Romance at the Audies

Editor’s note: Brenda wrote this article before the Audie Awards this past Thursday. It was edited to add the 2013 Audie Romance Winner.

Looking through the Audio Publishers Association Winner’s Circle listings, we see that 2005 is the first year Romance audibooks were given their own category.

Let’s look at the nominations and the winners for the past eight years leading up to the current nominations.

After grumbling over Audie romance finalists and winners more than once in the past few years, we were surprised to see that genuine romance books have won the category in six of the past eight years. There is no doubt a romance title will win the 2013 Audie Award as each of the finalists are true romances.

While there are several titles here that don’t meet the definition of romance (instead – women’s fiction with a possible romantic thread woven throughout), we hope that you will enjoy perusing the listings. Maybe you’ll find a new title or three to listen to from what the audiobook industry considers the best of the best in the past eight years.

 

The 2005 Finalists

Invitation to Provence by Elizabeth Adler
Narrated by Carrington MacDuffie

Sam’s Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson
Narrated by Anne Heche and Jane Alexander

The Perfect Lover by Stephanie Laurens
Narrated by Simon Prebble

The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky
Narrated by Linda Emond

The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory
Narrated by Graeme Malcolm

2005 Audie Winner

Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard
Narrated by Joyce Bean and Dick Hill

–

The 2006 Finalists

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber
Narrated by Linda Emond

Chill Factor by Sandra Brown
Narrated by Stephen Lang

Rosie Dunne by Cecilia Ahern;
Narrated by Roger Rees, Moira Quirk, Rosalyn Landor and Russell Copley

The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owen
Narrated by Caroline Winterson

2006 Audie Winner

Origin In Death, by Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen

–

The 2007 Finalists

Born in Death by Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Narrated by Joyce Bean

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
Narrated by Holter Graham

The Tavern on Maple Street by Sharon Owens
Narrated by Caroline Winterson

2007 Audie Winner

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern
Narrated by Susan Lynch and Rupert Degas

–

The 2008 Finalists

Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Morning
Narrated by Phil Gigante

Consequences by Penelope Lively
Narrated by Josephine Bailey

Everlasting by K. Woodiwiss
Narrated by Xanthe Elbrick

On Tall Pine Lake by Dorothy Garlock
Narrated by Anna Fields

Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas
Narrated by Jeannie Stith

2008 Audie Winner

Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Narrated by Anna Fields

–

The 2009 Nominees

Fire Me Up by Katie MacAlister
Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

Forbidden by Suzanne Brockmann
Narrated by Traci Svensgaard

Mismatch by Tami Hoag
Narrated by Jen Taylor

Tribute by Nora Roberts
Narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck

2009 Audie Winner

The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
Narrated by Phil Gigante

–

The 2010 Finalists

Dark Slayer by Christine Feehan
Narrated by Phil Gigante and Jane Brown

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White
Narrated by Aimée Bruneau

A Rogue of My Own by Johanna Lindsey
Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Narrated by Julia Gibson

2010 Audie winner

The Untamed Bride, by Stephanie Laurens
Narrated by Simon Prebble

–

The 2011 Finalists

Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen

A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James
Narrated by Susan Duerden

The Elusive Bride by Stephanie Laurens
Narrated by Simon Prebble

By King’s Command by Linda Lea Castle
Narrated by Full Cast

2011 Audie Winner

Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte, by Syrie James
Narrated by Bianca Amato

–

The 2012 Finalists

The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter
Narrated by Max Bellmore

Notorious by Nicola Cornick
Narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
Narrated by Isabel Keating

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James
Narrated by Susan Duerden

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

2012 Audie Winner

New York to Dallas by Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen

–

The 2013 Finalists

Don’t Cry for Me by Sharon Sala
Narrated by Kathe Mazur

Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks
Narrated by Kirsten Potter

Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt
Narrated by Ashford McNab

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
Narrated by Angela Dawe

2013 Audie Winner

The Witness by Nora Roberts
Narrated by Julia Whelan

Again some analyses:

Now to take a closer look at the finalists over the years, making comparisons, as we see if we can find trends. Lea and I love this sort of thing!

• Authors with three or more titles nominated over the years: Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb x 6, Stephanie Laurens x 3, and Karen Marie Moning x 3.
• Narrators with two or more nominations: Susan Ericksen x 4, Simon Prebble x 3, Rosalyn Landor x 3, Joyce Bean/Jane Brown x 3, Phil Gigante x 3, Caroline Winterson x 2, Susan Duerden x 2, and Anna Fields x 2.
• A note of interest –  Moira Quirk who we recently discovered as the excellent narrator of Elizabeth Hoyt’s Princes Series was nominated for an Audie in 2006.
• The number of books that fall into General Fiction instead of Romance (IMO) represents 15 of the 45 titles. But the number of times FictionDB agrees with my perception of romance x 6. Leaving 9 that feel more like General Fiction to me than Romance.
• The number of times FictionDB categorized those 9 titles with a “theme” of womens fiction after labeling them a romance x 3.
• Which tells me 9 of the 45 titles are not true Romance titles even according to Fiction DB.
• The number of times a General Fiction title has won the Romance category Audie (IMO) x 2. The number of times FictionDB agrees with me x 1.

The Details:

Brenda