Stella Bagwell
At seventeen, Stella married her high school sweetheart: Harrell, and they had a son Jason. She began her writing career almost by accident. She was a hairdresser and worked in her sister's beauty shop. Ironically, Stella developed a severe allergy to hairspray and was forced to resign. With time on her hands, Stella wanted to do something creative. She remembered a high school English teacher telling her she could be a writer if she wanted. Although she always loved reading romances, she never thought to write one herself. Armed with that now notion and an old, manual typewriter, she went to work, attempting to create a story similar to those she liked reading. The result‚ her first book, purchased by Mills & Boon and issued under the Harl
If you like author Stella Bagwell here is the list of authors you may also like
Buy books on AmazonTotal similar authors (38)
-
Michele Dunaway
Ever since she was in first grade, Michele Dunaway wanted to be a writer. Even later in life, she found herself writing, and served on Kirkwood High School's newspaper staff, her college paper, and a local music newspaper (which led to Michele's five-second appearance on MTV's "The Week in Rock").
Buy books on Amazon
"I've always wanted to write fiction and I published my first stories using my sister's manual typewriter," she said. "I wrote love stories, and married myself and my sister to the cutest boys in the neighborhood. My sister wrote westerns and killed everyone. We had a great time and I guess you can say that those first stories hooked me into wanting to write more."
Michele concentrated on her writing, even while getting her teaching degree.
"While -
Allison Leigh
A frequent name on bestseller lists, Allison Leigh's highpoint as a writer is hearing from readers that they laughed, cried or lost sleep while reading her books. She’s blessed with an immensely patient family who doesn’t mind (much) her time spent at her computer and who gives her the kind of love she wants her readers to share in every page. Stay in touch at www.allisonleigh.com.
Buy books on Amazon -
Elizabeth Hrib
Elizabeth Hrib was born and raised in London, Ontario where she studied nursing at Western University. When she’s not working or writing, she can be found at the piano, planning her next Netflix binge, or attempting to keep her small, windowsill garden alive.
Buy books on Amazon -
Christy Jeffries
Christy Jeffries graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in Criminology and received her Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law. But drafting court documents and working in law enforcement was merely an apprenticeship for her current career in the dynamic field of mommyhood and romance writing. She lives in Southern California with her patient husband, two energetic sons, and one sassy grandmother. Follow her online at christiejeffries.com.
Buy books on Amazon -
Joanna Sims
Joanna Sims is proud to pen contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition. Joanna's series, The Brands of Montana, feature hard-working characters with hometown values. You are cordially invited to join The Brands of Montana as they wrangle their own happily-ever-afters! www.joannasimsromance.com.
Buy books on Amazon
Photography Credit: Orlando Photographer, Reveal Photo -
Brenda Harlen
Brenda’s first love was reading.
Buy books on Amazon
According to her mother, she fell in love with books even before she could read and was always content when she had a book in her hands. It didn’t surprise anyone when she decided that she wanted to be a writer, but she was encouraged to pursue “a real job” first.
So she did—she became a lawyer. Two years of practicing law taught her a lot about the world—and reinforced her determination to become a writer. Because in fiction, she could promise a happy ending!
Thankfully, she had already met and married a wonderful man to inspire her fictional heroes. And when she was on maternity leave after the birth of their first son, he encouraged her to take a romance writing course at the local community college. It was -
Jo McNally
I write the same kind of romances I like to read – stories about characters facing real-life challenges with real-life consequences. The stories are emotional, but still have humor, and love always finds a way to pull the characters through together.
Buy books on Amazon
I live in coastal North Carolina with 100 pounds of dog and 200 pounds of husband – my slice of the bed is very small. When I’m not writing or reading romance novels (or clinging to the edge of the bed…), I can often be found on the back porch sipping wine with friends while listening to an eclectic playlist. If the weather is absolutely perfect, I might join my husband on the golf course, where I always feel far more competitive than my actual skill-level would suggest. -
Nina Crespo
Nina Crespo lives in Florida where she indulges in her favorite passions -- the beach, a good glass of wine, date night with her own real-life hero and dancing. Her lifelong addiction to romance began in her teens while on a "borrowing spree" in her older sister's bedroom where she discovered her first romance novel. Let Nina's sensual contemporary stories and steamy paranormal tales satisfy your own craving for love, romance, and happily ever after.
