Romantic Novel Of The Year Award
The Romantic Novel Of The Year Award is The Romantic Novelists' Association's (RNA) major award. It is open to all romantic fiction first published in the UK in the current year. The presentation is made at the RNA Awards Luncheon in February of the following yaer
Books all receive three reads from amongst a panel of over a hundred readers. The readers score the titles on such criteria as romantic content, readability, dialogue, characters, plot, style and setting. The books with the highest scores go on to a longlist and receive a fourth read. When that score has been added, the six books with the highest combined score form the shortlist for the year. The whole shortlist is read by all the final judges to select the outright winner.
2008
- Winner: Pillow Talk - Freya North (HarperCollins)
- Shortlist: One Last Summer - Catrin Collier (Orion) / Silk And Steel - Catherine King (Little Brown) / Silver Bay - Jojo Moyes (Hodder & Stoughton) / The Leaving Of Liverpool - Maureen Lee (Orion) / Young Wives' Tales - Adele Parks (Penguin)
2007
- Winner: Iris And Ruby - Rosie Thomas (HarperCollins)
- Shortlist: Accepting the Boss’s Proposal - Natasha Oakley (Harlequin Mills & Boon) / An Improper Companion - Anne Herries (Harlequin Mills & Boon) / Her Ready Made Family - Jessica Hart (Harlequin Mills & Boon) / Lord Greville's Captive - Nicola Cornick (Harlequin Mills & Boon) / Marrying Max - Nell Dixon (The People’s Friend Story Collection) / The Gladiator's Honour - Michelle Styles (Harlequin Mills & Boon) / The Millionaire's Runaway Bride - Catherine George (Harlequin Mills & Boon)
2006 Winner: Gardens Of Delight - Erica James (Orion)
2005 Winner: A Good Voyage - Katharine Davies (Chatto & Windus)
2004 Winner: Foreign Fruit - Jojo Moyes (Hodder & Stoughton)
2003 Winner: Playing James - Sarah Mason (Time Warner)
2002 Winner: The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory (HarperCollins)
2001 Winner: Someone Like You - Cathy Kelly (HarperCollins)
2000 Winner: Dancing In The Dark - Maureen Lee (Orion)
1999 Winner: Learning To Swim - Clare Chambers (Arrow)
1998 Winner: Kiss And Kin - Angela Lambert (Bantam)
1997 Winner: The Hours Of The Night - Sue Gee (Century)
1996 Winner: Coming Home - Rosamunde Pilcher (Hodder & Stoughton)
1995 Winner: Change Of Heart - Charlotte Bingham (Doubleday)
1994 Winner: Consider The Lily - Elizabeth Buchan (Macmillan)
1993 Winner: Emily - Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (Sidgwick & Jackson)
1992 Winner: Sandstorm - June Knox-Mawer (Weidenfeld)
1991 Winner: Phantom - Susan Kay (Transworld)
1990 Winner: Passing Glory - Reay Tannahill (Century)
1989 Winner: The Peacock's Feather - Sarah Woodhouse (Century)
1988 Winner: The Juniper Bush - Audrey Howard (Century)
1987 Winner: A Better World Than This - Marie Joseph (Century)
1986 Winner: A Song Twice Over - Brenda Jagger (Collins)
1985 Winner: Sunrise - Rosie Thomas (Piatkus)
1984 Winner: A Highly Respectable Marriage - Sheila Walsh (Hurst & Blackett)
1983 Winner: Magic Flutes - Eva Ibbotson (Century)
1982 Winner: Zemindar - Valerie Fitzgerald (Bodley)
1981 Winner: The Red Staircase - Gwendoline Butler (Collins)
1980 Winner: Parson Harding's Daughter - Joanna Trollope (Hutchinson) and Winner - Best Modern Award: Mr Rodriguez - Mary Howard (Collins)
1979 Winner: Countess - Josephine Edgar (Macdonald & Jane) and Winner - Award Of Special Merit: The Emerald Peacock - Katharine Gordon (Hodder & Stoughton)
1978 Winner: Merlin's Keep - Madeleine Brent (Souvenir) and Winner - Best Modern Award: It Was The Lark - Catherine MacArthur (Macdonald & Jane)
1977 Winner: Every Man A King - Anne Worboys (Hodder & Stoughton)
1976 Winner: The Look Of Innocence - Anna Gilbert (Hodder & Stoughton) and Winner - Best Modern Award: The Moon Is Square - Margaret Maddocks (Hurst & Blackett)
1975 Winner: Vote For A Silk Gown - Jay Allerton (Troubadour)
1974 Winner: The Burning Lamp - Frances Murray (Hodder & Stoughton)
1973 Winner: The House Of Kuragin - Constance Heaven (Heinemann)
1972 Winner: The Pride Of Innocence - Maynah Lewis (Hurst & Blackett)
1971 Winner: Flower Of Silence - Joanne Marshall (Mills & Boon)
1970 Winner: Thea - Margaret Maddocks (Hurst & Blackett) and Broken Tapestry - Rona Randall (Hurst & Blackett) and Cat On A Broomstick - Joanne Marshall (Herbert Jenkins)
1969 Winner: Comfort And Keep - Doris E. Smith (Ward Lock)
1968 Winner: The Future Is Forever - Maynah Lewis (Hurst & Blackett)
1967 Winner: The Truth Game - Anne Betteridge (Hurst & Blackett)
1965 Winner: The Silver Answer - Margaret Maddocks (Hurst & Blackett)
1964 Winner: Journey From Yesterday - Suzanne Ebel (Collins)
1963 Winner: House Divided - Dorothy M. Gray (Hurst & Blackett)
1962 Winner: Larksbrook - Margaret Maddocks (Hurst & Blackett)
1961 Winner: The Witches Sabbath - Paula Allardyce (Hodder & Stoughton)
1960 Winner: More Than Friendship - Mary Howard (Collins)
