Lisa Kleypas (born 5 November 1964 in Temple, Texas) is a
best-selling
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
American
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
of
historical and contemporary
romance novel
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pr ...
s. In 1985, she was named
Miss Massachusetts
The Miss Massachusetts competition is a scholarship pageant put on annually by the Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Foundation, Inc. The winner of the pageant receives the title of Miss Massachusetts and represents the state of Massachusetts at th ...
1985 and competed in the
Miss America 1986
Miss America 1986, the 59th Miss America pageant, took place at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 14, 1985 and was broadcast on NBC Network.
Results
Order of announcements
Top 10
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Awards P ...
pageant in
Atlantic City.
Biography
Lisa Kleypas was born on 5 November 1964 in Temple, Texas, to Linda and Lloyd Kleypas, an architect. She began writing her own romance novels during her summer breaks from studying
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at
Wellesley College. Her parents agreed to support her for a few months after her graduation so that she could finish her latest manuscript. Approximately two months later, at age 21, Kleypas sold her first novel.
The same year she sold her first novel, Kleypas was named Miss Massachusetts. During her competition at the Miss America pageant, Kleypas performed a song she had written, earning her a "talented nonfinalist" award.
Kleypas has been a full-time romance writer since 1985. Her novels have ranked high on major best-seller lists, sold millions of copies around the globe and have been translated into fourteen different languages.
In October 1998, Kleypas's Texas home flooded within a matter of hours after heavy rains inundated their town. She and her family lost everything except the clothes they were wearing and her purse. Within days, her colleagues at Avon sent boxes of clothes and books to help the family recover. For Kleypas though, the defining moment was after the flood, when she and her mother (whose home had also flooded), made a quick trip to the store to purchase toothbrushes, clean clothes, and other necessities. Separately, each of them had also chosen a romance novel, a necessity to them in helping them escape the stress they were currently under. To Kleypas, this realization validated her decision to write romance novels instead of more literary works.
Though primarily known for her historical romance novels, Kleypas made an announcement in early 2006 concerning her momentary departure from historical romances to delve into the contemporary romance genre. Kleypas has since written two additional historical romance series: "The Hathaways" and "The Ravenels", as well as an additional contemporary romance series, the "Travis Series."
Kleypas lives in Washington with her husband, Gregory Ellis, and their two children, Griffin and Lindsay.
Bibliography
Many of Kleypas's works are arranged into series. However, even books in different series often have common elements, such as the Westcliffs, Mrs. Bradshaw, Jenner's, ''Mathilda'', and the Wallflowers.
Berkley-Falkner series
#''Where Passion Leads'' (1987)
#''Forever My Love'' (1988)
Only Vallerand series
#''Only in Your Arms'' (1992) (republished as ''When Strangers Marry'' (2002)
annotation#''Only with Your Love'' (1992
annotation
Gamblers of Craven's series
#''Then Came You'' (1993
annotation#''Dreaming of You'' (1994
annotation#''Against the Odds'' in the Anthology ''Where's My Hero'' with
Julia Quinn
Julie Pottinger (née Cotler; born 1970), better known by her pen name Julia Quinn, is a best-selling American author of historical romance fiction. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages, and have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Be ...
and
Kinley MacGregor Kinley may refer to:
*Kinley (brand)
Kinley is a brand of still or carbonated water owned by The Coca-Cola Company and sold in many large European and Asian countries. Its carbonated forms are used for mixers, and also available in a variety o ...
(2003
annotation
Stokehurst Family series
#''Midnight Angel'' (1995
annotation#''Prince of Dreams'' (1995
annotation
Capitol Theatre series
#''Somewhere I'll Find You'' (1996
annotation#''Because You're Mine'' (1997
annotation#''I Will'' in the anthology ''Wish List'' with Lisa Cach,
Claudia Dain
Claudia Dain is an American author of romance novels. She is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author.
Biography
Claudia Dain attended the University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear ...
and
Lynsay Sands (2001
annotation
Bow-Street Runners series
#''Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1999
annotation#''Lady Sophia's Lover'' (2002
annotation#''Worth Any Price'' (2003
annotation
Wallflower series
#''Again the Magic'' (2004
annotation
#''Secrets of a Summer Night'' (2005
annotation#''It Happened One Autumn'' (2005
annotation#''Devil in Winter'' (2006
annotation#''Scandal in Spring'' (2006
annotation#''A Wallflower Christmas'' (2008
annotation
The Hathaways series
# ''Mine Till Midnight'' (2007
annotation# ''Seduce Me at Sunrise'' (2008
annotation# ''A Hathaway Weddin
(short story)' (2009)
# ''Tempt Me at Twilight'' (2009
annotation# ''Married By Morning'' (2010
annotation# ''Love In The Afternoon'' (2010
annotation
The Ravenels series
#''Cold-Hearted Rake'' (2015
annotation#''Marrying Winterborne'' (2016
annotation#''Devil in Spring'' (2017)
#''Hello Stranger'' (2018)
#''Devil's Daughter'' (2019)
#''Chasing Cassandra'' (2020)
#''Devil in Disguise'' (2021)
Other historical romance novels
*''Love, Come to Me'' (1988
annotation*''Give Me Tonight'' (1989)
*''Stranger in My Arms'' (1998
annotation*''Where Dreams Begin'' (2000
annotation*''Suddenly You'' (2001
annotation*''Again the Magic'' (2004) is the story of the sisters of the main character, Earl of Westcliff of ''It Happened One Autumn''
annotation
Novellas and anthologies
*''Surrender'' (1991, novella) in the anthology "Christmas Love Stories" (1991) with
Diane Wicker Davis,
Shannon Drake,
Kay Hooper
Kay Hooper (born 1957) is a ''New York Times'' bestselling American author of more than 60 books.
