INSPYs :: 2018 Longlists Announced

Hello, my lovelies! The INSPY Longlists are out today! Yay! Congrats to all the nominees. I can't wait to dive into these stories and read the awesome. :)

Hello fellow readers, bloggers and authors. First, we’d like to say a big thank you to every reader and author who nominated their favorite reads of 2017, and likewise to those who shared about the opportunity to nominate on social media. The Advisory Board is again so grateful for the support and interest in this program. Like the last two years, the following nomination process applied to each of our seven categories.

To help simplify our nomination process, we made some adjustments to our awards program. To that end, instead of publicizing our long list of nominations as they poured in, the Advisory Board kept the list private since the method of nomination involved a process of popular vote. The number of books that received the most nominations (the top 15 from each category) came out as the winners, which then determined the long lists.

Due to insufficient nominations or ineligibility, some categories fall short of the requisite 15 novels.

From the lists below, the Advisory Board will be narrowing these respective lists down to five books per category which will become our 2018 short lists. From there, the same judging process and practices will follow.

Grab your favorite beverage, and enjoy browsing through the books that YOU nominated, propelling them into “phase two.”

Contemporary Romance / Romantic Suspense

- Charming the Troublemaker (Bling! Romance) By Pepper Basham
- Just the Way You Are (Woven Words) by Pepper Basham
- A New Shade of Summer (Waterfall Press) by Nicole Deese
- Chasing Secrets (Revell) by Lynette Eason
- Moving Target (Revell) by Lynette Eason
- Then There Was You (Bellbird Press) by Kara Isaac
- The Writing Desk (Zondervan) by Rachel Hauck
- Jane of Austin (Waterbrook) by Hillary Manton Lodge
- Blind Spot (Bethany House by Dani Pettrey
- All This Time (Larkspur Press) by Melissa Tagg
- The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck (Revell) by Bethany Turner
- True to You (Bethany House) by Becky Wade
- Just Look Up (Tyndale) by Courtney Walsh
- Begin Again (Impact Editions) by Crystal Walton
- Just Maybe (Impact Editions) by Crystal Walton


Debut Novel

- A Season to Dance (Bling! Romance) by Patricia Beal
- Still Waters (Firefly Southern Fiction) by Lindsey P. Brackett
- Freedom's Ring (Tyndale) by Heidi Chiavaroli
- Count Me In (I21 Publishing House) by Mikal Dawn
- Grace in Strange Disguise (Indie) by Christine Dillon
- The Elusive Miss Ellison (Kregel) by Carolyn Miller
- Waiting For Butterflies (Walrus Publishing) by Karen Sargent
- Stars in the Grass (Shiloh Run Press) by Ann Marie Stewart
- Lady Jayne Disappears (Bethany House) by Joanna Davidson Politano


General Fiction

- In the Light of the Garden (Lake Union Publishing) by Heather Burch
- Perennials (Thomas Nelson) by Julie Cantrell
- Looking Glass Lies (Waterfall Press) by Varina Denman
- Catching the Wind (Tyndale) by Melanie Dobson
- A Song of Home: A Novel of the Swing Era (Kregel) by Susie Finkbeiner
- A Trail of Crumbs: A Novel of the Great Depression (Kregel) by Susie Finkbeiner
- Life After (Waterbrook) by Katie Ganshert
- The Mark of the King (Bethany House) by Jocelyn Green
- The Esther Paradigm (Radiant Publications) by Sarah Monzon
- The Space Between Words (Thomas Nelson) by Michele Phoenix
- The Austen Escape (Thomas Nelson) by Katherine Reay
- Bringing Maggie Home (Waterbrook) by Kim Vogl Sawyer
- The Memory of You (Thomas Nelson) by Catherine West
- Before We Were Yours (Ballintine Books) by Lisa Wingate
- Home (Shiloh Run Press) by Ginny L. Yttrup


Historical Romance

- A Note Yet Unsung (Bethany House) by Tamera Alexander
- To Wager Her Heart (Zondervan) by Tamera Alexander
- The Road to Paradise (Waterbrook) by Karen Barnett
- Many Sparrows (Waterbrook) by Lori Benton
- A Lady in Disguise (Howard) by Sandra Byrd
- Wings of the Wind (Bethany House) by Connilyn Cosette
- Havencross (Covenant Communications) by Julie Daines
- A Moonbow Night (Revell) by Laura Frantz
- An Inconvenient Beauty (Bethany House) by Kristi Ann Hunter
- An Uncommon Courtship (Bethany House) by Kristi Ann Hunter
- The Dishonorable Miss DeLancy (Kregel) by Carolyn Miller
- Lady Jayne Disappears (Bethany House) by Joanna Davidson Politano
- Once an Heiress (Waterfall Press) by Renee Ryan
- The Sound of Rain (Bethany House) by Sarah Loudin Thomas
- A Name Unknown (Bethany House) by Roseanne M. White


Literature for Young Adults

- The Messengers: Concealed (Concordia Publishing House) by Lisa M. Clark
- The Returning (Tyndale) by Rachelle Dekker
- Unraveling (Thomas Nelson) by Sara Ella
- Spark (Love2readlove2write Publishing, LLC) by J. M. Hackman
- For Love and Honor (Zondervan) by Jody Hedlund
- Playing by Heart (Vinspire) by Carmela A. Martino
- The Lost Girl of Astor Street (Blink) by Stephanie Morrill
- The Evaporation of Sofi Snow (Thomas Nelson) by Mary Weber


Mystery / Thriller

- The Enoch Effect (Waterfall Press) by Rick Acker
- If I'm Found (Zondervan) by Terri Blackstock
- Death at Thorburn Hall (Bethany House) by Julianna Deering
- Crown of Souls (Bethany House) by Ronie Kendig
- A Portrait of Vengeance (Thomas Nelson) by Carrie Stuart Parks
- Imperfect Justice (Thomas Nelson) by Cara Putman
- Without Warning (Tyndale) by Joel Rosenberg
- Fatal Mistake (FaithWords) by Susan Sleeman
- The House on Foster Hill (Bethany House) by Jaime Jo Wright


Speculative Fiction

- Raging Storm (Harvest House) by Vannetta Chapman
- The Beast of Talesend (Indie) by Kyle Robert Schultz
- The Divide (Tyndale) by Jolina Petersheim
- The Girl Who Could See (Indie) by Kara Swanson
- King's Blood (Bethany House) by Jill Williamson


We’d like to congratulate all of the nominated authors and thank all of the bloggers and readers who put forth their favorite reads of 2017.

We’re ready to get to work and find the top five in each of these categories.