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Monica McCarty

Goodreads author profile

born

The United States

gender

female

website

http://www.monicamccarty.com

genre

Romance

member since

July 2011

About this author

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What do you get when you mix a legal career, a baseball career, motherhood, and a love of history with a voracious reader? In my case, a Historical Romance Author.

Like most writers, I’ve always loved to read. Growing up in California there was always plenty to do outside, but all too often I could be found inside curled up with a book (or two or three). I started with the usual fare: The Little House on the Prairie series, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Watership Down, Nancy Drew, and everything by Judy Blume. Once I cleared off my bookshelf, I started swiping books from my mom. Some, like Sidney Sheldon’s The Other Side of Midnight, probably weren’t the most appropriate choice for a pre-adolescent—although they were definitely illum...more What do you get when you mix a legal career, a baseball career, motherhood, and a love of history with a voracious reader? In my case, a Historical Romance Author.

Like most writers, I’ve always loved to read. Growing up in California there was always plenty to do outside, but all too often I could be found inside curled up with a book (or two or three). I started with the usual fare: The Little House on the Prairie series, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Watership Down, Nancy Drew, and everything by Judy Blume. Once I cleared off my bookshelf, I started swiping books from my mom. Some, like Sidney Sheldon’s The Other Side of Midnight, probably weren’t the most appropriate choice for a pre-adolescent—although they were definitely illuminating. I can still remember the look of abject horror on my mom’s Catholic-girl-face when I asked her what a virgin was. After that rather brief conversation, she paid a little closer attention to what had disappeared off her book shelf, and steered me in the direction of Harlequin and Barbara Cartland romances. I was hooked. I quickly read through the inventory of the local library and was soon buying bags of romances at garage sales.

In high school, with the encouragement of my father (who I think was a little concerned about the steady diet of romances), I read over eighty of the Franklin Library’s One Hundred Greatest Books ever written—including Tolstoy, Confucius, Plato, and the entire works of Shakespeare. Some of them were tough going for a teenager, but the experience would prove an invaluable foundation for college. After reading War and Peace, I wasn’t easily intimidated.

For some reason Monica decided to go into writing and not fashion.

After graduation, I loaded up the VW (Jetta not Bus) and trekked down I-5 to attend the University of Southern California, majoring in Political Science and minoring in English (see why all that reading helped!). I joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and when I wasn’t studying or at football games, did my best to support the local bartending industry. Ah, the good old days.

With that kind of fun, four years of college wasn’t quite enough. So leaving Tommy Trojan behind, I traveled back up north to Palo Alto for three more years of study at Stanford Law School. Once I survived the stress of the first semester, law school proved to be one of the best times of my life—garnering me a JD, life-long friends, a husband, and an unexpectedly intimate knowledge of baseball. (See “The Baseball Odyssey” below).

Law School was also where I fell in love with Scotland. In my third year, I took a Comparative Legal History class, and wrote a paper on the Scottish Clan System and Feudalism. So I immediately dropped out of law school and went on to write Scottish Historical Romances…well no, not quite. You see, I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer. My father was a lawyer, I was a “poet” (i.e., not into math), and I love to argue. It seemed natural.

So I finished law school, got married, passed the CA bar, moved to Minnesota (with a few stops along the way), waived into the MN bar, worked as a litigator for a few satisfying years, moved back to CA, had a couple of kids, realized that a legal career and being a single parent for most of the year (due to husband's career) would be extremely difficult, and THEN decided to sit down and write.

And how did I end up writing romance? It’s not as divergent as it seems. What I loved about being a lawyer are the same things I love about being a writer—research and writing. The only thing missing is the arguing, but that’s what a husband and kids are for, right?(less)

61 posts
Monica McCarty's Blog

The Cover Gods Strike Once Again!I was going to wait unti...

The Cover Gods Strike Once Again!
I was going to wait until my next website update on May 1st to unveil the new cover for THE RECRUIT, but of course, guess what? Yep, Amazon already has it up (I guess Random House has already had it up for 2 weeks!). I mentioned on FB how much I love this cover. I think it's my sexiest yet--and that's saying something! I love the pose, and it really feels like... read more »

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Books by Monica McCarty

Average rating: 4.15 · 9,712 ratings · 777 reviews · 14 distinct works

	The Chief (Highland Guard, #1) 4.12 avg rating — 1,661 ratings — published 2010 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Highlander Untamed (MacLeods of Skye Trilogy, #1) 4.09 avg rating — 1,440 ratings — published 2012 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Highlander Unchained (MacLeods of Skye Trilogy, #3) 4.15 avg rating — 947 ratings — published 2007 — 11 editions	My rating:
	Highland Warrior (Campbell Trilogy, #1) 4.13 avg rating — 957 ratings — published 2009 — 14 editions	My rating:
	The Hawk (Highland Guard, #2) 4.21 avg rating — 891 ratings — published 2010 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Highlander Unmasked (MacLeods of Skye Trilogy, #2) 4.08 avg rating — 874 ratings — published 2007 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Highland Outlaw (Campbell Trilogy, #2) 4.19 avg rating — 753 ratings — published 2009 — 9 editions	My rating:
	The Ranger (Highland Guard, #3) 4.21 avg rating — 745 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Highland Scoundrel (Campbell Trilogy, #3) 4.17 avg rating — 606 ratings — published 2009 — 10 editions	My rating:
	The Viper (Highland Guard, #4) 4.33 avg rating — 554 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	My rating:

