RWA announces Ruby Award 2025 winners

Monday, 25 August 2025 Books+Publishing @booksandpublishing

Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) has announced the winners of the 2025 Romantic Book of the Year Awards, known as the Ruby Awards.

Chosen from shortlists announced in June, the winners in each category are:

Historical

A Most Improper Duchess (Alivia Fleur, self-published)

Long contemporary

Return to Hope Creek (Alyssa J Montgomery, Escape)

Romantic elements

The Barrington Book Club (Susan Mackie, self-published)

Romantic suspense

Reckless Trust (Nyssa Kathryn, self-published)

Short contemporary

Bali Escape with the Single Dad (Rachel Armstrong, Escape)

Speculative fiction

Wolf’s Prize (KE Turner, Totally Entwined)

Diverse

Ocean’s Embrace (Lisa Stanbridge, Crystal Brook Publishing)

Novella

Christmas at Yindi Creek (Stella Quinn, HQ).

Alongside the Ruby Award winners, Shannon Frances James won the Emerald Award for an unpublished manuscript for ‘Cherished Desires’.

The winners were announced at the annual RWA conference, held in Hobart, Tasmania 22–24 August 2025.

Last year’s winners also included Rachel Armstrong, who won the long contemporary category for The Man from Shadow Creek (Pink Paws Press).

More information about the awards is available on the RWA website.