Great news!

We take a break from our freezing winter (well okay, here in Canada it's freezing, obviously in other parts of the world it's not) to bring you some good news!

First, congrats to Patricia Woodside who was our December winner if Shirley Jump's draw. Patricia wins a copy of Miracle on Christmas Eve!

As well, the shortlist for Romance Novelist Association's 2009 Romance Prize is out and there are a few familiar names on the list. Here's the official release:

The Romance Prize will be presented at the RNA’s Awards Lunch on 10th February 2009 at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington.

The winner will be selected from the following books:

What's Love Got to Do With It? - Lucy Broadbent (Little Black Dress, Headline)

The Wild Card - Beth Elliott (Robert Hale)

Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire's Pleasure - India Grey (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Sold to the Highest Bidder - Kate Hardy (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Saying Yes to the Millionaire - Fiona Harper (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Promoted to Wife and Mother - Jessica Hart (Harlequin Mills & Boon)

Fiona Harper has been short-listed before, and both Jessica Hart and Kate Hardy are past winners. Kate Hardy, who won in 2008 with Breakfast at Giovanni’s, had this to say: "Winning the Romance Prize has been the highlight of my career to date, and it's certainly opened up opportunities. I'm very proud to have won the award and to be part of the RNA - and have been delighted by messages of support over the year. I even had a personal letter of congratulations from the chancellor of the University of Leicester!"

The shortlist will be judged by Margaret James, creative writing teacher for the London School of Journalism and regular columnist with Writing Magazine; Paul Reizin, writer, producer and journalist; and Linda Leatherbarrow, prize-winning short story writer, reviewer and MA lecturer at Middlesex.

Congrats to our "Romancers" Fiona and Jessica, and also to Presents authors India Grey and Kate Hardy. And look for a report on the Awards Lunch in February!