May 7, 2014

BEST ROMANCE 2013

Whitney Award "Loser" photo
For those finalists who DO NOT win the Whitney they have a fun tradition of "drowning their sorrows in cheesecake..."

There is some pretty fine talent in this picture...I think they are ALL WINNERS!
But alas...only ONE can take home the Whitney :)

I have read ALL of the following books! They are truly THE BEST OF THE BEST!

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BEST ROMANCE 2013
went to Julianne Donaldson for BLACKMOORE

Kate Worthington knows her heart and she knows she will never marry. Her plan is to travel to India instead—if only to find peace for her restless spirit and to escape the family she abhors. But Kate's meddlesome mother has other plans. She makes a bargain with Kate: India, yes, but only after Kate has secured—and rejected—three marriage proposals.

Kate journeys to the stately manor of Blackmoore determined to fulfill her end of the bargain sooner rather than later and enlists the help of her dearest childhood friend, Henry Delafield. But when it comes to matters of love, bargains are meaningless and plans are changeable. There on the wild lands of Blackmoore, Kate must face the truth that has kept her heart captive. Will the proposal she is determined to reject actually be the one thing that will set her heart free?

Set in Northern England in 1820, Blackmoore is a regency romance that tells the story of a young woman struggling to learn how to follow her heart.


About the Author
Julianne Donaldson grew up as the daughter of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. She learned how to ski in the Italian Alps, visited East Berlin before the wall came down, and spent three years living next to a 500-year-old castle. After earning a degree in English, she turned her attention to writing about distant times and places. She lives in Utah with her husband and four children.

She gets a lot of people asking her what she is working on right now....

and she says:

"You have all been very patient as I’ve been kind of out of it the last seven months or so. To reward you, I’m giving you a sneak peek of my current work in progress:

It’s a boy!

You can follow Julianne on Facebook / Blog

Julianne's book also took
BEST NOVEL 
OF THE YEAR 2013

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THE OTHER FINALISTS WERE

Hearth Fires by Dorothy Keddington
Mackenzie Graham's ideal assignment - writing an article on storybook homes - takes a dangerous turn when she photographs a clandestine meeting between a prominent judge, a black-market kingpin, and a crooked cop. Rescued from harm's way by a rugged cowboy-attorney, Mackenzie finds her career and life forever changed.

Flying bullets and wild bulls team up with romance and suspense in the classic Keddington tradition. This exciting new novel will warm you on the coldest of nights.






Longing for Home by Sarah M. Eden
Though she was only a child during the darkest days of Ireland’s Great Famine, Katie Macauley feels responsible for the loss of her family’s land and the death of her sister. Now a woman grown, Katie has left Ireland for America and the promise of earning money enough to return home again and plead for her family’s forgiveness. She arrives in Hope Springs, Wyoming Territory, a town sharply divided between the Americans who have settled there, with their deep hatred of the Irish, and the Irish immigrants who have come searching for a place to call home.

Her arrival tips the precarious balance, and the feud erupts anew. Even in the midst of hatred and violence, however, Katie finds reason to hope. Two men, as different as they are intriguing, vie for her heart, turning her thoughts for the first time toward a future away from Ireland. Katie must now make the hardest decision of her life: stay and give her heart a chance at love, or return home and give her soul the possibility of peace.


Second Chances by Melanie Jacobson
After walking out of a thankless job at a prestigious marketing firm, feisty California entrepreneur Louisa Gibson is going into business for herself. Lou’s pioneering venture, The Mormon Bachelor, is a reality dating web series sure to be fabulous advertising for her new marketing firm. And as a bonus, she can solve a problem close to home: while Huntington Beach is crawling with eligible, sun-bronzed Saints, they’ve forgotten the vital skill of dating. Lou hopes the reality show will finally inspire this group of hangout enthusiasts to pair off. But shortly before filming begins, the unthinkable happens—Trentyn, a.k.a. The Bachelor, gets a girlfriend. And Lou needs a new leading man—fast.

Enter Nick, Lou’s devastatingly handsome ex-boy- friend. He’s the stereotypical actor: shallow, self-serving . . . and perfect for the job. A whirlwind of dating ensues, with Nick at the center of it all. Things are going according to plan—that is, until Lou is forced to step in as a substitute bachelorette, becoming an unwitting cast member on her own show. Despite Nick’s attempts to reestablish their friendship and the growing spark between them, Lou is determined to keep her distance. The show must go on—but what’s a girl to do when the Mr. Wrong of the past just may be the Mr. Right of the future?


The Orchard by Krista Lynne Jensen
On the idyllic shores of Flathead Lake, Montana, Alisen Embry finds purpose and comfort tending her late mother’s cherry orchard adjacent to the family’s beloved lake house. Though pained by the loss of her mother and her father’s estrangement, it is Derick Whitney—the man she fell in love with four years earlier—who truly influences Alisen’s view of her future . . .

Derick and Alisen wanted nothing more than to spend eternity together; however, intolerance and secrets forced Alisen to make a shattering choice between her family and the man she loved.

But destiny always has a way of setting things right . . .

Now the Embry family has found themselves hopelessly in debt, and they realize renting the lake house is the only hope of saving the cherished or- chard and family home. When Alisen discovers the new tenants have a connection to her past, her life takes an unexpected turn. Will fate find a way to reconnect what was broken so many years before?



Check back tomorrow to see who won


~ BEST HISTORICAL FICTION 2013 ~

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