Julie Beard

Passionate, vibrant, and unique. Those words best describe the historical romances written by USA Today bestselling author Julie Beard. Critics and readers alike praise Julie for her ability to create living, breathing characters in historical settings so vividly drawn they come alive.

Julie's first medieval novel was published by Berkley in 1994. Her first non-fiction book was released in 2000, the critically acclaimed "how to" book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Your Romance Published.'' Julie's first Victorian romance, The Duchess' Lover, is an April 2002 release. It's a sensual tale of sexual and personal awakening, featuring an older noblewoman who falls in love with her young gardener. It's hot, hot, hot! And poignant, as well.

Julie is what you might call a late-bloomer. She spent the first 30 years of her life deciding what she didn't want to be when she grew up. Realizing that life wasn't a dress rehearsal, she then made some choices. Over the course of the next 5 years, she acquired a master's degree in journalism, a job in television reporting, a husband, her first child, her first novel, and her first serious case of exhaustion. Julie's second child was adopted from China as a toddler and is an unending source of delight. Her elementary school kids distract their world-weary mother from writing in the most ingenious and lovable ways.

Julie gladly gave up the hard-bitten world of journalism to dwell in a world of "happily ever afters."