The Libertà Books Shorter Romantic Novel Award
Libertà Books is a light-hearted website (libertabooks.com) where readers and authors share their experience, discoveries, favourites and occasional oddities. Run by four multi-published authors, it has evolved to cover advice on writing and, in the real world, well-received workshops for both experienced and aspiring writers. Limited to the virtual world in 2020, Libertà offered visitors a huge variety of blog posts, including a multi-part mystery serial set in today’s Covid world. Expect more interesting material in 2021.
Every author has their own unique story to tell about how and why they came to be a novelist. Read on to find out the stories behind the talented authors shortlisted for the prestigious award, as they reveal them, and the inspiration behind their lovely novels.
A Will, A Wish and a Wedding – Kate Hardy
Mills & Boon True Love
I’ve been fascinated by butterflies since I was tiny and saw the Margaret Fountaine collection in Norwich Castle, so I wanted that as a background for my heroine. I also love glass buildings, so my heroine had to be an architect specialising in glass. Add an unusual will, a tragic past and an Iron Age hill fort (not far from me!) – and there was the inspiration for A Will, A Wish and a Wedding.
The Warrior Knight and the Widow – Ella Matthews
Mills & Boon Historical
Oystermouth Castle, in the fishing village of Mumbles, sits on top of a hill over-looking a wide bay. Since childhood, I’ve made up stories about the people who lived there in times gone by. The castle appears in The Warrior Knight and the Widow as the home Lady Ellena wants to protect at all costs. Sir Braedan is the knight who could take it all away from her. I hope I’ve done it justice!
The Day that Changed Everything – Catherine Miller
Bookouture
The main inspiration for The Day that Changed Everything came from a dream. In that dream, I moved into a bungalow and because it was to help care for foster children, I named it the Bunk-A-Low because it would be filled with bunk beds in the future. That was how Tabitha’s story began and the Bunk-A-Low came to exist in this story about all the loves we might experience in a lifetime.
Second Chance for the Single Mom – Sophie Pembroke
Mills & Boon True Love
Second Chance for the Single Mum was actually inspired by my lovely editor, Megan Haslam. When we started working together we quickly bonded over a love of Welsh rugby, and I promised her that one day I’d write her a rugby romance. Several years later, she held me to it. We met up at the RWA conference in New York and brainstormed the characters and the conflict – one of the most fun working lunches ever!
The Return of the Disappearing Duke – Lara Temple
Mills & Boon True Love
The Return of the Disappearing Duke started with a childhood fascination with Egyptian history that deepened when I spent several months travelling and studying there. It was a matter of time before Egypt infiltrated my historical romances and one day I found the perfect hero and heroine for the job — a scarred mercenary-duke on the run from his past and a Shakespeare-loving heroine on the run from her present. I added a couple of opinionated camels, temples, hammams, and a ton of sizzling romance. The result is The Return of the Disappearing Duke — I hope it gives readers as much joy as it gave me to write it.
Cinderella and the Surgeon – Scarlet Wilson
Mills & Boon Medical
The winner will be announced on the 8th March 2021.
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valerie holmes, author 