About the author

Lauren Royal

<p> I decided to become a writer in the third grade (or, as my Canadian friends call it, grade three), after winning a &quot;Why My Mother is the Greatest&quot; essay contest and having my entry published in a major newspaper. Seeing my words in print was a thrill! But everyone told me it&#39;s too hard for novelists to get published, so after college I spent fourteen years as the CEO of my own jewelry store chain before writing my first book. A mistake? Maybe...but my first heroine, Amethyst, was a jeweler, so at least I took advantage of that wise old saying, &quot;Write what you know.&quot; And I learned a good lesson: Don&#39;t let other people tell you what you can or can&#39;t do!</p> <p> I write humorous historical romance mostly set in England and Scotland in the 17th and 19th centuries (Restoration and Regency periods). I&#39;ve been oh-so-lucky to see my books hit bestseller lists all over the world, including the <em>New York Times</em> and <em>USA Today</em> lists, and win awards including the Golden Quill and <em>Booklist</em>&#39;s Top 10 Romance of the Year, making this second career a real dream come true. I live in Southern California with my husband, our three young adult children, and one constantly shedding cat, and I still think my mother is the greatest!</p> <p> Visit my website at http://www.LaurenRoyal.com, where you can see the real people and real places in my books, enter a contest, sign up for my newsletter, and find historical recipes for the foods in my books.</p> <p> Follow me on...</p> <p> Facebook Profile: facebook.com/readLaurenRoyal<br /> Facebook Page: facebook.com/LaurenRoyal<br /> Twitter: twitter.com/readLaurenRoyal (@readLaurenRoyal)<br /> Pinterest: pinterest.com/LaurenRoyal<br /> Blog: http://CrumbsFromMyKeyboard.com</p>