Shortlist for the inaugural XO Romance Prize announced

The shortlist for the inaugural XO Romance Prize has been announced!

The XO Romance Prize is held by the fastly growing independent publisher Xoum Publishing. The competition was open to all Australian writers aged 18 and over with a completed, unpublished contemporary romance manuscript.

According to guest judge Alexandra Nahlous, “The quality of commercial fiction writing in this country is outstanding. It was hard narrowing down the entries to just four, but we’ve done it, and they’re all cracking reads.”

So without any further ado, who made the shortlist?

From the media release:

The Drover’s Rest by Wendy Lee Davies (Vic): A captivating, humorous story of a young woman who inherits a rundown country pub but has hunky Zach and the myriad quirks of a small town to contend with.

The Homecoming by Judith Deane-Freeman (SA): A heartwarming, beautiful tale of a woman who is searching for her family history and makes a sea change that will alter her life forever.

Lovesick by Jean Flynn (Vic): A witty and fun page-turner about a lovelorn medical receptionist seemingly destined to make bad choices.

Worth Fighting For by S. Turner (NSW): A wonderful, exhilarating story of a city girl tasked with selling the benefits of a mine to a drought-stricken town, and who ends up clashing with the one man she has vowed to stay away from.

Congratulations to the shortlisted writers of the XO Romance Prize.

The winner will be announced in January 2017 with the publication of their book set for August 2017. Plus, the winner will take home $5,000 along with a Xoum Publishing contract. We can’t wait to find out who won and read your book!