UNITED STATES AUTHOR · LARGE TYPE · FICTION
Leigh Michaels
LeAnn was born on July 27, 1954 in Iowa, USA, and raised on a farm in Guthrie County. She received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, after three years of study and maintained a 3.93 grade-point average. She received the Robert Bliss Award as top-ranking senior in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and won a national William Randolph Hearst Award for feature-writing as an undergraduate. When she was fifteen, LeAnn wrote her first romance novel and burned it. She burned five more complete manuscripts before submitting to a publisher on Friday the Thirteenth. In 1984, the first submission was accepted by Harlequin, the only publisher to look at it, and was published. She writes using the name Leigh Michaels, a combination of her own name and that of her husband Michael W. Lemberger, an artist/photographer. Now, she is the author of more than 85 contemporary romances for Harlequin. She writes sweet, traditional romances, set in Midwestern cities or small towns, and emphasising family values. More than 27 million copies of her books have been printed, worldwide, in 650 editions. Her work has been translated and published in 120 countries in more than 20 languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, German, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Turkish, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. She was the guest of honour at an autograph party sponsored by Mills & Boons' Japanese division, for readers who chose her as their favourite author, and was recipient of the 1994 Pioneer Award presented by Iowa Romance Novelists. Fifteen of her books have appeared on the Waldenbooks Romance Bestsellers List. Five of her books (Ties That Bind, The Lake Effect, Travelling Man, The Unlikely Santa, and The Daddy Trap) have been finalists for Best Traditional Romance novel of the year in the RITA contest, sponsored by Romance Writers of America and Family Secrets, received a reviewer's choice award from Romantic Times magazine. She is the author of, Writing the Romance Novel with Leigh Michaels, a how-to-guide for romance writers, in addition to a series of audio tapes on writing and the romance genre. She teaches an annual seminar on the romance novel at the University of Iowa and has written articles for, Writer's Digest, and, The Writer. LeAnn also authored, Dear Leigh Michaels... A Novelist Answers the Most-Asked Questions about Getting Published; wherein, she addresses topics such as finding a publisher, contracts, rejection letters, pen names and writing query letters. She also wrote a cookbook entitled, A Taste of Love, featuring family recipes coupled with stories about the significance of each dish. Here, she reveals a long line of tradition in her family. LeAnn and her husband reside in her native Iowa. They have been featured on Iowa Public Television. They have collaborated in "A Richer Dust Concealed" by Loren N. Horton, and co-authored some books: "Buxton Roots" with LeeAnn Dickey, "Mars Hill: A Living Legacy" and "Pilgrimage: The Mass of Pope John Paul II in Rural America".
When I was in the seven grade, a Boy Scout leader came to our class and gave an inspiring lecture on the virtues of scouting.
— from Family secrets
Most acclaimed
Her Husband-To-Be
1999
Deke Oliver was definitely not Danielle's idea of husband material. So it was infuriating that he believed she was trying to manipulate him into marriage. It wasn't her fault their joint inheiritance forced them to live under the same roof! And it was Deke who refused to keep it strictly business--suggesting that since they had to share a home, why not a bed? Danielle simply ignored this outrageous proposal--until she began to feel tempted by the intimacy of living together and Deke began to look very much like the perfect husband-to-be...
The Corporate Wife
2001
Her boss asked her to marry him! Had Erin made the right decision? Gorgeous, wealthy Slater Livingstone had proposed, and she, plain Erin Reynolds, had said no! As Slater's assistant, Erin was already the equivalent of a corporate wife: she organized his schedule, entertained his clients, kept his life in order...But surely that wasn't a basis for real marriage? So why did Erin keep wishing she'd said yes?
Safe In My Heart
1993
She had seduced her boss! Katharine had exactly dragged Stephen Osborne into her bedroom, of course. Still, she bore the brunt of the responsibility. She had acted on impulse-something she never did. She had paid for the night of madness, though; she quit before Steven could fire her. After all, seducing the boss certainly wasn't approved employee behavior. And here she was, with no reference, no permanent job--and pregnant. Then Steven came back into her life, insisting they do what people always do when there's an unexpected baby on the way--get married.