Davidson, Carolyn

PERSONAL:

Married; husband's name Ed.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Goose Creek, SC. E-mail— carolyn@carolyndavidson.com.

CAREER:

Writer.

MEMBER:

Lowcountry Romance Writers, Writers Unlimited.

WRITINGS:

ROMANCE NOVELS

A Question of Virtue, Meteor Publishing (Bensalem, PA), 1991.

Homespun Bride, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Gerrity's Bride, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Loving Katherine, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 1996.

The Forever Man, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Runaway, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 1998. The Wedding Promise, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Where Grandma Lives … Love Is Forever, illustrated by Pat Banks, Harmony House Publishers, 1998.

Midwife, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 1999. The Tender Stranger, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Bachelor Tax, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Tanner Stakes His Claim, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Maggie's Beau, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Seduction of Shay Devereaux, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2001.

A Convenient Wife, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2001.

A Marriage by Chance, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Kasey Michaels) Heir to the Throne, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Texan, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Tempting a Texan, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Texas Gold, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Colorado Courtship, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Marriage Agreement, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Oklahoma Sweetheart, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Big Sky Rancher, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Texas Lawman, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Lone Star Bride, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Redemption, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to anthologies, including One Christmas Wish, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2000; Big Sky Grooms, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2001; Wild West Brides, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2002; Frontier Christmas, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2003; One Starry Christmas, Harlequin Books (Don Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2004; and Wed under Western Skies, Harlequin Books (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Carolyn Davidson has written numerous romance novels set in the Old West. She began writing novels after her children were grown and she had retired from full-time work outside the home. Her first novel to be published, A Question of Virtue, has a contemporary setting, but on the advice of her agent, Pattie Steele-Perkins, she began writing the Western-themed stories. "She told me that my ‘voice’ was more suited to historicals," Davidson told an interviewer for the Writers Unlimited Web site. "She was right." Davidson added that her novels tend to be "about ordinary people who face extraordinary circumstances."

The Tender Stranger, for example, is about the love that develops between a young pregnant woman fleeing a bad family situation and the bounty hunter sent to find her. In this story, set in 1870s Colorado, "Davidson wonderfully captures gentleness in the midst of heart-wrenching challenges," according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Tanner Stakes His Claim has another couple who come together in an unusual situation: a sheriff who is cynical about love is drawn to an amnesiac woman working as a saloon singer. Kristy Hales, who critiqued the book for Romance Reader, found it "a nice, if improbable, story of love and fate."

Redemption features a man who bears physical scars from his Civil War wounds and emotional ones from the death of his wife. He is raising his young son alone until an assertive schoolteacher reaches out to them. Besides romance, the novel offers "unflinching inquiry into the serious issues of the day," observed Lynne Welch in Booklist. Furthermore, Harriet Klausner remarked in a review on her own Web site, the book is a "fine look at the therapeutic power of love."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2006, Lynne Welch, review of Redemption, p. 70.

Publishers Weekly, March 22, 1999, review of The Tender Stranger, p. 89.

ONLINE

AllReaders.com,http://www.allreaders.com/ (October 5, 2006), Jennifer Nieradka-Piperni, review of Tempting a Texan.

Carolyn Davidson Home Page,http://www.CarolynDavidson.com (October 5, 2006).

Harriet Klausner Web site,http://harrietklausner.wwwi.com/ (October 5, 2006), review of Redemption.

Romance Reader,http://www.theromancereader.com/ (September 5, 2000), Kristy Hales, review of Tanner Stakes His Claim; (April 1, 2001), Stella Knight, review of Maggie's Beau; (December 16, 2001), B. Kathy Leitle, review of A Convenient Wife; (February 12, 2006), Lesley Dunlap, review of Redemption; (February 20, 2006), Laura Scott, review of Oklahoma Sweetheart.

Writers Unlimited Web site,http://www.writersunlimited.com/ (October 5, 2006), interview with Carolyn Davidson.