DELACROIX, Claire

(Claire Cross)

PERSONAL: Married. Hobbies and other interests: Traveling, knitting, gardening, reading.

ADDRESSES: Office—P.O. Box 919, Stratford, Ontario N5A 7M3, Canada. E-mail—chestwick@delacroix.net.

CAREER: Author of romance novels.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best Historical Romance designation, Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence, 1995, for The Princess; Best Paranormal Time Travel, Futuristic or Fantasy Romance designation, Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence, 2000, for Love Potion #9; Best Long Historical Romance designation, Greater Detroit RWA Booksellers' Best Awards, 2001, for The Beauty.

WRITINGS:

ROMANCE FICTION

Romance of the Rose, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1993.

Honeyed Lies, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1994.

Unicorn Bride, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1994.

The Sorceress, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1994.

Roarke's Folly, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1994.

Pearl beyond Price, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1995.

The Magician's Quest, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1995.

Unicorn Vengeance, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1995.

My Lady's Champion, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1996.

Enchanted, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1997.

My Lady's Desire, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1998.

The Princess, Dell (New York, NY), 1998.

The Damsel, Dell (New York, NY), 1999.

The Heiress, Dell (New York, NY), 1999.

The Countess, Dell (New York, NY), 2000.

The Beauty, Dell (New York, NY), 2001.

The Temptress, Dell (New York, NY), 2001.

The Rogue, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Scoundrel, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2003.

The Warrior, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Beauty Bride, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2005.

The Rose Red Bride, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2005.

The Snow White Bride, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor of novellas to anthologies, including To Weave a Web of Magic, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2004; and The Queen in Winter, Berkley Books, 2006.

ROMANCE FICTION; UNDER PSEUDONYM CLAIRE CROSS

Once upon a Kiss, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), 1998.

The Last Highlander, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), 1998.

Love Potion #9, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), 1999.

The Moonstone, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), 1999.

Third Time Lucky, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), 2000.

Double Trouble, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), 2001.

One More Time, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), 2006.

All or Nothing, Berkley/Jove (New York, NY), in press.

Contributor of short story to Silent Night (anthology), 1998.

SIDELIGHTS: Claire Delacroix, who also writes under the name Claire Cross, is the author of several dozen titles in the romance genre. Her tales vary from contemporary to medieval romance, and are often tinged with magic or the paranormal. With her 2001 novel The Beauty, she broke into the bestseller lists, landing on the New York Times's extended list of bestselling books. With over two million books in print, Delacroix, who lives in Canada with her husband, is one of the more prolific and popular romance authors at work.

On the All About Romance Web site Delacroix explained her particular penchant for blending the magical and medieval with romance. Recalling that the first book she remembers reading was a collection of fairy tales, she commented that it was also illustrated to represent the Middle Ages. "The Middle Ages seems to be a perfect choice for these illustrations," she wrote. "Much of the literature that remains from the period is concerned with chivalry and love, with honor and duty, with fulfilling quests. Additionally, in the medieval period, there seems to linger the possibility of magic, the danger of things unseen, the prospect of daring adventure." For Delacroix, "Medieval romance is a natural outgrowth from fairy tales."

Delacroix has recreated the medieval world in many of her titles, setting her action in out-of-the-way places ranging from Ireland to Islamic Spain and North Africa. Her first titles, including Honeyed Lies and The Magician's Quest, are set in that Moorish world in the eleventh century, and with Pearl beyond Price, she moves the action to Persia and France in the thirteenth century in a tale of a shaman called Black Wind and his love for a merchant's daughter, Kira.

With her "Bride Quest" series, Delacroix places the action in the twelfth century. Her 1999 The Heiress follows the fortunes of Rowan De Montvieux as he takes on the challenge of his two brothers to find the wealthiest heiress in all of Ireland. En route, he purchases the mysterious slave girl Ibernia, who promises to take him to his quarry if only he will grant her freedom. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly complained that at times Delacroix's subplots "confuse and impede the narrative," but went on to note that later in the novel Delacroix "successfully combines the storylines."

