Tag: CBR writing competition

  • Ten Days Left! The Chatelaine, Somerset, and Humor & Satire Awards Close Soon!

    The 2025 CIBAs Close Soon!

    Don’t let your book miss out!

    Only 10 days left to submit your books to these CIBA Divisions and embark on a journey to discovery.

    The Chanticleer International Book Awards provide ongoing recognition that amplifies authors’ digital footprints through high-traffic website features, social media promotion, newsletter spotlights, and long-tail marketing that continues promoting winners throughout the year and beyond!

    The Somerset, Chatelaine and Humor and Satire Awards are still open!

    Best Book Grand Prize for the Chanticleer Int'l Book Awards

    Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Chatelaine Awards for Romantic Fiction!

    • Reenita M. Hora – Vermilion Harvest – Playtime at the Bagh
    • John W. Feist – Edged in Purple
    • Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge
    • Nancy Herkness – Royal Caleva: Luis
    • George T. Arnold – The Heart Beneath the Badge
    • Sonja N. Griffing – Chasing Noelle
    • Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day, Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy

    And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Chatelaine Grand Prize Winner:

    The Key

    By Jo Morgan Sloan

    The Key cover by Jo Morgan Sloan

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Humor and Satire Awards for Satirical and Allegorical Fiction!

    • Bill Burkland – The Misconceived Conception of a Baby Named Jesus
    • Julie L. Brown – No One Will Save Us: A novel
    • Dan Kopcow – Madcap Serenade
    • Marco Ocram – The Awful Truth About The Name Of The Rose

    And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Humor and Satire Grand Prize Winner:

    The Man Who Saw Seconds

    By Alexander Boldizar

    The Man Who Saw Seconds cover by Alexander Boldizar

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Somerset Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

    • Robert Gwaltney – Sing Down the Moon
    • Ann Bancroft – Almost Family
    • Christina Boyd – Woman in the Painting
    • Kay Smith-Blum – Tangles
    • Anthony Horton – Unpaved
    • Erika Shepard – Abomination Child
    • Leslie DeBrock – The Frog-Eyed Gospel, A Texas Exodus

    And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Somerset and Overall Grand Prize Winner:

    Vermilion Harvest- Playtime at the Bagh

    By Reenita Malhotra Hora

    Vermilion Harvest Cover

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    The CIBAs provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

    We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this step in their publishing.

    Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 17-19, 2025) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

    In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

    Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

    Blue button that says Enter a Writing Contest

    Your book deserves to be discovered

    Enter Today!

  • The 2025 Chatelaine Hall of Fame for Romance Fiction

    Need some Love in your life?

    The Chatelaine Awards are here to bring you the best in Romance Fiction.

    **Send us your Story Today**

    It is a truth Universally acknowledged that a Reader in search of a book, must be in want of a good Romance.

    Romance Fiction Chatelaine Award

    Other Divisions may have categories for Romantic themes, but if you want purely Romance, look no further! Historical to Modern, Steamy to Clean, even throw in some adventure, We’ve got it all!

    Join us in celebrating These recent Grand Prize Winners of the Chatelaine Award!

    The Key
    By Jo Morgan Sloan

    The Key cover by Jo Morgan Sloan

    Our Review of the newest Grand Prize Winner is still upcoming. In the meantime, here is what some Goodreads readers have been saying:

    It’s an adorable read that had me feeling like this: 🥰🥰🥰 basically from the moment I read the dedication until I got to the end (though there were a couple dark moments), and I loved the queer rep, from the members of the DnD group to Tabby and Jax themselves.

    I really liked that Tabby’s experience as a trans man was mostly positive. He’s happy with who he is and reading about his feelings brought me a lot of joy. His anxiety over whether or not to tell Jax the truth was so real, I felt it too. And the way Jax feels about his friendship with Tabby is so sweet… ahhhh! The writing just sucked me in and made it so easy to feel all the feels.

    Tabby’s relationship with Rob, who is also a trans man, was very interesting. It made me consider some possible advantages and challenges in trans relationships that I never thought about before, and of course it’s great when books give us something new to think about.” – El

    Amazing. This book was described to me as “the gayest book I’ve ever read” and I could not agree more. 
    Right from the start, Sloan’s writing drew me in. With a surprising depth of maturity in their writing for a debut author I quickly found myself swept away. 
    Tabby and Jax stole my heart and keep my giggling and kicking my feet along the way. 
    A truly binge-worthy holiday romance.” -Mandie

    What happens when you and your first love separate on good terms due to distance and you take that chance to become the real version of yourself? And then what happens if years later you really get that second chance? The Key is a beautiful second chance, trans romance with a lot of nerdy flare. Jaxon and Tabby are beautifully complex and well-rounded characters who made me want nothing more than to see them get their happily ever after. The complexities of young love, the incredible vastness and scope of the trans journey and what it means to different people, being bisexual but straight passing, each character brings something new and unique and heart breaking to the story that just made the story that much more touching. Fun read, beautiful story.” -Samantha

    Buy the Book!

