Kathleen Woodiwiss
Kathleen was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana. She was one of eight children. Her father, Charles Windgrove Hogg died suddenly when she was twelve. Her favorite stories as a child were fairy tales, and then she progressed to Nancy Drew mysteries. From there she began to read and enjoy the classic romance novels, such as JANE EYRE, REBECCA, and GONE WITH THE WIND.
She married an officer in United States Air Force. After giving birth to her first son, they were sent to Japan. They were stationed in Japan for three and a half years. Kathleen gave birth to her second son, and did some modeling for an American owned modeling agency.
They were transferred to Topeka, Kansas. It was here that she started writing THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER on a typewriter she bought for her husband for Christmas.
It was hard to find a publisher, for first book was rejected more the eight times from hardback publishers. So she started down the alphabet with the paperback publishers starting with Avon. Not long after sending it, THE FLAME, AND THE FLOWER was accepted by Avon.
The senior editor for Avon, Nancy Coffee picked it out of the slush pile. It was a rainy weekend, and not being able to get to the beach she picked the largest unsolicited manuscript to work on. She stayed up all night reading it, and recommended that Avon publish it when she returned to work.
Publisher’s Weekly gave THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, a good review before it was published. Because this review was so good, Avon increased their printing to 600,000 copies.
She signed a year’s contract to finish THE WOLF AND THE DOVE. After completing the deadline she was burned out.
She refused to sign another contract unless she had five years to work on her next book. After her husband retired from the Air Force they moved to Minnesota. They lived there 30 years until her husband passed away.
Kathleen suffered several medical problems over the next few years. She found out she had an overactive parathyroid, which leaves calcium deposits in her joints, on her eyes, and on her brain. After surgery she was now able to concentrate of her writing. She wrote a short story for the anthology THREE WEDDINGS AND A KISS, called THE KISS. A year later she had part of her lung removed. She wrote the short story, BEYOND A KISS for the anthology, MARRIED AT MIDNIGHT while recuperating.
She moved home to Louisiana to concentrate on her writing.
With her enthusiasm for writing restored she started working on PETALS ON THE RIVER. For the 25th anniversary of the publication of THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, Avon asked for a novel that dealt with the son of Heather and Brandon twenty-five years after the book ended. The idea became THE ELUSIVE FLAME. A SEASON BEYOND A KISS was to finish the Jeff Birmingham sequels with a novel.
She is now the mother of three sons and a grandmother of three granddaughters. Her favorite hobbies are interior decorating and gardening. Kathleen Woodiwiss has published
eleven books and two anthologies in 30 years of writing. Presently she is working on a novel set in England just after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.
Breaking News!
The Reluctant Suitor
In the world of romantic historical fiction, there is only one First Lady -- and she's Kathleen E. Woodiwiss! The author who created the genre with her groundbreaking love story The Flame and the Flower returns with her long-awaited new novel, a bold and breathtaking tale of a beautiful noblewoman who is coveted by every high-born gentleman in the land ... except the only man she could ever love.
For as long as she can remember, Lady Adriana Sutton has adored Colton Wyndham, to whom she has been promised by an agreement of courtship and betrothal since childhood. As a young girl, she was wounded by Colton's stubborn refusal to comply with his father's wishes and by his angry departure. He was too proud and too stubborn to accept a future not of his own choosing. Rather than submit, he fled from his ancestral home for a life of adventure and danger as an officer in the British army.
The years have been immensely kind to Lady Adriana. No longer the plain, thin tomboy Colton had spurned, she has blossomed into an uncommon beauty desired by nearly every eligible bachelor in the land. Yet the only man she desires is the decorated hero who has finally come home to claim his rightful title. Arrogant, unmoved, and seductive as ever, he remains averse to the idea of their betrothal in spite of his growing desire for her.
To demonstrate his belief that love cannot be forced, Colton agrees to court Lady Adriana for ninety days, after which time he will be allowed to keep his precious freedom if he so wishes. But much has changed since he balked at his father's plans. Forced into a courtship with this stunning, spirited woman, who is as different today from the young chit he left behind as spring is to winter, the heroic heart that was once closed to Adriana is moved by her charm, her grace, and her sensuality ... and begins to yield. But a secret from Colton's past may doom their burgeoning love ... even as the treacherous schemes of a sinister rival threaten to steal the remarkable lady from his arms forever.
A lush and spellbinding story of passion and betrayal that grandly sweeps the reader into the magnificent ballrooms and intimate boudoirs of Regency England, The Reluctant Suitor is romance as only the incomparable Kathleen Woodiwiss can deliver it -- a love story that will dwell in the reader's heart and memory forever and stand proudly as one of the author's very best.
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