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Lorraine Heath

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Lorraine Heath
Pen nameLorraine Heath
Rachel Hawthorne
J.A. London
Jade Parker
OccupationNovelist
Alma materBA University of Texas
Period1994 - present
Genrecontemporary romance, historical romance, paranormal romance, young adult
Notable worksAlways to Remember
Notable awardsRITA award – Best Short Historical Romance
1997 Always to Remember
Website
www.lorraineheath.com

Lorraine Heath is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling American author of contemporary romance, historical romance, paranormal romance and young adult novels under multiple pen names, including Rachel Hawthorne, J.A. London, and Jade Parker. She is known for her "beautiful, deeply emotional romances" and in 1997, she received the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Short Historical Romance for her novel Always to Remember.[1] As of June 2015, fifteen of her titles made the USA Today bestseller list.[2]

Biography

Heath was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England from an American father and a British mother. Her parents met while her a father was stationed at Bovingdon while serving in the air force. Shortly after Heath's birth, her family moved to Texas where she was raised in Angleton, Texas.[3][4]

She earned a BA in psychology from the University of Texas and lived in Austin, Texas for sixteen years before moving to Plano, Texas in 1987. In 1998, Laura Bush, then First Lady of Texas, invited Heath to serve on a romance panel at the Texas Book Festival.[4][5]

She wrote training manuals and computer code for the IRS before she turned to fiction writing when she picked up LaVyrle Spencer’s Morning Glory which hooked her not only on Spencer's work, but convinced her that she wanted to write romance. She said up until then she "...had a preconception of what romance was." In 1993, she sold her first novel, Sweet Lullaby. Since then, she's authored over sixty novels, with historical and contemporary romance for adults and historical romance for teen readers. Under the names Rachel Hawthorne and Jade Parker, she writes popular contemporary, historical, and paranormal romance for teens readers. She also writes young adult with her son Alex under the name J. A. London.[3][4][6]

In an interview with USA Today, she revealed how she keeps her writing personas separate, "...it helps that I write my historicals in third person and my YA in first so it's a mental shift when I'm writing a particular genre. Writing with my son is a bit more challenging because we wanted J.A. to have a unique voice that was edgier to go with our dystopian world and he's often marking words or phrases that he thinks sounds too Rachel-ish. It's rather like going on a mini-vacation when I slip between the genres. I think it helps to keep my writing fresh because I'm able to go in diverse directions and explore various worlds."[7]

She named the following authors as inflential in her young adult writing: Richelle Mead, Sophie Jordan, Marissa Meyer, but mostly Catherine Clark. "When I first became interested in writing Young Adult, I read her books to get a flavoring for the YA genre. Then I was reading her simply because I enjoyed her stories so much."[8]

She's known for her "deeply emotional romances" and "deft characterizations, attention to historical detail and mastery of small moments."[1][9]

Her writing habits include writing late at night and listening to a CD of a thunderstorm. "It narrows my focus so it's just me, the story, and the thunder." When her novel A Matter of Temptation reached the New York Times bestseller list, she recalls "I had been out walking the dog and I came in and there was a message on the machine. It said, 'My dear, you've hit the New York Times.' Actually, my husband thought somebody had died because I was screaming and crying... It's something that all authors aspire to do so it's ... it's nice when it happens."[4]

She relates the inspiration for her RITA-winning novel Always to Remember in an interview. "While watching a PBS special on the Civil War, a comment was made that often men from the same town served in the same unit so if a unit was wiped out, the town had no men to return to it. It mentioned how hard this was on the townspeople... I began to wonder, what if only one man returned and everyone thought he was a coward since he survived, but he really wasn't? And what if the town wanted a memorial, and he was the only one with the skills to make it? And the story began to develop from there."[10]

In 2015, publisher Avon Books and independent bookstore Powell's Books started a new romance-author curated list of four books called "Mutual Attractions". The third collaboration was released on June 1, 2015 by Heath, and her short list consisted of Jennifer Bernard's All of Me, Kathleen Baldwin's A School for Unusual Girls, Kristen Callihan's Evernight, and Sarah MacLean's No Good Duke Goes Unpunished.[11]

Heath currently resides in Plano with her husband and two sons.[4]

Bibliography

As Lorraine Heath

Daughters of Fortune Series

Historical Romance
  1. The Outlaw and the Lady. October 2001.
  2. To Marry an Heiress. September 2002.
  3. Love With a Scandalous Lord. June 2003.
  4. An Invitation to Seduction. May 2004.

