel feels authentic. In this, I have to commend the narrator’s performance.

Her New Zealand accents give authenticity to the novel and helps transport the listener to this light-hearted romance that with just a small amount of heat keeps things interesting while the author takes so much care in converting New Zealand into another character in her story.

Just This Once was my first opportunity to listen to narrator Claire Bocking, but it won’t be last. An even though I found the story entertaining, it didn’t bring my heart, nor did I find the characters swoon worthy; nevertheless, I can easily see how the casual romance listener could have a great time with this Audiobook.

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