Alyssa Everett grew up in Florida, where from an early age her favorite books typically had dukes in them. As a teen she worked in an amusement park, doing just about every kind of odd job a person can do, from collecting garbage to captaining an African boat cruise. She met her husband, a darkly handsome doctor with a wicked sense of humor, at Harvard University. They currently live with their three children and a springer spaniel in small-town Pennsylvania.