The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Non-Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Our design is inspired by books designed by the incomparable Coraline Bickford-Smith. Her simple, beautiful, and evocative designs do so much to make the book work as a visual ambassador, capturing the essence of story and compelling potential readers to pick it up, click on it, or share it with others. A well-designed cover signals professionalism, sets expectations for your genre, and serves as a powerful marketing tool to stand out in both digital and physical spaces.
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring clear genres, audience, time periods, typography, and longevity across genres of Non-Fiction.
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 CCDA Non-Fiction entries to the 2025 CCDA Non-Fiction SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 CCDA Non-Fiction FINALISTS. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Short List and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 19th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2025 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards novel competition for Non-Fiction Books!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
Alan Sproles – Reforma-Therapy
Alan Sproles – The Place of Regeneration in Salvation
Elizabeth Jane Pryce – Untethered
Heidi Yewman – Dumb Girl: A Journey From Childhood Abuse to Gun Control Advocacy
Jeanne Basone – Hooray for Hollywood
Lee Pepper – Never Outmatched: Military Strategies to Lead Innovate and Win in the Modern Marketing Battlefield
Linda Lee Keenan – Dancing with Angels: True Stories of the Unexpected
Margaret Enriquez – The Rebirth of a Phoenix
Marie-Eve Dawood – Jesus Shrank My Dating Pool: Holding Out for a Godly Man When It Feels Like You’ve Missed the Boat
Marizelle Arce N.D. – Germs Are Not Our Enemy
Tony Jeton Selimi – Climb Greater Heights
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Chatelaine Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Romantic Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Jo Morgan Sloan’s book, The Key will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Chatelaine contest page year ’round!
The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!
In a politically tense Amritsar, India, Aruna, an Anglo-Indian schoolteacher, and Ayaz, a feisty Muslim law student, fall in love only to discover that courting openly is easier said than done. Not only are they from different communities, but his political activism during the tumultuous year of 1919 comes at the cost of their romance.
Against the deadline of a military order, Aruna, who is only nineteen, must find her lover and warn him about Colonel Dyer’s impending attack on Jallianwala Bagh. An attack that is eventually heard around the world.
Playtime at the Bagh during Baishakhi is a metaphor for Colonel Dyer’s rain of bullets released upon thousands on the one fateful day of April 13th, 1919.
Love, hate, denial, and betrayal are wrapped inside a single love story capturing today’s hope with yesterday’s despair.
Heir to a crumbling Bronze Age kingdom, where power and conquest define a man’s worth, a young man struggles to forge his own path against the grim destiny scripted for him. A girl born in jail, but raised in a world where tranquility and duty reign, hesitates to abandon her sheltered life for a future filled with uncertainty.
Bound by expectations they did not choose, these two unlikely lovers—drawn from the pages of ancient myth and timeless drama—dare to challenge the fate assigned to them. Together, they must navigate the perilous world of royal ambition, rigid hierarchies, and a collapsing empire that leaves no room for rebellion.
Their journey into second chances is a daring dance between love and duty, fate and free will, survival and sacrifice. To be together, they must confront the full force of tradition and power—and decide whether love alone is enough to change the story history demands they follow.
From Chanticleer:
Edged in Purpleby John W. Feist welcomes readers to a place outside of time and space, a liminal space where characters of myth wait to return to their fated stories.
The Fold is a beautiful land, a near-utopia shepherded– literally– by Thetis and Peleus of Greek mythology. They raise the heroine of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Perdita, after her father had accused her mother of betraying him with another, the whole sad story a product of his own paranoia.
Perdita’s story is proceeding as it was written. She has already met Florizel, the man who should be the hero of her romance– when her story is intersected by another. Just as The Winter’s Tale features royal courts, doomed relationships, mistaken identities, and family murder, so too does an ancient Greek drama: the Oresteia of Aeschylus, the story of Agamemnon after the Trojan War.
Orestes, the hero of that ancient tale, joins Perdita in the fold, pulling both of them from the paved road of fate.
Swansea Station – 1947 The war is over, and with hopes of reconstruction beginning, rationing ending, and lives starting over, Drew awaits the decision regarding a new position with the railway. But mystery and mayhem arrive aboard an afternoon train carrying the new vicar, Liam O’Neill, and a cadre of visitors from Ireland. Drew’s attention is once again focused on unraveling the threads of revenge and solving another murder. The unfolding of an unexpected relationship with the young vicar proves another mystery for Drew to unravel. This is the second book in the award-winning Drew Davies Railway Mystery Series.
