Kenyon, Sherrilyn 1965–

[A pseudonym]

(Kinley MacGregor)

PERSONAL: Born 1965; married; children: three sons.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, Writer's Digest Books (Cincinnati, OH), 1994, 2nd edition, 2005.

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages, Writer's Digest Books (Cincinnati, OH), 1995, published as Everyday Life in the Middle Ages: The British Isles, 500 to 1500, 2000.

The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, Writer's Digest Books (Cincinnati, OH), 1996

ROMANCE NOVELS

Daemon's Angel, Leisure (New York, NY), 1995.

Night Pleasures, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Fantasy Lover, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Liz Carlyle and Nicole Camden) Out of Uniform (includes "Bad to the Bone"), Pocket (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Amanda Ashley and Lori Handeland) Stroke of Midnight (includes "Winter Born"), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Rebecca York and Robin D. Owens) What Dreams May Come (includes "Knightly Dreams"), Berkley Sensation (New York, NY), 2005.

Born to Be Bad, Pocket (New York, NY), 2005.

Bad Attitude, Pocket (New York, NY), 2005.

Sins of the Night, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Melanie George and Jaid Black) Tie Me up, Tie Me Down (includes "Captivated by You"), Pocket (New York, NY), 2005.

Seize the Night, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Unleash the Night, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Playing Easy to Get, Pocket (New York, NY), 2006.

Darkside of the Moon, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to anthologies, including Naughty or Nice, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2001; Tapestry, Jove Books (New York, NY), 2000; Seven Seasons of Buffy, BenBella, 2003; Midnight Pleasures, St. Martin's Press, 2003; and Man of My Dreams, Jove Books, 2004.

"LEAGUE" SERIES

Paradise City, Leisure (New York, NY), 1994.

Born of the Night, Pinnacle (New York, NY), 1996.

Born of Fire (e-book), Dreams Unlimited, 1998.

Fire and Ice (e-book; also see below), iPublish.com, 2001.

"DARK-HUNTER" SERIES

Dance with the Devil, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Night Embrace, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2003.>

Kiss of the Night, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Night Play, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

ROMANCE; AS KINLEY MACGREGOR

A Pirate of Her Own ("Sea Wolves" series), HarperPaperbacks (New York, NY), 1999.

Master of Seduction ("Sea Wolves" series), HarperPaperbacks (New York, NY), 2000.

A Dark Champion ("Brotherhood of the Sword" series), Avon (New York, NY), 2004.

Return of the Warrior ("Brotherhood of the Sword" series), Avon (New York, NY), 2005.

Sword of Darkness ("Lord of Avalon" series), Avon (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to anthologies, including All I Want for Christmas, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

"MACALLISTER" SERIES; AS KINLEY MACGREGOR

Master of Desire, Avon (New York, NY), 2001.

Claiming the Highlander, Avon (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Lisa Kleypas and Julia Quinn) Where's My Hero? (contains "Midsummer's Knight"), Avon (New York, NY), 2003.

Born in Sin, Avon (New York, NY), 2003.

Taming the Scotsman, Avon (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: The author of dozens of romance novels and several nonfiction titles, the pseudononymous Sherrilyn Kenyon—who also writes as Kinley MacGregor—pens contemporary and historical romances featuring pirates, knights, and sexy men in uniform. Her series include "The Dark-Hunters," "Brotherhood of the Sword," "The Sea Wolves," and the popular "MacAllister" novels.

Kenyon's earliest novels form the "League" series, a futuristic romance series published both in print and in e-books. Kenyon's familiarity with Web publishing was helpful when she published her "Dark-Hunter" series, which began its promotion on the Web. The site that promoted the first book in the series, Night Pleasures, was posted on romance Web sites seventeen months before the book was scheduled to be published, and Kenyon's site drew fans in, making Night Pleasures a popular preorder for online booksellers. The buzz also generated sales for some of her previously published novels, including Fantasy Lover, which introduces some of the ideas in the "Dark-Hunter" series.

The world of the Dark-Hunters is filled with gods and goddesses, vampires, were-creatures, and demon hunters. Night Pleasures begins the series on a darker note: Kyrian of Thrace, bargains with Artemis—if she will grant him venegance, he will take a soulless immortality and use it to hunt Daimons, vampires who feed on souls. When a Daimon uses magical manacles to attach Kyrian to Amanda, a human woman, the quest to remove them leads not only to adventure, but to romance. "The characters are unforgettable and the action thrilling," praised Jill M. Smith on the Romantic Times Web site.

The "Dark-Hunter" series continues with titles such as Sins of the Night, about which Smith wrote: "Like a fine wine, this series just keeps getting better with age." In a review of Night Embrace, a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that Kenyon "is ushering in a whole different class of night dwellers." Another Publishers Weekly reviewer, writing about Dance with the Devil, commented: "Move over, Anne Rice." Reviewing the same novel for Booklist, Nina C. Davis praised, "Kenyon manages to write a tale that's heartwarming yet edgy cool at the same time."

