Recommended Reading
2009 RITA Award Finalists
Presented by the Romance Writers of America
Cherry Adair
While in Rio to do a profile on a plastic surgery spa catering to celebrities — and to undergo treatment herself to boost her career — writer Sydney McBride encounters Lucas Fox, a T-FLAC operative out to stop an unspeakable evil.
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Joanna Bourne
As the fates of nations hang in the balance, elusive spy Annique Villiers meets her match in British spymaster Robert Grey, when they form an uneasy alliance in order to survive.
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Celeste Bradley
When wallflower Sophie’s friend Graham unexpectedly inherits a title and huge debts, forcing him to find a wealthy wife, Sophie enlists the help of her cousins for a makeover that will catch his eye.
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Allison Brennan
When Theodore Glenn escapes from prison, he continues the murdering spree ended by his incarceration seven years ago, but this time his target is the woman who put him behind bars.
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Gwyn Cready
Fed up with romance, Flip Allison visits an enigmatic massage therapist who promises her an imaginary session with one of literature’s great heroes, an offer that lands Flip in Regency England with Fitzwilliam Darcy.
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Deeanne Gist
Tony Morgan’s new job finds him butting heads with Essie Spreckelmeyer, who runs her father’s company, Sullivan Oil, and causes him problems when she contradicts his orders and tangles with his ambitions.
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Samantha Graves
Curator Jillian Talbot comes to the aid of retired tomb-raider Simon Bonner, who is in possession of a mysterious ancient crystal lens, which takes them on a quest to Mexico in search of a legendary treasure and puts them in the path of danger.
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Robin Lee Hatcher
As part of a golden couple, Katherine has a perfect life. But when a corporate scandal leads to her husband’s arrest, Katherine wonders if her marriage and her life in general can survive her husband’s breach of trust.
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Lorraine Heath
Wanting nothing more than respectability and a family, rogue Lucian Langdon strikes a bargain with Lady Catherine Mabry, who will do anything to protect those she loves.
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Elizabeth Hoyt
Melisande Fleming finally gets a chance to prove her love for rakish Lord Vale when he is jilted on his wedding day. But his nightmares and a deadly betrayal from the past threaten to tear them apart.
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Denise Hunter
When Dr. Kate’s fiancé jilts her the morning of the wedding, which coincides with the release of her relationship book, Lucas Wright offers to marry Kate and save her public image.
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Eloisa James
Tired of the responsibilities and behavior that go with her titles, Harriet, Duchess of Berrow, risks her reputation to attend Lord Justinian Strange’s dissolute fete in disguise, unaware that her host has discovered her masquerade and will do anything to entice her to remain with him forever.
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Lisa Kleypas
Refusing to give in to his feelings for the girl whose family had rescued him from death as a boy, Kev Merripen is reunited with his long-denied love as he competes for her affections and struggles to confront a dangerous secret concerning his destiny.
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Stephanie Laurens
A tale set in the aristocratic ballrooms, boudoirs, and country estates of nineteenth-century England finds Barnaby Adair’s unconventional life challenged by an unanticipated romance.
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Tamara Leigh
Grace Stewart must make a decision to deliver the dirt on Steeple Side Christian Resources and secure her future as an investigative reporter, or move her life in a new direction.
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Debbie Macomber
Widow Anne Marie Roche, the owner of a successful Seattle bookstore, creates a list of twenty wishes, and, while acting upon her wishes, encounters an eight-year-old girl named Ellen who helps her complete her list—with unexpected results.
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Susan Mallery
Piano prodigy Claire Keyes offers to help out in the family bakery after her sister gets sick, and there she meets ruggedly sexy Wyatt, who ignites her passions even though he comes from a vastly different world.
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Pamela Morsi
While visiting his ailing grandfather, Jack Crabtree and his wife Claire begin a week-long master class on what matters most in life and love.
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Carla Neggers
While investigating the mysterious legend of an ancient stone angel in Ireland, folklorist Keira Sullivan is rescued from disaster by Simon Cahill, who does not believe in myths or magic until he discovers that they are being followed by a great evil.
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Brenda Novak
Profiler Jasmine Stratford is determined to track down the man who kidnapped her sister sixteen years ago, and she joins forces with Romain Fornier, an ex-cop whose daughter may have been kidnapped and murdered by the same man.
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Nora Roberts
Working to restore a family farmhouse, Cilla McGowan remembers her grandmother’s fatal overdose years earlier before meeting a handsome neighbor and discovering a cache of letters that suggests her grandmother had been pregnant at the time of her death.
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Pam Rosenthal
The scandalous private life of novelist Countess Marina Wyatt takes a dramatic turn when she becomes embroiled in a torrid and dangerous love affair with Jasper James Hedges, a renowned art appraiser and the uncle of a former lover.
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Sherry Thomas
After ten years of marriage and living on separate continents following a betrayal on the day after their wedding, Lord and Lady Tremaine are reunited when Gigi decides that she wants a divorce, and Camden comes up with an outrageous demand in exchange for her freedom.
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Karen White
Inheriting an historic home from an elderly man she had recently met, Melanie Middleton, a Charleston real-estate agent who possesses the ability to see ghosts, finds herself dealing with an entire family of haunts and joins forces with Jack Trenholm, a handsome writer, to unravel the house’s dark history.
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Susan Wiggs
Sophie Bellamy has dedicated her life to helping people in war-torn countries. But when she survives a hostage situation, she remembers what matters most — the children she loves back home. Haunted by regrets, she returns home, determined to repair the bonds with her family.
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