Congratulations to Sharla Lovelace for her Romance Writers of America RITA nomination for Before and Ever Since for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements

Like past RITA winners in this category, including Nora Roberts, Jodi Thomas, and Kristin Hannah, Sharla Lovelace writes a smart, witty, and beautiful short that's the perfect blend of contemporary romance and women's fiction.

She has nothing but time...

Twenty-four hours. That's how long Andie Fremont has to say yes—or no. At forty-four with a daughter in college, she's no young kitten with starry-eyed ideas of what love is. Still, when the man who is everything she should want pops the question with a ring he knows isn't her style, during a party she didn't want to have, Andie balks. Something tells her that it isn't right.

Looking to clear her head, Andie hits the Texas highway in search of an answer. And when she stumbles upon an old roadside diner she decides waffles might be it, at least for now. What she didn't expect to find was Jesse Montgomery. The man who stole her heart and broke it all in one day, two decades earlier.

As a Texas-size storm takes shape outside, the electricity between Andie and Jesse builds inside. Suddenly Andie is faced with more than just yes or no. As the storm clears there are two men who will want answers.