2019 RITA Award Winners

Posted July 27, 2019 by Holly in News | 2 Comments

NEW YORK, NY —Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for published and aspiring romance fiction authors, announced the winners of the 2019 RITA® Awards on Friday, July 26, at a black-tie awards ceremony at its 39th Annual Conference in New York New York.

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 2019 RITA® Award winners are:


Romance Novella: Bad Blood by M. Malone

Contemporary Romance Long: Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan

Young Adult Romance: My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma

Historical Romance Long: A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy

Romantic Suspense: Fearless by Elizabeth Dyer

Paranormal Romance: Dearest Ivie by J. R. Ward

Erotic Romance: Three-Way Split by Elia Winters

Historical Romance Short: A Duke in the Night by Kelly Bowen

Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements: The Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano

Contemporary Romance Short: The Bachelor’s Baby Surprise by Teri Wilson

Contemporary Romance Mid-length: Advanced Physical Chemistry by Susannah Nix

Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance: How to Keep a Secret by Sarah Morgan

Best First Book: Lady in Waiting by Marie Tremayne

The list of winners, along with author photos and book covers, can be found on the RWA website at www.rwa.org.

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. 128.


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