A second chance romance, Cinderella story…but for the king, not the prince.
Luis, king of the exotic island country of Caleva, is stunned to discover that he has a daughter he never knew existed. He is determined to bring his newfound child into his life and that of the royal family. To do that, he knows he must win over her adoptive mother.
Eve, single-mom vet tech in the heartland of Iowa, is concerned when a mysterious stranger sets up a secret meeting. The shocking truth that is revealed upends her life, as she and her adopted daughter are swept off to Caleva and wrapped in the luxurious, privileged world of royalty.
But there’s an unexpected complication: passion flares between Eve and Luis.
She isn’t queen material, and he has sworn never to wed again, so their affair can have no happily-ever-after…or can it?
If you were rooting for Queen Clarisse to find her true love in The Princess Diaries, you’ll love Eve and Luis’s story. Read Royal Caleva: Luis to feel all the feels of two single parents trying to protect their shared daughter, while struggling to find their own happiness with each other.
When Sheriff Heath Royal seeks relief for his tormented conscience by attending church services for the first time since his youth, he is beckoned to an empty seat by the wealthy, recently widowed Rebekka Korhenen Brando, and both are immediately, although unwittingly, stirred by an unintentional rekindling of the feelings that almost led to a marriage between them twenty-five years earlier.
Gossipy church members and malicious tongue waggers from the small community of Shady Spring, Texas, watch in amusement and sometimes in horror as the former lovers struggle through a series of challenges and near-death experiences to determine whether the forces of evil or the roundabout intervention of God Himself will allow them a life together.
Standing in their way is a demented ranch foreman convinced that he and Rebekka are destined for each other. Heath’s dubious future as a lawman, and grudge-bearing outlaws who want to put the sheriff into his grave. The solutions may be divined under the sheltering limbs of a magnificent old oak tree where Heath and Rebekka seek solace and open their hearts to each other.
What would you do to get back to the person you love?
Noelle Montgomery is used to battle. As a kindergarten teacher, she fights germs, intrusive questions, and ‘the wiggles’ on a daily basis. She’s not afraid of anything…except asking her boyfriend, Griffin, what comes next.
When a visit to a friend forces the issue, Noelle takes a walk to clear her head and stumbles onto a gruesome scene. She’s the only person who can help convict rising drug lord, Luis Duque, of murder, and escaping his wrath is the one battle she knows she can’t win. When offered witness protection, Noelle gives up on her unknown future with Griffin and starts over with a brand-new life.
Griffin Daniels has a ring in his pocket the night he’s told his girlfriend is killed. After years of careful preparation, his dreams, and the woman he loves are gone in an instant. He forces a confrontation with Duque’s gang and learns that Noelle may still be alive. Using his tech savvy and the help of his best friend, Griffin finds Noelle as she races across the country to testify by Christmas. But…Duque’s been looking for her, too.
Reunited and still in danger, Noelle and Griffin must work together to survive Duque and find their way back to love.
Chasing Noelle is an emotionally-driven contemporary romance with elements of suspense and a touch of Christmas magic.
Rebecca Young Ackerman was raised to be a prominent lady in Boston society in the late 1800s. Being the dutiful daughter, albeit young and naive, she always did as her father said. When he marries her off to a man of his choosing, she realizes how fast dreams of marital bliss can fall apart. Fearing for her life, an unexpected telegram regarding her brother gives her the opportunity she needs to take her boys and flee from her narcissistic husband. Always looking over her shoulder, her fear is real. Traveling across the country, a chance encounter with a certain gentleman finds herself wishing for a better life.
Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Burns In 2016, Nathaniel Burns, a well-respected police officer serving the tough neighborhood of Roxbury in Boston, finds his partner and himself answering a domestic violence call one airless summer night. Events unfold quickly, and he suddenly finds life as he once knew it, coming to a tragic end. Due to his mother’s ‘Celtic Gift,’ Nathaniel is transported back to 1875 to begin life anew. What he didn’t expect was to fall in love with a lady in peril in the Yuma desert of 1880. Both long for a new life, but can they leave their past behind to find love?
In A Pawn’s Game by Julie Lomax, David Morgan wants a fresh start. He moves his family to Chicago, hoping to break his wife Liv away from her habitual affairs. But the Windy City doesn’t offer easy salvation.
Emily, his teenage daughter, is angry in their new home, and David soon notices Liv’s eye wandering towards their neighbor Eric. Not only is his family life falling apart, but he soon discovers his coworkers have stolen his idea and presented it as their own.