Buy books on Amazon -
Michelle Major
USA Today and Top 5 Amazon Bestselling author Michelle Major writes swoon-worthy stories full of heart, heat, and guaranteed happily-ever-afters. When she’s not dreaming up romance, you’ll find her hiking the trails (or avoiding housework) in her home state of Colorado.
Buy books on Amazon
Connect with her at www.michellemajor.com or come say hi on Instagram and Facebook. -
Kathy Douglass
Kathy is a born reader who as a child always had her nose in a book. That love of reading grew with her. She often would finish one book and immediately pick up another. She went from reading Bobbsey Twins to long, lush romance novels. One day she stumbled upon the Shining by Stephen King and was hooked. She turned her back on romance and became a serious Stephen King fan, reading every word he wrote. When she caught herself checking under the bed and looking in the closet for monsters or worse, she knew it was time to put down the horror stories and pick up the romance novels.
Buy books on Amazon
Her return to romance novels was short lived. She’d started law school and soon her reading was limited to legal opinions. Then one happy day her younger sister hande -
Helen Lacey
About Helen
Buy books on Amazon
Helen Lacey grew up reading Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables and Little House on The Prairie. These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven years old, a story about a girl and her horse. Although, it wasn’t until the age of eleven when she read her first Mills & Boon, that she knew wanted to write romances. Her parents’ love of travel meant she saw much of the world in those early years and she feels fortunate to have had a diverse and interesting education over several continents.
She continued to write into her teens and twenties with the dream of one day being a published author. A few years and careers later, including motel operator, florist, strapper, dog washer, and retail manager, she g -
Teri Wilson
New York Times bestselling author Teri Wilson writes heartwarming contemporary romance with a touch of whimsy. Four of Teri's books have been adapted into Hallmark Channel Original Movies, including UNLEASHING MR. DARCY (plus its sequel MARRYING MR. DARCY), ROYAL-ISH, based on her book ONCE UPON A ROYAL SUMMER, THE ART OF US and NORTHERN LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS, based on her book SLEIGH BELL SWEETHEARTS. She is also a recipient of the prestigious RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction and a 2022 inductee into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame.
Buy books on Amazon
When she’s not writing, Teri enjoys visiting schools and health care facilities with her Cavalier King Charles spaniel Charm, a registered therapy dog and reading education assistance dog. Teri -
Lynne Marshall
USA Today Bestselling author, Lynne Marshall, used to worry she had a serious problem with daydreaming until she realized she was supposed to write those stories. A late bloomer, Lynne came to fiction writing after her children were nearly grown. Now she battles the empty nest by writing books which always include a love story and often medicine. She is a Southern California native, married to a New Englander for a long, long time. She is an adoring mother and grandmother, a dog lover, and an optimistic participant on this wild journey called life!
Buy books on Amazon -
Nancy Robards Thompson
Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author Nancy Robards Thompson has worked as a newspaper reporter, television show stand-in, production and casting assistant for movies, and in fashion and public relations. She started writing fiction seriously in 1997. Five years and four completed manuscripts later, she won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart award for unpublished writers and sold her first book the following year. Since then, Nancy has sold more than 50 books and found her calling doing what she loves most – writing mysteries, romance, and women’s fiction full-time.
Buy books on Amazon -
Judy Duarte
When life threw Judy Duarte a curve twenty years ago, she did what many newly single mothers do. She pulled herself and her four kids together, became even more determined to come out on top, and decided to start following her dreams. What better role model could she provide her children than to show them that anything is possible? So, she returned to school, graduating from UC Irvine about the same time her oldest kids hit the teen years.
