Nancy Warren is a Canadian writer of

contemporary romance Contemporary romance is a subgenre of romance novels, generally set contemporaneously with the time of its writing. The largest of the romance novel subgenres, contemporary romance novels usually reflect the mores of their time. Heroines in the co ...

and

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thu ...

. She received her first publication contract after winning

Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...

's 2000 Summer Blaze contest. Since then, she has released more than 100 novels, novellas, and short stories, has been twice nominated for the

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 ...

's RITA Award, and won a ''Romantic Times'' Reviewers' Choice Award.

Biography

Warren was born and raised in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. After graduating with an honours degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, she began work as a journalist. For five years, she worked her way up the journalistic ladder, from answering phones to writing to editing. The work taught her the need for brevity and clarity in writing, as well as the fact that an article must grab the reader's attention immediately. Ready for a change, Warren moved into corporate communications and public relations. She worked for both government and businesses and ran her own company for a time. She quit her job when her husband was transferred to Vancouver, and spent the next four years learning how to write a novel. In 1999, she won the Molly Contest in the Short Contemporary Category. The following year, she entered

Harlequin Books Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally be ...

's 2000 Summer Blaze Contest. The contest, designed to highlight the new Harlequin Blaze line of category romances, required her to submit a 10-page love scene and a synopsis for a complete book. Warren won the contest, giving her a contract to write her Blaze novel. Two weeks later, Harlequin bought two manuscripts which she had previously submitted. One of these, ''Flashback'', became her first published novel, a July 2001 Harlequin Temptation. The other, ''Shotgun Nanny'', became a Harlequin Duet. Her submission for the Blaze contest became her second publication, ''Live a Little''. Warren has continued to write for both the Harlequin Temptation and Harlequin Blaze lines. She says these are her favorite lines because of "the contemporary tone, the sexy feel", and that many of them contain humour. The two lines are similar, except that Blaze allows for a longer book (by about 15,000 words) and has steamier love scenes. In 2004, Warren branched into single-title novels with the release of ''Drive Me Crazy''. In 2007, she became the launch author for a new Harlequin series celebrating

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

. She wrote the first and last book in the sixteen-book series. Both of her novels featured cameo appearances by real-life NASCAR driver

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. 9 ...

, who worked closely with Warren to create a "suitable fictional representation of himself." Her work with the NASCAR series was featured on the front page of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Each of her category romance novels takes Warren approximately three months to write, and she often spends six months or more writing her single-title novels. Her goal is to finish at least ten rough draft pages per day. Warren claims to always be planning her next book while writing. Although she lives in Canada, the majority of her novels have been set in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, usually in places that she has visited.

Awards

Warren has written more than 100 novels, novellas, and short stories, some of which have appeared on the ''

USAToday ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' Bestseller List. She has won the Lauren Wreath Award, the Colorado Romance Writers Award, and a ''Romantic Times'' Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Blaze. She has further been nominated for a ''Romantic Times'' Career Achievement Award in series romance, and has twice been nominated for the

RITA Award, the romance author's equivalent of an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Bibliography

Novels

*''Flashback'' (2001) *''Live a Little!'' (2001) *''Whisper'' (2002) *''Breathless'' (2002) *''By the Book'' (2003) *''Hot Off the Press'' (2003) *''Fringe Benefits'' (2003) *''Bad Boys Down Under'' (2004) *''Underneath It All'' (2004) *''Drive Me Crazy'' (2004) *''Turn Left at Sanity'' (2005) *''Aftershocks (Code Red)'' (2005) *''Private Relations'' (2005) *''British Bad Boys'' (2006) *''Indulge'' (2006) *''The Trouble With Twins'' (2006) *''Speed Dating'' (2007) *''Turn Two'' (2007) *''French Kissing'' (2008) *''The One I Want'' (2008) Toni Diamond Mystery Series *''Frosted Shadow'' - Book 1 (2011) *''Ultimate Concealer'' - Book 2 *''Midnight Shimmer'' - Book 3 *''A Diamond Choker For Christmas'' - A Holiday Whodunnit Novella Take a Chance Series *''Chance Encounter'' - Prequel *''Kiss a Girl in the Rain'' - Book 1 (2014) *''Iris in Bloom'' - Book 2 *''Blueprint for a Kiss'' - Book 3 *''Every Rose'' - Book 4 *''Love to Go'' - Book 5 *''The Sheriff's Sweet Surrender'' - Book 6 *''The Daisy Game'' - Book 7 The Almost Wives Club Series *''The Almost Wives Club: Kate'' - Book 1 (2015) *''Secondhand Bride'' - Book 2 *''Bridesmaid for Hire'' - Book 3 *''The Wedding Flight'' - Book 4 *''If the Dress Fits'' - Book 5 Abigail Dixon: A 1920s Cozy Historical Mystery *''Death of a Flapper'' - Book 1 (2020) Vampire Knitting Club Series: Paranormal Cozy Mystery *''Tangles and Treasons'' - Prequel *''The Vampire Knitting Club'' - Book 1 (2018) *''Stitches and Witches'' - Book 2 *''Crochet and Cauldrons'' - Book 3 *''Stockings and Spells'' - Book 4 *''Purls and Potions'' - Book 5 *''Fair Isle and Fortunes'' - Book 6 *''Lace and Lies'' - Book 7 *''Bobbles and Broomsticks'' - Book 8 *''Popcorn and Poltergeists'' - Book 9 *''Garters and Gargoyles'' - Book 10 *''Diamonds and Daggers'' - Book 11 *''Herringbones and Hexes'' - Book 12 *''Ribbing and Runes'' - Book 13 *''Mosaics and Magic'' - Book 14 (2022) *''Cat’s Paws and Curses'' - A Holiday Whodunnit Novella Vampire Knitting Club: Cornwall: Paranormal Cozy Mystery *''The Vampire Knitting Club: Cornwall'' - Book 1 (2022) The Great Witches Baking Show Series: Culinary Paranormal Cozy Mystery *''The Great Witches Baking Show'' - Book 1 (2020) *''Baker’s Coven'' - Book 2 *''A Rolling Scone'' - Book 3  *''A Bundt Instrument'' - Book 4 *''Blood, Sweat and Tiers'' - Book 5 *''Crumbs and Misdemeanors'' - Book 6 *''A Cream of Passion'' - Book 7 *''Cakes and Pains'' - Book 8 *''Whisk and Reward'' - Book 9 *''Gingerdead House'' - A Holiday Whodunnit Novella Vampire Book Club Series: Paranormal Women’s Fiction Cozy Mystery *''Crossing the Lines'' - Prequel *''The Vampire Book Club'' - Book 1 (2020) *''Chapter and Curse'' - Book 2 *''A Spelling Mistake'' - Book 3 *''A Poisonous Review'' - Book 4 Village Flower Shop Series: Paranormal Cozy Mystery *''Peony Dreadful'' - Book 1 (2022) *''Karma Camellia'' - Book 2 (2022) *''Highway to Hellebore'' - Book 3 (2023)