English Rogues in Texas Series

Historical Romance
  1. A Rogue in Texas. April 1999.
  2. Never Love a Cowboy. April 2000.
  3. Never Marry a Cowboy. February 2001.

Hard Lovin' Series

Contemporary Romance
  1. Hard Lovin' Man. November 2003.
  2. Smooth Talkin' Stranger. April 2004.

London's Greatest Lovers

Historical Romance
  1. Passions of a Wicked Earl. November 2010.
  2. Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman. December 2010.
  3. Waking Up With the Duke. July 2011.

The Lost Lords

Historical Romance
  1. As an Earl Desires. April 2005.
  2. A Matter of Temptation. October 2005.
  3. Promise Me Forever. April 2006.

Lost Lords of Pembrook

Historical Romance

1. She Tempts the Duke. February 2012.
2. Lord of Temptation. September 2012.
2.5 Deck the Halls with Love. February 2013.
3. Lord of Wicked Intentions. May 2013.

Historical Romance
  1. Texas Destiny. June 1997.
  2. Texas Glory. April 1998.
  3. Texas Splendor. January 1999.

Rogues and Roses

Historical Romance
  1. A Duke of Her Own. November 2006.
  2. Just Wicked Enough. September 2007.

Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James

Historical Romance
  1. When the Duke Was Wicked. February 2014.
  2. Once More, My Darling Rogue. September 2014.
  3. The Duke and the Lady in Red. May 2015.

Scoundrels of St. James

Historical Romance
  1. In Bed With the Devil. June 2008.
  2. Between the Devil and Desire. January 2009.
  3. Surrender to the Devil. July 2009.
  4. Midnight Pleasures With a Scoundrel. November 2009.
  5. The Last Wicked Scoundrel. January 2014.

Stand-alone works

Historical Romance
  • Sweet Lullaby. March 1994.
  • Parting Gifts. December 1994.
  • The Ladies' Man. June 1995.
  • Always to Remember. February 1996.
  • Samantha and the Cowboy. May 2002.
  • Amelia and the Outlaw. January 2003.
  • Passions of a Wicked Earl. November 2010.
  • The Gunslinger. June 2014.
  • Falling Into Bed with a Duke. November 2015.

Anthologies and short stories

  • Long Stretch of Lonesome. March 1999.
  • The Reluctant Hero. March 2006.
  • An Invitation to Scandal. August 2010.

As Rachel Hawthorne

Dark Guardian

Paranormal Romance
  1. Moonlight. March 2009.
  2. Full Moon. July 2009.
  3. Dark of the Moon. August 2009.
  4. Shadow of the Moon. March 2010.
Further information: Dark Guardian (novel series)

Year Abroad

Contemporary Romance
  1. London: Kit & Robin. September 2000.
  2. Paris: Alex & Dana. October 2000.
  3. Rome: Antonio & Carrie. November 2000.

Stand-alone works

Contemporary Romance
  • Nick & the Nerd. June 2001.
  • The Older Guy. December 2001.
  • Caribbean Cruising. April 2004.
  • Island Girls (and Boys). June 2005.
  • Love on the Lifts. December 2005.
  • Thrill Ride. April 2006.
  • Trust Me. January 2007.
  • The Boyfriend League. July 2007.
  • Snowed In. December 2007.
  • Labor of Love. June 2008.
  • Suite Dreams. December 2008.
  • The Crocodile Who Was Afraid of the Water. June 2009.
  • Trouble from the Start. May 2015.
  • The Boyfriend Project. May 2015.

