And the nominees are...

Congratulations to Nicola Marsh whose Harlequin Romance novel IMPOSSIBLY PREGNANT is making huge waves in contests across America. It has been nominated in the Best Traditional category of both the Holt Award and the Booksellers' Best.

IMPOSSIBLY PREGNANT was the first book in a commissioned trilogy using three different authors! Set in a web design agency in Melbourne and starring Keely the website designer with weight issues and Lachlan the oh-so-sexy radio psychologist, it is a fun, flirty, fast-paced read with a big heart.

To find out more, go to Nicola's website.

Good luck Nic!


AND MELISSA JAMES...

To add to the growing list of nominations and awards, Melissa James, whose first Romance, Long Lost Father, will be released this October, is a finalist in the Romance Through The Ages contest with her entry, Dark Waltz. Dark Waltz is a Georgian historical romantic suspense set during the time when Napoleon's fleet was set to invade Britain. It is with the editor and agent who are the final judges. Winners will be announced at RWA National in July.


AND SHIRLEY JUMP...

Next cab off the rank we have the wonderful Shirley Jump who is a finalist in the Madcap Award for THE DATING GAME (Silhouette Romance, December 2005) and in the Bookseller's Best for THE MARINE'S KISS (Silhouette Romance, August 2005).

Fingers crossed for you Shirley!

AND THE WINNER IS...

Last night, new M&B Romance author, Fiona Harper, was presented with the Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Award at the Romantic Novelists' Association Summer Party for her first romance, The Blind-Date Marriage, to be released in December. She beat off contenders from mainstream houses to win the prize with a book that judge, Jenny Haddon, described as follows --

"This very contemporary short novel is funny and charming and has real heart. The hero is an original, with his two distinct personae. You’re on his side right from the cracking first page. Among our pleasures were a delightfully brisk heroine, whizzy plot, her ageing rocker dad and the way the hero handles a truculent kid. We believed totally in the world and the characters, including a scuzzbag would-be blackmailer. And there were some fabulous one liners that turned us green with envy."

Apparently not only Fiona, but several M&B editors were in tears at the news!

Fiona with her editor, Kim Young, at the party.