Mary Josephine Beverley (née Dunn; 22 September 1947 – 23 May 2016) was a prolific English-Canadian writer of historical and contemporary from 1988 to 2016.
Her works have been translated into several languages, and she has received multiple awards.
Early life and education
Mary Josephine Dunn was born 22 September 1947 in
Lancashire, England. She was of Irish descent.
At age 11, she went to an all-girls boarding school, Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool. At 16, she wrote her first romance, with a medieval setting, completed in instalments in an exercise book. She read history and American studies at Keele University in Staffordshire from 1966 to 1970,[ GoodReads website, Jo Beverley] where she earned a degree in English history.
On 24 June 1971, she married Ken Beverley, whom she met at Keele.
Career
After graduation, she found employment as a youth employment officer. She stayed in this profession until 1976, working first in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and then in
West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire.
In 1976, Beverley moved to Canada, where her scientist husband was invited to do post-doctoral research at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When her professional qualifications proved unusable in the Canadian labour market, Beverley decided to develop her early interest in creative writing.
Many of her "Rogue" characters were created in an initial manuscript entitled A Regency Rape. At this point, Beverley did not have a fixed idea of the narrower literary boundaries drawn by the traditional Regency romance and thus created a literary hybrid. A precursor of the Regency historical novel, the work had a more varied cast of characters which, while respectful of the world of Georgette Heyer, broadened the scope and intensity of the genre. At this time Beverley was still unpublished, but devoted her time to caring for her two young sons and participating in the woman-centred childbirth movement, which made her especially careful to portray births in her novels realistically but positively.
The turning point in Beverley's writing career came when her move to Montreal led to her attendance at a talk on "The state of romance in fiction" by Janet Adams, at Beaconsfield Library on 23 May 1984. The executive advisor of the Writers' Association for Romance and Mainstream demystified the creative process for the budding author and was sufficiently impressed by Beverley's writing to act as her agent.
That same year, the family moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where Beverley became a founding member of the Ottawa Romance Writers' Association (ORWA). Formed in 1985, ORWA became her "nurturing community" for the next 12 years.[ Book Clubs website, Jo Beverley]
In 1988, Beverley, who was actively writing science fiction as well as romance, was a finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. That same year, she sold her first romance novel. With her ensuing success in the latter genre, she allowed speculative writing to slide, though elements of it appear periodically in some of her romances and novellas.
Beverly wrote at multiple blogs:
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Jo Talk, a solo blog where "she posted anything that interested her"
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Minepast, a solo blog where "she shared interesting tid-bits of history she discovered as she researched her novels"
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the UK Historical Romance blog
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Word Wenches,
Personal life
Soon after university, Beverley and her husband Ken moved to
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Beverley became a Canadian with dual citizenship, and she and Ken raised their two sons there, then moved to Victoria, British Columbia.
She and Ken moved back to England in 2009,[ Keele University website, Jo Beverley] and they lived in Dawlish, Devon,
Later life and death
In 2012, Beverley survived a bout with cancer and was in remission for four years. However, the cancer returned and moved very quickly; she succumbed to it on 23 May 2016. She died in a care home in Yorkshire, England.
Recognition
Her works have been translated into many languages and won her many awards, including five RITAs and two Career Achievement Awards from
Romantic Times.
She also won The Golden Leaf Award, and the Readers' Choice Award. A member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Honor Roll, Beverley was also inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame.
[ Romance Writers of American website, Hall of Fame] She is the only Canadian to be inducted.
Bibliography
Traditional Regencies
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Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed (1990) ()
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The Stanfourth Secrets (1989) ()
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The Stolen Bride (1990) ()
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Emily and the Dark Angel (1992) ()
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If Fancy Be the Food of Love (1991) () (see Novellas below)
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The Fortune Hunter (1992) ()
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Deirdre and Don Juan (1993) ()
Company of Rogues Series
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An Arranged Marriage (1991) () Nicholas and Eleanor
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An Unwilling Bride (1992) () Lucien and Beth
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Christmas Angel (1992) () Leander and Judith
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Forbidden (1994) () Francis and Serena
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Dangerous Joy (1995) () Miles and Felicity
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Dragon's Bride (2001) () Con and Susan (A Three Georges Story)
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The Devil's Heiress (2001) () Hawk and Clarissa (A Three Georges Story)
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The Demon's Mistress (2001) () Van and Maria (A Three Georges Story)
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Hazard (2002) () Race and Anne
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St. Raven (2003) () Tris and Cressida
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Skylark (2004) () Stephen and Laura
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The Rogue's Return (2006) () Simon and Jancy
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To Rescue a Rogue (2006) () Dare and Mara
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Lady Beware (2007) () Darien and Thea
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A Shocking Delight (2014) () David and Lucy
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Too Dangerous for a Lady (2015) () Thayne and Hermione
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The Viscount Needs a Wife (2016) () Dauntry and Kitty
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Merely a Marriage (2017) () Norris and Ariana
Medieval Romances
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Lord of My Heart (1992) ()
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Dark Champion (1993) ()
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The Shattered Rose (1996) ()
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Lord of Midnight (1998) ()
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Day of Wrath (see Novellas below)
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The Wise Virgin () (see Novellas below)
The Malloren Series
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My Lady Notorious (1993) () Chastity and Cyn
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Tempting Fortune (1995) () Portia and Bryght
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Something Wicked (1997) () Elf and Fort
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Secrets of the Night (1999) () Rosamunde and Brand
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Devilish (2000) () Diana and Rothgar
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Winter Fire (2003) () Genova and Ashart
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A Most Unsuitable Man (2005) ()
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A Lady's Secret (2008) () Petra and Robin
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The Secret Wedding (2009) ()
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The Secret Duke (2010) () Bella and Thorn
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An Unlikely Countess (2011) ()
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A Scandalous Countess (2012) ()
The Georges Series
(related to the Company of Rogues)
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Demon's Mistress (2001) ()
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Dragon's Bride (2001) ()
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Devil's Heiress (2001) ()
Novellas and short stories
Single novels
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Forbidden Magic (1995) ()
Further reading
External links