Biography
Kay Hooper was born in Merced County, California to Martha and James Hooper. Her father, an Air Force employee, was stationed in the b ...
*''Surrender'' in the 1994 anthology "A Christmas Present" with
Loretta Chase and
Judith E French
*''Promises'' (1995, novella) in the anthology "Three Weddings and a Kiss" with
Catherine Anderson
Catherine Anderson (born 22 December 1948 in Grants Pass, Oregon, USA), is an American best-selling writer of historical and contemporary romance novels since 1988.
Biography
Adeline Catherine was born on 22 December 1948 in Grants Pass, Oreg ...
,
Loretta Chase and
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
*''I Will'' (2001, novella) in the anthology ''Wish List'' with
Lisa Cach,
Claudia Dain
Claudia Dain is an American author of romance novels. She is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author.
Biography
Claudia Dain attended the University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear ...
and
Lynsay Sands
*''Against the Odds'' (2003, novella) part of the Craven series, in the anthology "Where's My Hero?" with
Kinley MacGregor Kinley may refer to:
*Kinley (brand)
Kinley is a brand of still or carbonated water owned by The Coca-Cola Company and sold in many large European and Asian countries. Its carbonated forms are used for mixers, and also available in a variety o ...
and
Julia Quinn
Julie Pottinger (née Cotler; born 1970), better known by her pen name Julia Quinn, is a best-selling American author of historical romance fiction. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages, and have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Be ...
*''Surrender'' in the 2006 anthology "Gifts of Love" with
Kay Hooper
Kay Hooper (born 1957) is a ''New York Times'' bestselling American author of more than 60 books.
Biography
Kay Hooper was born in Merced County, California to Martha and James Hooper. Her father, an Air Force employee, was stationed in the b ...
*''I Will'' in the 2008 anthology "A Historical Christmas Present" with
Leigh Greenwood and
Lynsay Sands
* ''I Will'' in the 2017 anthology "A Christmas to Remember" with
Vivienne Lorret,
Megan Frampton and
Lorraine Heath
Travis series (contemporary)
#''Sugar Daddy'' (2007
annotation#''Blue Eyed Devil'' (2008
annotation#''Smooth Talking Stranger'' (2009
annotation#''Brown-Eyed Girl'' (2015
annotation
Friday Harbor (contemporary)
#''
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor'' (Oct 26, 2010
annotation#''Rainshadow Road'' (Feb 28, 2012
annotation#''Dream Lake'' (Aug 2012
annotation#''Crystal Cove'' (Feb 2013
annotation
Awards
*1998 – Waldenbooks Award for greatest sales growth, ''Someone to Watch Over Me''
*1999 –
Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by incr ...
RITA Award finalist, ''Someone to Watch Over Me''
*2002 – Romance Writers of American RITA Award finalist, ''Suddenly You''
*2002 – Romance Writers of America RITA Award winner for her Christmas anthology novella in ''Wish List''
*2002 – Romantic Times Magazine Best Sensuous Historical Romance, ''Lady Sophia's Lover''
*2002 – Publishers Weekly starred reviews for ''Lady Sophia's Lover'' and ''When Strangers Marry''
*2003 – Publishers Weekly starred review, ''Worth Any Price''
*2003 – Amazon Editor's Top Ten Picks forBest Romance of 2003, ''Where's My Hero'' and ''Worth Any Price''
*2004 – Romance Writers of America RITA Award for best Short Historical, ''Worth Any Price''
*2004 – Publishers Weekly starred review, ''Secrets of a Summer Night''
*2006 – Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist, Short Historical Category, ''It Happened One Autumn''
*2007 – Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist, Short Historical Category, ''The Devil in Winter'' and ''Scandal in Spring''
Television
*2012 – ''
Christmas with Holly
''Christmas with Holly'' is a 2012 made-for-TV film based on the 2010 book '' Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor'' by Lisa Kleypas. It originally aired on ABC as a Hallmark Hall of Fame film on December 9, 2012, starring Eloise Mumford and Sean Fa ...
'', based on the novel ''Christmas at Friday Harbor'
annotation
References
External links
Official Lisa Kleypas websiteChapter excerpts and title list(Official publisher web page)
A Conversation with Lisa Kleypas(Interview with Author)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleypas, Lisa
1964 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American historical novelists
American romantic fiction novelists
American women novelists
Miss America 1980s delegates
RITA Award winners
Wellesley College alumni
Novelists from Massachusetts
Women romantic fiction writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
Women historical novelists