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This is where Rachel keeps you up to date with her novels and stories and also shares reviews, highlights and extracts from other authors.
Lady of Lincoln Wins Gold in the 2026 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards
’m delighted to share some wonderful news: Lady of Lincolnhas won the Gold Medal in Fiction – Historical – Personage in the 2026 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest!
It’s a particularly lovely award to receive because Lady of Lincoln began with a real woman whose story had, for centuries, been pushed to the margins of history. I’m honoured that my writing is bringing her to the fore.
A prestigious award
Readers’ Favorite is one of the world’s largest book-review and award organisations. Its annual competition attracts thousands of entries from around the world, from independent authors to major bestsellers, with books judged within more than 140 individual categories.
And this year, Lady of Lincoln took Gold in Historical – Personage! (One of only two historical categories).
I’m really very, very thrilled!
LADY OF LINCOLN scoops up another Gold Medal Award!
Lady of Lincoln, the historical novel about Nicola de la Haye, has won the Reader’s Choice Gold Medal Award
Another Accolade for LADY OF LINCOLN!
Besides winning a gold medal and ‘Book of the Year’ from the Coffee Pot Book Club, a ‘Notable Book’ Award from BlueInk Review (their highest accolade), and Five Stars from Reader’s Favorite, LADY OF LINCOLN has now been shortlisted for the Chaucer Award by the Chanticleer International Book Awards!.
Lady of Lincoln Awarded the Prestigious BlueInk ‘Notable Book’ Seal!
I’m delighted to share some wonderful news:
Lady of Lincoln has been awarded the BlueInk Notable Book Seal — an honour reserved for a very small number of books judged to be of exceptional merit.
BlueInk Review is one of the publishing industry’s most respected editorial review services, created by professional critics and editors who have written for outlets such as Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and major newspapers.
The Notable Book Seal is BlueInk’s highest distinction, highlighting titles that stand out for their literary quality, authenticity, and craftsmanship. Fewer than five percent of submissions receive this accolade.
Here’s some of what the reviewer wrote about Lady of Lincoln:
“Joyce’s rich characterization unfolds against a vivid, meticulously researched historical backdrop… a gripping account of courage amid the brutal realities of civil war.”
For a historical novel rooted in the real life of Nicola de la Haye, England’s indomitable Lady of Lincoln Castle, this accolade is deeply meaningful. It celebrates not only the countless hours of research and writing but also the historical women who refused to be forgotten.