Several of the "Dark-Hunter" novels feature Were-Hunters. One of these is Wulf Tryggvason, who in Kiss of the Night is immediately forgotten by everyone but his own family and other Dark-Hunters. Cassandra Peters also cannot forget the hunter, but she is destined to die in less than a year. "Kenyon is a master at creating spunky characterizations and cinematic action scenes spiced with wry humor," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. Booklist reviewer Davis wrote that the book includes what fans have come to love: "intensely passionate love, laugh-out-loud humor, and drop-undead gorgeous men." In another Booklist review, Davis found Night Play to be "chock-full of … quirky humor, complex fantasy, and searing passion."

Using the pen name Kinley MacGregor, Kenyon stepped away from contemporary fantasy and launched an adventure of the Golden Age of piracy. In A Pirate of Her Own, would-be journalist Serenity James wants a real story—such as interviewing the infamous pirate Sea Wolf. Morgan Drake, the Sea Wolf, is less than happy about one of Serenity's articles because he has a few secrets he does not want revealed. When one of his crewmen abducts the reporter, he finds himself stuck with her on his ship. Kathe Robin, writing for Romantic Times, commented that "the delightfully witty repartee between Serenity and Morgan will bring a smile to your lips." A Publishers Weekly critic wrote that Macgregor's "admirable flair for the comic is sure to entertain." Master of Seduction tells the back story of an infamous pirate introduced in A Pirate of Her Own. Black Jack Rhys kidnaps Lorelei Dupree out from under her fiancée's nose. She hates pirates, but is strangely attracted to Jack, and begins to love the pirate and his crew. "MacGregor takes the high seas by storm," praised Kathe Robin of Romantic Times.

As MacGregor, Kenyon has also authored the "MacAllister" series, set in medieval Scotland. In Claiming the Highlander Maggie Inglen Blar leads the women of her community in a Lysistrata-like strategy: war will end or none of the men will be sexually satisfied. Braden MacAllister makes every effort to get Maggie to fall for him, and in the process falls in love with her. But with his reputation, Maggie finds love hard to believe in. "MacGregor's talents reach a new height" with this novel, according to Romantic Times reviewer Kathe Robin. Braden's brother Ewan is the hero of Taming the Scotsman, in which Nora Alexander intends to use Ewan to escort her to her aunt in England so she can avoid an unwanted marriage. Robin called the novel "a testament to MacGregor's talent for entertaining her readers" in her review for Romantic Times.

Other MacGregor series include the "Brotherhood of the Sword" books set in medieval England. Kathe Robin, in Romantic Times, considered series opener A Dark Champion, "an intensely emotional, exciting, suspenseful, brilliantly and intricately plotted romance." In a Romantic Times review of the second volume of the series, Return of the Warrior, Robin commented that the novel "proves why MacGregor is at the top of her form." Harriet Klausner, writing for MBR Bookwatch, called the novel "an engaging medieval romance starring a strong lead couple."

On her home page, Kenyon commented: "One of those questions that I'm asked over and over again is why I decided to be a writer. The only answer is, I didn't. I was born to be a writer. If you look in my kindergarten Brownie manual it has 'When I Grow up I Want to Be …' and scribbled in my awful handwriting is a writer and a mother. Ironically, neither one of those ever came easily for me."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2002, John Charles and Shelley Mosley, "Romance around the World," p. 219; September 15, 2003, John Charles, "Passionate Pirates," p. 225; December 1, 2003, Nina C. Davis, review of Dance with the Devil, p. 653; April 1, 2004, Nina C. Davis, review of Kiss of the Night, p. 1355; August, 2004, Nina C. Davis, review of Night Play, p. 1909; January 1, 2005, Nina C. Davis, review of Seize the Night, p. 831.

Library Journal, June 1, 2005, Kristin Ramsdell, review of What Dreams May Come, p. 120.

MBR Bookwatch, February, 2005, Harriet Klausner, review of Seize the Night; March, 2005, Harriet Klausner, review of Tie Me up, Tie Me Down; May, 2005, Harriet Klausner, review of Return of the Warrior.

Publishers Weekly, March 22, 1999, review of A Pirate of Her Own, p. 89; August 12, 2002, Suzanne Mantell, "Online Romance: A Little-Known Author Courts Fans with a Web Site That Propels Her Career to New Heights," p. 146; June 9, 2003, review of Night Embrace, p. 41; June 23, 2003, review of Where's My Hero?, p. 52; November 17, 2003, review of Dance with the Devil, p. 50; February 23, 2004, review of Kiss of the Night, p. 57; July 19, 2004, review of Night Play, p. 150; December 20, 2004, review of Seize the Night, p. 42; April 11, 2005, review of Return of the Warrior, p. 39.

ONLINE

Dark-Hunter Web site, http://www.dark-hunter.com/ (September 28, 2005).

Kinley MacGregor Home Page, http://www.kinleymacgregor.com (September 28, 2005).

Romantic Times Web site, http://www.romantictimes.com/ (September 28, 2005), Kathy Boswell, review of Born of the Night; Kathe Robin, reviews of A Dark Champion, A Pirate of Her Own, Born in Sin, Claiming the Highlander, Master of Desire, Master of Seduction, Return of the Warrior, and Taming the Scotsman; Jill M. Smith, reviews of Dance with the Devil, Fantasy Lover, Kiss of the Night, Night Embrace, Night Play, Night Pleasures, Seize the Night, and Sins of the Night.