Each year, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) and dedicated audiobook judges gather, listen, and select the Audie Award winners. I’ve seen little bits of the process over the last 9 years, and it’s no small endeavor. I must admit I look at the finalists each year the same way I browse the cookie aisle at the grocery store – hard to choose, everything looks yummy! I’ve listened to many of these titles, and I encourage you to do the same.
And now, the winners! From countless entries, to the short list of finalists, to a single winner in each category:
2017 Audie Award for EROTICA
MARRIAGE GAMES: The Games Duet, Book 1
by CD Reiss, read by Elena Wolfe and Sebastian York
Flip City Media, Inc.
AudioFile Earphones Award
Our take: This was my odds-on favorite to win. I liked all the titles in this category, and MARRIAGE GAMES stood out as a psychological erotica with narration that lived up to Reiss’s visceral story. Erotica narrators deserve extra bonus points for their work – it’s very difficult to narrate high emotion and intense physicality with realistic subtlety. Congratulations Elena Wolfe and Sebastian York, true professionals and masters of their craft!
2017 Audie Award for ROMANCE
DIRTY: Dive Bar, Book 1
by Kylie Scott, read by Andi Arndt
Macmillan Audio
AudioFile Earphones Award
Our take: Erotica and Romance got swept! Andi Arndt aka Elena Wolfe took home both awards. Andi did a tremendous job with this wedding day-mishap romance. Male and female voices wow equally. And as a romance listener, I was thrilled to see so many excellent romances nominated for this category. There was variety, but also that all-important happily ever after that romance listeners crave. Awesome job to Andi for standing out in a category full of incredible performances!
See the full list of finalists for Romance and Erotica audiobooks and start listening!