David finds peace only during his early morning runs. When David decides to play chess with Lehman, an elderly man he meets in the park, he never imagines that the game will draw him onto the board of a devious serial killer. Each lost piece tears away at more of his life, and casts David as nothing more than a pawn himself.
As he starts to run out of moves in this game of real-life consequences, David must learn to rely on himself and become the king of his own destiny before he loses everything.
David’s “punching-bag” mentality leads to an avalanche of problems, beginning with his wife’s infidelity that now focuses on their new neighbor Eric.
He abandons a long-term job and forces Emily to leave behind her friends and her position on the cross-country running team. David can clearly see that Liv is a problem and that she will never change, but rather than separating from his disrespectful, unfaithful wife, he chooses to make both himself and Emily miserable. When Eric makes a pass at Emily, David has the perfect opportunity and reason to confront him, yet he doesn’t, choosing instead to brood angrily.
It is only after playing chess against Lehman that David begins to understand the need to leave his perpetual defensive position.
Rather than allowing Lehman’s game to completely destroy his life, he begins to devise a strategy of his own. Lehman is clearly the better player, but David refuses to go down without a fight. He begins to control of his own board, taking daring gambits despite the risk.
Julie Lomax’s A Pawn’s Game is a bold psychological thriller where one wrong move can end the game for good. It fuses the elegance of chess with raw human emotion. From a seemingly supernatural chess game to a manhunt for a serial killer, readers will enjoy this cat-and-mouse competition.
The Hemingway Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of 20th and 21st Century Wartime Fiction. The Hemingway Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Hemingway Book Awards competition is named for Ernest Hemingway who was born July 21, 1899.
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring 20th Century Wartime Fiction in Historical Fiction; Romance and Romantic Fiction; Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Fiction of the time; Literary works and Satire and anything else that author imaginations can dream up for the HEMINGWAY Book Awards division. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
For Post-1750s Historical Fiction, see our Goethe Awards here. For other Historical Fiction categories, please see more details here.
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 HEMINGWAY Wartime Fiction entries to the 2025 Hemingway Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Hemingway Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for Wartime Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
Adam Frosh – The Ghetto
Adrian Boas – A Gentle Empire
Brad Huestis – The Big Bad
Chris Karlsen & Jennifer Conner – Broken Faces
David Tenenbaum – Eastward Bound
Don Jacobson – Ghost Flight: A World War II Pride and Prejudice Variation
Dorothea N. Buckingham – Code Name Rascal
Elizabeth Crowens – Round Up the Unusual Suspects
Florence Chien – Hollow Whispers of the Wind
Hillary Tiefer – The Secret Ranch
J.A. Nunn – The Stuff What Actually Is
Jacek Waliszewski – Code Name Trifecta
Jane Loeb Rubin – Over There
Jay A. Cornils – The Cross of Lorraine
Jerena Tobiasen – Tsarina’s Jewels
John Winn Miller – Rescue Run Capt. Jake Rogers Daring Return To Occupied Europe
Kate Birkin – Ava and Shalom
Kim Dempster – The Color of Mourning
Kit Sergeant – The Doctor of Auschwitz the Powerful True Story of One Woman’s Courage
Kyle Palmer – The Last Rival a Time of Our Choosing
Leslie R. Schover – Fission a Novel of Atomic Heartbreak
M. G. Lamb – The Deserters
Mike H. Mizrahi – The Weight of Loyalty
Ralph R. Rick Steinke – Vital Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Love Story
Sergio Bossi and Paolo Zanardi – Wellington HZ182 When a Little Girl Defused the Bomb
Sharon Maas – Soldier’s Girl
Shawn Hays and Stephen Hays – What Light Was
Sherry Maysonave – Tatae’s Promise
Steven Mayfield – Sixty Seconds
Steven Schindler – Cover for Me
Tim Rees – The Falklands Engagement
Travis Davis – War on the Porch: A Doughboy’s Interview
Wade Monk – The Imperfect Hand of Fate
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Post-1750s Historical Fiction. The Goethe Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Victorian, Georgian, Regency, International History, 20th Century, and all the possible historical topics that an author’s imagination can dream up for the Goethe Book Awards division. Our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 Goethe Late Historical Fiction entries to the 2025 Goethe Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Goethe Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Goethe Book Awards novel competition for Late Historical Fiction!