    A Sea of Glass
    By Gail Avery Halverson

    In this rich, absorbing tale, Gail Avery Halverson continues the remarkable saga of Lady Catherine Abbott and Simon McKensie that began with the multiple award-winning novels, The Boundary Stone and The Skeptical Physick. Sweeping us from a quaint village in England to Colonial Boston and to the beautiful evils of 17th century Barbados, Gail Avery Halverson has once again written a truly compelling and unforgettable novel.

    After a heartbreaking tragedy, Catherine yearns for the safety and familiarity England, but when a free, black woman attempts to accomplish the unthinkable, Catherine is forced to decide where her future lies.

    When a daring investment in the lucrative 17th century Barbados sugar trade takes a horrifying turn, Simon must at last set his dedication for medicine and scientific discovery aside and face the true ugliness of slavery.

    Joining the multitude of courageous souls in the first waves of the Great Migration from England to America, Simon and Catherine McKensie lay witness to the forging of a new country, the first seeds of violent rebellion against the Crown, and the bitter tentacles of a slave trade just beginning to take root.

    Read it here!

    You can read the review for the previous book in the series, and our 2019 Grand Prize Winner here!

    Operation Mom: My Plan to Get My Mom a Life and a Man
    By Reenita Malhotra Hora

    Master storyteller Reenita Malhotra Hora’s YA romance Operation Mom: My Plan to Get My Mom a Life and a Man takes us on a charming journey through the life of one teen, Ila Isham.

    Hora introduces Ila and her best friend Deepali, two boy-crazy teens on a summer quest. Readers will fall in love with the smart, sassy, angst-filled, rebellious Ila. A typical teenage girl, Ila lives in Mumbai with her mom and Sakkubai, their house manager. Ila’s mother calls her obsessed, but that seems unfair. Is she obsessed just because her every waking minute is spent thinking of Ali Zafar, famous pop icon, singer, and heartthrob? Or is she obsessed with fellow classmate Dev?

    No, Ila couldn’t be taken with Dev because he’s one of three young men that her best friend Deepali is juggling in her summer experiment of exploring her “feminine mystique.” This turn of phrase becomes just one of many opportunities for Hora’s humor to shine as Ila remarks, “That’s a book by Gloria Steinem . . . no Betty Friedan.” Deepali’s response? “Yaar. Don’t be so literal.” The delightful balance between Ila’s book smarts versus Deepali’s street smarts carries us through Hora’s expertly crafted story.

    Read More Here

    The Long Desert Road
    By Alex Sirotkin

    The Long Desert Road Cover

    Alex Sirotkin’s debut novel, The Long Desert Road, navigates the emotional arcs of life in contrast with the greater expanse of the cosmos. Here a young woman must face her addictions while the people around her try to move beyond her backlash.

    We meet Henry Spinoza, a 44-year-old quirky science writer. He ponders his life as half over, looks for the right woman, and wonders if there isn’t more to existence.

    For twenty years, Henry, a science writer, has been researching a non-fiction book on the universe that he intends to write. Henry’s feeling “bored, boring, and budget-conscious…the trifecta of gloom,” as he puts it. But in the middle of this ennui, his sister-in-law invites him to dinner, along with her divorced friend, Isabel Dalton, an attorney, and “the setup is afoot.”

    Read More Here

    When The Wind Chimes
    By Mary Ting

    Cover of When the Wind Chimes by Mary Ting

    In When the Wind Chimes by international best-selling author Mary Ting, Kate Summers wants to make this Christmas extra-special for her older sister, Abby, and four-year-old nephew.

    A year ago, she’d given up Christmas with her family to spend the holiday with her boyfriend, Jayden, whom she had caught cheating on her the next day. Not only is she hoping to erase that memory, but she also has another even more important reason to make this Christmas special.  A few months after her disastrous break-up with Jayden, her brother-in-law, Steve, passed away from cancer, so Abby and Tyler will be spending their first Christmas alone.

    After taking a leave from her job as a graphic designer in LA, Kate flies to Poipu, Kauai, determined to make this an amazing holiday, but on her way to her sister’s house, she meets a mysterious man, who gives up his cab for her. Kate can’t get the handsome stranger out of her head, and when she sees him again in her sister’s art gallery–and destroys his expensive shirt with paint–she is both mortified and excited.

    Read More Here


    Remember to add your next reads to your StoryGraph or Goodreads account! Now that you’re set on your next five reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Chatelaine Winners is to submit today! 

    The gold Chanticleer Int'l Book Awards Overall Grand Prize Sticker

    Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

  • The 2024 Chatelaine First Place Round Up for Romance Fiction!

    Romance Fiction Chatelaine Award

    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!

    The 2024 Chatelaine Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

    Join us in celebrating the 2024 First Place Chatelaine Winners!

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Reenita M. Hora – Vermilion Harvest: Playtime at the Bagh

    Vermilion Harvest Cover

    Chanticleers 2024 Overall Grand Prize Winner!

