Day One: GLIAS Preview of the 2014 RITA Finalists

Congratulations to RITA finalists in the Best First Book and Contemporary categories!  

As many of you know, it is quite an honor to be a Romance Writers of America RITA finalist. We encourage all GLIAS readers to peruse the list of nominated authors and titles. See anything below you would love to read? Leave the title and your comment, along with your email contact info for a chance to win the RITA finalist book of your choice!

2014 RITA^® Finalists

Best First Book

Five Days in Skye 

by Carla Laureano

David C. Cook

John Blase and Tonya Osterhouse, editors

Fix You

by Beck Anderson

Omnific Publishing

Jessica Royer Ocken and Cindy Robinson Campbell, editors

Private Practice

by Samanthe Beck

Entangled Publishing, Brazen

Heather Howland, editor

Promise to Return

by Elizabeth Byler Younts

Simon & Schuster, Howard Books

Beth Adams and Amanda Demastus, editors

The Sweet Spot

by Laura Drake

Grand Central Publishing, Forever

Latoya Smith, editor

Contemporary Romance

Along Came Trouble

by Ruthie Knox

Random House Group, Loveswept

Sue Grimshaw, editor

Beach House No. 9

by Christie Ridgway

Harlequin, HQN

Margo Lipschultz, editor

Country Roads

by Nancy Herkness

Amazon Publishing, Montlake

Kelli Martin and JoVon Sotak, editors

Crazy Thing Called Love

by Molly O’Keefe

Random House Group, Ballantine Bantam Dell

Shauna Summers, editor

Fix You

by Beck Anderson

Omnific Publishing

Jessica Royer Ocken and Cindy Robinson Campbell, editors

Half Moon Hill

by Toni Blake

HarperCollins Publishers, Avon Books

May Chen, editor

Home to Whiskey Creek

by Brenda Novak

Harlequin, MIRA

Paula Eykelhof, editor

Homecoming Ranch

by Julia London

Amazon Publishing, Montlake

Maria Gomez, editor

It Had to Be You

by Jill Shalvis

Grand Central Publishing

Alex Logan, editor

Letters to Nowhere

by Julie Cross

Self-published

Martha Trachtenberg, copyeditor

Rescued by a Stranger

by Lizbeth Selvig

HarperCollins Publishers, Avon Impulse

Tessa Woodward, editor

Rumor Has It

by Jill Shalvis

Berkley Publishing Group

Kate Seaver, editor

The Second Chance Café

by Alison Kent

Amazon Publishing, Montlake

Lindsay Guzzardo, editor

Sleigh Bells in the Snow

by Sarah Morgan

Harlequin, HQN

Flo Nicoll, editor

The Sweet Spot

by Laura Drake

Grand Central Publishing, Forever

Latoya Smith, editor

Talk of the Town

by Beth Andrews

Harlequin, Superromance

Wanda Ottewell, editor

The Way You Look Tonight

by Bella Andre

Self-published

Shelley Bates, copyeditor

Whiskey Beach

by Nora Roberts

Penguin Group USA, G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Leslie Gelbman, editor

 Commenters: Leave the title of the RITA finalist book you'd most like to read for a chance to win the the book of your choice. Be sure to leave your e-mail contact info! 


***Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America  addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.

Beach House No. 9 = Love Shack

The Love Shack
Christie Ridgway



Globe-trotting photojournalist Gage Lowell spent carefree childhood summers in Crescent Cove. Now that he desperately needs some R & R, he books a vacation at Beach House No. 9—ready to soak up some sun and surprise old friend and property manager Skye Alexander. Their long-distance letters got him through a dangerous time he can't otherwise talk about. But when he arrives, the tightly wound beauty isn't exactly happy to see him.

Skye knows any red-blooded woman would be thrilled to spend time with gorgeous, sexy Gage. But she harbors secrets of her own, including that she might just be a little bit in love with him. And she's convinced the restless wanderer won't stay long enough for her to dare share her past—or dream of a future together. Luckily for them both, summer at Crescent Cove has a way of making the impossible happen….

Join me in welcoming guest author, Christie Ridgway. 

Christie Ridgway is the USA Today bestselling author of over forty contemporary romances. She's received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, another for Best Contemporary Romance, and is a five-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award from Romance Writers of America. A native of California, she sets most of her books in her home state and is always hoping to make readers both laugh and cry. Though she has a degree in English Language and Literature, she spent years in the techy field of computer programming before trying her hand at her dream job—writing romance. Christie also pens a monthly column highlighting new romances for BookPage, a review publication with both a print and online presence. She lives with her college-sweetheart husband, two sons, a dog, a cat, and a tortoise in Southern California.1.

Jillian: How often to you get lost in a story?
Christie: I am always reading! I read books for my BookPage column, books by my favorite authors, books for my book group. I listen to audio books while I clean, cook, and exercise.

Jillian: What’s the first book you remember reading?
Christie: I remember reading Bobbsey Twin books...those must have been early favorites. But the childhood book that keeps popping into my head when I think of "first" is The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken. After I exhausted the Children's section of my local library, my mom, a mystery lover, introduced me to romantic suspense novels (she already knew my penchant for romance!). The first book I picked from the adult section all by myself (and that I adore to this day and read at least once a year) is These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer.

Jillian: Where do you read and how often?
Christie: As I mentioned above, I read all over the place because I'm listening to books while I vacuum, dust, do laundry. But my favorite place to read is propped up on pillows on my bed, our yellow Lab, Hank, softly snoring nearby. Sometimes our cat, Goblin, will gift me with her presence by my feet.

Jillian: Describe your favorite kind of hero to read/write?
Christie: I love a strong hero hiding a wound. He might be just a bit broody...until the heroine gets her hands on him and helps him lighten up! I like a hero with a dry sense of humor and a tender heart that he guards with everything he has.

Jillian: What was the first story you remember writing?
Christie: I wrote a story in third grade about gypsies. It was a love story, of course, and my mom typed it up for me so it looked "published." In eighth grade I wrote my first "book." It was a rhyming children's story (also illustrated by me) titled "How Jo Jo Jones Found Happiness or A Small Tin Box with a Fortune Inside." There was no love interest—just hapless Jo Jo Jones.

Jillian: Be honest, when reading 1st person...do you miss the hero’s POV?
Christie: I really enjoy writing the hero's POV. I'm married, I have two sons, and I think I know the way the guy-mind works...I have fun exploring that. But when reading...there is something to going without the hero's thought processes. It makes him more mysterious and is how we experience men in real life.

Jillian: What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
Christie: A romance of course! I read all kinds of books, but it's romance novels that make me the happiest. I don't know why, but that's the kind of story I'd choose if I was gathering what I could for my stay on a deserted island.

Christie has a question for commenters: So, your ship is going down and you have just a few minutes to toss things into your lifeboat—it's a short row to the deserted island you see ahead. You have plenty of food, water, and stuff to shelter with. What's going to be your reading material? You can name an author, a title, or a genre. (I'm thinking I'll grab the entire Nora Roberts oeuvre.)

One commenter chosen by randomizer will receive Beach House No. 9, the first full-length book in the Beach House series.

How to contact Christie:
website: www.christieridgway.com
Twitter: @ChristieRidgway
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChristieRidgway

***Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America  addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.