The Award Winners from 2006

Here they are, a bit more prettied up, and all in one place: the lists of virtually guaranteed "good reads" released in 2006. The next time I'm at a bookseller like Amazon or Fictionwise, or one of the epublishers such as Ellora's Cave or Samhain, I'll make sure to head over to the right side of my blog and click on "+Award Winners+" so I can browse through these lists and melt my credit card.

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Passionate Ink is a Special Interest Chapter of Romance Writers of America for Erotic Romance writers. Of particular note is that the following awards are one of the very few places (outside of epubs) where erotic romances are categorized by sub-genre (I sure wish that happened more often).

The 2006 PASSIONATE PLUME Finalists
Awarded at the 2007 RWA National Conference

Contemporary:

1st - Saskia Walker - Double Dare (Berkley Trade)
2nd- MacKenzie McKade - A Tall Dark Cowboy (Ellora's Cave)
3rd- Denise A. Agnew -Dangerous Intentions (Ellora's Cave)
HM- Denise A. Agnew - Treacherous Wishes (Ellora's Cave)
HM- Shelley Bradley - Strip Search (Berkley Sensations- mass market)

Futuristic / Fantasy / Sci-Fi:

1st - Cat Marsters - Almost Human (Ellora's Cave)
2nd- Vivi Anna - Inferno (Kensington Aphrodisia- print and ebook)
3rd- Melany Logen - Torc’s Salvation (Ellora's Cave)
HM- Lara Santiago - The Lawman’s Wife (Siren Publishing)
HM- Jory Strong - Fallon Mates: Roping Savannah (Ellora's Cave)

Historical:

1st - Jade Lee - Burning Tigress (Leisure- mass market)
2nd- Sharon Page - Sin (Kensington Aphrodisia- print and ebook)
3rd- Jessica Trapp - Master of Desire (Zebra- mass market)
HM- Sylvia Day - ASK FOR IT (Kensington Brava, Trade)
HM- Samantha Kane - The Courage To Love (Ellora's Cave)
[Crème Brûlée!! See my previous commentary]

Novella:

1st - Anna Leigh Keaton - Five Alarm Neightbor (Cobblestone Press)
2nd- Nikki Alton - Rodeo Man- The Cowboy anthology (Kensington Aphrodisia, trade)
3rd- Loribelle Hunt - Defending Serenity (Cobblestone Press)
HM- Summer Devon - Invisible Touch (Ellora's Cave)
HM- Anna Leigh Keaton and Madison Layle - Return To Me (Cobblestone Press)

Paranormal / Time Travel:

1st - MacKenzie McKade - Fallon’s Revenge (Samhain)
[Hypothetically speaking, IF I had the honor of judging this one, and IF I had given it a really high score, I'd be proud as a mama-hen that it made it this far, would place it in my Peanut M&Ms category, and would want to totally pimp it. But since judging is anonymous, I would NEVER do so. Just sayin'.]
2nd- Mechele Armstrong - Blood Lines: Conduit (Loose-Id)
3rd- Cheyenne McCray - Seduced By Magic (St. Martin's Press- mass market)
[I read this when it was first released, this is book 2 of the Magic series and I recommend that book 1, Forbidden Magic, be read first. I'd place this series at the top of my M&Ms category.]
HM- Laura Baumbach - Enthralled (Changeling Press)
HM- Ann Jacobs - d’Argent Honor 2: Eternally (Ellora's Cave)

STROKE OF MIDNIGHT (Unpublished Manuscripts) Finalists
Awarded at the 2007 RWA National Conference
(I'll be happy to update this list with any news/links provided in the comments)

Contemporary:

1st - Anne Rigoulot (aka Marissa Scott)- When Petals Fall
2nd- Robin L. Rotham - BIG Trouble
3rd- Jennifer Brassel - Secret Reflection
HM- Julie Hurwitz - The Amazing Sex Race
HM- Julie MenschWellons - Liar, Liar

Historical:

1st - Elaine M. Powell - A Lord’s Obligations
2nd- Evie Byrne - Dante’s Inferno
3rd- Lori Schaefer - The Voyage
HM- Seeley deBorn (aka Jennifer Begley)- Where The Wolf Lies
HM- Sandy Storm - Fossa’s Dare

Paranormal/Time Travel:

1st - Evie Byrne - Burn For You
2nd- Susan Meier - Not That Innocent
3rd- Holly Youngquist - Crime of Passion
HM- Stephanie Mowery (aka Stephanie Julian) - Spell Bound
HM- Nancy Liedel(aka Nancy Lindquist) - To Find A Queen

Futuristic/Sci-Fi/Fantasy:

1st - Shelli Stevens - The Captured Rose
2nd- Sher LeScott - Something More Than Sex
3rd- Adele Dubois - Dream Traveler (Ellora's Cave)
HM- Lee Swift - Eternally Three: Touching Perfection

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Romance Writers of America (RWA) is the national association for published and aspiring romance writers.

The 2006 RITA and Golden Heart Award Finalists

The 2006 RITA Award Winners
Awarded at the 2007 RWA National Conference

The 2006 Golden Heart Award Winners (Unpublished Manuscripts)
Awarded at the 2007 RWA National Conference

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Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine - The Magazine for Fiction Lovers

Romantic Times 2006 Reviewers' Choice Award Nominees

Romantic Times 2006 Reviewers' Choice Award Winners
Awarded at the 2007 RT Booklovers Convention

Romantic Times 2006 Career Achievement Award Nominees

Romantic Times 2006 Career Achievement Award Winners
Awarded at the 2007 RT Booklovers Convention

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ParanormalRomance.org (PNR) is the official homepage for the ParaNormalRomance Groups designed for lovers of the Paranormal Romance sub-genre. Members meet online via YahooGroups and share an interest in science fiction, fantasy, and romantic fiction with paranormal elements, including time travel, futuristic, magical, ghost, vampire and shapeshifter themes.

Paranormal Excellence Award for Romantic Literature- P.E.A.R.L. Awards
Chosen by the members of the PNR groups

2006 P.E.A.R.L. Nominees

2006 P.E.A.R.L. Award Winners
Winners were announced February 19, 2007