Romantic Novelists' Association presents Maeve Binchy and Joanna Trollope with lifetime achievement awards for their contribution to the genre

Julia Gregson's East of the Sun, which follows three Englishwomen to a wedding in India in the 1920s, takes prize for story about 'lots of different kinds of love'

Blind, middle-aged widow among heroines contending for venerable genre fiction award

Writing good characters depends on creating people who are both real and interesting, says Kate Pullinger

Romantic Novel of the Year award goes to Pillow Talk by Freya North

Eyebrows were raised in November at an all-female shortlist for the 2007 Costa first novel prize. There will be rather less surprise, one suspects, at news that the shortlist for the Romantic Novel of the Year award is also devoid of Y chromosomes. The only male in the running at longlist stage, Emlyn Rees (albeit writing in partnership with his wife, Josie Lloyd) failed to make it through to the final round.

Susan Fletcher's Oystercatchers is in contention for the Romantic Novel of the Year award

For the second year running a man has made it on to the shortlist of the Romantic Novel of the Year award.

This year's Romantic Novel of the Year award has gone to best-selling novelist Erica James, for her novel set amid the gardens of Lake Como in Italy, Gardens Of Delight.