Colgan wins at RNA awards

Jenny Colgan's Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams (Sphere) has been named Romantic Novel of the Year at this year's Romantic Novelists' Association awards.

Meanwhile, the RNA's Joan Hessayon Award, which celebrates the best in new writing, was won by Liesel Schwartz for A Conspiracy of Alchemists (Ebury Press/DelRey).

Colgan's Derbyshire-set romantic comedy triumphed over the other eight category winners of the RNA awards, and she was presented with the award by Lindsey Davies, author of the Falco series of historical novels, at the RNA's summer party in central London this evening (16th May).

The judging panel, which included The Bookseller's paperback previewer Sarah Broadhurst, said: "We debated the finer points of each novel for over an hour but in the end Jenny won by a nose, thanks to her impeccable plotting and structure."

RNA chairman Pia Fenton said Colgan had "produced a real page-turner of a novel, combining romance, comedy and nostalgia".