The Surprise Families Collection

Besides writing, Ann enjoys her husband, kids, grandchildren, cats, hobbies, and travels. A Texan, Ann holds a B.A. from UT, and an M.A. from Texas A & M. A former teacher on both the secondary and college levels, Ann is an experienced speaker. She's written over 60 books for Dell, Silhouette Romance, Special Edition, Intimate Moments, Desire and Mira and frequently makes bestseller lists.

Maureen Child is the author of more than 130 romance novels and novellas that routinely appear on bestseller lists and have won numerous awards, including the National Reader's Choice Award. A seven-time nominee for the prestigous RITA award from Romance Writers of America, one of her books was made into a CBS-TV movie called THE SOUL COLLECTER. Maureen recently moved from California to the mountains of Utah and is trying to get used to snow.

USA TODAY bestselling author KAT CANTRELL read her first Harlequin novel in third grade and has been scribbling in notebooks since she learned to spell. She's a former Harlequin So You Think You Can Write winner and former RWA Golden Heart finalist. Kat, her husband and their two boys live in north Texas.

Sara Orwig lives in Oklahoma and has a deep love of Texas. With a master’s degree in English, Sara taught high school English, was Writer-in-Residence at the University of Central Oklahoma and was one of the first inductees into the Oklahoma Professional Writers Hall of Fame. Sara has written mainstream fiction, historical and contemporary romance. Books are beloved treasures that take Sara to magical worlds. She loves both reading and writing them.

As an Air Force officer, Merline Lovelace served at bases all over the world. When she hung up her uniform for the last time, she combined her love of adventure with a flare for storytelling. She's now produced more than 95 action-packed novels. Over twelve million copies of her works are in print in 30 countries. Named Oklahoma’s Writer of the Year and Female Veteran of the Year, Merline is also a recipient of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Rita Award.

Cathy Williams is a great believer in the power of perseverance as she had never written anything before her writing career, and from the starting point of zero has now fulfilled her ambition to pursue this most enjoyable of careers. She would encourage any would-be writer to have faith and go for it! She derives inspiration from the tropical island of Trinidad and from the peaceful countryside of middle England. Cathy lives in Warwickshire her family.

Lucy Gordon cut her writing teeth on magazine journalism, interviewing many of the world's most interesting men, including Warren Beatty and Roger Moore. Several years ago, while staying Venice, she met a Venetian who proposed in two days. They have been married ever since. Naturally this has affected her writing, where romantic Italian men tend to feature strongly. Two of her books have won a Romance Writers of America RITA® Award. You can visit her website at www.lucy-gordon.com.

Connie used to think authors were sophisticated creatures who lived in NYC, went to glitzy parties and wrote as the muse dictated. Then she met one.The writer looked a lot like her-jeans, a few extra pounds, a love of books and a quirky imagination. With the encouragement of that writer and many like her, Connie now lives the dream, writing big stories from her little desk in her little town. Even as you read this, she is working on a new story and living happily ever after.

Former PA, office manager, theme park hostess, software trainer, aerobics instructor and Wheel of Fortune contestant, Paula Roe is now a Borders Books best seller and one Australia's Desire authors. She lives in Sydney, Australia and when she's not writing, Paula designs websites, judges writing contests, battles a social media addiction, watches way too much TV and reads a lot. And bakes a pretty good carrot cake, too!

Caroline Anderson's been a nurse, a secretary, a teacher, and has run her own business. Now she’s settled on writing. ‘I was looking for that elusive something and finally realised it was variety – now I have it in abundance. Every book brings new horizons, new friends, and in between books I juggle! My husband John and I have two beautiful daughters, Sarah and Hannah, umpteen pets, and several acres of Suffolk that nature tries to reclaim every time we turn our backs!’

Karen Booth is a Midwestern girl transplanted in the South, raised on '80s music and repeated readings of Forever by Judy Blume. When she's not writing about dreamy fictional men and the women who test them, she's in the garden, obsessing over college basketball, or spending time with her husband, college-age kids, and bratty cat.

Anna Cleary always loved stories. She cried over Jane Eyre, suffered with Heathcliffe and Cathy, loved Jane Austen and adored Georgette Heyer. When a friend suggested they both start writing a romance novel, Anna accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. She enjoyed it so much she eventually gave up her teaching job to write full time. When not writing Anna likes meeting friends, listening to music, dining out, discussing politics, going to movies and concerts, or gazing at gardens.

Award-winning author Louisa George has been an avid reader her whole life. In between chapters she managed to train as a nurse, marry her doctor hero and have two sons. Now she writes chapters of her own in the medical romance, contemporary romance and women's fiction genres. Louisa's books have variously been nominated for the coveted RITA Award, and the NZ Koru Award and have been translated into twelve languages. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

Leah Martyn comes from a long line of storytellers and finds writing comes to her as naturally as breathing. As well as her medical romances, she has written and published short stories. She insists her characters must have a sense of humour! She loves vacationing in Queensland and browsing in bookshops is high on her list of enjoyable things to do. Consequently, each year around Christmas, she breaks the budget, buying an armful of new releases to read over the holidays.

Two-time Golden Heart® Award finalist Ami Weaver has read reading romance since she was a teen and writing for even longer. Now she can be found drinking gallons of iced tea at her local coffee shop while doing one of her favorite things—convincing two characters they deserve their happy-ever-after. When she’s not writing, she spends at the lake, hangs out with her family and reads. Ami lives in Michigan with her four kids, three cats and very supportive husband.