As J.A. London

A Darkness Before Dawn

Young Adult
  1. Darkness Before Dawn. June 2012.
  2. Blood-Kissed Sky. January 2013.
  3. After Daybreak. June 2013.

As Jade Parker

Making A Splash

Young adult contemporary
  1. Robyn. May 2008.
  2. Caitlin. June 2008.
  3. Whitney. July 2008.

Stand-alone works

  • To Catch a Pirate. May 2007.

Awards and reception

As Lorraine Heath

  • 1996 - Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the category of Americana Historical Romance[12]
  • 1997 - Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Short Historical Romance for Always to Remember[13]
  • 2006 - Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best British Isles Historical Romance for Promise Me Forever[14]
  • 2007 - Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best British Isles Historical Romance for Just Wicked Enough[15]
  • 2011 - Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best Innovative Historical Romance for Waking Up With the Duke[16]
  • 2014 - Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Historical Romance Of The Year for Once More, My Darling Rogue'[17]

Heath has also received multiple starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and multiple Top Picks from Romantic Times Book Review. She's also a five-time RITA Award finalist.[18]

Multiple titles hit the USA Today list, including Lord of Wicked Intentions, As an Earl Desires, When the Duke Was Wicked, The Duke and the Lady in Red, An Invitation to Seduction, Promise Me Forever, Love With a Scandalous Lord, In Bed With the Devil, To Marry an Heiress, Passions of a Wicked Earl, Never Marry a Cowboy, Surrender to the Devil, Waking Up With the Duke, She Tempts the Duke, and Lord of Temptation[2]

Always to Remember

RITA Award-winning novel Always to Remember was called by Publishers Weekly "With its unconventional, heart-wrenching hero, this slow-building story plays on every emotion-guilt, anger, honor and, ultimately, love."[19] Romantic Times said "The beautiful prose, the author's depth of understanding for her characters and her absolutely consistent focus on theme raise this love story to the status of poetry. If you want to understand how love heals, how names carved in stone like those on the Vietnam War Memorial can uplift the wounded hearts of both survivors and war protesters, read this unforgettable book."[20]

Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James

Romance author Sarah MacLean called When the Duke Was Wicked "a perfect read, full of tears and sighs and a heroine who is shocked by her own strength."[1] Kirkus Reviews said it was "A sparkling, emotionally powerful historical romance that satisfyingly deals with physical and spiritual damage."[21] Publishers Weekly said "Heath follows formula with a minimum of period detail or plausibility, particularly with regard to medical matters, and a maximum of swooping dialogue about Grace’s “situation most dire” and the hilariously named villain, Lord Vexley."[22] Whereas Library Journal called it "exquisitely rendered, with two friends parrying and deflecting in order to protect themselves from pain and heartbreak. Featuring couples revived from the author’s 'Scoundrels of St. James' series, this fully fleshed romance will stay with readers long after the final page."[23]

Kirkus Reviews called The Duke and the Lady in Red "A beautiful, unconventional romance that entwines two fierce, lonely hearts who believed they were unlovable and reminds us of the best and worst of human nature."[24] Publishers Weekly said "Heath excels at writing passionate romantic tension, and this emotional page-turner showcases her stunning ability to delve into the characters’ innermost souls."[25] USA Today said "This book starts with such great chemistry and sexual tension...A really well-done story."[26]

Scoundrels of St. James

As of June 2015, the only 3-star review Heath earned from Romantic Times Book Reviews was for The Last Wicked Scoundrel, in which they felt the romance was "sometimes overshadowed by the chilling mystery at the heart of the story, and fans of the series may wish for more cameos by Heath’s scoundrels, in a happier setting."[27]

Lost Lords of Pembrook

On February 19, 2012, she made #33 on The New York Times bestseller list with She Tempts the Duke[28] Publishers Weekly said "the middle meanders ...[and] [t]he conclusion is predictable, but Heath excels at depicting the lovers’ initial courtship and relationship building."[29] Whereas Romantic Times called it "powerful story of retribution and salvation. Heath’s talent for creating memorable characters comes to the forefront within a classic plotline that pits good against evil."[30]

