Mills & Boon novels were Julia James' first "grown-up" books she read as a teenager, and she's been reading them ever since.

She adores the Mediterranean and the English countryside in all its seasons and is fascinated by all things historical, from castles to cottages. In between writing she enjoys walking, gardening, needlework and baking "extremely gooey chocolate cakes" and trying to stay fit! Julia lives in England with her family.

Maisey Yates started writing stories from the moment she first learned how to form words with a pen. But she never had any idea what to write, and most stories sat started, half formed and half finished, but never completed.

During her high school and college years, she spent a lot of time dreaming about holding a book in her hands that had her name emblazoned across the front, but she did a lot more dreaming than actual writing.At her very first job she was fortunate enough to meet her very own tall, dark and handsome hero, who happened to be her boss, and she promptly married him and started a family.

It wasn't until she was pregnant with her second child that she found her very first Harlequin Presents book in a local thrift store. She'd never read a Harlequin romance before, and by the time she'd reached the happily ever after she had fallen in love.

She devoured as many as she could get her hands on after that, and she knew that these were the books she wanted to write!Soon after that she saw that Harlequin was running a competition to win an editor for a year. She decided that was her sign to get in gear and start writing again.

So she wrote her chapter and synopsis and hit send with trembling hands. She didn't get any feedback from the contest, but it was the boost she needed to get her first full manuscript finished and submitted to Harlequin Presents.

Nearly two years later, while pregnant with her third child, she received The Call from her editor, informing her they wanted to buy that manuscript. She was very glad that the good news didn't send her promptly into labor! She still can't quite believe she's blessed enough to see her name on not just any book, but her favorite books.

Maisey lives with her supportive, wonderful, diaper-changing husband and three small children across the street from her parents, and the home she grew up in, in the wilds of southern Oregon.She enjoys the contrast of living in a place where you might wake up to find a bear on your back porch and then head into the home office to write stories that take place in exotic urban locales.