RNA unveils award shortlists and announces prize for Fenwick

The shortlists for the 2022 Romantic Novel Awards have been revealed, with Liz Fenwick (pictured) also announced as this year’s winner of the Popular Romantic Fiction category.

Run by the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA), this year’s ceremony will be held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London on 7th March. Bestselling novelist Jo Thomas will compère the ceremony, with Bafta-longlisted film producer Lizzie Gillett presenting the Jackie Collins Award for Romantic Thrillers on behalf of sponsor Simon & Schuster, and actor Larry Lamb presenting the remainder of the awards.

This year’s awards include a new category, the Christmas/Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award. In addition, the Romantic Comedy Novel Award has been renamed the Jane Wenham-Jones Award for Romantic Comedy, in honour of the late Jane Wenham-Jones, author, broadcaster and compère for the Romantic Novel Awards for the past 11 years.

The shortlists for the awards, the only national literary prizes that recognise excellence in the genre of romantic fiction, include nominations for Helen Fisher, Sarah Morgan and Emma Hornby.

Previous winners include Phillipa Gregory, Joanna Trollope and Rosamunde Pilcher. The awards are unique in that they are judged entirely by readers, without input from any industry professionals.

Sharon Ibbotson, the awards co-ordinator for the RNA, said: “During a difficult year, people needed escapism and romance more than ever. Our shortlisted authors for 2022, chosen by our readers, delivered both. The Romantic Novelists’ Association is proud to celebrate them and their achievement.”

The full shortlists are:

The Fantasy Romantic Novel Award

• Space Hopper, Helen Fisher (Simon & Schuster)
• Daughter of the Sea, Elisabeth J Hobbes (One More Chapter)
• A Marvellous Light, Freya Marske (Pan Macmillan)
• Beneath Cornish Skies, Kate Ryder (Aria)
• Children of Shadows, N J Simmonds (BHC Press)

The Jackie Collins Award for Romantic Thrillers

• The Last Daughter, Nicola Cornick (HQ)
• All That We Have Lost, Suzanne Fortin (Aria)
• Chasing Flames, January James (Independent)
• A Mother’s Lie, Leah Mercer (Bookouture)
• A Villa in Portofino, Evonne Wareham (Choc Lit)

The Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award

• Uncoupling, Lorraine Brown (Orion)
• Love at Café Lompar, Anna and Jacqui Burns (Honno)
• One Month of You, Suzanne Ewart (Orion)
• The Viking Chief’s Marriage Alliance, Lucy Morris (Mills & Boon)
• Two Metres From You, Heidi Stephens (Headline Accent)

The Christmas / Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award

• The Winter of Second Chances, Jenny Bayliss (Pan Macmillan)
• A Bookshop Christmas, Rachel Burton (Aria)
• The Christmas Escape, Sarah Morgan (HQ)
• Winter at Cliff’s End Cottage, Sheila Norton (Little, Brown Book Group)
• Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café, Jessica Redland (Boldwood Books)

The Shorter Romantic Novel Award

• A Proposal to Risk Their Friendship, Louise Allen (Mills & Boon)
• The Highlander’s Inconvenient Bride, Terri Brisbin (Mills & Boon)
• A Ration Book Christmas Broadcast, Jean Fullerton (Atlantic Books)
• Cinderella and the Scarred Viscount, Sarah Mallory (Mills & Boon)
• Hawaiian Medic to Rescue His Heart, Annie O’Neil (Mills & Boon)

The Romantic Saga Award

• A Distant Horizon, Anne Marie Brear (Independent)
• A Songbird in Wartime, Karen Dickson (Simon & Schuster)
• The Mother’s Day Club, Rosie Hendry (Little, Brown Book Group)
• Her Wartime Secret, Emma Hornby (Transworld)
• Angel of Liverpool, Elizabeth Morton (Pan Macmillan)

The Jane Wenham-Jones Award for Romantic Comedy

• That Jewish Thing, Amber Crewe (Coronet, Hodder and Stoughton)
• Mr Right Across the Street, Kathryn Freeman (One More Chapter)
• Life’s a Beach, Portia MacIntosh (Boldwood Books)
• The Promise of Summer, Bella Osborne (Avon)
• Love on Location, Lynne Shelby (Headline Accent)

The Historical Romantic Novel Award

• The Fading of the Light, Charlotte Betts (Little, Brown Book Group)
• The Return, Anita Frank (HQ)
• The Marquess Next Door, Virginia Heath (Mills & Boon)
• The Night Train to Berlin, Melanie Hudson (One More Chapter)
• A Waltz with the Outspoken Governess, Catherine Tinley (Mills & Boon)

The Contemporary Romantic Novel Award

• An Endless Cornish Summer, Phillipa Ashley (Avon)
• A Sky Full of Stars, Dani Atkins (Head of Zeus)
• One Summer Sunrise, Shari Low (Boldwood Books)
• Back to You, Tammy Robinson (Little, Brown Book Group)
• The Frequency of Us, Keith Stuart (Little, Brown Book Group)