More seeking after brides comes in The Beauty, in which young Jacqueline, on her way to become a nun, is abducted by Angus, a young man with vengeance on his mind who blames Jacqueline's stepfather for the murder of his own departed father. During her captivity, Jacqueline and Angus begin to grow close. Harriet Klausner, writing in AllReaders.com, felt that this novel is a "typical medieval romance except for the depth Claire Delacroix imbues in her lead characters." In The Temptress a returning Crusader, Bayard, decides he must marry well to protect his family holdings. His target is the wealthy Esmeraude, and to win her he must enter a contest of wits and strength. The beautiful Esmeraude, meanwhile, wants a husband who loves her and not just wins her, and so she sets Bayard some impossible missions. In the end, however, love wins out in this "exciting vividly written medieval romance," according to Klausner. For a contributor to Publishers Weekly, the same novel "brims with rich historical detail, entertaining banter and romantic tension." Writing in Booklist, Maria Hatton commented that The Temptress "is fairy-tale-like."

Delacroix moves to fourteenth-century Scotland for tales of the Lammergeier clan. In The Scoundrel, Gawain Lammergeier meets his match in young Evangeline who seduces and tricks him. As Klausner wrote in AllReaders.com, "fans of fourteenth century Scottish romances will enjoy the battle of sexes due to the lead characters, both heroic and rogues in their own ways." In The Rogue Merlyn Lammergeier tricks his estranged wife into coming back to him by making her believe he is dead and that she has inherited the estate of Ravensmuir. Booklist reviewer Hatton called this an "engaging tale of love lost found," while Klausner dubbed it an "exciting historical romance," in an AllReaders.com review. In The Warrior the focus shifts to Michael Lammergeier, known as the Hawk of Inverfyre, in a love story with mystical overtones. Klausner, again writing in AllReaders.com, found this novel a "delightful Scottish medieval romance," and Hatton concluded in Booklist that "Delacroix's satisfying tale leaves the reader hungry for the next offering."

With The Beauty Bride Delacroix moves the Lammergeier saga into the early fifteenth century, as Madeline, the oldest of several sisters, is distraught and no little put out to discover that her brother, the laird, is auctioning her off to the highest-bidding suitor. The winner, Rhys, tries to actually win her heart as well, and a fairy comes into play in the kindest of ways in this "enjoyable fifteenth century Scottish romance with a wee bit of the supernatural," as Klausner described the novel for MBR Bookwatch. A contributor for Publishers Weekly called the book "one of Delacroix's stronger novels in recent years," and Hatton praised Delacroix in a Booklist review as a "master at creating strong and likable characters and a satisfying romance."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2000, Nina Davis, reviews of Honeyed Lies, The Magician's Quest, and Pearl beyond Price, p. 255; November 15, 2001, Maria Hatton, review of The Temptress, p. 559; September 1, 2002, Maria Hatton, review of The Rogue, p. 65; March 1, 2004, Maria Hatton, review of The Warrior, p. 1144; December 1, 2004, Maria Hatton, review of The Beauty Bride, p. 641.

Kliatt, September, 2004, Leslie Farmer, review of To Weave a Web of Magic, p. 28.

MBR Bookwatch, January, 2005, Harriet Klausner, review of The Beauty Bride.

Publishers Weekly, August 30, 1999, review of The Heiress, p. 81; October 29, 2001, review of The Temptress, p. 41; November 22, 2004, review of The Beauty Bride, p. 43.

ONLINE

All about Romance, http://www.likesbooks.com/ (July 4, 1998), Claire Delacroix, "Write Byte: Medieval Romance & the Fairy Tale."

AllReaders.com, http://www.allreaders.com/ (May 5, 2005), Harriet Klausner, reviews of The Warrior, The Temptress, The Scoundrel, The Rogue, The Beauty, and The Beauty Bride.

Claire Delacroix Home Page, http://www.delacroix.net (May 5, 2005).