15 November 2025: The winners of the 2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards have been announced, and The Next Round has been named a finalist in the Romance category.

The winner and finalists in this category are as follows:

Winner:
Lenswoman in Love: a novel of the 1960s & '70s by Kim Gottlieb Walker

Finalists:

The Next Round by Eva Frances

A Dagger in the Ivy by Dorothy Dreyer
Bound by Her by MZ Rylan
Devil in Our Hearts: a steamy historical romance by Lizzie Jenks
That Girl: A small town, second chance, sports romance by Jennilynn Wyer
Dangerous Pursuit by Bethany Rosa
Blue Miracle by Blair Harton



The Independent Author Network presents the annual IAN Book of the Year Awards, an international contest open to all authors with 75 fiction and non-fiction categories.