RITA Award-winner Anne McAllister was born in California and spent formative summer vacations on a small ranch in Colorado, where she developed her idea of the perfect hero, as well as a weakness for dark-haired, handsome lone-wolf type guys. She found one in the university library and they've now been sharing happily ever afters for over thirty years. Cathy Gillen Thacker is a popular Harlequin author of over one hundred novels. Married and a mother of three, she and her husband resided in Texas for eighteen years, and now make their home in North Carolina. Her mysteries, romantic comedies, and family stories have made numerous appearances on bestseller lists, but her best reward is knowing one of her books made someone's day a little brighter.