Hold Back the Stars shortlisted for Romantic Novel Awards 2018

A big week for my little book.

First shortlisted for Starburst Magazine's Brave New Words, an award recognising original genre writing, today Hold Back the Stars was announced as a finalist for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Eeeee!

Run by the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the awards – called the RoNAs – are fascinating in that they celebrate the best in romantic fiction each year, honouring works in Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Epic Romantic Fiction, Historical Romance, Romantic Comedy, Paranormal and Speculative Romance, Young Adult Romance and Shorter Romantic Fiction (with the RoNA Rose Award). It’s fantastic to see an award recognise so many genres and facets a love story can take.

Hold Back the Stars made the shortlist for Paranormal and Speculative Romantic Novel.

It’s surreal to see my novel in a category alongside Rowan Coleman and Matt Haig, both of whom very kindly supported Hold Back the Stars and each provided quotes that adorn my book’s cover. 

Both the Brave New Words and RoNA nominations mean a lot to me; with Hold Back the Stars, I sought to combine a science-fiction setting with a love story to root for... which, in truth, can sometimes feel like falling between two posts. Being recognised for genre writing and romance respectively makes me really, really happy.

The RoNAs take place on March 5th and I can’t wait to see everyone and meet some of my favourite authors at the event!

Find out more about the Romantic Novel Awards here.
Read all of the shortlists for the 2018 RoNAs here.