    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.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    John W. Feist – Edged in Purple

    Edged in Purple, John W. Feist, silhouette, greek

    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 Purple by 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.

    Read More Here

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge

    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.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Nancy Herkness – Royal Caleva: Luis

    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.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    George T. Arnold – The Heart Beneath the Badge

    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.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Sonja N. Griffing – Chasing Noelle

    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.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day

    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?

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!


    Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 Chatelaine First Place Winners!

    Romance Fiction Chatelaine Award

    Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

     

    Got a great Fiction Book? The 2025 Chatelaine Book Awards are open through the end of October!

    Blue button that says Enter a Writing Contest
    Submit to the Chatelaine Awards Today!
  • The 2025 Chatelaine Spotlight for Romance Fiction

    Celebrating Love in All Its Forms

    book award for Romance Novels The Chatelaine Awards

    The Chatelaine Awards are looking for Romance this fall!

    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!

    The Key cover by Jo Morgan Sloan

    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 Cover

    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.

    Read More Here

    Summer Cyclone Cover

    Summer Cyclone
    By Alan B. Gibson

    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.

    Read More Here

    Loving Beth Cover

    Loving Beth
    By Bonnie Rose Ward

    A Chatelaine First Place Winner!

    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.

    Read More Here

    Circle of Stars

    A Circle of Stars
    By Erin Lark Maples

    The 2024 Ozma Grand Prize Winner!

    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.

    Read More Here

    Guarded Hearts Cover

    Guarded Hearts
    By T.K. Conklin

    The 2022 Laramie Grand Prize Winner and a Chatelaine First Place Winner!

    Guarded Hearts by 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.

    Read More Here

    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!

    Romance Fiction Chatelaine Award

    Submit to the Chatelaine Awards today! Deadline: October 31st

    You know you want it…
  • 7 days Left! Book Awards for Young Readers Close at the End of September!

    Time is almost up for these Back-to-School reads!

    Don’t let your book miss out!

    Only 7 days remain to enter your books to these CIBA Divisions and embark on an extraordinary journey to success!

    The Chanticleer International Book Awards provide ongoing recognition that amplifies authors’ digital footprints through high-traffic website features, social media promotion, newsletter spotlights, and long-tail marketing that continues promoting winners throughout the year and beyond!

    The Dante Rossetti, Gertrude Warner and The Little Peeps Awards are still open!Best Book Grand Prize for the Chanticleer Int'l Book Awards

    Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Little Peeps Awards for Early Readers!

    • Kristen J Anderson – Lorelei the Lorelei: The First of Many Firsts
    • Raven Howell – Keep Trucking
    • Julie Lomax – Melissa Moo Moo’s Special Lesson
    • Dr. Gerry Haller – Will’s Adventure to the Candy Mountain
    • Shaziya M. Jaffer, Jessica Alexanderson and Brad W. Rudover – A Recycling Adventure to The Scrapyard!
    • Mike Mirabella and Lenny Lipton – I Used to Be Shy

    And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Early Peeps Grand Prize Winner:

    Island Moon

    By Ruth Amanda

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Gertrude Warner Award for Middle Grade Fiction!

    • Thomas Kuhn – Tommy Rocket and the Goober Patrol
    • Debbie Noble Black – Deetjen’s Closet
    • M.J. Evans – Coal Dust and Dreams
    • M.C. Dingman – Samantha Smee: A Pirate’s Life
    • Maggie Lynch – The Power of S.A.D.
    • Sue C. Dugan – Mayday
    • Carolyn Armstrong – No Time To Waste
    • Sandy Grubb – Just Like Click

    And a huge round of applause for our 2024 Gertrude Warner Grand Prize Winner:

    Back to Bainbridge

    By Norah Lally

    Back to Bainbridge Cover

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Dante Rossetti Award for Young Adult Fiction!

    • Mark Kraver – The Willow
    • C.H. Brown – The Appearance of Power
    • Eileen Charbonneau and Jude Pittman – Spectral Evidence
    • J.A. Nielsen – The Winter Heir (Fractured Kingdoms, Book 2)
    • John Middleton – The Pool of Initiation
    • E. L. Werbitsky – The Marsh Keeper

    And a huge round of applause for our 2024 Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Winner:

    The Realm of Gods

    By Glen Dahlgren

    The Realm of the Gods cover by Glen Dahlgren

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    The CIBAs offer a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

    We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.

    Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 17-19, 2026) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

    In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

    Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

    Blue button that says Enter a Writing Contest

    Your book deserves to be discovered

    Don’t Delay! Enter Today!

  • The 2025 Dante Rossetti Hall of Fame for YA Fiction

    Got a Young Adult in your life?

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    The Dante Rossetti Awards finds the best books for them!

    The Dante Rossetti Awards celebrate stories that bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood. Young readers exist in a liminal space, and we are pleased to feature Young Adult Fiction in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

    Join us in celebrating the previous Grand Prize Winners of the Dante Rossetti Awards!

