It’s time for the 2017 RITA Awards! For those who don’t know, the RITA Awards are the annual published author awards presented by Romance Writers of America.
They are a big deal, the Oscars of the romance writing world. I read Christian fiction, so I’m most interested in the Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements category.
The four finalists for 2017 are:
- My Hope Next Door by Tammy L Gray
- Keeper of the Stars by Robin Lee Hatcher
- Close to You by Kara Isaac (who also finalled in the Debut novel category)
- Trust My Heart by Carol J Post
I’ve read and reviewed all four books, and I’m glad I’m not a judge!
All four books were excellent, and it’s going to be a tough decision for someone (or several someones). I’d love for Kara Isaac to win, because Close to You is set in New Zealand and she’s finalled in two categories. And I edited her latest book, Then There Was You. Not that I’m biased or anything.
Here are links to my reviews:
Close to You
Keeper of the Stars
My Hope Next Door
Trust My Heart
My review of Keeper of the Stars was a guest post at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, as part of their annual RITA challenge. They ask for guest reviewers to volunteer to review each of the (many) finalists. They post two reviews of each book in the weeks leading up to the announcement of the winners.
These reviews are interesting to read because they are mostly written by readers who don’t usually read Christian romance. You’ll see the reviews aren’t nearly as glowing as those usually seen on Christian fiction review sites.
Here are links to the other SBTB reviews:
A B- review for Close to You from Bluetomarto.
A C- review for Close to You from Hope.
A B- review for Trust My Heart from LauraL.
A C- review for Trust My Heart from DonnaMarie.
A C+ review from Julia for Keeper of the Stars.
A D review for My Hope Next Door from Samantha.
If you go by the SBTB grades, the winner will be Keeper of the Stars. But that’s based on my B+ review, and I’d have given B+ or better grades to all four finalists!
The winners will be announced at the Romance Writers of America conference, on 27 July.
