AustLit logo
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Notes

  • 'Novels of any length, tone, or style, set in any place or time, in which a romance plays a significant part in the story, though it is not necessarily the central plot. Other themes or elements take the plot beyond the traditional romance boundaries.'

    This award was inaugurated in 2009.

    Source: Romance Writers of Australia website, http://www.romanceaustralia.com
    Sighted: 18/08/2009

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2023

winner y separately published work icon The Library at Wagtail Ridge Janet Gover , Chatswood : HQ Fiction , 2022 24769505 2022 single work novel romance

'When Lou Taylor inherits a quaint country cottage and a mobile library full of books from her birth mother, she heads to the small town of Wagtail Ridge to learn more about the woman she never knew. Curiously, the last piece of the bequest is a handwritten letter, the first of many Luca left scattered along the library's route in hopes of finally sharing her secrets with the daughter she had to give up.

'The townspeople of Wagtail Ridge flock around Lou, wanting to share the stories of Luca's life, but she knows she must learn about her birth mother in the way Luca intended. Jake Barnes, her new neighbour, offers to help her follow the trail, but weighing on his conscience is a promise he made to Luca - a secret that now stands between him and the woman who's slowly capturing his heart...

'As the kilometres fly by, Lou gradually untangles who her mother was and what lay behind the choices she made. At the same time, she finds herself drawing ever closer to kind, handsome Jake. But will it all be enough to keep her in Wagtail Ridge when she has another happy life waiting for her in the city?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2022

winner y separately published work icon All We Have Is Now Kaneana May , Chatswood : HQ Fiction , 2021 20947626 2021 single work novel

'Health and wellbeing brought Olive, Elsie and Bree together. After five years, their bustling wellness centre is demanding expansion. A beautiful federation house nestled among the picturesque backdrop of their small town is the perfect place to grow their business. But they don't count on their personal lives getting in the way.

'Practical and pragmatic, Olive keeps her past hidden from her friends. But when an old high-school flame shows up, the secrets she's worked so hard to bury threaten to tear her carefully constructed world apart.

'Bree is the fun-loving one, although family tensions lurk behind her free-spirited facade. The reappearance of her troubled sister Winnie brings Bree's priorities into sharp focus. Will she have to shelve her own happiness to save her sister? 

'Kind and maternal to all those around her, Elsie's role as the practice's counsellor comes naturally. But when tragedy strikes, her world tumbles down like a house of cards.

'With everything they've built in disarray, their friendship is on the line...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2021

winner y separately published work icon Just an Ordinary Family Fiona Lowe , Sydney : HQ Fiction , 2020 18585048 2020 single work novel

'Every family has its secrets...

'Alice Hunter is smarting from the raw deal life has thrown her way: suddenly single, jobless and forced to move home to her parents' tiny seaside town. And now she faces an uncomfortable truth. She wants her twin sister Libby's enviable life.

'Libby's closest friend Jess Dekic has been around the Hunter family for so long she might as well be blood. She's always considered herself a sister closer to Libby than Alice ever could be...

'Libby Hunter has all of life's boxes ticked: prominent small-town doctor, gorgeous husband and two young daughters. But when she is betrayed by those she loves most, it reveals how tenuous her world is...

'For Karen Hunter, her children are a double-edged sword of pain and pride. She's always tried to guide her girls through life's pitfalls, but how do you protect your children when they're adults?

'As the family implodes, the fallout for these four women will be inescapable...' (Publication summary)

Year: 2020

winner y separately published work icon Just One Wish Rachael Johns , Sydney : HQ Fiction , 2019 16576881 2019 single work novel

'Three women, three secrets, one life-changing journey.

'Alice has always been a trailblazer as a scientist, activist, and mother. She knew her choices would involve sacrifices, but now, on the eve of her eightieth birthday, she's beginning to wonder if she's sacrificed too much.

'Alice's daughter Sappho rebelled against her unconventional upbringing, choosing to marry young and embrace life as a homemaker, but her status as a domestic goddess has recently taken a surprising turn.

'Ged, has always been the peacemaker between her grandmother and mother. A tenacious journalist she knows what she wants in life and love, yet when everything in her world starts falling apart, she begins to question whether she really knows anyone at all.

'At a crossroads in each of their lives, Alice, Sappho and Ged embark on a celebratory trip together, but instead of bringing them closer, the holiday sparks life-changing consequences and lifts the lid on a fifty-year secret.

'Can Ged rescue her family if their story is built on a betrayal?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2019

Indexed selectively. Also finalist: New Zealand writer Soraya Nicholas.
winner y separately published work icon Tangled Vines Megan Mayfair , Edinburgh : Crooked Cat Books , 2018 15427513 2018 single work novel romance

'Amelia O'Sullivan is a photographer who has always viewed herself through the wrong lens. When her marriage publicly crashes around her, she flees to the safety of her aunt's country property to pick up the pieces. Can she adjust her focus to what she really wants from her life?

'Born into a wealthy and powerful family, Frederick Doyle may seem like a man who has it all, but behind the scenes, a bitter business feud threatens an irrevocable family split. As he fights for control of the winery he'd built from the ground up, he finds a supportive ally in Amelia and becomes increasingly beguiled by her creative spirit.

'Jill McMahon is a successful novelist suffering from writer's block over her latest manuscript. Finding her niece, Amelia, at her door, reminds her of the bonds of family, but in seeing Amelia and Frederick's relationship grow, a long-forgotten and painful secret threatens to re-surface.

'Can Amelia, Frederick and Jill untangle themselves from their pasts or will history simply repeat itself?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Works About this Award

Mining for New Romance Scenarios Linda Morris , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 20 August 2013; (p. 34)
A Romance with Writing Turns into Thriller Danica Fellows , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 10 June 2010; (p. 8)
X