Alex Alvin – A Countess From Moscow
Alice Mcveigh – Marianne: A Sense and Sensibility Sequel
Alina Rubin – A Girl with a Knife
Allie Cresswell – Tall Chimneys
Apple An – Daughter of Blue City: A Novel of Coming-Of-Age Through Revolutionary China
Art Young – Downeyoshun
Barbara Southard – Unruly Human Hearts
BL Smith – The Unpleasantness on Orchard
Bonnie Suchman – What Remains Is Hope
Carol Nickles – Thumb Fire Desire
Carolyn Summer Quinn – Once Upon a Safehouse
Charlotte Whitney – A Tiny Piece of Blue: A Novel
Chris Bennett – The Road to Revolution
Debra Lee – Pullman
Domnica Radulescu – My Father’s Orchards
Douglas A. Gosselin – Doctrine of Shadows
Elise Keitz Harlow – When Bone Melts
Florence Chien – Hollow Whispers of the Wind
Gary Gabel – The Constitution Kids
Jerena Tobiasen – Tsarina’s Jewels
Jessica Levine – Three Cousins
Jill G. Hall – On a Sundown Sea: A Novel of Madame Tingley and the Origins of Lomaland
Joan Fernandez – Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo Van Gogh
Joanne Howard – Sleeping in the Sun
Kathleen Williams Renk – No Coward Soul Have I
Katie Churchill-King – Prince of Wales Fort 1770
Kelly Scarborough – Butterfly Games
Kirsten Mickelwait – The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty
Lew Paper – Legacy of Lies: An Historical Thriller
Linda Cardillo – Paint the Wind
M. E. Torrey – Fox Creek
N.J. Mastro – Solitary Walker: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft
Natalie Musgrave Dossett – Sarita
Pat Black-Gould and Steve Hardiman – All the Broken Angels
Radu Guiasu – The Faraway Mountains
Raquel Y. Levitt – The Seer
Richard Leslie Brock – The House of Ilya
Robert Kehlmann – The Rabbi’s Suitcase
Robert L Jones – The Unbroken Trail
S. Scott Anderson – The Scott Boys: The Saga of the Scott Family in East Tennessee
Sabrina Lund – Consequence of Power: Isabella’s Season
Shawn Hays and Stephen Hays – What Light Was
Suzanne Uttaro Samuels – Seeds of the Pomegranate
Thomas M. Wing – In Harm’s Way
Congratulations once more to the 2024 Goethe Grand Prize Winner for Historical Fiction
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
Romance and women’s fiction have the remarkable ability to capture the full spectrum of human emotion, from the exhilarating rush of first love to the complex dynamics of family relationships and personal growth. These genres celebrate the stories that matter most to readers seeking authentic representation, emotional depth, and the affirming power of love conquering obstacles. The Chatelaine Awards for Romance and Women’s Fiction honor authors who craft narratives that reflect the beautiful diversity of love stories, recognizing voices that speak to hearts across all backgrounds and experiences.
Celebrating Our Grand Prize Winner!
We’re delighted to celebrate our 2024 Chatelaine Division Grand Prize Winner, Jo Morgan Sloan for their compelling novel The Key. This extraordinary work explores a unique second-chance romance between two men who were high school sweethearts, who are separated at a young age. Years later, as adults in San Francisco, they reconnect through Tabby’s LGBT D&D group, but Jax doesn’t recognize Tabby due to his transition.
What makes The Key exceptional is its sensitive exploration of identity, love, and the courage required for authentic relationships. Sloan masterfully navigates the emotional complexity of Tabby’s situation as he becomes Jax’s confidant while hiding the truth that he is Jax’s missing first love. The novel addresses contemporary issues of LGBTQ+ representation with nuance and heart, showing how love can transcend identity while acknowledging the real fears and challenges faced by transgender individuals. This powerful story demonstrates the strength found in chosen family, authentic friendships, and the possibility of love finding a way back to itself. Sloan will receive a Chanticleer Editorial Review and be invited to participate in an Author Interview, offering deeper insights into their approach to inclusive romance storytelling.
The Chatelaine Awards celebrate the rich tapestry of romance and women’s fiction, honoring stories that speak to every heart:
Contemporary Romance features modern love stories that navigate today’s world, from workplace romances to online dating adventures, capturing how love flourishes in our current cultural moment.
Historical Romance transports readers to bygone eras where period details and historical context add richness to timeless love stories, from Regency ballrooms to Victorian drawing rooms and beyond.
Romantic Adventure & Suspense proves that love and danger make an irresistible combination, featuring couples who fall in love while solving mysteries, escaping peril, or embarking on thrilling journeys together.
Inspirational/Restorative/Clean showcases love stories that uplift and inspire, focusing on emotional intimacy, personal growth, and relationships that heal and transform without explicit content.
