TWO local authors are among the 36 shortlisted contenders for the Romantic Novel Awards 2015 - Barbara Erskine, who is based near Hay-on-Wye and Lucy Dillon, a previous winner of the prestigious Romantic Novel of the Year, from Ledbury.

Barbara Taylor Bradford will announce the winners of the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) Awards for 2015 at a glittering ceremony in the Gladstone Library, One Whitehall Place in London on Monday, March 16.

Barbara's novel, The Darkest Hour, is a finalist in the Epic Romantic Novel category, while Lucy's A Hundred Pieces of Me is one of the six finalists in the Contemporary Romantic novel category for mainstream novels set post-1960.

The Darkest Hour, published by Harper Collins, is set in Sussex in 1940 as the Battle of Britain is underway. Spitfire pilot Tony and would-be war artist Evie meet. She resents him; she loves him; she paints his portrait. 70 years later art historian Lucy tries to find out what happened to this enigmatic couple in a story of secrets, lies and restless ghosts.

Commenting on her pleasure at being shortlisted for the RoNAs, Barbara said, "I was thrilled not just for myself but for my 96-year-old father who inspired the story.”

Lucy’s novel is the story of Gina who is sorting out her life so she can make a fresh start; only the hundred possessions that mean the most can stay. Each item holds a memory, and letting go is hard, but what comes into the space Gina creates in her house – and fragile heart – changes her world forever.

Thrilled to be shortlisted for the RoNAs, Lucy commented, "I was so happy and honoured to find I’d been shortlisted for the RoNA Contemporary section: I know how high the standards of the RoNA reading panels are, and how many wonderful novels they have to choose from. A Hundred Pieces of Me was the hardest book I’ve written and Gina’s story will stay with me for a long time – it means a tremendous amount to feel other readers took her into their hearts too.”

Once the category winners have been announced, the winner of each category will go forward to compete for the overall prize of The Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

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