ORLANDO, FL —Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for published and aspiring romance fiction authors, announced the winners of the 2017 RITA® Awards on Thursday, July 27, at a black-tie awards ceremony at its 37th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.
The RITA® Award is the highest award of distinction in romance fiction and recognizes outstanding published romance novels and novellas.
Up to 2,000 romance novels and novellas from 13 different categories are judged each year in the RITA®competition. After the first round of judging by fellow published romance authors, the competition narrows to approximately 100 finalists. Then, final round judges, also published romance authors, select one winner in each category from among the finalists.
The 2017 RITA® Award winners are:
Romance Novella: Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan
Contemporary Romance Long: Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan
Young Adult Romance: The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Historical Romance Long: No Mistress of Mine by Laura Lee Guhrke
Romantic Suspense: Repressed by Elisabeth Naughton
Paranormal Romance: The Pages of the Mind by Jeffe Kennedy
Erotic Romance: Off the Clock by Roni Loren
Historical Romance Short: A Duke to Remember by Kelly Bowen
Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements: My Hope Next Door by Tammy L. Gray
Contemporary Romance Short: Christmas on Crimson Mountain by Michelle Major
Contemporary Romance Mid-length: Carolina Dreaming by Virginia Kantra
Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance: The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel
Best First Book: Once and for All by Cheryl Etchison
The list of winners, along with author photos and book covers, can be found on the RWA website at https://www.rwa.org/page/2017-finalists.
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Romance Writers of America’s mission is to advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by increasing public awareness of the romance genre. Romance fiction is a $1 billion industry, and it’s a consistent, top-performing category on the best-seller lists. To learn more about romance fiction and RWA, visit http://www.rwa.org or call 832-717-5200, Ext. 122.