Romantic Steamy/Sensual celebrates passion and desire, featuring love stories that embrace the full physical and emotional intensity of romantic relationships with heat and authenticity.
Broken Faces
By Chris Karlsen and Jennifer Conner
A towering achievement, Broken Faces: Historical Romance Based on True WWI Events by Chris Karlsen and Jennifer A Conner follows two young people who, for different reasons, embark on a journey to restore the self-esteem torn from wounded soldiers by bloody conflict.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 plunged Europe into one of the most horrific wars in history. Daily British papers featured articles about a bleak future. London quickly felt the effects of the war, with stores closing and basic goods in limited supply.
Abigail Belorman, a young American woman and talented sculptor, had relocated to Britain with her newlywed husband Theo, the US ambassador to England. Pained by Theo’s emotional neglect, Abigail finds comfort in visiting injured soldiers who had returned from the front to a nearby hospital. Each of the young men there has a story to tell and wounds to recover from. Some, however, suffered irreparable damage to their faces, along with any chance at a normal life taken from them, and they will be forced into isolation.
The citizens of the three fairy kingdoms clash, forced to live shoulder-to-shoulder alongside ungoverned Outliers. In Summer Cyclone, fourth book of Alan B. Gibson’s Magic at Myers Beach series, unassuming tea-shop manager Stefán tries to find love while keeping all of fairy society from fracturing.
The three fairy kings, Theos, Zsombor, and Christophe, evacuate their people to Myers Beach. It’s only here that they have any chance of recreating fairy dust after their old sources had been poisoned, and saving every fairy life. They take in the Outliers, remnants of a fallen kingdom, and at first find good will between the groups. But with thousands of fairies moving in, they have to keep everyone on a short leash or else risk humans catching wind of their new neighbors. Resentment of these strange Outliers builds.
Stefán, a close confidant to Theos, struggles to keep anti-Outlier sentiment at bay with the help of some enigmatic and knowledgeable new friends. Rumors of him giving the Outliers special treatment grow stronger as some fairies begin to suspect that he’s actually one of them.
In Loving Beth, a Christian historical romance by Bonnie Rose Ward, a young woman finds herself in dire straits when her widowed mother dies unexpectedly.
Beth’s father had taken out loans to improve their property, but he was killed in the Civil War, leaving his wife and daughter to struggle to keep up with the payments. Now, Beth is alone without any means to keep her home—finding and taking in two young, abandoned children certainly doesn’t help. But even amidst her troubles, Beth’s thoughts keep going back to the mysterious and handsome stranger who found and brought home the body of her mother.
Life is not easy in her tiny settlement in West Virginia, and young, pretty Beth finds that it is not about to get any easier. The new banker holds a grudge toward her for having rejected his advances, and the man’s snobbish wife is determined to make Beth’s life even more miserable. The loans that Beth and her mother worked to pay each month are suddenly due in full— but the banker’s unwanted and ugly advances are foiled with the appearance of the mysterious stranger.
If you’re looking for a beach read with supernatural intrigue, A Circle of Stars by Erin Lark Maples will draw you in from page one. Ember “EJ” James, a newly-arrived stranger in the strange land of Prescott, AZ, immediately begins navigating unfamiliar territory, both physically and metaphysically.
Forty-something EJ doesn’t know it yet, but when she agreed to take over her deceased uncle Hollis’s shop in Prescott, she stumbled into a world of magical realism. The plant shop, as it turns out, is more than just that—it hides secret access to other realms, which supernatural beings will go to great lengths to access. Much like the plants in the shop, this tale is dark, tangled, and intriguing beyond belief.
Anyone else may have felt helpless. But EJ remains upbeat, charmingly self-deprecating, and resourceful to the end. There’s a great joy in seeing how she works through her new surroundings, unfazed by (almost) everything they throw her way.
The 2022 Laramie Grand Prize Winner and a Chatelaine First Place Winner!
Guarded Heartsby T K Conklin is a sensual romance in the Wild West, with all the passion and excitement natural to the setting.
Sparks fly between a man with an outlaw past and a woman with a terrifying gift to heal or harm. Strykes is a man haunted both by a violent childhood and his time in an outlaw gang. But he has found a place in Rimrock, where he met LaRisa, an auburn-haired woman whom the townspeople have labeled a “witch” due to her healing herbs and rumors of her “powers”.
LaRisa has kept her distance from people, afraid of her gift of healing touch that can turn dangerous, even deadly. But, when she comes to town to deliver her medicinal herbs, she makes her way to the livery with tasks for Strykes such as shoeing her horse or fixing a spring in her wagon. He is only too happy to oblige the auburn-haired beauty. The attraction between them is instantaneous, yet they both are hesitant to act on it, fearing they would hurt the other– he from his violent past, and she from her “witch” power.
