Audie Finalist – Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks

Narrated by Kirsten Potter

Melinda’s Take

I was surprised to learn that a book by Maya Banks, an author known to me for erotic romance, was nominated for an Audie. What I learned is that it is a medieval romantic suspense (really, it read just like a romantic suspense but was set in 1215), not erotic romance, and in spite of the title, tackles a serious subject and handles it with emotion and sensitivity. Who knew? An author who writes in several different genres!

Heroine Eveline Armstrong suffered a fall that brought about hearing loss three years earlier. It also made her fiancé cry off, thinking she has suffered loss of her mental faculties. She’s so relieved he is gone, that she encourages everyone to continue to think she is “touched” rather than face the possibility that he will change his mind. When King Alexander II decrees that she must marry the Montgomery clan laird to end decades of clan rivalries, she has a chance at a new beginning. But even though the laird accepts his fate, his clan does not, and many of them shun Eveline.

The theme of dealing with deafness – she has taught herself to read lips, and eventually starts to talk again – is a major part of the story, as is the acceptance of differences. The suspense part is mostly at the end, but it reads just like contemporary suspense, with the added creepiness of a medieval setting complete with dungeons and revenge by broadsword.

Narrator Kirsten Potter was a wonderful surprise. I wasn’t expecting her to read the narrative in her native American accent, while reading the dialogue in a Scots brogue. At first I had trouble with this, partly because Banks’ prose seemed to call for an accent. It didn’t take me too long to get over it, though – I should have remembered this from her narration of Joanna Bourne’s The Spymaster’s Lady. She had the added complication of speaking for Eveline, a character who is deaf and has not spoken in 3 years. She handled this task extremely well, telling us in the narration that Eveline has trouble knowing if she is speaking too loud or not loud enough, but not actually subjecting us to these volume variations. I liked that she used a real sense of suspense and urgency when the plot thickened. It adds to the experience for me when the narrator reads suspense as though even she doesn’t know what is going to happen next! She has a lot of experience with this, since she has narrated several books by Lisa Gardner and Tami Hoag.

I think that the combination of a well-crafted plot and a good narration make it an obvious choice for Audie nomination, and I’m wondering how the judges will choose from amongst these 5 books with such diverse stories.

Melinda

Narration: A

Book Content: A

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence: Fighting

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Brenda’s Take

Each time I listen to a Maya Banks historical, I am reminded of my first love affair with Historical romance and author Julie Garwood more than 20 years ago. They say you can never go back but I find I can with Ms. Banks while still feeling the stories are current with their added level of violence, clever new curves, and spicier love scenes. Never Seduce a Scot brings me a sweetly determined heroine, a brutal Highlander who melts for one woman, and loyal family on both sides.

Best of all, this audiobook brings me extremely talented narrator Kirsten Potter – her skilled delivery adds a layer of enjoyment to this tale of a young woman thought daft after an accident robbed her of her hearing. Eveline Armstrong has good reason for letting those assumptions stand after her physical recovery from the accident. Graeme Montgomery has been ordered by the King to marry his enemy’s daughter, be she daft or not. He wants the battles between their clans to stop wasting the lives of his subjects.

With Never Seduce a Scot, we hear a beautifully performed Scots accent (which can’t be emphasized enough after some recent experiences) for all the characters, a not-to-be-overlooked seductive male voice for Graeme, and a pleasing voice for Eveline, once she made her journey back into the vocal world. I appreciated that while Ms Potter believably portrays this journey for Eveline, she doesn’t prolong the use of a halting hollow sounding voice with difficulty in controlling volume – all real life scenarios. Her choice makes for a more enjoyable listening experience, especially as the story transitions into the bedroom.

When Graeme arrives for his bride, Eveline is instantly entranced as his deep voice resonates through her while he is taken aback by her beauty and the realization that she may not speak but her eyes track everything. Eveline has learned to read lips through necessity – if that revelation came sooner in the storyline allowing for more dialogue between the hero and heroine – whether it was actually spoken or not – I’d be rating this story higher as I was enveloped in the listen from that point on.

Nowadays I have to be in the mood for this type of story but when it comes to Maya Banks’ historical tales paired with Kirsten Potter’s delightful skill with accents, consistent pacing, and satisfying emotional intensity – it’s an easy choice.

Brenda

Narration:  A

Book Content:  B

Lea’s Take

Never Seduce a Scot had an advantage as I started listening – narrator Kirsten Potter. Joanna Bourne’s The Spymaster’s Lady is immensely popular among romance listeners and, while it is written beautifully, it’s Kirsten Potter’s narration that makes it such a winner in audio. I have had my eye out for another one of her narrations since.

Having read Never Seduce a Scot in print, I was already beyond the surprise that the same author who has written numerous erotic romances, also pens warm Scottish medieval romances – a setting I adore. As I listened, I frequently thought that its plot sounded much like one of Julie Garwood’s medieval tales. It seemed so familiar with a setup that felt a little like a replay. I enjoyed it, yes, but I didn’t find it fresh and original. My interest waned and I quit listening on two occasions, drawn to what I thought would be more captivating audios.

Kirsten Potter’s narration, however, was an A performance all the way through. I immediately felt comfortable with what I was hearing – not once did my mind think a character needed to sound differently or characterized in another manner. She understood the story, the characters’ motivations, and the romance of it all. Ms. Potter’s men sound completely male – yes! And she doesn’t utilize an unrealistic higher pitch for the female roles – another yes!

The hero, Graeme, and his two brothers (each are featured in their own book) are impressively differentiated one from another. I knew who was talking without dialogue tags – another facet of an exceptional narration. And though I’m not all that perceptive when it comes to judging the accuracy of an accent, I am convinced these Scottish accents are well performed.

Banks chooses a challenging path with her characterization of the heroine, Eveline – she’s deaf. She’s proficient at reading lips and can hear Graeme speak. However, it makes her more vulnerable than most. Ms. Potter enhances a positive portrayal of Eveline by showcasing that vulnerability as well as her strength while giving Eveline’s voice just a bit of a hollow ring as you would expect when hearing a well adjusted deaf person speak.

I’ll be following Kirsten Potter’s narrations even more closely now. Looking at her audio romance backlist, I already see several titles that I plan to try – including another entry in this series, Highlander Most Wanted.

Lea Hensley

Narration:  A

Book Content:  B