    The Realm of the Gods cover by Glen Dahlgren

    The Realm of Gods: The Chronicles of Chaos Book 3
    By Glen Dahlgren

    Our review for the newest Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Winner is still upcoming. In the meantime, here is what GoodReads readers have been saying:

    “I honestly cannot begin to describe how much I loved The Realm of Gods!! I’ve been so very invested over all four books and I’m so very sad it’s come to an end – but what an ending it was!

    I’m not even sure what to say without spoiling it, I’m still absolutely reeling from how epic the ending was!!

     think I’ve gone through just about every emotion reading these books. I’ve laughed, I’ve grieved, I’ve whooped with joy – even nearly throwing my phone (always at those halfway points) and the ending literally gave me goosebumps it was just brilliant!!”

    -Toni

    The Realm of Gods is an epic conclusion to The Chronicles of Chaos series, and I absolutely LOVED it. The story picks up right where the last book left off, diving straight into the action. The world-building is fantastic, and the characters continue to grow in ways that feel natural yet surprising. I especially appreciated how even the villains were complex and interesting, making the stakes feel higher and more intense. Listening to the audiobook added another layer of immersion, and the narration really brought the characters to life.

    This final book wraps up the series beautifully, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you hooked. The pacing is perfect, and the emotional depth of the story shines through. If you’re a fan of epic fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time, this is definitely a series worth diving into. Highly recommend!” -Amber

    The Realm of Gods is a perfect ending to a great series however this reader is very hopeful the author will add to the series in the future. Like with the previous books I found the story to be interesting and captivating and just an absolutely fun, thought-provoking read.” -Dwayne

    Sour Flower

    A Manuscript

    By Maryanne Melloan Woods

    Sour Flower, the unpublished feel-good coming-of-age novel by Maryanne Melloan Woods, contrasts the joys of teen friendship with the hardships of growing up in a broken family.

    As a fourteen-year-old in 1970s San Francisco, Marigold (call her “M”) Hayes is fed up with her life.

    M is very much aware of her role as the mature buzzkill in the family. Her parents, college dropouts and now divorced hippies, barely have it together. M often has to act as the mature adult for the sake of housing and basic necessities. With a spaced-out father who barely supports them and a mother who thinks her daughter is a square, it’s a miracle that M has kept her family afloat for so long.

    When her English teacher suggests M apply to Barnum—an elite prep school offering scholarships to students in need—she dares to hope. Maybe this could give her a chance to pursue her dream of becoming a financially stable businesswoman.

    Read More Here

    Wages of Empire

    Wages of Empire
    By Michael J. Cooper

    Michael J. Cooper’s latest historical fiction novel, Wages of Empire, draws readers into the perilous journey of sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair and his father into WW1. On this path, their lives will intersect with such historical figures as TE Lawrence, Gertrude Bell, the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, the Arab nationalist Faisal ibn Hussein, the proto-Nazi and advisor to the German kaiser Guido von List, and Kaiser Wilhelm II himself.

    Set in the summer of 1914 we find Evan living in the American southwest where his father moved the family from England for his Oxford sabbatical. Evan struggles to cope with his mother’s death in childbirth and yearns to escape his father’s controlling grip. As war breaks out in Europe, Evan decides to leave home and join the fight, without telling his father.

    Read More Here

    TARO Legendary Boy Hero of Japan Cover

    Taro: The Legendary Boy Hero of Japan
    By Blue Spruell

    Adventure, classic tales, fantasy, and exciting action combine in TARO: Legendary Boy Hero of Japan, a well-poised debut novel by award-winning author Blue Spruell.

    In the turbulent final decades of the sixteenth century, feudal Japan reeled in mayhem as the central hereditary dictatorship collapsed, and tyrannical powers fought to control the empire. TARO: The Legendary Boy Hero of Japan is the story of how one man revolutionized a nation by taking its reigns and forging a new destiny through his depths of compassion and determination.

    The story begins with Taro as a young boy. As an heir to the Takeda family, Taro enjoyed reading, much to his father’s disapproval, as he wanted him to follow in his footsteps as a skilled Samurai. Tragedy changes Taro’s presumed destiny when his parents are murdered in a fierce power struggle, leaving him an orphan. Shortly after, a witch saves him from drowning and begins Taro’s new life of adventure, introducing him to a world of mythical creatures. On this new journey, Taro discovers shocking secrets about his lineage, and with them, his ultimate purpose in medieval Japan.

    Read More Here

    Cover of The Best Week That Never Happened by Dallas Woodburn

    The Best Week That Never Happened
    By Dallas Woodburn

    Dallas Woodburn’s debut novel The Best Week that Never Happened is a roller-coaster ride through Hawaii and the mysterious depths of its briny deep, sparkling with unreal magic, a poignant romance, and incessant hope.