These reviews represent just a glimpse of the passionate storytelling and emotional depth waiting to be discovered in today’s romance and women’s fiction.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
We’re excited about all the exceptional romance and women’s fiction we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. Throughout this year’s Chatelaine Book Awards, we had the pleasure of promoting numerous heartwarming stories as they advanced through our competition tiers. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!
This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each advancement tier is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.
Don’t Let Your Love Story Go Untold!
The romance and women’s fiction market continues to flourish as readers seek authentic, diverse love stories that reflect their own experiences and dreams. Whether your work features contemporary couples navigating modern relationships, historical lovers defying social conventions, adventurous partners facing danger together, or any other expression of love’s infinite possibilities, the Chatelaine Awards provide the recognition and promotional platform your storytelling deserves.
Romance has the unique power to affirm hope, celebrate diversity, and remind us that love truly can conquer all. From sweet, inspirational stories that warm the heart to passionate tales that ignite the imagination, every thoughtfully crafted romance has the potential to become a reader’s new favorite escape. Don’t let your love story remain untold. Submit to the Chatelaine Awards today and join the celebrated authors who’ve found their devoted readership through Chanticleer!
Naked in the Now: Juicy Practices for Getting Present by Marijke McCandless is a spiritual and psychological journey for restless minds to find authenticity, awareness, and how to be fully alive—an intimate quest and relational bridge between oneself and others.
Naked in the Now takes readers to landmarks of practice and reflection towards transcending the pressure of external achievements and cultivating instead present contentment within. Refusing the tonality of “fix yourself,” this guide invites one to rediscover their naked self, with several chapters acting as open letters to read and linger over.
The introductory chapters focus on basic mindfulness and ease, while the later ones expand their scope to cover relationships, communication, and intimacy. A blend of poetic and practical styles ushers readers towards personal discovery in a way that balances firm instruction against a gentle directing hand. What coalesces by the end is a manual that calls forth one’s intrinsic goodness and connection through self-acceptance, playfulness, and vulnerability.
The Buddhist idea of Dukkha (dissatisfaction) opens the journey, with McCandless referencing a nagging feeling of missing out on something despite being superficially affirmed in life.
Ascribing this disillusionment to a “conditioned mind,” McCandless infers the solution to be in resting in the present moment. Aesop’s fable North Wind and the Sun, illustrates this idea through the power of warmth (awareness) over force.
Naked in the Now goes on to explain mindfulness and meditation in an intrinsically playful manner: employing tactics of finding four-leaf clovers and watching rainbows as childhood memories, highlighting the real joy found in the process rather than the results.
Metaphors of meditation as a “mini vacation” and “intimacy with lover” complement the intrinsically playful philosophy with practices such as breath watching, golden light relaxation, and sensory awareness. Journaling, self-inquiry, and devotion-based prayer further prepare readers to dismantle harmful mental conditioning.
Further along, Naked in the Now takes a deeper turn–the inner striptease–guiding readers with suggestions on peeling off their social masks, roles, and ego identities.
Tools such as Tarot/I Ching offer a novel perspective on the self. The focus then shifts to relationships, with pink light meditation, Tibetan tonglen (inhaling suffering and exhaling love), and love-letter exercises all reinforcing the idea that healing involves both oneself and one’s connection with others.
Centering the interplay of communication and presence, practices such as reflective listening, gestures of a smile, sacred spaces, soul gazing, and mirror meditation all work to transform vulnerability into strength.
The final stop is reaching the stage of “getting naked,” to lay bare one’s real desires and fears without filters through a gentle, moment by moment unfolding.
This is a call to meet with a raw and vulnerable being, but also the most authentic and beautiful version of self.
Each chapter cries out the motto of “Ease Over Effort”: real transformation dawns in coming home to oneself and surrendering, not in a tireless hunt for self-improvement.
A tranquil sitting with inner restlessness becomes the goal, instead of forceful control of that chaos. Corresponding themes show in Naked in the Now’s advocacy for childhood wonder over stifling adulthood. This reminds us of how mindfulness isn’t necessarily a boring or rigid practice, but can be a joyful game. Conversely, the metaphor of the inner striptease emphasizes the significance of sober authenticity and vulnerability, with oneself and others.
This book caters to readers who aspire to slow down from an over-scheduled life.
