2010 RITA Awards

Looking for a little romance for your next day at the beach? Check out the 2010 RITA Award winners.

	Best Young Adult Romance Perfect Chemistry ~ Simone Elkeles When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she’s worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.
	Best Novel With Strong Romantic Elements Lost Recipe for Happiness ~ Barbara O’Neal It’s the opportunity Elena Alvarez has been waiting for–the challenge of running her own kitchen in a world-class restaurant. Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother’s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is–and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own. Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He’s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don’t die quietly, yet a chance to find happiness at last is worth the risk.
	Best Historical Romance Not Quite a Husband ~ Sherry Thomas Their marriage lasted only slightly longer than the honeymoon—to no one’s surprise, not even Bryony Asquith’s. A man as talented, handsome, and sought after by society as Leo Marsden couldn’t possibly want to spend his entire life with a woman who rebelled against propriety by becoming a doctor. Why, then, three years after their annulment and half a world away, does he track her down at her clinic in the remotest corner of India?
	Best Regency Historical Romance What Happens in London ~ Julia Quinn When Olivia Bevelstoke is told that her new neighbor may have killed his fiance, she doesn’t believe it for a second, but, still, how can she help spying on him, just to be sure? So she stakes out a spot near her bedroom window, cleverly concealed by curtains, watches, and waits . . . and discovers a most intriguing man, who is definitely up to something.
	Best Paranormal Romance Kiss of a Demon King ~ Kresley Cole HIS OBSESSION… Sabine, Sorceress of Illusions: the evil beauty who surrenders her body, but not her heart. HER DOWNFALL… Rydstrom Woede: the ruthless warrior who vows to keep her at all costs. THEY WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO WANT EACH OTHER THIS MUCH… With each smoldering encounter, their shared hunger only increases. If they can defeat the sinister enemy that stands between them, will Sabine make the ultimate sacrifice for her demon? Or will the proud king lay down his crown and arms to save his sorceress?
	Best Romantic Suspense Whisper of Warning ~ Laura Griffin Courtney Glass has been in trouble all her life, but nothing tops being an up-close witness to a brutal murder. Until she’s accused of the crime. Every scrap of evidence points to her guilt, and only Courtney knows what really happened. Now she must prove that she’s not a murderer…but is one of the killer’s intended victims. As police investigators hammer her for answers, Courtney knows she has two choices: run, or trust the brooding, sexy detective who’s made it clear she’s his prime suspect.
	Best First Book One Scream Away ~ Kate Brady Music professor Brady launches into her romantic suspense debut with a woman’s torture-murder at the hands of clever but crazy serial killer Chevy Bankes. Using the dead woman’s phone, he calls Beth Denison, who is haunted by seven years of secrets and terror, and threatens Beth’s daughter, Abby. As Bankes continues roaming the Seattle area and torturing women to death, Neil Sheridan, a burned-out ex-FBI agent, joins the investigation through a connection to one of Bankes’s earlier murders. Beth and Neil share emotional damage and attraction, revealing their secrets at a lugubrious pace. Their mutual unmasking parallels the desperate dig for clues, but as they race to find Bankes, he invades Beth’s home to lie in wait. Snappy dialogue, good police procedural details and twisty psychology create white-hot tension that thriller fans will love, overwhelming the slow, bare-bones romance.
	Best Contemporary Single Title Romance Too Good To Be True ~ Kristan Higgins When Grace Emerson’s ex-fiance starts dating her younger sister, extreme measures are called for. To keep everyone from obsessing about her love life, Grace announces that she’s seeing someone. Someone wonderful. Someone handsome. Someone completely made up. Who is this Mr. Right? Someone…exactly unlike her renegade neighbor Callahan O’Shea. Well, someone with his looks, maybe. His hot body. His knife-sharp sense of humor. His smarts and big heart. Whoa. No. Callahan O’Shea is not her perfect man! Not with his unsavory past. So why does Mr. Wrong feel so…right?