    Tegan Rossi, a freshly graduated eighteen-year-old, awakens in the secretive hideout she discovered with Kai Kapule as two eight-year-old children on her first trip to Hawaii Island. She needs to make amends with Kai as they had a major squabble over something very important that she now oddly forgets. When Tegan catches up with Kai in Hawaii, she enters her best week yet – the Best Week That Never Happened.

    The first-person narrative is a fusion of Tegan’s past three years ago and ten years ago, as well as a mystified chronicling of her present with Kai on the Big Island of Hawaii.

    Read More Here


    You know you want it…

    Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Dante Rossetti Winners is to enter today!

  • The 2024 Dante Rossetti First Place Round Up for YA Fiction

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA FictionThe Dante Rossetti Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Young Adult Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Glen Dahlgren’s book, The Realm of Gods will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Dante Rossetti 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!

    The 2024 Dante Rossetti Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

    Join us in celebrating the 2024 First Place Dante Rossetti Winners!

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    A note from Chanticleer:

    This year’s Dante Rossetti Winners is special, in the way that half of our First Place Winners for this year are manuscripts. We are very excited to help these authors celebrate their work, and hopefully see them come out someday!

    Mark Kraver – The Willow

    Mark Kraver reveals a swashbuckling side of American history in his latest young adult historical fiction novel The Willow. Heroine Abigail Spragg uses her pirate fortune to fund a school for girls, which teaches its students, including Abigail’s teenage daughter Hannah, to fight like their seafaring ancestors.

    When Abigail receives a letter from one of her many pirate connections requesting that she use his fortune to help a mysterious acquaintance open this school, she finds the idea preposterous. After all, education for women is rare in 1700s New England. The East Coast is bathed in a strict status quo and still recovering from the witch trials that had taken so many lives. Many people go out of their way to avoid straying from societal norms.

    Nevertheless, Abigail sets out, reconnecting with her widowed sister Eunice and bringing her oldest daughter along as they seek the enigmatic Hope Terwilliger and open “The Willow Finishing School”.

    The full review will be released upon publication!

    C.H. Brown – The Appearance of Power

    According to the authors blog, Book 1 is out of the editing stage, and she is going to be releasing all 3 books in the trilogy together once they are finished. We are very excited to see those when they come out!

    Eileen Charbonneau and Jude Pittman- Spectral Evidence: Newfoundland (Canadian Historical Mysteries)

    Seventeen-year-old Newfoundlander Charlotte Jaddore loves nothing more than learning sacred healing arts from the elders of her Mi’kmaq and Beothuk grandmothers. But the year is 1692 and her father needs her help. Their American cousins in Salem, Massachusetts have been accused of witchcraft. Will Charlotte help her father fight for the lives of Philip and Mary English?

    When father and daughter arrive in Salem, their cousins have already been imprisoned. How can the couple survive against spectral evidence— harming their victims from afar as invisible projections? The motives of their accusing neighbors are anything but spiritual. They are after the English family’s wealth.

    And the sights of those accusers are now fixed on the heirs. Can Charlotte get young Mary, Philip and William to Newfoundland, without infecting her own beloved island with spectral evidence fever?

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    J.A. Neilsen – The Winter Heir

    Spense might have saved his country of Telridge and won the heart of the faerie princess. But he doesn’t feel like a hero—not while Dewy is stuck in the Winter lands, all because of a bargain she made on his behalf.

    After months of fruitless research, Spense abandons the libraries of Telridge and turns to the Faerie Oracles to seek a solution. Meanwhile, Dewy is no damsel in distress. She is on a journey of her own, diving deeper into her magic, and finding alliances in the most unexpected of places.

    As they each seek the Winter Heir, they face unsettling truths about themselves, their world, and the steep costs of magic.

    From Chanticleer:

    The Winter Heir, the second book in J.A. Nielsen’s Fractured Kingdoms series, picks up where the first book, The Claiming, leaves off—with its protagonists struggling under the weight of a vital bargain.

    Lady Dew Drop, Dewy to her friends—and her frenemies—is languishing in the court of the Winter Fae, a summer princess nearly frozen in both heart and spirit as she does her best to fulfill the pact she made with the Winter King. Meanwhile, the man who got her into this mess, the human mage and illegitimate princeling of Telridge—Spence Ferrous—tries to fulfill the deal for her.

    But the story is much bigger than these two young lovers. The Winter King is dying without a legitimate heir. And it’s his own proud, arrogant fault. As much as both the humans and the Summer Fae would be willing to let him suffer the consequences of his own actions—he’s not the only one who will.

    Read More Here

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    John Middleton – The Pool of Initiation

    We’re currently working with Middleton on his entire series! We can’t wait for it to wrap up so he can share it with our community!

    EL Werbitsky – The Marsh Keeper

    Some secrets aren’t meant to be shared…

    Sixteen-year-old Calvin Hughes can see human energy and in that revealing light learns the best and worst of the people around him.

    He tells no one what he sees, until a young girl vanishes beneath the marsh and the truth behind her tragedy is too disturbing to hide.