It’s a soft entry point to meditation and mindfulness, a compassionate alternative to traditional and often tedious self-help narratives. Transcending aloof philosophy, this work is an experience-based, practice-oriented guide. It invites readers to learn the ways to a life of ease, love, and wonder.
“Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen—that stillness becomes a radiance,” this quote by Morgan Freeman captures the essence of Naked in the Now. A guide that asks not for harsh effort but for an open-hearted willingness to nestle in inner moments and accept, without judgments, one’s emotions and desires.
Exclusive Discount for Book Award Mastery Clients!
In partnership with Book Award Mastery, Chanticleer Book Reviews is offering strategic marketing tools designed to complement your award pursuit strategy.
$75 Off Our Editorial Book Reviews
Strategic award pursuit requires building a professional platform that validates your work across multiple channels. Our Editorial Book Reviews provide the third-party credibility that strengthens your author platform while you pursue the awards that align with your goals.
With powerful SEO optimization that maximizes your digital footprint, our reviews become long-term marketing assets that work alongside your award strategy. Each review is crafted to provide at least three quotable lines you can deploy across your website, Amazon, social media, and award submissions.
Here’s how to get started:
Discount Code: ZWQWUP82BZ7U
Valid For: Standard Editorial Book Reviews and Audiobook Reviews
Bonus: This code can be combined with bulk purchase discounts on the review page!
Strategic CIBA Recognition for Book Award Mastery Authors
Chanticleer Book Reviews is offering an exclusive discount on Chanticleer Int’l Book Award (CIBA) entries, a rare opportunity available only to Book Award Mastery clients. We rarely discount CIBA entries outside our membership program, making this partnership offer particularly valuable.
To receive your discount code: Email our Communications Manager directly at DBeaumier@ChantiReviews.com to receive $24 off one CIBA entry.
Code Details:
Valid for CIBA categories priced at $99 or above
Excludes SEA Shorts Awards and Little Peeps Awards
Cannot be combined with other CIBA offers
Why CIBAs Align with Strategic Award Pursuit
The Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards features 28 divisions across fiction and nonfiction, giving you strategic category options that fit your book’s specific positioning. Our multi-tiered advancement process means multiple opportunities for recognition throughout the judging cycle with each tier providing marketing material you can leverage immediately rather than waiting for final results.
Strategic advantages of CIBA recognition:
Digital footprint expansion: Award recognition creates searchable credentials that enhance your online discoverability
Long-tail marketing assets: Multiple tiers of achievement provide ongoing promotional content
Category flexibility: 28 divisions including specialized non-fiction categories help you find the best strategic fit
Professional validation: Recognition from an established awards program with rigorous judging standards
Ongoing support: We work with authors throughout and after the awards process to maximize marketing impact
Unlike many awards programs, Chanticleer maintains relationships with authors after judging concludes, helping you leverage your recognition for maximum strategic benefit. This commitment to long-tail marketing aligns perfectly with Book Award Mastery’s methodology of building sustainable author platforms through strategic award pursuit.
We’re excited to partner with Carol Abrahamson and Book Award Mastery to support authors pursuing strategic recognition
At Chanticleer, we’re dedicated to discovering today’s best books while supporting authors who approach their careers with intention and strategy. Through our Editorial Book Reviews, Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards, and SEO-optimized marketing approach, we help authors build the digital footprint and professional credibility that accelerates long-term success.
This partnership runs through the end of 2025, offering Book Award Mastery clients exclusive access to services at discounted rates. Whether you’re pursuing industry recognition, building reader trust, or strengthening your professional credibility, Chanticleer provides the strategic marketing tools that complement your award pursuit goals.
Questions about which CIBA division best fits your strategic goals? Contact us at DBeaumier@ChantiReviews.com for guidance on category selection and maximizing your award strategy.
