RWA announces Ruby Award 2025 finalists

Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) has announced the finalists for the 2025 Romantic Book of the Year (Ruby) Awards.

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Historical

• The Duke Says I Do (Anna Campbell, self-published)
• A Most Improper Duchess (Alivia Fleur, self-published)
• The Scandalous Widow (Elizabeth Rolls, M&B Historical)

Long contemporary 

• The Cowboy’s Family Christmas (Kaz Delaney, Tule Publishing)
• Return to Hope Creek (Alyssa J Montgomery, Escape)
• Ocean’s Embrace (Lisa Stanbridge, Crystal Brook Publishing)

Romantic elements

• What They Told Me (Hayley Lawrence, Scholastic)
• The Accident (Fiona Lowe, HQ)
• The Barrington Book Club (Susan Mackie, self-published)
• The Marriage Gap Year (Yannick Thoroval, Further Publishing)

Romantic suspense

• Keeping Astrid (Nicole Flockton, self-published)
• The Grazier’s Son (Catheryn Hein, HQ)
• Reckless Trust (Nyssa Kathryn, self-published)
• From Across the Sea (Annie Seaton, Anne Smith)

Short contemporary 

• Bali Escape with the Single Dad (Rachel Armstrong, Escape)
• Outback Princess (Ally Blake, M&B Forever)
• The Island Arrangement (Elouise Tynan, Ardently Romance)

Speculative fiction 

• The Reckoning (Angelica Grymm, self-published)
• Alpha Bound (Leisl Leighton, self-published)
• Wolf’s Prize (KE Turner, Totally Entwined)

Diverse

• Novel Problems (Elizabeth Luly, self-published)
• Ocean’s Embrace (Lisa Stanbridge, Crystal Brook Publishing)
• Meet me in Berlin (Samantha L Valentine, Sapphic Stories Publishing)

Novella

• Securing his Destiny (Nicole Flockton, self-published)
• Merry Quizmas (Megan Mayfair, self-published)
• Christmas at Yindi Creek (Stella Quinn, HQ).

The Ruby is awarded annually to writers from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand for excellence in romance fiction.

The 2025 winners will be announced on 23 August 2025 at a gala dinner in Hobart.

More information about the awards is available on the RWA website.

Category: Awards Local news