An author from Bude author has been shortlisted in the Romantic Saga Award category with her novel, Courage for the Cornish Girls, for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) annual Romantic Novel Awards for 2023.

Betty Walker writes the ‘Cornish Girls’ series of wartime sagas. A mother of five, she lives in Cornwall and loves discovering curious historical facts and investigating her family tree. She also writes contemporary thrillers and romance as Jane Holland.

She commented: “I’m thrilled and honoured to have been shortlisted for such a prestigious award!”

The awards celebrate excellence in romantic fiction in all its forms.

Jean Fullerton, the RNA chair, commented: “Once again, our lovely reader-judges have had the almost impossible task of creating award shortlists from what is an unbelievable number of cracking, page-turning novels. Thankfully they have, and I can only say this year’s shortlist books are the crème de la crème of romantic fiction.”

Sharon Ibbotson, the RNA awards coordinator, added: “Our genre continues to go from strength to strength, providing escapism, delight and delicious romance with the turn of every page. Our shortlisted books, voted for by real, everyday readers, are a testament to wordmanship and the dedication of their authors, who we congratulate today.”

The awards, which have been held since their inception in 1960, are highly respected in the UK publishing industry. Previous winners include Santa Montefiore, Joe Heap, Julie Cohen and Milly Johnson. The awards are unique in that they are judged entirely by readers, without input from any industry professionals.

The award categories are as follows: The Fantasy Romantic Novel Award, the Jackie Collins Award for Romantic Thrillers, the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award, the Christmas/Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award, the Shorter Romantic Novel Award, the Romantic Saga Award, the Jane Wenham-Jones Award for Romantic Comedy, the Historical Romantic Novel Award, the Contemporary Romantic Novel Award, and the Popular Romantic Fiction Award (voted for by librarians, booksellers and book bloggers/reviewers).

The winners of the awards will be announced during the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Novel Awards ceremony, which is being held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London in March.