DONOVAN, Susan

PERSONAL:

Born in Milford, OH; married, September, 1989; children: one son, one daughter. Education: Northwestern University, B.A., 1983, M.A. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, painting furniture, camping, hiking, biking, horseback riding, sailing.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—P.O. Box 2123, Hagerstown, MD 21742-2123. E-mail—susan@susandonovan.com.

CAREER:

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, intern; Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque, NM, reporter; corporate public relations writer in Chicago, IL; Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, IN, reporter; full-time author. Also worked as a U.S. Congress aid, fund-raiser for symphony orchestra, communications consultant, freelance journalist, retail salesperson, and painted-furniture artist.

WRITINGS:

Knock Me off My Feet, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Take a Chance on Me, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Public Displays of Affection, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Also author of novella Turning up the Heat published in anthology Jingle Bell Rock, Kensington Brava, 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

After working as a professional writer for about fifteen years, Susan Donovan decided to write and sell novels. She researched the field and chose romance novels, even though she had never read one. In an interview with Cathy Sova, of the Romance Reader, Donovan said that after she started reading romances she realized how much fun she had missed out on.

She left her part-time job as an orchestra fund-raiser to settle into her home office and write. Within one year, she had written three novels and landed an agent. Eighteen months after she started writing, her third novel, Knock Me off My Feet, was published. She had a two-book contract, with a contract for two more to follow.

Knock Me off My Feet is the story of Autumn "Audie" Adams, a Chicago teacher and soccer coach who inherits a TV household-hints empire after her mother, "Homey Helen," dies. Uninterested in becoming a home expert, Audie gives her secretary, Marjorie, free reign over the business. But when an oddball fan starts sending letters with grisly household tips, Audie calls in the Chicago police and a romance ignites between her and Detective Stacey Quinn, who must interview her previous boyfriends in his search for a suspect. He pursues her and she runs, fearful of commitment, until near the end of book, when the stalker ups the threat level. The book concludes with a surprise ending and thrilling suspense.

Reviewer Sandy Coleman, of LikesBooks, found the beginning of the book and the character introductions, as well as "some real plot implausibilities" disappointing and distracting for a while, but she was later pleasantly surprised by Donovan's character development and the way that the hero and heroine "made a terrific pair." Coleman was also pleased with Audie's attitude toward sex: "she's got issues, mind you, but at least they're not sexual." The reviewer concluded that the book's "strengths outweighed the weaknesses," and added that she would put Donovan "on my author-to-keep-an-eye-on list."

Harriet Klausner, in Under the Covers, wrote that she enjoyed the tale and that "the police procedural takes a back seat to the romance." Jill M. Smith, of the Romantic Times, felt the sexual tension between Audie and Stacey "might just set the place on fire." A Publishers Weekly contributor commended the book for "a surprise ending and lots of playfully erotic love scenes." Megan Kalan, of Booklist, concluded, "Donovan's blend of romance and mystery is thrilling."

Donovan's second novel, Take a Chance on Me, is about investigator Thomas Tobin, who takes in a neurotic dog who has witnessed a murder. When Tobin takes the dog to pet psychiatrist Emma Jenkins, the spark of a new romance is ignited.

Donovan's erotic romance novella Turning up the Heat was published in the 2003 anthology Jingle Bell Rock. Her new novel, Public Displays of Affection, was published in 2004.

In the Romance Reader interview, Donovan said her family responds in a variety of ways to her new success as a romance novelist. Her mother and best friend are proud, her husband takes it all with grace and humor—although, said Donovan, "If one more person implies that he must have the hottest sex life in the Continental United States he might just deck them." Her son is "mortified" and her daughter describes her books as "sexy contemporary romantic comedies." But, concluded Donovan, "My dogs love that I'm a romance writer, because they get to sit on my feet all day while I type."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 2002, Megan Kalan, review of Knock Me off My Feet, p. 478.

Publishers Weekly, November 4, 2002, review of Knock Me off My Feet, p. 69.

ONLINE

LikesBooks,http://www.likesbooks.com/ (March 31, 2003), Sandy Coleman, review of Knock Me off My Feet.

Romance Reader,http://www.theromancereader.com/ (March 31, 2003), Cathy Sova, "New Faces 146: Susan Donovan."

Romantic Times,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (March 31, 2003), Jill M. Smith, review of Knock Me off My Feet.

Susan Donovan Home Page,http://www.susandonovan.com/ (March 31, 2003), "Author Biography."

Under the Covers,http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/ (November 27, 2002), Harriet Klausner, review of Knock Me off My Feet. *