Louise Bagshawe running for parliament – and Romantic novel of the year

A romantic thriller by author turned aspiring Conservative MP Louise Bagshawe is in the running to win the Romantic Novel of the Year award. Bagshawe's Passion, about a woman on the run from a kidnap plot, protected by her former husband, has been shortlisted for the UK's only literary prize to reward specifically romantic writing. Bagshawe, who as well as being a bestselling author is also Tory parliamentary candidate for Corby and East Northants, is up against five other titles voted onto the shortlist by a reader panel. "What I particularly like about this year's shortlist is that it covers all the range of romantic fiction," said Katie Fforde, bestselling author and chair of the Romantic Novelists' Association, which runs the award. "It gives you a taste of the broader church of what romantic fiction is." Bagshawe's book provides the thriller element to this year's line-up, Fforde said, "taking you back to the woman-in-jeopardy type novel, which everyone loves but isn't seen as fashionable any more – she's given it a new twist." Rachel Hore's The Glass Painter's Daughter shows romantic fiction's "more literary" edge, Jean Fullerton's A Glimpse at Happiness "is a lovely saga", Santa Montefiore's The Italian Matchmaker "is wonderful foreign travel" and Miranda Dickinson's Fairytale of New York provides the chick lit. "And how can you resist romance and animals?" Fforde added, pointing to Lucy Dillon's tale of the romances which ensue when owners are matched with the abandoned strays from a local dogs' home, Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts. The only male to have been longlisted for the award, Nicholas Sparks, failed to make the shortlist. "Women are better [at romance] on the whole," said Fforde. "Romantic novels don't have to have happy endings, they just have to follow the story of a romance. When I write, they have to have a happy ending, but it isn't by any means necessary. The books can encompass anything – although we haven't got any vampires this year." The winner will now be selected by three independent judges and announced on 16 March, along with the winners of three new prizes that are being introduced to mark the Romantic Novelists' Association's 50th anniversary. These include the People's Choice award, which will see readers voting for their favourite novel from a shortlist of six, and the Rom Com award. "In the past although people have enjoyed romantic comedies they've tended not to win [the best novel prize]. People like a bit of angst in the main award, so we decided to launch an award honouring romantic comedies," said Fforde. Previous winners of the Romantic Novel of the Year prize include Philippa Gregory, Freya North and Jojo Moyes. The shortlist Passion by Louise Bagshawe Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon A Glimpse at Happiness by Jean Fullerton The Glass Painter's Daughter by Rachel Hore The Italian Matchmaker by Santa Montefiore