UNITED STATES AUTHOR · FICTION · ROMANCE FICTION
Claudia Dain
It was while writing a descriptive essay in seventh grade English (that was the assignment, to write a 'descriptive essay') that Claudia first fell in love. With descriptive essays. Boys being what they are in seventh grade, there was hardly much choice. By her ninth grade year, Claudia was spending hours each week in her bedroom writing descriptive essays that heavily featured older boys (eleventh grade). She also practiced her kissing technique on a pole lamp next to her bed. It was less than satisfactory, but the writing was fun. She attended the University of Southern California as an English major. She'd mastered kissing by this time and writing, strangely enough, was still fun. 'Strangely' because while it had become obvious to her that almost everyone enjoyed kissing, it was equally obvious that very few people enjoyed writing. This was as peculiar to her as, well, not enjoying kissing. Clearly, something had to be done. The idea of combining kissing and writing seemed the obvious course of action. While Claudia does not claim to have invented the romance novel, she certainly has a lot of fun describing kisses and inventing men to bestow them upon. And not a one of her heroes looks remotely like a pole lamp. (And don't act like one either.) Claudia was first published in 2000, is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author. Which just goes to prove that you can make a career out of kissing and writing about it.
It was Christmas Eve in New York City.
— from Silent Night, 1995
Most acclaimed
I Will / Puddings, Pastries, and Thou / Union / All I Want
Just in time for they holidays is an absolutely delightful new hardcover anthology from talented romance authors Lisa Kleypas, Lisa Cach, Claudia Dain, and Lynsay Sands. In "I Will," by Lisa Kleypas Andrew, Lord Drake, needs a large favor from spinster Miss Caroline Hargreaves. In danger of being cut out of his father's family will, Andrew needs to prove to his father that he has reformed his debauched ways. Towards that end, he offers to pay Caroline's brother's debts if she will pretend to be Andrew's intended. But Andrew and Caroline get caught in their own charade, with some very funny and touching results. "Puddings, Pastries and Thou" by Lisa Cach Tells a touching and amusing story about Vivian Ambrose, a poverty-stricken young woman who goes to live with some distant relations, who are quite eager to marry her off. In "Union" by Claudia Dane, All Clarissa Walinford wants from her first season is not to marry an Englishman, to the horror of her family, and in "All I Want" by Lyndsay Sands, Prudence desperately needs a way to stop their father's gambling which is going to land the family in debtor's prison. Could the handsome Lord Stephen help her in her difficulty? The four stories are all set in early 1800s England, making this a real treasure for historical romance fans. Normally, anthologies are somewhat uneven in the quality of the stories. But I Wish has four heartwarming, excellently written winners that make this one a real keeper.
The holding
Medieval Knights, #1 Cathryn and Greneforde are as one; to possess the woman is to possess the land. William, a knight under King Henry, has been gifted Greneforde Tower as a reward for his service to the king. Medieval Knights: The Holding (Medieval Knights, #1) The Marriage Bed (The Medieval Knight Series #2) The Willing Wife (Medieval Knights, #3) The Temptation (The Medieval Knight Series #4) The Fall (The Medieval Knight Series #5)
To Burn
Bound by honor and driven by vengeance, a fierce Saxon warrior raids a secluded Roman villa in Britannia and takes a stunning Roman woman, who embodies everything Rome stands for, as his captive, but the tables turn when forbidden desire flares between them, forcing him to choose between love and duty.