A Pennsylvania native, Gaelen Foley holds a B.A. in English literature from S.U.N.Y. College at Fredonia. It was while studying the Romantic poets, such as Wordsworth, Byron, and Shelley, that she first became interested in the Regency period, in which her novels are set. After college, she moonlighted as a waitress for five years to keep her daylight hours free for writing and honing her craft. Her dedication paid off in 1998 when Ballantine published her first novel, The Pirate Prince, which went on to win the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best First Historical Romance. Since then, her books have won the National Readers' Choice Award, the Bookseller's Best Award, the Colorado Award of Excellence, the Beacon, and for two years running, the esteemed Golden Leaf.

Foley lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, Eric, and two spoiled bichons frises. She is hard at work on her next book in the Knight family series. Readers can write to her at P.O. Box 522, South Park, PA, 15129, or visit her on the Web at www.gaelenfoley.com.