2003 RITA® Winners & Finalists

Contemporary Single Title Romance

* Winner: No Place Like Home - Barbara Samuel

• Finalists:

The Beach House - Mary Alice Monroe

The Boy Next Door - Meggin Cabot

Chesapeake Blue - Nora Roberts

Love In Bloom's - Judith Arnold

Once Upon A Wedding - Kathleen Eagle

Twice Burned - Jan Coffey

First Book

* Winner: Shades Of Honor - Wendy Lindstrom

• Finalists:

The Baby Plan - Susan Gable

Danger's Promise - Marliss Moon

Falling Star - Diana Dempsey

A Perilous Attraction - Patricia Frances Rowell

Silver Dagger - T.L. Sinclare

Wedding At White Sands - Catherine Mann

Inspirational Romance

* Winner: Never Say Goodbye - Irene Hannon

• Finalists:

Firstborn - Robin Lee Hatcher

Gifts Of Love - Crystal Stovall

Ruth - Lori Copeland

Summer Shadows - Gayle Roper

Whirlpool - Lorena McCourtney

Long Contemporary Series Romance

* Winner: Taking Cover - Catherine Mann

• Finalists:

Babes In Arms - Kathleen O'Brien

Capturing Cleo - Linda Winstead Jones

The Secret Son - Tara Taylor Quinn

Seduced By The Enemy - Jamie Ann Denton

Wedding At White Sands - Catherine Mann

What A Woman Wants - Tori Carrington

What The Heart Wants - Jean Brashear

Long Historical Romance

* Winner: Stealing Heaven - Madeline Hunter

• Finalists:

Lost In Your Arms - Christina Dodd

Magnolia Creek - Jill Marie Landis

Prairie Moon - Maggie Osborne

Romancing Mister Bridgerton - Julia Quinn

A Summer To Remember - Mary Balogh

Tempted By Your Touch - Jen Holling

Paranormal Romance

* Winner: Contact - Susan Grant

• Finalists:

The Charm Stone - Donna Kauffman

The Forest Lord - Susan Krinard

Twilight Hunger - Maggie Shayne

Regency Romance

* Winner: A Debt To Delia - Barbara Metzger

• Finalists:

The Former Fiancé - Teresa DesJardien

Kissing Cousins - Nadine Miller

The Storybook Hero - Andrea Pickens

The Errant Earl - Amanda McCabe

Romance Novella

* Winner: "To Kiss In the Shadows" in Tapestry - Lynn Kurland

• Finalists:

"The Bed Is Made" (aka Her Captive) in Once Upon A Pillow - Connie Brockway

"The Bed Is Unmade" (aka Last Night) in Once Upon A Pillow - Christina Dodd

"The Breeding Season" in A Mother's Way - Lisa Cach

"An Interrupted Tapestry" in Tapestry - Madeline Hunter

"Kismet" in Sheiks Of Summer - Fiona Brand

"A Rancher In Her Stocking" in So This Is Christmas - Leanne Banks

Romantic Suspense

* Winner: Three Fates - Nora Roberts

• Finalists:

Hush - Anne Frasier

Purity In Death - J.D. Robb

Reunion In Death - J.D. Robb

Someone Knows - Karen Young

Wild At Heart - Jane Graves

Short Contemporary Romance

* Winner: Taming The Outlaw - Cindy Gerard

• Finalists:

The Doctor's Mistress - Lilian Darcy

Good Time Girl - Candace Schuler

Lazaro's Revenge - Jane Porter

Private Investigations - Tori Carrington

Take Me- Cherry Adair

Taming Blackhawk - Barbara McCauley

Two Catch A Fox - Isabel Sharpe

Two To Tangle - Leslie Kelly

Short Historical Romance

* Winner: The Bride Fair - Cheryl Reavis

• Finalists:

The Colonel's Daughter - Merline Lovelace

Diamond In The Rough - Patricia Waddell

Embrace The Sun - Linda Lea Castle

Shades Of Honor - Wendy Lindstrom

Tess And The Highlander - May McGoldrick

The Texan's Wager - Jodi Thomas

The Willing Wife - Claudia Dain

Traditional Romance

* Winner: The Christmas Basket - Debbie Macomber

• Finalists:

City Girl In Training - Liz Fielding

Finding Her Prince - Lilian Darcy

A Millionaire For Molly - Marion Lennox

A Royal Proposition - Marion Lennox

True Love, Inc. - Jackie Braun

The Tycoon's Takeover - Liz Fielding