Omnibus

*''Heaven Scent / Shotgun Nanny'' (2002) (with Jacqueline Diamond) *''A Hickey for Harriet / A Cradle for Caroline'' (2003) *''Jingle Bell Rock: He sees you When You're Sleeping / All She Wants for Christmas / Turning up the Heat / Baby, It's Cold Outside / Blue Christmas / Nutcracker Sweet'' (2003) (with

Janelle Denison Janelle may refer to: * Janelle (given names) * Janelle (surnames) * 20673 Janelle, asteroid Fictional characters: * Janelle, a.k.a. Janae Timmins * Janelle Duco, in episode " From a Whisper to a Scream" of television series ''Grey's Anatomy'' ...

, Susan Donovan,

Lori Foster Lori Foster is a best-selling American writer of over seventy romance novels. She also writes Urban Fantasy novels using her first and middle initials, L.L. Foster. Since first publishing in January 1996, Foster has become a ''USA Today'', ''Pu ...

, Donna Kauffman,

Alison Kent Alison may refer to: People * Alison (given name), including a list of people with the name * Alison (surname) Music * ''Alison'' (album), aka ''Excuse Me'', a 1975 album by Australian singer Alison MacCallum * "Alison" (song), song by Elvi ...

) *''It Happened One Christmas'' (2003) (with

Julie McBride Julie Anne McBride (born September 24, 1982 in Troy, New York) is an American-Polish professional basketball coach for the Albany Patroons. College McBride graduated Syracuse as the school’s all-time leader in points (1,605), scoring average ...

and

Susan Wiggs Susan Wiggs (born May 17, 1958) is an American author of historical and contemporary romance novels. Early years Wiggs began writing as a child, finishing her first novel, ''A Book About Some Bad Kids'', when she was eight. She temporarily aban ...

) *''Stroke of Midnight'' (2003) (with Carrie Alexander,

Jamie Ann Denton Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and te ...

) *''Bad Boys On Board'' (2003) (with

, Donna Kauffman) *''Bad Boys with Expensive Toys'' (2004) (with

MaryJanice Davidson MaryJanice Davidson is an American author who writes mostly paranormal romance, but also young adult literature and non-fiction. She is the creator of the popular ''Undead'' series. She is both a ''New York Times'' and ''USA Today'' bestseller. ...

, Karen Kelley) *''Hot and Bothered / Underneath It All'' (2004) (with

Kate Hoffmann Peggy Hoffmann is an American writer of over 70 romance novels since 1993 as Kate Hoffmann. She has written for both the Temptation and Blaze lines for Harlequin Books. In 1992 she won the Harlequin Temptation contest. She lives in southeastern ...

) *''Merry Christmas, Baby'' (2004) (with Susanna Carr, MaryJanice Davidson, Donna Kauffman, Erin McCarthy,

Lucy Monroe Lucy Monroe (October 23, 1906 – October 13, 1987) was an American operatic soprano and dancer. She was noted for her performances of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States, which she performed for Presidents and a ...

) *''Bad Boys To Go'' (2005) (with

) *''Bayou Bad Boys'' (2005) (with JoAnn Ross, E C Sheedy) *''Perfect Timing: Those Were the Days / Pistols at Dawn / Time After Time'' (2006) (with

Julie Kenner Julie Kenner is a ''USA Today'' bestselling American author of romance and fantasy novels. She also writes with the pen names J.K. Beck and J. Kenner. In 2014, she received the Romance Writers of America RITA Award as J. Kenner for Best Erotic ...

Jo Leigh Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from '' Lambs Anger'' * Jo a ficti ...

) *''The Night We Met'' (2007) (with

)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Nancy Canadian romantic fiction writers Living people University of British Columbia alumni Writers from Vancouver Year of birth missing (living people)