Winning Romance Prize icing on the cake for Mills & Boon’s centenary celebration

This is a press release I just have to share...

In the week of celebrating 100 years of publishing romance, Mills & Boon also took the Romance Prize 2008, awarded to author Kate Hardy by the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

All six shortlisted books were published by Mills & Boon, to the delight of executives Randall Toye, Karin Stoecker and Linda Fildew, who attended the Awards Lunch on 4th February at the Royal Garden Hotel.

In the winning novel, Breakfast at Giovanni’s, recently-fired Fran takes on a new job, but also finds herself pretending to be her boss's adoring girlfriend in order to get his matchmaking family off his back. But when the kisses start happening in private, Fran discovers that breakfast at Giovanni’s has a whole new meaning.

Winner Kate Hardy was thrilled. “It's such a huge accolade - it's a real high point in my career. It's the only award for category romantic fiction in the UK, and I can’t believe my name is engraved on the Betty Neels Rosebowl along with authors such as Liz Fielding, a writer whose books I've enjoyed so much over the years. I haven't stopped smiling for a week!”

Breakfast at Giovanni’s is Kate’s 25th novel for Mills & Boon and she was ‘over the moon’ to win in the Centenary year. Kate lives in Norwich with her husband, two children, a very soppy spaniel and too many books to count. She's been writing for Mills & Boon since 2001, having known her career choice from a very early age - her first typewriter was a present for her sixth birthday. Following an English degree, Kate worked in marketing communications for ten years before going freelance. She also writes bestselling local history books.

Judge Trisha Ashley, who presented the award, said of the winning book: “Because myself and my fellow judges are all novelists, we tend to read other people's work with an inner critic pointing out weaknesses. But we were all in agreement that this book was so warm, believable and engaging, that not only did we entirely forget our inner critics, we couldn't put it down until we got to the very end.”

[Words like that, said about my book, put me straight back into dog-with-six-tails mode. Whoops, nearly forgot the important bit – if you want to interview me, contact Katrina Power at Midas Public Relations on 020 7590 0802 or katrina.power@midaspr.co.uk]

[And especially for US readers: this book will be available in shops in April as 'In Bed with Her Italian Boss', and from eHarlequin in March.]