Michaels, Lynn

views updated

Michaels, Lynn

(Paula Christopher, Jane Lynson)

PERSONAL: Born October 2; married August 18, 1973, husband's name, Michael; children: Christopher, Paul. Education: Attended Central Missouri State. Hobbies and other interests: Reading.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—P.O. Box 520756, Independence, MO 64052.

CAREER: Formerly worked as an editorial assistant for Flower and Garden magazine.

MEMBER: Novelists, Inc., Romance Writers of America, Heartland Romance Authors.

AWARDS, HONORS: Named Best New Romantic Suspense Author, Romantic Times, 1985.

WRITINGS:

Like a Lover, Avon (New York, NY), 1984.

Tainted Gold, Avon (New York, NY), 1985.

(As Paula Christopher) Dreaming Pool, Dell (New York, NY), 1987.

Remembrance, Harlequin Temptation (New York, NY), 1990.

(As Jane Lynson) Captain Rakekhell, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1990.

(As Jane Lynson) The Duke's Downfall, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1992.

The Patriot, Harlequin Temptation (New York, NY), 1992.

Second Sight, Harlequin Temptation (New York, NY), 1993.

Aftershock, Harlequin Temptation (New York, NY), 1994.

Molly and the Phantom, Harlequin Temptation (New York, NY), 1994.

Nightwing, Harlequin Temptation (New York, NY), 1995.

(With others) Unchained Lightning, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Mother of the Bride, Ivy (New York, NY), 2002.

Return Engagement, Ivy (New York, NY), 2003.

Honeymoon Suite, Ivy (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Romance writer Lynn Michaels also writes under the pen names Jane Lynson and Paula Christopher. Among her novels are Return Engagement and the light-hearted Mother of the Bride. In the latter, Cydney Parrish is not actually the mother, but the single guardian of the bride. She has raised her sister's daughter, Bebe, for the last fifteen years, while Bebe's globe-trotting, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer mother, Gwen, has pursued her career. Cydney, who has lived in the shadow of Gwen as well as her own novelist father and columnist mother, is the rock in an otherwise eccentric family. She is now planning nineteen-year-old Bebe's nuptials, after discovering the teen having sex with her boyfriend, twenty-one-year-old Aldo Munroe. Aldo's reclusive uncle Angus, a well-known writer, is opposed to the marriage; he doesn't want to lose Aldo, and he also feels that Bebe is after the family money. He and Cydney, who has aspirations of becoming a writer, are at odds but soon become attracted to each other, even as Angus does everything he can to sabotage the wedding. In reviewing Mother of the Bride for RomanticTimes.com, Jill M. Smith noted that it is "filled to the brim with wonderfully eccentric characters, layered emotions, and downright hilarious antics."

The protagonist of Return Engagement is Noah Patrick, a former television star whose alcoholism cost him his career and all that he had attained. Noah has been sober for two years when his agent, Vivienne Varner, approaches him with a part in a play written by her daughter, Jolie, to be performed in Belle Coeur, Missouri. When Vivienne moved from Missouri to Hollywood, she brought her daughter, Lindsey, and Lindsey became Noah's co-star and lover. Jolie, left behind by Vivienne, now seeks revenge for this abandonment, but clueless Vivienne hopes the nostalgia created when Lindsey and Noah reunite on stage will be financially beneficial. Booklist reviewer Megan Kalan wrote that this love story "will keep readers completely engaged," and dubbed Return Engagement an "utterly warm, funny, and incredibly tender book."

Honeymoon Suite, is also set in Missouri. Dory Lambert was fourteen years old when she saw Chase McKay, the chauffer's son, romancing her older sister, Jill. Dory's father packed Chase off to college, and he becomes a very successful and wealthy architect. When Chase returns to try to convince his chauffer father to retire, Jill hatches a plan to get the now-wealthy man to marry her, inspired by the fact that her family's money has dwindled. As Chase is ensnared by the coniving Jill, he finds himself increasinly attracted to Dory.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2002, Megan Kalan, review of Mother of the Bride, p. 1385; November 1, 2003, Megan Kalan, review of Return Engagement, p. 485.

Publishers Weekly, May 20, 2002, review of Mother of the Bride, p. 53; January 17, 2005, review of Honeymoon Suite, p. 40.