Buy books on Amazon
With her dream of getting her degree having come true, another dream presented itself by way of a new, perfect mate. Life was good again, but one dream still nagged at her:
"I always knew there was a book inside me, but since English was my least favorite subject in school, I never considered myself a write -
Allison Leigh
A frequent name on bestseller lists, Allison Leigh's highpoint as a writer is hearing from readers that they laughed, cried or lost sleep while reading her books. She’s blessed with an immensely patient family who doesn’t mind (much) her time spent at her computer and who gives her the kind of love she wants her readers to share in every page. Stay in touch at www.allisonleigh.com.
Buy books on Amazon -
Melissa Senate
I'm the author of many novels, including my debut, SEE JANE DATE (also available in cute TV movie form to stream). I write emotional, heartfelt romance novels for Harlequin Special Edition. I've also had two novels published under a secret pen name, but I will happily share if you message me to ask. I also wrote seven Special Edition novels under the pen name Meg Maxwell.
Buy books on Amazon
I'm a proud mom and animal devotee who lives on the southern coast of Maine. 3 new Harlequin Special Editions novels are coming in 2025 and also in 2026. -
Tanya Michaels
Tanya Michaels is an award-winning author of more than thirty romance and women's fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories and nonfiction essays. She is a four-time finalist for the prestigious RITA, awarded annually by Romance Writers of America, and was nominated for RT Book Review’s Career Achievement in Category Romance. When she's not speaking at reader events and writer conferences, she's at home in Georgia with her husband of fifteen years and their two highly imaginative children. For a glimpse into Tanya's chaotic daily life, as well as updates on her current books and TV show addictions, follow Tanya on Twitter.
Buy books on Amazon -
Marie Ferrarella
Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
Buy books on Amazon
aka Marie Charles, Marie Michael, Marie Nicole, Marie Ferrarella
Marie Rydzynski was born on March 28 in West Germany to Polish parents. She moved to America at the age of four. For an entire year, Marie and her family explored the eastern half of the country before finally settling in New York.
Marie swears she was born writing, "which must have made the delivery especially hard for my mother." From an early age, Marie's parents would find her watching television or tucked away in some private place, writing at a furious pace. "Initially, I began writing myself into my favourite shows. I was a detective on '77 Sunset Strip,' the missing Cartwright sibling they never talked about on 'Bonanza' and the 'Girl from U.N.C -
Christine Rimmer
New York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer has written more than one hundred contemporary romances for Harlequin Books. She has won Romantic Times BOOKreview’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated seven times for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award and five times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year.
Buy books on Amazon
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journ -
Karen Rose Smith
Award-winning author Karen Rose Smith was born in Pennsylvania. Although she was an only child, she remembers the bonds of an extended family. Family is a strong theme in her books and she suspects her childhood memories are the reason.
Buy books on Amazon
In college, Karen began writing poetry and also met her husband to be. They both began married life as teachers, but when their son was born, Karen decided to try her hand at a home-decorating business.
She returned to teaching for a while but changes in her life led her to writing relationship novels. Now she writes romances as well as mysteries full time. Her first book was published in 1992; her 110th novel will be published in 2024. A winner of New Jersey's Golden Leaf Award in Short Contemporary Romance -
Susan Mallery
#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming and humorous novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship, romance. She's best known for putting nuanced characters into emotionally complex, real-life situations with twists that surprise readers to laughter. Because Susan is passionate about animal welfare, pets play a big role in her books. Beloved by millions of readers worldwide, her books have been translated into 28 languages.
Buy books on Amazon
Critics have dubbed Mallery "the new queen of romantic fiction." (Walmart) Booklist says, "Romance novels don't get much better than Mallery's expert blend of emotional nuance, humor, and superb storytelling," and RT Book Reviews puts her "in a class by herself! -
Rebecca Winters
aka Rebecca Brown Burton, Rebecca Burton
Buy books on Amazon
Rebecca Winters, born Rebecca Brown Burton, was the author of over 175 romance novels published with Harlequin, delighting readers worldwide for more than 35 years. Her stories, translated into many languages, have sold nearly thirty million copies. A French teacher turned novelist, she combined her love of language, family, and storytelling into a remarkable literary legacy. -
Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 -- The Becoming -- the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.
