Each year, the editors of RT Book Review Magazine and 50 reviewers work together to narrow down a long list of nominees to find the one author who has made a great contribution in his or her genre.   Below are the 2015 winners.  Is your favorite author a winner?

Contemporary Romance – Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.

Paranormal Romance – Christine Feehan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of over 40 published novels, including five series; Leopard series, Dark series, Ghostwalker series, Drake Sisters series, & the Sisters of the Heart series.

Historical Romance – Julia Quinn is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of only sixteen members of Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame.

Erotic Romance – Maya Banks is the #1 New York Times, #1 USA Today and international bestselling author of over 50 novels.

Romantic Suspense – Carla Neggers is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 60 novels, with translations in 24 languages.

Historical Mystery – Rhys Bowen is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Royal Spyness series, Molly Murphy Mysteries, and Constable Evans. She has won the Agatha Best Novel Award and has been nominated for the Edgar Best Novel.

Mystery – Janet Evanovich is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels and Troublemaker graphic novel, How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, as well as the Fox and O’Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg.

Urban Fantasy – Laurell K. Hamilton is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is best known as the author of two series of stories, the New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series and the Merry Gentry series.

Inspirational – Irene Hannon is the author of 50 romantic suspense and contemporary romance/women’s fiction novels. She is a seven-time finalist for and three-time winner of the RITA award—the “Oscar” of romance fiction—and a member of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.

Mainstream – NancyThayer is the author of twenty-three novels about the mysteries and romance of families and relationships: marriage and friendships, divorce and love, custody and step parenting, family secrets and private self-affirmation, the quest for independence and the normal human hunger for personal connections.