    But when enchantments lure Cal toward the haunted waters and his sole confidante betrays him, Cal discovers the danger of knowing too much and the price for sharing secrets, especially one that could change the world.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!


    Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 Dante Rossetti First Place Winners!

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

     

    Got a great Fiction Book? The 2025 Dante Rossetti Book Awards are open through the end of September!

    Submissions don’t officially close until the date on the website changes!

    Blue button that says Enter a Writing Contest
    Submit to the Dante Rossetti Awards Today!
  • The 2025 Dante Rossetti Spotlight for YA Fiction

    Has your book come of age?

    Then it’s time to enter the Dante Rossetti Awards!

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Dante Rossetti closes on September 30, 2025!

    The Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult Fiction are named for Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), the British painter, poet, and a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Better known for his romantic paintings, Rossetti was also a prolific poet who, along with his siblings, formed one of literature’s most creative families. His sister Christina was a celebrated poet, Maria became an essayist before joining a religious order, and brother William served as a prominent editor and literary critic.

    We chose Dante Rossetti to represent our Young Adult Awards because the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s core principles: having genuine ideas to express, studying nature attentively, sympathizing with what is direct and serious and heartfelt, and producing thoroughly excellent work. These mirror what the best young adult literature achieves. Like the Pre-Raphaelites who defied Victorian social conventions, exceptional YA fiction encourages young readers to question norms, observe the world carefully, and find their own authentic voices.

    La Viuda Romana by Dante Rossetti

    The Art of Writing for Hearts and Minds in Transition

    Creating exceptional young adult literature means respecting the intelligence and emotional capacity of readers who are simultaneously naive and wise, hopeful and cynical, dependent and fiercely independent. YA authors walk a fascinating tightrope: addressing mature themes and complex emotions while remembering that their readers are still developing their understanding of themselves and the world.

    The best YA fiction doesn’t talk down to its audience or oversimplify complex issues. Instead, it explores themes like identity, justice, love, loss, family, friendship, and social change with the nuance and respect that young adult experiences deserve. Whether it’s a dystopian rebellion that mirrors real-world social justice movements, a contemporary romance that explores healthy relationships, or an epic fantasy that examines power and corruption, exceptional YA literature helps readers process their own experiences while providing the escapism and adventure that makes reading addictive.

    Young adult readers have sophisticated BS detectors that can spot condescending or inauthentic writing from a mile away. The authors who succeed in this space are those who remember what it feels like to be young while bringing adult writing skills and perspective to stories that honor the complexity of the teenage experience.

    Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

    The Realm of the Gods cover by Glen Dahlgren

    We’re excited to honor Glen Dahlgren, whose epic fantasy conclusion The Realm of Gods: The Chronicles of Chaos Book Three claimed the 2024 Dante Rossetti Grand Prize with a story that pulls no punches in its exploration of power, rebellion, and the battle between order and chaos. In this climactic volume, protagonist Galen must navigate the Dreaming – an ethereal realm where past, present, and future collide – while confronting both his nemesis Carnaubas and the horrifying truth that the exiled gods of Order still hunger for dominion.

    What makes The Realm of Gods exemplary YA literature is its refusal to simplify complex themes of tyranny, rebellion, and human connection. Alongside Eve, a young girl with the ability to see the threads connecting everything, Galen embarks on a desperate quest to prevent Order’s return – a premise that resonates with young readers who understand that fighting against oppressive systems often requires extraordinary courage and unlikely alliances. The novel’s recognition as both a Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Winner and recipient of the American Fiction Award and Indies Today Best Epic Fantasy Award demonstrates how exceptional YA literature can compete on any literary stage. In addition to ongoing promotional features, The Realm of Gods will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Glen Dahlgren will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and The Realm of Gods will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.

    Categories That Capture the Full YA Experience

    The Dante Rossetti Awards welcome young adult fiction across every genre and emotional landscape:

    • Contemporary YA – Stories grounded in today’s reality that explore authentic teen experiences, relationships, and challenges
    • SFF & Paranormal – Science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal tales that use otherworldly elements to explore very real themes
    • YA Adventure/Romance – Action-packed stories and love stories that acknowledge the intensity of young relationships and experiences
    • YA Historical – Past-set stories that help young readers understand different eras while exploring timeless coming-of-age themes
    • Dystopian/Edgy/Urban – Darker stories that don’t shy away from difficult topics or challenging social commentary
    • Mystery/Thriller/Suspense – Puzzle-solving adventures and high-stakes narratives that respect young readers’ ability to handle complex plots

    Each category acknowledges that young adult readers seek different types of stories depending on their mood, interests, and life experiences, from light romantic escapes to heavy social commentary and everything in between.

    The Complete Youth Literature Journey

    The Dante Rossetti Awards complete Chanticleer’s comprehensive celebration of youth literature at every developmental stage:

    • Little Peeps Awards – Picture books and early readers that introduce children to the magic of storytelling
    • Gertrude Warner Awards – Middle grade fiction for readers developing independence and exploring more complex themes

    Together, these three divisions ensure that exceptional youth literature receives recognition at every stage of the reading journey, supporting the development of lifelong readers and critical thinkers.