Buy books on Amazon -
Nancy Robards Thompson
Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author Nancy Robards Thompson has worked as a newspaper reporter, television show stand-in, production and casting assistant for movies, and in fashion and public relations. She started writing fiction seriously in 1997. Five years and four completed manuscripts later, she won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart award for unpublished writers and sold her first book the following year. Since then, Nancy has sold more than 50 books and found her calling doing what she loves most – writing mysteries, romance, and women’s fiction full-time.
Buy books on Amazon -
Karen Templeton
As the mother of five sons, now grown, Karen loves to write about real people dealing with the drama (and humor) of everyday life. Over the past fifteen years, Karen has written nearly 50 books for Harlequin/Silhouette and Red Dress Ink, and three of her Special Edition titles (A Mother's Wish (2009) Welcome Home, Cowboy (2011) and A Gift for All Seasons (2013) have won the RITA award, the romance industry's top prize for published authors. In addition, her November 2014 title, Santa's Playbook, earned the Romantic Times Gold Seal of Excellence, out of the hundreds of releases reviewed by the magazine for that month.
Buy books on Amazon
She is very active on Facebook, as both Karen Templeton and her full name, Karen Templeton Berger, running giveaway contests w -
Christine Rimmer
New York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer has written more than one hundred contemporary romances for Harlequin Books. She has won Romantic Times BOOKreview’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated seven times for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award and five times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year.
Buy books on Amazon
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journ -
Teresa Southwick
A four time National Readers Choice award finalist, Teresa Southwick is the author of more than 65 romance novels. She's also been a finalist for Romance Writers of America's prestigious Rita Award and a winner of Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine's Reviewer's Choice award for best Silhouette Romance.
Buy books on Amazon
Teresa grew up in Southern California, one of six children--four of them boys. That gave her a lot of experience with the male point of view and has served her well in her writing career. Living in Las Vegas which she considers just a little east of her childhood stomping grounds, she loves to hear from readers and can be contacted at www.teresasouthwick.com. -
Amanda Renee
Amanda Renee was raised in the northeast and now wriggles her toes in the warm coastal Carolina sands. Her career began when she was discovered through Harlequin's So You Think You Can Write contest in 2013. Today, she writes full-time alongside her Schnoodle sidekick, Duffy. Whenever she’s not working, she almost always has a camera in her hand. She enjoys road trips, songwriting, playing guitar and piano, and anything involving animals. You can visit her at www.amandarenee.com.
Buy books on Amazon
Amanda Renee is represented by Pamela Harty of The Knight Agency.
Website: www.AmandaRenee.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheAmandaRenee
Instagram: www.instagram.com/TheAmandaRenee
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmandaReneeFanPage -
Victoria Pade
Victoria Pade is the bestselling author of numerous contemporary romances, six historical romances and two mystery novels. She began her writing career after leaving college to have her first daughter. That daughter was seven years old and there was a second daughter, before Victoria had her first book accepted for publication. That novel and the three that followed it were historical romances. But the exit of her husband and the urge to do more contemporary writing that explored the kinds of problems she was facing inspired a switch.
Buy books on Amazon -
Susan Crosby
And they lived happily ever after.
Buy books on Amazon
I’ve always loved that sentence. There is such hope in those words, such faith in the future and ever-after love. I’ve always been a believer, which led me to being a reader of romance novels long before I began to write them. The dance of courtship between a man and a woman, sometimes slow and bluesy, sometimes wild and uninhibited, is sheer bliss to me. And the best part about writing is creating these two dancers who find their perfect partners out of all the other people on the planet.
