Love is all the Raj as a 'brilliant' story wins romantic novel of year

A story of love in the last days of the Raj won the award for romantic novel of the year today.

East Of The Sun by Julia Gregson beat a shortlist including Thanks For The Memories by Cecilia Ahern to take the £1,000 prize in a ceremony in Kensington.

Run by the Romantic Novelists' Association since 1960, the competition is designed to recognise "the best of the year's novels exploring the deep mysteries of the human heart".

Alice O'Keefe, a writer who chaired the judging panel, said: "In the end, a unanimous decision was reached and we are certain the winner is a novel to cherish. The last days of the British Raj in India were brilliantly evoked." Gregson, from Monmouthshire, beat Sophia's Secret by Susanna Kearsley from Canada, Star Gazing by Linda Gillard, from Glasgow, Before The Storm by Judith Lennox of Cambridgeshire and The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer, of London. Judy Piatkus, an independent publisher, was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for her work in promoting writers of romantic fiction.