The ARRA awards- belated post

Sorry, I just discovered that this post had never gone up. So even though it’s late, I’m posting it now.

ARRA is the Australian Romance Readers Association, and each year they hold an awards night. This year it was their tenth annual awards night—congratulations ARRA!— and was held in Sydney. I flew up to attend.

I was a finalist in several awards, and was thrilled to win three — Favorite Historical (Marry In Haste), Favorite couple in a romance (Emm and Cal from Marry In Haste) and I was delighted to be named Favorite Australian Romance Author — for the third year running.

For me the day began when I met up with friends and fellow authors in the hotel. We sat around, chatting, catching up, talking books and reading and solving the problems of the world. Then we raced off to change into our outfits for the dinner.

It was a fun night. I was seated with ARRA Debbie and Heather, two representatives from Booktopia (a fabulous Australian on-line bookstore (e and paper)) who were co-sponsors of the evening, and a couple of my friends — Kelly Hunter and Keri Arthur, who both won awards! There they are in the pic. on the right.

I caught up with some wonderful readers, too. Unfortunately I can’t post pics of them all, but here’s one of me with the lovely Helen Sibbritt, one of the ARRA stalwarts, who reads and reviews an amazing number of books, and at the same time is a fabulous wife, mum and grandma. 

It’s  tradition at this event to have a “bling-off” but the judges surprised us all when they chose not “bling” but a fabulous skirt, with historical designs. So pretty. Here it is, with Lisa from Booktopia wearing her winning romantic skirt.

The full list of winners is here.

The winners of the 2017 Australian Romance Readers Awards were announced last night at our Awards Dinner in Sydney. We started the announcements off with our Members’ Choice awards:

• Strongest Heroine: the winner was Cressy Knight, The Long Paddock by Alissa Callen.
• Favourite Couple: the winner was Emmaline Westwood and Calbourne Rutherford, Marry in Haste by Anne Gracie.
• Favourite New Romance Author: the winner was Amanda Knight.

In the main categories the winners were:

• The Favourite Paranormal Romance for 2017 is Silver Silence by Nalini Singh. This award was sponsored by Hachette Australia and was presented by Rebecca Saunders.
• The Favourite Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Futuristic Romance 2017 is Blood Kissed by Keri Arthur. This award was presented by Pamela Diaz.
• The Favourite Short or Category Romance 2017 is Casey by Kelly Hunter. This award was sponsored by Harlequin Australia and was presented by Kate Cuthbert.
• The Favourite Historical Romance 2017 is Marry in Haste by Anne Gracie. This award was sponsored by Hachette Australia and was presented by Rebecca Saunders.
• The Favourite Contemporary Romance 2017 is Twist by Kylie Scott. This award was sponsored by Allen & Unwin and was presented by Amanda Knight.
• The Favourite Erotic Romance 2017 is Team Player by Cate Ellink. This award was sponsored by Booktopia and was presented by Tracey Mills.
• The Favourite Romantic Suspense 2017 is Heart Breaker by Shannon Curtis. This award was presented by Brooke Moody.
• The Favourite Continuing Romance Series 2017 is the Psy-Changeling Trinity by Nalini Singh. This award was sponsored by Harlequin Australia and was presented by Sue Brockhoff.
• The Favourite Australian Romance Author 2017 is Anne Gracie. This award was sponsored by Booktopia and was presented by Tracey Mills.

Thank you to everyone who came along to the dinner and made it such a success, and particular thanks to our event sponsor, Booktopia, as well as the award sponsors. Congratulations to all the winners!