In Romance Landia it is award season, so I thought it would be good to recognize some award winning SFR.

First up, this weekend in New York City, thousands of romance authors and industry professionals have been meeting at the annual RWA National Conference. One of the big celebrations there is the PRISM Awards Ceremony. The PRISM includes a Futuristic Romance category and this year’s winners are:

Prism Award – On a Rogue Planet by Anna Hackett

A sexy, deadly cyborg + a sassy salvage mechanic = a fast, action-packed cyborg romance

Unlucky-in-love salvage mechanic, Malin Phoenix, didn’t intend to get caught up in a coup and kidnapped by a sexy cyborg. But she finds herself swept into an adventure to help the deadly, emotionless CenSec, Xander Saros, retrieve an ancient Terran artifact and save his planet.

Soon she’s racing across uncharted space and is magnetically drawn to the cyborg whose strong arms and muscled body ignite a desire that burns brighter than a supernova. But Mal can never let herself forget that she can’t fall in love with a cyborg who can never love her back.

The crowning glory of the Centax Security program, Xander is heavily enhanced, his emotions dampened to nothing to allow him to be the most efficient, lethal killer in the galaxy. As he and Malin hunt for the remnant of the galaxy’s first computer, the Antikythera Mechanism, their quest leads them into the lair of a dangerous technomancer. But Xander can’t identify his greatest threat–the enemy or the fascinating woman who’s making him feel.

Prism Award – The Cat Star Chronicles: Rebel by Cheryl Brooks

He’s Had a Galaxy of Women
A refugee of the annihilated planet Zetith, Onca has no family and no surname–only the fortune accrued by selling his prime services in a high-class brothel. When he comes to the rescue of a homeless Zetithian woman, passion flares, but he dares not touch someone who seems so young and innocent…

But None Has Touched His Heart
Kimcasha has lived by her wits on the streets since the age of ten. When her friends start to go missing, Kim uses herself as bait to find them, but her plan goes awry when Onca intervenes. As they are led into a dangerous underworld, Onca offers to join her crusade to liberate her friends, and Kim cannot refuse him…

Second Place – Heart Fire by Robin D. Owens

On the planet Celta, accepting a HeartMate can be the greatest challenge in the universe…

Antenn, an architect hired to build a cathedral in Druida City, dares not think of his HeartMate. Even though he yearns for her, he’s taken steps to ensure she will be forever unknown to him. After all, how could he, a commoner who grew up in the slums, the brother of a murderer, be worthy of any woman?

Tiana, a priestess, has her own fears about being a HeartMate. She’s watched her friends struggle with such a stormy destiny. She’s sure her HeartMate has never claimed her due to a terrible scandal involving her Family, and she’s set aside hopes for love.

Antenn’s gotten the commission of his life. The cathedral will make him famous, but more, it will last for ages and prove to others he can contribute to Celta…if the controversial structure isn’t destroyed while being built. Tiana, too, is an integral part of this process, but the villain who wrecked her Family is ready with firebombs. Can they trust each other in dangerous circumstances to succeed…and to love

Third Place – Temporal Shift by Nina Croft

Caught between destiny and desire… After diving into a black hole in search of the source of Meridian, the key to immortality, the crew of the Blood Hunter finds themselves stranded in an alternate universe. Engineer Devlin Stark doesn’t want immortality. He just wants to live long enough to get his revenge on the man who murdered his brother. Now, he’s trapped in a strange world with a crazy woman who claims he’s fated to be her lover. Saffira Lourdes has a destiny: to save humanity and lead her exiled people to the Promised Land. Haunted by visions of the past and future, she’s been sustained through the years by a dream lover. Unfortunately, Devlin doesn’t believe in fate. But it’s obvious there’s a connection between them, one that will soon be tested by the limits of time and space. Saffira is about to make the crew of the Blood Hunter an offer they’ll find impossible to refuse. They’re heading back to Earth, and they’re going back in time…

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The National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award also wrapped up recently and there were two SFR titles in the final round.

Winner: Spark Rising by Kate Corcino

All that’s required to ignite a revolution is a single spark rising.

Two hundred years after the cataclysm that annihilated fossil fuels, Sparks keep electricity flowing through their control of energy-giving Dust. The Council of Nine rebuilt civilization on the backs of Sparks, offering citizens a comfortable life in a relo-city in exchange for power, particularly over the children able to fuel the future. The strongest of the boys are taken as Wards and raised to become elite agents, the Council’s enforcers and spies. Strong girls—those who could advance the rapidly-evolving matrilineal power—don’t exist. Not according to the Council.

Lena Gracey died as a child, mourned publicly by parents desperate to keep her from the Council. She was raised in hiding until she fled the relo-city for solitary freedom in the desert. Lena lives off the grid, selling her power on the black market.

Agent Alex Reyes was honed into a calculating weapon at the Ward School to do the Council’s dirty work. But Alex lives a double life. He’s leading the next generation of agents in a secret revolution to destroy those in power from within.

The life Lena built to escape her past ends the day Alex arrives looking for a renegade Spark.

Finalist: Overload Flux by Carol Van Natta 

Someone is stealing the vaccine for a galaxy-wide pandemic. Forensic investigator Luka Foxe has a hidden mental talent that’s out of control, and security specialist Mairwen Morganthur has hidden skills and enough secrets to drag a ship from orbit. To solve the case, they must follow a convoluted trail with corrupt pharma corporations, murderous mercenaries, sabotage, and deadly space battles. The body count is rising… their only hope for survival lies in trusting one another.

Congratulations to all of the winners!