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Western, First Nations and Americana Fiction. The Laramie Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring Americana themes, First Nation stories, early North American History, cowboys & cowgirls in the Wild West, pioneering, and Civil War, and we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 LARAMIE entries to the 2025 Laramie Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Laramie Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Laramie Book Awards novel competition for Western and Americana Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
Barbara Salvatore – Together To Gather Kí-Ku
Bill Lynam – Sojourn To War
Brett Shayler – Kickapoo Creek
Chad Lester – House of Crimson Roses
Charlie Steel – Two Women Conquer the West and Their Hearts
Chuck Locklear – The Pines Know
CK Van Dam – Iron Horse Claim
David Fitz-Gerald – A Grave Every Mile: A Pioneer Western Adventure
David Fitz-Gerald – Rathuun King of the Prairie
Derek Wachter – Sons of the Promised Land
Dwight Holing – The Broken Blood
E. S. Raye – Gas Giant Gambit
Erika Shepard – Molly’s Lament
George T. Arnold – An Ounce of Death
Imogen Martin – To the Wild Horizon
J. E. Weiner – The Wretched and Undone
Jeza Belle – The Freedom To Love
Joan Koster – Prairie Cinderella
John Hansen – The Medicine Line
Julie Mcdonald Zander – The Reluctant Pioneer
Karen Lynne Klink – War and Preservation
Larry Boucher – The Scout
M. B. Gibson – Pryor Knowledge Horse Racing Love and Slavery in the Antebellum South
M. E. Torrey – Fox Creek
Melora Fern – Whistling Women and Crowing Hens
Robert L Jones – The Unbroken Trail
Sally Rutledge Moore – Fever Season
Suzanne Elizabeth Gillis – The Landlady of Maple Avenue
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Chaucer Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Early Historical (Pre- 1750) Fiction. The Chaucer Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Chaucer Book Awards competition is named for Geoffrey Chaucer the author of the legendary Canterbury Tales. The work is considered to be one of the greatest works in the English language. It was among the first non-secular books written in Middle English to be printed in 1483.
Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring Pre-1750s Historical Fiction, including pre-history, ancient history, Classical, world history (non-western culture), Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Tudor, 1600s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.
These titles have moved forward from all of the 2025 Chaucer entries to the 2025 Chaucer Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Chaucer Award Short List. Short listers compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the 2026Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Chaucer Book Awards novel competition for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
Adam Alexander Haviaras – A Dragon Among the Eagles a Novel of the Roman Empire
Albert A. Bell Jr. – Archippos the Trembler a Novel of Ancient Sparta
Anne M. Beggs – By Arrow and Sword Book Two Dahlquin Series
Barbara Stark-Nemon – Isabela’s Way a Novel
Bryce Gibby – Esta
Chuck Locklear – The Pines Know
Elizabeth Clifford Murphy – The Faithful Harlot
Erryn Lee – What Remains
Fawn Brokaw Doyle – Salt People of the Cloud Houses the Story of Sarah Rapalje and Dutch Manhattan
Gregory Michael Nixon – Diomedes in Kyprios
Gregory Michael Nixon – The Diomedeia: Diomedes, The Peoples of the Sea, and the Fall of the Hittite Empire
Helena P. Schrader – The Tale of the English Templar
J. M. Elliott – Of Wind and Wolves
J. Susanne Wilson – The Death and Life of Iphigenia
J.C. Corry – The Storyteller’s Reputation: Geoffrey Chaucer Reluctant Spy
Jane Bitomsky – A Foundling’s Lot
Janet Wertman – Nothing Proved
Jay A. Cornils – A Litany of Angels
Jean K. Dudek – The Scent of Bright Light
K.M. Butler – The Raven and the Dove
Keira Morgan – The Importance of Wives
Kim Gottlieb-Walker – Caterina by Moonlight
Lisa Llamrei – Quest for Ma’at
Liz Sevchuk Armstrong – To Be Worthy in Honor Book II of the Epic of Hotspur
Lizzie Jenks – Devil in Our Hearts
Logan D. Irons – City of Wolves
Marc Ladewig – The King of the Wood
Marcia Maxwell – I, Christine a Novel
Michael J. Cooper – The Rabbi’s Knight
Michaela Riley – Labyrinth of Shadows the Witch’s Rebirth Part I
Nina Wachsman – The Courtesan’s Pirate
Rachel Elwiss Joyce – Lady of Lincoln
Richard G Nixon – The Legend of Fingerless Will Nixon the Scottish Borderlands 1508-1509
Sarah V. Barnes – She Who Rides Horses: A Saga of the Ancient Steppe Book One
Sarah V. Barnes – A Clan Chief’s Daughter: She Who Rides Horses Book Two
Sonya Van De Graaff – The Painter From Seville
Congratulations once more to the 2024 Chaucer Grand Prize Winner for Historical Fiction
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Non-Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Hemingway Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of 20th and 21st Century Wartime Fiction. The Hemingway Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Post-1750s Historical Fiction. The Goethe Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Naked in the Now: Juicy Practices for Getting Present by Marijke McCandless is a spiritual and psychological journey for restless minds to find authenticity, awareness, and how to be fully alive—an intimate quest and relational bridge between oneself and others.
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Western, First Nations and Americana Fiction. The Laramie Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Chaucer Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Early Historical (Pre- 1750) Fiction. The Chaucer Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
