Though lacking much authentic Welsh blood, Kim Lawrence comes from English-Irish stock. She was born and brought up in North Wales. She returned there when she married, and her sons were both born on Anglesey, an island off the coast. Though not isolated, Anglesey is a little off the beaten track, but lively Dublin, which Kim loves, is only a short ferry ride away. Today they live on the farm her husband was brought up on. Welsh is the first language of many people in this area and Kim's husband and sons are all bilingual she is having a lot of fun, not to mention a few headaches, trying to learn the language! She is a keen gardener and cook and enjoys running often on the beach, as living on an island the sea is never very far away. She is usually accompanied by her Jack Russell, Sprout don't ask, it's long story! With small children, the unsocial hours of nursing didn't look attractive so encouraged by a husband who thinks she can do anything she sets her mind to, Kim tried her hand at writing. Always a keen Mills & Boon reader, it seemed natural for her to write a romance novel. In 1995, she published her first novels and now she can't imagine doing anything else.

USA Today bestseller and award winning Lucy Monroe’s love affair with books and reading began at age 4. She often climbed her mother’s book stacks to pull down the novels on the top shelves. When she was caught reading the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version of “The Godfather” while still in Kindergarten, those books got moved. Although she’s always loved mysteries and suspense as well, romance has been her passion since she snuck that first Harlequin Presents from her oldest sister’s bedside table (again way too early). Her path to publication was not strewn with rose petals or even pavement! Lucy wrote more than one million words of romantic fiction before selling her 13th manuscript to Harlequin Presents. However, she subsequently sold all the romance manuscripts she’d written prior to that to Harlequin, Kensington and Berkley. She went on to write more books and published with Grand Central and Samhain Publishing as well, before embarking on an exciting journey into indie publishing. Lucy has hit national bestsellers lists in England and the USA. She’s had more than 80 books published and been translated into numerous languages with her books for sale in dozens of countries. Her highly charged, sensual stories touch on the realities of life while giving the reader a fantasy story not easily forgotten. Lucy’s books transport her readers to a special place where the heart rules and love conquers all. Known for her emotional depth, snappy dialogue, solid plotting and dry wit, Monroe’s stories have found their way into readers’ hearts and their keeper shelves. Which is exactly where she most wants to be. An author who writes so she can touch readers’ hearts, she’s never happier than when hearing from readers when she’s done so.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information. This author also writes under the name Francesca Shaw. I have had my nose buried in a history book - fact or fiction - for as long as I can remember, but even more important to me are the places and the objects that conjure up the past. My first attempt at historical fiction at the age of eight was three pages of improbable medieval drama set in the local castle. With a degree in geography and archaeology I love to try and 'read' the landscape and the buildings in it for clues about the past. Virtually any place can trigger ideas for plots, but I am particularly inspired by Venice, Burgundy, Mediterranean islands and the Hertfordshire and Norfolk countryside. I live in England in a village in Bedfordshire with my long-suffering husband. He is not sure whether to be flattered or alarmed to be told he is the inspiration for all my romantic heroes! Whenever possible we escape to our cottage on the North Norfolk coast where Percy, the bossy pheasant, allows us to share the garden. My resolution every time I start on a new plot is to plan it carefully, make copious notes first and write lots of drafts in a disciplined and orderly manner. What inevitably happens is that the story starts to write itself in my head until it gets completely out of control - meanwhile my study floor becomes a sea of open books, prints and maps and I am found sitting in the car at traffic lights, muttering dialogue. At that point I have to start writing, knowing full well that the hero and heroine are going to take over and sabotage all my attempts at discipline. It is, after all, their story.