    Looking at Young Adult Excellence

    Check out some of these outstanding YA books we’ve celebrated recently!

    An Empty House Doesn't Sneeze Cover

    An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze
    By David Scott Richardson

    In David Scott Richardson’s YA WWII historical novel, An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze, teenager Scott Johannsen—“Scotty” to his mom and friends—leads us on an adventure through the wartime Ravenna neighborhood in Seattle, Washington.

    Boeing manufactures B-17s, his grandparents and neighbors grow victory gardens, his parents build a bomb shelter in their basement, and mandatory blackouts occur every night. Scotty navigates a chaotic world filled with danger and wonder yet finds security with family and friends in this heartfelt story.

    Scotty runs with his pack—James, Marty, and Burr. We witness what lengths they will go to on a search for chocolate. With Ravenna Park as a backyard and Puget Sound just a short drive away, Scotty’s life is filled with exploration of the natural world. His fishing adventures with his dad in the Sound become an exciting way to supplement his family’s food rations as he dreams about netting a fighting salmon.

    Read More Here

    Luna: Rhone and Stone Book 2
    By Strider S.R. Klusman

    A Chanticleer Dante Rossetti First Place Winner and Cover Design Grand Prize Winner!

    Luna, the second book in Strider S.R. Klusman’s YA Rhone and Stone Series, follows Rhone and his alien partner Stone as they develop a ship that can sail through the air.

    The two train to become agents for the Office of Public Recrimination, urged to join by their friend – and now boss – Aundrea. Rhone struggles through training with the help of his trusty partner, but a much more difficult test remains before them – their first assignment.

    Aundrea sends them to Corgy, a port town, without explaining their mission. But it doesn’t take long for Rhone to encounter troubles from shore and sea alike.

    He and Stone meet Mayor Dugan, who takes an instant dislike for Rhone, posing as a wealthy merchant’s son. But it’s his front, designed so by the ladies of the OPR, and commands a great deal of respect and authority from the locals, if not Bella. Sometimes it’s difficult not to forget his actual purpose for being at Corgy. As an agent of the OPR, he must solve the town’s greatest problem, a rash of pirate attacks on Corgy’s vital ocean-borne trade; if they continue, Corgy won’t survive.

    Read More Here

    Crossroads of empire, green

    Crossroads of Empire
    By Michael J. Cooper

    A Chanticleer Hemingway First Place Winner!

    Crossroads of Empire by Michael J. Cooper brings readers back into sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair’s journey through the battlefields of WWI. The adventures and the war itself pick up right where the award-winning Wages of Empire left off.

    As in the first book, Evan begins his part of this story by going missing, this time not just from his father’s perspective, but from his own. Severely injured during his service with the Flemish resistance, Evan is discharged from a French field hospital. He’s on his way back to England by hospital ship when it is sunk by a German U-boat. When he reaches British shores as the sole survivor in a lifeboat, he’s left with amnesia and has no memory of who he is.Evan’s search for his own identity leads him to Rosslyn Castle, the Sinclair family’s ancestral home in Scotland. There he unravels secret family histories and connections long buried. Finally, with assistance from a wise woman, Evan regains his memory. Without the protection the amnesia provided, he faces a host of painful and traumatic memories.

    Read More Here

    The Hidden Library Cover

    The Hidden Library, Book 2 of the Isle of Dragons Series
    By L.A. Thompson

    Isle of Dragons: The Hidden Library by L.A. Thompson is a breathtaking race to seize the reins of destiny and find a magical library that was once the subject of stories and lore. Jade and Kaylen, once friends, oppose each other in search of this hidden library and its world-changing secrets.

    Demoted and dejected, Kaylen reels from her valiant but failed attempt to bring back the final item that King Jarrod needs to fulfill a prophecy. The iconic stone remains out of reach. Kaylen is summoned for an audience with the king. A glimmer of hope for the future flickers, but the king demands an even more ambitious mission of her. He will restore her rank and honors if she finds for him the mysterious hidden library that can open a gateway between worlds. It’s a deadly challenge that will once again pit her against an old friend.

    Jade summons all her strength and courage with others who stand against the king who has made her family suffer. When she and Kaylen clash, sparks will ignite as hot as a dragon’s roar.

    Read More Here

    These works demonstrate how the best young adult literature combines sophisticated storytelling with authentic understanding of the teen experience.


    See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

    We’re excited about all the exceptional young adult books we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

    The Dante Rossetti Awards recognize the unique challenge and responsibility of writing for young adults, readers who deserve stories as complex, authentic, and emotionally honest as their own experiences. Whether you’re exploring contemporary issues, dystopian futures, epic fantasies, or historical periods, these awards celebrate books that respect young adult intelligence while providing the emotional satisfaction and escapism that great literature offers.

