Mary Nichols, Author of Historical Romance

Dear Reader

Welcome to my web site. I have been writing historical romance for Mills & Boon for over twenty years, so you will not be surprised to learn that I love writing them. Their historical backgrounds range in time from the Civil War and Jacobite Rebellion, to the coming of the railways and the outcry for and against building the Crystal Palace in Victoria's reign, though most of them are set in the ever popular Regency period. The setting is the background to the trials and tribulations of the hero and heroine and I enjoy fitting the two together and bringing the story to the happy ending everyone looks for.
 

At present I am writing a series of linked books about how law and order was (or was not) kept in Georgian times. There was no regular police force and anyone who had been the victim of a crime had to find his own way of bringing the perpetrators to justice. They sometimes used 'thieftakers' who were often as corrupt as the villains they were arresting. They would often track down a criminal, take his ill-gotten gains from him and charge the real owner to restore them. Sometimes they even tipped off the thieves and shared the profits. My heroes, all honest gentlemen of rank, belong to the Society for the Discovery and Apprehending of Criminals, known also as the Piccadilly Gentleman's Club, who work to bring criminals to justice. In solving mysteries, each finds the love of his life. Four have been completed so far.
 

Very different from the Mills & Boon books are the sagas and mainstream novels I write. These are longer and I am able to allow myself more scope to explore the relationships between the characters, mothers and their children, siblings, as well as lovers and spouses. I enjoy creating them, working out how they all fit together in the times in which they live, and how each helps to draw the story along. The Summer House published by Allison and Busby, which came out in 2009, has been long-listed for the Romantic Novel of the Year, which is awarded annually by the Romantic Novelists Association. The next to be published by Allison and Busby in April 2010, is called The Fountain. Set between the wars, is about a very ambitious young builder who aspires to be somebody in his local community and is not above shady deals to bring this about, in which he expects his wife to collude. Barbara is a talented painter, but her personality is being smothered by her overbearing husband. It is the story of her efforts to bring up her children, to cope with his dishonesty and his love affairs and her own confused emotions over a young man she met in her student days and who continues to be a presence in her life. It is George's dishonest scheme to get the contract to refurbish the market square and install a new fountain which brings everything to a devastating climax.

To learn more about this and my other books please explore the links on the menu on the left.