Lost Recipe for Happiness / Barbara O'Neal 447 p.

Elena Alvarez stands on the edge of her dream -- running her own kitchen in a high-class restaurant. Owner Julian Liswood comes to Aspen with a troubled daughter and a dream for a stable family. As the sole survivor of a horrific car accident, Elena knows how to meet a challenge. Passion for food leads Elena and Julian to discover a common passion for life. As she develops trust in Julian, her employees, she finds the courage to confront the pain in her past.

2010 RITA Winner for Best Novel With Strong Romantic Elements

Inheritance / Tamera Alexander 374 p.

In 1877, McKenna Ashford with her rebellious younger brother move west to join her favorite cousin in Copper Creek, Colorado planning to leave behind bad times. That doesn’t happen as McKenna’s cousin dies shortly after her husband and newborn infant, leaving behind a 6 yr. child. McKenna shoulders more troubles -- the bank forecloses, needed repairs go undone, Emma is a handful, and money is short. And, despite prayers, her brother wayward ways are escalating such that U.S. Marshal Wyatt Caradon brings him home after a night of drinking and gambling.

Includes book discussion questions.

A work from the Women of Faith Fiction series

2011 RITA Winner for Best Inspirational Romance

Perfect Chemistry / Simone Elkeles 360 p.

Sparks fly when golden girl cheerleader captain Brittany Ellis is paired with Latino Blood gang member Alejandro Fuentes in senior chemistry lab. And chemistry is the word. Both start off antagonist. As each tells his/her story in alternating chapters, the reader learns that each have issues. Brittany has a less than perfect home live with a sister that is disabled and a demanding mother. Alex has dreams of college but with brothers and a widowed mother to protect he has to stay in with the Bloods. Violence and language pepper the story.

2010 RITA Awards: Best Young Adult Romance

Kiss of a Demon King / Kresley Cole 417 p.

Rydstrom Woede, the King of the Rage Demons, wants Tornin and his kingdom back and a Queen worthy of his people. Sabine, Sorceress of Illusions, wants to fulfill the covenant and cease the power from the well of Tornin. Her brother, Omert, currently rules over Rydstrom’s kingdom with his evil ways. Sabine captures Rydstrom and chains him to keep him from using his powerful strength. He’s her captive slave and must do as she wishes. Sabine learns that Rydstrom resists with his considerable strength. He turns the table on her and she is his captive. There starts the romance as he has found his Queen but she resists.

2010 RITA Winner: Best Paranormal

What Happens in London / Julia Quinn 450 p.

Lady Olivia Bevelstoke spies on her new neighbor from her bedroom window after she learns that he may have killed his fiancée. The intriguing man is up to something. Who can spend all his time in a room. Sir Harry Valentine works as a translator for the War Office. She piques his interest -- who wouldn’t with a beautiful blond watching. When the Russian prince becomes interested in Lady Olivia, the War Office gives him an assignment, watch her… the spy spies on the spy! Sir Harry finds himself falling for her.

2010 RITA Winner for Best Regency

2010 Reading List (RUSA)

One Scream Away / Kate Brady 443 p.

Seven years ago Beth Denison’s testimony puts serial killer Chevy Bankes away. Bankes is out and using dead women’s phones to call and taunt her, driven by his psychotic need to hear her scream. Ex-FBI agent Neil Sheridan investigates this chain of murders that similar to a troubling case from his past. Neil is sure Beth is keeping a secret tantamount to the case – a secret she will do anything to keep. Bankes heinous crimes escalate as he moves in closer and closer. Neil and Beth’s romance is slow to develop. Bankes twisted psychology and the tension of the interplay between Bankes, Beth and Neil, overshadow the romance. Thriller readers will love this one.

2010 RITA Winner for Best First Book

Too Good to Be True / Kristan Higgins 379 p.

Grace Emerson, high school history teacher, manufacturers the perfect boyfriend to keep everyone from fixating on her love life especial since her ex-fiancé starts dating her sister. But what about a real Mr. Right? She tries an on-line dating service and attends a class on meeting how to meet Mr. Right. He can’t be the guy next door, ex-con, carpenter, who happens to have a great sense of humor and good-looking to boot. Told with humor and wit.

2010 RITA Winner for Best Contemporary Single Title

Soldier's Secret Daughter / Cindy Dees 217 p.

Jagger Holtz, government agent and spy, literally drops from the sky into Emily Grainger’s life just in time to join in AbaCo’s New Year’s Eve party. He’s looking for a way out of a difficult situation and incorporates Emily into his escape plan. He just didn’t plan on falling for her. Two years pass and Emily gets a cryptic message that leads her to rescue the man who disappeared after their night together. Jagger’s been held prisoner and believes she was responsible. Despite the suspicion, they work together to protect themselves and their daughter.

2010 RITA Winner for Best Contemporary Series Romance Suspense/Adventure

A Not-So-Perfect Past / Beth Andrews 251 p.

Nina Carlson runs a bakery and rents out the upstairs apartment to Dillon Ward knowing that he served time in prison. The town is decidedly cool towards Dillon. When someone crashes into her bakery, Dillon is the man to fix the damage. He gets an assistant—the juvenile who wrecked the building. Family and ex- caution her against hiring Dillon but she decides to stand on her own two feet. Secrets emerge about her ex-husband. Dillon wins over her kids. He tempts her. Is she ready move on?

2010 RITA Winner for Best Contemporary Series Romance

Night Before Christmas / Brenda Novak, Day Leclaire, Molly O'Keefe

Three romances are set in the Christmas holidays.

Brenda Novak's On a Snowy Christmas tells the romance that blossom between two adversaries while campaigning for the same Senate seat in the aftermath of a plane crash in the high Sierras.

In Day Leclaire’s The Christmas Baby, Carrie Manning is having a bad hair year culminating with a baby left on her doorstep. Three couples find a healing of old hurts.

Molly O’Keefe won the 2010 RITA for Best Romance Novella for The Christmas Eve Promise. Merrieta Monroe finds romance when she returns home to Webster, Missouri, to work in her parent’s diner at Christmas time. It’s really the about reconnecting with family and past loves.

2010 RITA for Best Romance Novella

Whisper of Warning / Laura Griffin 369 p.

In this sequel to Thread of Fear, Courtney Glass finds herself in the chief suspect in the brutal murder of her former boyfriend and lawyer John David Alvin. Courtney has been in and out of trouble her whole life. She must prove she isn’t the murderer and is one of the killer’s intended victims. Will Hodges, investigating officer, resists her looks and her sharp tongue as he comes to realize that a powerful enemy has her in his sights.

2010 RITA Winner for Best Romantic Suspense.

Not Quite a Husband / Sherry Thomas 341 p.

Asquith is a surgeon physician in the 1890s, a rarity for her time and especially for her lineage. Marsden has a brilliant mathematical mind, is witty, handsome and well-liked. Two intellectuals, yet, Bryony Asquith’s marriage to Leo Marsden fails before it really gets started. The story opens with Marsden tracking her down in a clinic in India with a message from her sister. Her father is in ill-health. Reluctantly, Asquith agrees to make the trek back to England. The trek runs headlong into civil unrest and war (where Asquith gets to shine as a surgeon). Along the way the sparks rekindle between Marsden and Asquith. Asquith comes to realize that Marsden has loved her from their days as childhood neighbors. The explanation for their unhappy marriage is not revealed for some time – the source of the strife is real.

2010 RITA Winner Best Historical Romance