AND THE RITA GOES TO... A Complete List of Winners

DENVER, CO --Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for published and aspiring romance fiction authors, announced the winners of the 2018 RITA® Awards on Thursday, July 19, at a black-tie awards ceremony at its 38th Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.
 
The RITA® Award is the highest award of distinction in romance fiction and recognizes outstanding published romance novels and novellas. 
 
Up to 2,000 romance novels and novellas from 13 different categories are judged each year in the RITA® competition. After the first round of judging by fellow published romance authors, the competition narrows to approximately 100 finalists. Then, final round judges, also published romance authors, select one winner in each category from among the finalists. ​

​2018 RITA Winners

Best First Book Winner
​
Take the Lead by Alexis Daria
St. Martin's Press, Swerve
Holly Ingraham, editor

Contemporary Romance Long
​
WinnerFalling Hard by Lexi Ryan
Self-Published
Rhonda Merwarth, editor

Contemporary Romance Mid-Length Winner
Tell Me by Abigail Strom
Amazon, Montlake Publishing
Maria Gomez and Charlotte Herscher, editors

Contemporary Romance Short Winner

Second Chance Summer by Kait Nolan
Self-Published
Susan Bischoff, editor

Erotic Romance Winner

Wicked Dirty by J. Kenner
Martini & Olive Books
Martini & Olive, editor

Historical Romance: Long Winner

​Between the Devil and the Duke by Kelly Bowen
Grand Central Publishing, Forever
Alex Logan, editor

Historical Romance: Short Winner

​Waltzing with the Earl by Catherine Tinley
Harlequin Mills & Boon, Historical
Julia Williams, editor

​

Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance

Now that You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
Harlequin, HQN
Susan Swinwood, editor

Paranormal Romance Winner

Hunt the Darkness by Stephanie Rowe
Self-Published

Romance Novella Winner

Forbidden River by Brynn Kelly
Harlequin, HQN
Allison Carroll, editor

Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements

Then There Was You by Kara Isaac
Self-Published
Iola Goulton and Halee Matthews, editors

Romantic Suspense Winner

The Fixer by HelenKay Dimon
HarperCollins, Avon Books
May Chen, editor

Young Adult Romance Winner

Seize Today by Pintip Dunn
Entangled Publishing, Entangled Teen
Liz Pelletier, editor

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