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THURSDAY, JULY 30

Romance Writers

of America

Writing Awards

In 1980, the newly formed Romance Writers of America identified contests and conferences as key activities to promote the romance genre. The association promptly organized contests with two major divisions: one for published books and the second for manuscripts by unpublished writers. Co-founder Rita Clay Estrada named the contest for published books the Golden Medallion.The Golden Medallion award became the RITA award in 1990—RWA’s tenth anniversary. RWA held a contest in which members were invited to design a statuette to represent the RITA and excellence in published romantic fiction. The winning design was submitted by Marilyn Clay from the Dallas area. The contests have represented excellence in romantic fiction for nearly 30 years.

2009 RITA® Finalists from
Hachette Book Group

Romance Writers of America® announces the finalists for the 2009 RITA Awards®. The 2009 RITA honors romance fiction published in 2008, and more than 1,000 novels and novellas were judged in 12 categories.

2009 RITA Finalist for Best First Book and Contemporary Single Title Romance
YOUR ROOTS ARE SHOWING by Elise Chidley
Lizzie Buckley has a life many women dream of - a gorgeous husband, a beautiful home and darling (when they're not fighting) three-year-old twins. But ever since the birth of her children, she's had a fantasy about locking herself in her bedroom for twenty-four hours with a good book and a box of chocolates.
Unfortunately, her husband James doesn't understand her feelings. And when Lizzie unburdens herself in a flaming email to her sister Janie, then hits send at the wrong moment and accidentally shoots it off to James instead, her fairytale life gets a big dose of reality. With the word "divorce" ringing in her ears, Lizzie finds herself moving out and embarking on a totally different life - working hard to reinvent herself as a runner, a gardener, and a writer of children's books.
But despite transforming her body, her neglected career, and her libido (courtesy of the local landscape gardener), Lizzie can't get over her soon-to-be ex. As Lizzie discovers, sometimes the fairytale ending is just the beginning of the real story.


2009 RITA Finalists for Contemporary Single Title Romance
OUT OF TIME by Samantha Graves
SHE'S GOT THE SIGHT
For museum curator Jillian Talbot, her ability to see an object's history is her little secret. She never expects it to land her in the middle of a deadly battle for money and power between dangerous underground elements. The object of their greed: an ancient crystal lens that can unlock mysteries from the past... but only for someone with the sight. The one person who doesn't seem to want her dead is a cynical tomb raider who Jillian can only hope is worthy of her trust...
HE'S IN TOO DEEP
Simon Bonner has paid the last of his debts and is out of the looting game...until the lens lands on his doorstep. The other half of the crystal's secret is locked inside the eyes of a straitlaced psychic who still believes in doing the right thing. Now he must track the mystery deep into Mexico, where his desire to stay alive and his growing passion for the sexy seer make every move a dance with danger.
OUT OF TIME
Tomorrow could be history.


2009 RITA Finalists for Contemporary Single Title Romance
TALL TALES AND WEDDING VEILS by Jane Graves
Accountant Heather Montgomery is a planner. So never in her wildest dreams did she think she'd run into sexy charmer Tony McCaffrey in Vegas, play lady luck, and celebrate his jackpot with a champagne-soaked night. And she certainly never expected to wake up the next morning married! How could this good girl pick a man whose fridge is empty and whose apartment is a disaster zone, yet still drives her so crazy with lust she can't see straight?
Quickly hitched and happily ditched, Tony can't wait to get back to his playboy ways. But when Heather's family is thrilled that their no-nonsense daughter is finally in love, he proposes a plan: stay married for a month to repay his good luck charm, even though she sterilizes his toothbrush and forbids anything between the sheets. But Heather is more than he bargained for--a sharp-witted, passionate woman who just might turn his near miss into wedded bliss!


2009 RITA Finalist for Historical Romance
TO SEDUCE A SINNER by Elizabeth Hoyt
Jasper Renshaw, Viscount Vale, has a problem: he needs to marry and produce an heir to the title. All Jasper wants is to find a lady who will put up with him long enough to wed so he can retreat to his life of debauchery--a life that keeps the haunting memories of his past at bay. Knowing that Jasper is under pressure to marry, Melisande Flemming grasps her fate with both hands and volunteers to wed him. Although Jasper is initially only interested in producing an heir, he soon becomes entranced by his wife--prim and proper by day, wanton by night-- and vows to learn her secrets.
Melissande, however, is determined to keep her husband at a distance. She has loved, and lost, before, and will do anything to keep him from learning her terrible weakness: she's secretly been in love with him for years. But to her chagrin, her husband pursues her, wooing her as if she were a paramour, not his lady wife. As Melissande and Jasper embark on a passionate game of cat and mouse, secrets from the past begin to resurface.... threatening to tear them asunder.


2009 RITA Finalist for Romantic Suspense
SCREAM FOR ME by Karen Rose
For her exciting debut in hardcover, New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose delivers a heart-stopping suspense novel that picks up where DIE FOR ME left off, with a detective determined to track down a brutal murderer.
Special Agent Daniel Vartanian has sworn to find the perpetrator of multiple killings that mimic a 13-year-old murder linked to a collection of photographs that belonged to his brother, Simon, the ruthless serial killer who met his demise in DIE FOR ME. Daniel is certain that someone even more depraved than his brother committed these crimes, and he's determined to bring the current murderer to justice and solve the mysterious crime from years ago.
With only a handful of images as a lead, Daniel's search will lead him back through the dark past of his own family, and into the realm of a mind more sinister than he could ever imagine. But his quest will also draw him to Alex Fallon, a beautiful nurse whose troubled past reflects his own. As Daniel becomes attached to Alex, he discovers that she is also the object of the obsessed murderer. Soon, he will not only be racing to discover the identity of this macabre criminal, but also to save the life of the woman he has begun to love.

THURSDAY, JULY 30
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HACHETTE GROUP RITA FINALISTS