A Small Announcement

The Romantic Novelists' Association in the UK announced their awards shortlists this past week, and I'm honoured and proud to be able to tell you The Rose Garden is in the running in the Historical category!

I'm even more honoured to find my name and book title bracketed with those of my friend and fellow Heroine Addict Christina Courtenay (The Silent Touch of Shadows), and fellow Allison & Busby author Mary Nichols (The Kirilov Star).

I'll be heading over at the end of next month for the Awards Ceremony, to be held at the Royal Air Force Club in London, with presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, whose morning show was a cornerstone of my daily routine when I lived in Wales, and who actually live in Polperro, Cornwall, where I stayed as a child, and where The Rose Garden is set (although I changed the name of the village for the novel). So I'm very much looking forward to meeting them. Hopefully I won't get all tongue-tied and spill a drink on anyone.

At least, if I do, I feel comfortable knowing that, with all the friends' names I see on these shortlists, there'll be someone there at the RoNA Awards who can give me a hug!

You can learn more about the awards and the RNA itself by visiting their website. Meantime, here are the lists:
 
RoNA Romance Award

• Fiona Harper, Always the Best Man, Harlequin Mills & Boon Riva
• Sarah Mallory, Beneath the Major's Scars, Harlequin Historical
• Heidi Rice, The Good, the Bad and the Wild, Harlequin Mills & Boon Riva
• Carol Townend, Betrothed to the Barbarian, Harlequin Historical
• Scarlet Wilson, West Wing to Maternity Wing, Harlequin Mills & Boon Medical
• Scarlet Wilson, Her Christmas Eve Diamond, Harlequin Mills & Boon Medical

 
Romantic Comedy Novel

• Jenny Colgan, Welcome to Rosie Hopkin's Sweetshop of Dreams, Sphere (Little Brown)
• Victoria Connelly, The Runaway Actress, Avon
• Jane Costello, All the Single Ladies, Simon & Schuster UK
• Nicola Doherty, The Out of Office Girl, Headline
• Belinda Jones, Winter Wonderland, Hodder & Stoughton
• Jane Wenham-Jones, Prime Time, Accent Press Ltd.

 
Contemporary Romantic Novel

• Katie Fforde, Recipe for Love, Arrow
• Veronica Henry, The Long Weekend, Orion
• Mhairi McFarlane, You Had Me At Hello, Avon
• Monica McInerny, The House of Memories, Pan Macmillan
• Sue Moorcroft, Dream a Little Dream, Choc Lit
• Polly Williams, The Angel at No. 33, Headline

Epic Romantic Novel

• Rowan Coleman, Dearest Rose, Arrow
• Dilly Court, The Lady's Maid, Arrow
• Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles, Bloomsbury
• Kate Morton, The Secret Keeper, Pan Macmillan
• Gill Paul, Women and Children First, Avon
• Liz Trenow, The Last Telegram, Avon

Historical Romantic Novel

• Charlotte Betts, The Apothecary's Daughter, Piatkus (Little Brown)
• Christina Courtenay, The Silent Touch of Shadows, Choc Lit
• Kate Furnivall, The White Pearl, Sphere (Little Brown)
• Pamela Hartshorne , Time's Echo, Pan Macmillan
• Susanna Kearsley, The Rose Garden, Allison & Busby
• Mary Nichols, The Kirilov Star, Allison & Busby