A Matter of Temptation reached the New York Times bestseller list when it came out.[4]

English Rogues in Texas Series

Publishers Weekly said of Never Love a Cowboy "A sub-plot involving a little girl may seem a bit too convenient, but it is one of Heath's strengths to take a standard plot point and make it new and vital. Though these characters are somewhat larger than life than those earlier in her career, Heath has more than enough talent to handle them."[9]

London's Greatest Lovers

Publishers Weekly said of Waking Up With the Duke "While the eventual outcome is predictable, the sensitive handling of Jayne and Walfort's challenging relationship and the impressive tangle of love, guilt, and secrets will please those who prefer fiery love scenes balanced by complex emotional drama."[31]

As Rachel Hawthorne

Dark Guardian

In a review of Moonlight, Donna Rosenblum of School Library Journal stated that "Hawthorne expertly weaves romance with the supernatural, cloaking them with danger and suspense." She concluded that the story "ends a little too neatly and at times seems a bit rushed. However, the author does a good job giving readers a natural view of the legends and myths behind werewolves and their evolution."[32] The Compulsive Reader labeled Moonlight "an absorbing and quick read," noting that werewolves were often overlooked in YA fiction. The review stated that the novel was "a little predictable at the very beginning," but went on to call it "a very engaging and brisk read that will appeal to reluctant readers and even has a couple of mildly surprising twists as the book works its way up to the climax."[33]

Further information: Dark Guardian (novel series)

References

  1. ^ a b c MacLean, Sarah. "Best new romance novels from Jill Shalvis, Cynthia Eden and Lorraine Heath". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Lorraine Heath Bestseller List". Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "About Lorraine Heath". Official website. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Porter, Britney. "Lorraine Heath". Plano Profile. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  5. ^ "Lorraine Heath". FictionDB. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  6. ^ "About JA London". Official website. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  7. ^ Lamb, Joyce. "Interview: Lorraine Heath, author of 'Once More, My Darling Rogue'". USA Today. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  8. ^ "YA authors share their most influential YA authors". USA Today. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Review of Never Love a Cowboy". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Talking with Lorraine Heath". All About Romance. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  11. ^ "New York Times bestseller Lorraine Heath curates third selection of Mutual Attractions from Powells and Avon Books". PR Buzz. June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  12. ^ "Americana Historical Romance". RT Book Reviews. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  13. ^ "myRWA : RITA Awards : RITA Winners". rwa.org. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Best British Isles Historical Romance". RT Book Reviews. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  15. ^ "Best British Isles Historical Romance". RT Book Reviews. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  16. ^ "Innovative Historical Romance". RT Book Reviews. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  17. ^ "Historical Romance Of The Year". RT Book Reviews. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  18. ^ "Lorraine Heath Awards". FictionDB. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  19. ^ "Review of Always to Remember". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  20. ^ Benniger, Gerry. "Review of Always to Remember". Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  21. ^ "Review of When the Duke Was Wicked". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Review of When the Duke Was Wicked". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  23. ^ Fox, Bette-Lee. "Xpress Reviews: Fiction- First Look at New Books, March 21, 2014". Library Journal. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  24. ^ "Review of The Duke and the Lady in Red". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  25. ^ "Review of The Duke and the Lady in Red". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  26. ^ Schreiner, Mandi. June 2015 "Must-read romances: 'Acute Reactions,' 'Taken,' 'The Duke and the Lady in Red'". USA Today. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  27. ^ "Review of The Last Wicked Scoundrel". RT Book Reviews. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  28. ^ "Best Sellers: E-Book Fiction: Sunday, February 19th 2012". New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  29. ^ "Review of She Tempts the Duke". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  30. ^ Robin, Kathe. "Review of She Tempts the Duke". RT Book Reviews. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  31. ^ "Review of Waking Up With the Duke". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  32. ^ Rosenblum, Donna (August 1, 2009). "Moonlight review". School Library Journal. Retrieved December 22, 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  33. ^ "Moonlight review". The Compulsive Reader. July 6, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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