What brings them together? What could tear them apart? Why do they stick it out through the bad times? Why do they fall more in love with each other every day? Finding the answers to these questions intrigues me. Who are -
Judy Duarte
When life threw Judy Duarte a curve twenty years ago, she did what many newly single mothers do. She pulled herself and her four kids together, became even more determined to come out on top, and decided to start following her dreams. What better role model could she provide her children than to show them that anything is possible? So, she returned to school, graduating from UC Irvine about the same time her oldest kids hit the teen years.
Buy books on Amazon
With her dream of getting her degree having come true, another dream presented itself by way of a new, perfect mate. Life was good again, but one dream still nagged at her:
"I always knew there was a book inside me, but since English was my least favorite subject in school, I never considered myself a write -
Lois Faye Dyer
USA Today bestselling author Lois Faye Dyer always knew she would be a writer someday, though the road to realizing her true calling had a few detours and rest stops along the way. Growing up in such picturesque spots as a working ranch in northeastern Montana, the turn-of-the-century coastal town of Mendocino, California, an 1800s home on the shores of Lake Okoboji in Iowa, and the Spanish-flavored city of San Buenaventura on the Pacific Ocean in Southern California provided Lois with a wealth of inspiration for the fictional tales she would write one day.
Buy books on Amazon
A successful career in the legal community was satisfying professionally, but her heart still longed to follow her dream of publication. After several years spent honing her craft, Lois s -
Christyne Butler
Thanks to an aunt’s love of genealogy, Christyne discovered both Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe are members in her extended family tree on her mother’s side, so she firmly believes her love of writing has always been her destiny.
Buy books on Amazon
Her father served in the Air Force for twenty years which resulted in her birth in Taipei, Taiwan and she spent her youth growing up all over the world before her family settled in New Hampshire in time for her to attend high school. She followed in her family’s rich military history and joined the United States Navy where she fell in love with romance novels after someone remembered women were serving aboard seagoing vessels and sent a box full of paperback romances to her ship, the USS VULCAN AR-5.
She -
Helen Lacey
About Helen
Buy books on Amazon
Helen Lacey grew up reading Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables and Little House on The Prairie. These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven years old, a story about a girl and her horse. Although, it wasn’t until the age of eleven when she read her first Mills & Boon, that she knew wanted to write romances. Her parents’ love of travel meant she saw much of the world in those early years and she feels fortunate to have had a diverse and interesting education over several continents.
She continued to write into her teens and twenties with the dream of one day being a published author. A few years and careers later, including motel operator, florist, strapper, dog washer, and retail manager, she g -
Kathy Douglass
Kathy is a born reader who as a child always had her nose in a book. That love of reading grew with her. She often would finish one book and immediately pick up another. She went from reading Bobbsey Twins to long, lush romance novels. One day she stumbled upon the Shining by Stephen King and was hooked. She turned her back on romance and became a serious Stephen King fan, reading every word he wrote. When she caught herself checking under the bed and looking in the closet for monsters or worse, she knew it was time to put down the horror stories and pick up the romance novels.
Buy books on Amazon
Her return to romance novels was short lived. She’d started law school and soon her reading was limited to legal opinions. Then one happy day her younger sister hande -
Tara Taylor Quinn
Tara Taylor Quinn began her love affair with Harlequin when she was fourteen years old and picked up a free promotional copy of a Harlequin Romance in a hometown grocery store. The relationship was solidified the year she was suspended from her high school typing class for hiding a Harlequin Romance behind the keys of her electric typewriter. Unaware that her instructor loomed close by, Ms. Quinn read blissfully on with one finger resting on the automatic repeating period key. She finished the book in the principal’s office. Forced to leave her romances in her locker after that, Ms. Quinn’s typing skills improved - a fact for which she is eternally grateful.
Buy books on Amazon
With over 80 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Q -
Marisa Carroll
Marisa Carroll is the pseudonym for sisters Carol Wagner and Marian L. Franz. The sisters also write under the names Joellyn Carroll, Jo Bremer, and Malissa Carroll.
Buy books on Amazon