Nikki Rivers

Becoming a published author was a lifelong dream for Nikki. "I was one of those kids who spent a good part of their summer vacation in the library. When I wasn’t reading, I was daydreaming," she says. A product of Beatlemania and the '60s, Nikki wrote a humorous column on teenage pop culture titled "It’s What’s Happening, Baby!" for her high school paper. She skipped college to marry young ("He had a Beatle haircut and the fastest car in town!") but never gave up dreaming — or haunting libraries. But it wasn’t until she was confronted with a long illness in the late 1980s that Nikki finally started to write her first novel. Why a romance novel? "I read my first Harlequin Romance novel at a real low point in my life," she says. "I needed a happy ending. I decided that if reading a happy ending was uplifting, think of how much better writing one would be." Nikki loves to create irresistible men and strong, determined women who win despite the odds. "I’ve been married to my very own irresistible rogue for 34 years. I’m a firm believer that love can conquer all." Nikki also believes that laughter helps people get through life’s challenges and foibles, making her a natural to write romantic comedy. Although she now considers herself a city girl, Nikki grew up in a small town in Michigan’s upper peninsula and often uses small town settings in her novels. "There’s nothing like a small town upbringing," says Nikki. "When I was a child the Fourth of July parade went right by our house. We could sit on our front porch swing and watch the fireworks out over the bay." Nikki currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her favorite hero, her husband, Ron. A ferocious cairn terrier named Sir Harry Scruffles guards their empty nest. Daughter Jennifer, a globetrotting corporate travel counselor, lives just on the other side of town.