    Your Young Adult Story Matters

    Young adult readers are at a crucial point in their relationship with literature where they’re deciding whether books will remain an important part of their adult lives. Your YA novel could be the book that helps a teenager understand they’re not alone, provides comfort during a difficult time, or simply offers the perfect escape when life feels overwhelming. These readers are passionate, loyal, and influential; when they love a book, they become its most enthusiastic ambassadors.

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    Speak to the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s leaders – the deadline is September 30, 2025!

    You know you want it…

    Submit to the Dante Rossetti Awards today and help us celebrate literature that takes young adults seriously!

  • The 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards Finalists for Women’s Fiction and Romance

    The 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards Finalists for Women’s Fiction and Romance

    book award for Romance Novels The Chatelaine AwardsThe Chatelaine Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Romantic Fiction. The Chatelaine Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best new books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, perhaps a little steamy romance, and stories that appeal especially to fans of affairs of the heart to compete in the Chatelaine Book Awards (the CIBAs). We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    These titles have moved forward  from the 2024 CHATELAINE Romantic Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards FINALISTS. FINALISTS will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

    We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the  Chanticleer Authors Conference

    A Wreath with the words "CAC 2025" on it to celebrate the Chanticleer Author's Conference!

    These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE & GRAND PRIZE WINNERS of the 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards novel competition for Romantic Fiction!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • Reenita M. Hora – Vermilion Harvest – Playtime at the Bagh
    • Jenn Bouchard – Considering Us
    • John W. Feist – Edged in Purple
    • Kim Gottlieb-Walker – Lenswoman in Love
    • Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge
    • Davalynn Spencer – Covering Grace
    • Nancy Herkness – Royal Caleva: Luis
    • Deborah SwensonTill My Last Day, Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy
    • Jo Morgan Sloan – The Key
    • Laurel Osterkamp – The Side Project
    • George T. Arnold – The Heart Beneath the Badge
    • Sonja N. Griffing – Chasing Noelle
    • Linda Broday – Winning Maura’s Heart
    • Melissa Collings – The False Flat
    • Karen Janowsky – Her Name Was Lola
    • S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages

    Blue and Gold Finalist Badge for the Chatelaine Awards

    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.

    Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2023 Chatelaine Grand Prize Winner

    A Sea of Glass

    By Gail Avery Halverson

    blue and gold badge recognizing A Sea of Glass by Gail Avery Halverson for winning the 2023 Chatelaine Grand Prize

    Click here to see the full list of 2023 Chatelaine Book Award Winners for Romantic Fiction.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Chatelaine Book Awards for Romantic Fiction.

    Please click here for more information.

    Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

    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.

    Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!

     

  • The 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards Semi-Finalists for Women’s Fiction and Romance

    The 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards Semi-Finalists for Women’s Fiction and Romance

    book award for Romance Novels The Chatelaine AwardsThe Chatelaine Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Romantic Fiction. The Chatelaine Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best new books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, perhaps a little steamy romance, and stories that appeal especially to fans of affairs of the heart to compete in the Chatelaine Book Awards (the CIBAs). We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    These titles have moved forward  from the 2024 CHATELAINE Romantic Fiction Short List to the 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

    We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the  Chanticleer Authors Conference

    A Wreath with the words "CAC 2025" on it to celebrate the Chanticleer Author's Conference!

    These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2024 Chatelaine Book Awards novel competition for Romantic Fiction!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • Reenita M. Hora – Vermilion Harvest – Playtime at the Bagh
    • Leslie Wibberley – The Unraveling of Emma Hill
    • Jenn Bouchard – Considering Us
    • John W. Feist – Edged in Purple
    • Kim Gottlieb-Walker – Lenswoman in Love
    • Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge
    • Davalynn Spencer – Covering Grace
    • Nancy Herkness – Royal Caleva: Luis
    • Jo Morgan Sloan – The Key
    • Laurel Osterkamp – The Side Project
    • George T. Arnold – The Heart Beneath the Badge
    • Sonja N. Griffing – Chasing Noelle
    • Linda Broday – Winning Maura’s Heart
    • Melissa Collings – The False Flat
    • Eve M. Riley – The Secret
    • Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day, Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy
    • Karen Janowsky – Her Name Was Lola
    • S.G. Blaise – Meddling Mages
    • Karen Janowsky – Dear Prudence
    • CK Van Dam – Lone Tree Claim: On the Dakota Frontier
    • Amanda Sue Creasey – An Expected End

    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.

    Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2023 Chatelaine Grand Prize Winner

    A Sea of Glass

    By Gail Avery Halverson

    blue and gold badge recognizing A Sea of Glass by Gail Avery Halverson for winning the 2023 Chatelaine Grand Prize

    Click here to see the full list of 2023 Chatelaine Book Award Winners for Romantic Fiction.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Chatelaine Book Awards for Romantic Fiction.

    Please click here for more information.

    Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

    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.

    Join us for our annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!