More books by Monica McCarty…

Series by Monica McCarty

Highland Guard (6 books)
by Monica McCarty (Goodreads Author)

4.19 avg rating — 4,093 ratings

MacLeods of Skye Trilogy (3 books)
by Monica McCarty (Goodreads Author)

4.11 avg rating — 3,261 ratings

Campbell Trilogy (3 books)
by Monica McCarty (Goodreads Author)

4.16 avg rating — 2,316 ratings

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Monica's Recent Updates

Monica Mccarty made a comment on The Cover Gods Strike Once Again!I was going to wait unti...: "ARCs are strictly the domain of my publisher, I'm not in the loop about things like that (and I don't get ARCs myself). "
May 12, 2012 08:12am
Monica Mccarty made a comment on How much do you know about your heritage?One of the benef...: "Wow, how cool is that, Jamie! Both that you are related to some of the people I've written about and that you can go back so afar in your lineage. LOV...more "
Apr 30, 2012 07:48pm
Monica McCarty wrote a new blog post: How much do you know about your heritage?One of the benef... How much do you know about your heritage?One of the benef... How much do you know about your heritage?One of the benefits of writing about real historical figures is that I receive emails from readers who are... read more »
Apr 25, 2012 06:20pm · like
Monica Mccarty made a comment on The Saint is a NYT (#23) and USA Today (#72) Bestseller!I...: "Wow, thank you guys so much for the wonderful comments. I was away for a few days and came back to this :) So glad you guys have enjoyed. LOL, Jane--i...more "
Apr 10, 2012 11:07am
Monica Mccarty made a comment on It's Here!I'm thrilled to be able to say that THE SAINT i...: "You'll find out at the end, Jamie (there's an excerpt). So glad you are enjoying! Thanks so much for commenting. "
Apr 04, 2012 02:32pm
Monica Mccarty made a comment on A Little Unveiling...Thought I'd kick off the New Year by...: "Nice, Anne. Gerry always has a place on my covers--open invitation :) Thanks so much, Ashley! I think you are right about 2012! "
Jan 09, 2012 10:20am
Monica Mccarty gave to: Dream a Little Dream (Chicago Stars, #4) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Aug 23, 2011 10:22am
Monica Mccarty gave to: Lady Be Good (Wynette, Texas #2) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Aug 23, 2011 10:21am
Monica Mccarty gave to: Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars, #2) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Aug 23, 2011 10:21am
Monica Mccarty gave to: Nobody's Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars, #3) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Aug 23, 2011 10:21am

More of Monica's books…

Quotes by Monica McCarty

“She wanted to inhale him. Devour him.
Lick every inch of his incredible body.”
― Monica McCarty, Highland Outlaw

tags: elizabeth , highland-outlaw , monica-mccarty

6 people liked it

“She fit her hand around the curve of his whiskered jaw. “I’m sorry. But I knew you would not leave otherwise—”
“Damn right I would not have left,” he said gruffly. “Don’t you understand what you mean to me? You are everything. Never doubt that. My place is with you, only you.”
― Monica McCarty, Highlander Unmasked

tags: alex , highlander-unmasked , meg , monica-mccarty

4 people liked it

“Thief, brigand, outlaw, scourge: Those were names he was familiar with, not hero. Yet for a moment, this wee lass could make him want to believe that it was a possibility. Make him believe that there might be a flicker left in the embers of his blackened soul. That maybe there was still something inside him that hadn't died.
He regretted that one day soon he would have to prove her wrong.”
― Monica McCarty, Highland Outlaw

tags: elizabeth , highland-outlaw , monica-mccarty , patrick

3 people liked it

See all Monica McCarty's quotes »

Polls

Who is your favorite Highlander Romance author?

Julie Garwood

18 votes, 33.3%

Monica McCarty

10 votes, 18.5%

Karen Marie Moning

8 votes, 14.8%

Other - not listed (please tell us!)

6 votes, 11.1%

Diana Gabaldon

4 votes, 7.4%

Kresley Cole

4 votes, 7.4%

Hannah Howell

2 votes, 3.7%

Karen Ranney

1 vote, 1.9%

Lynsay Sands

1 vote, 1.9%

Arnette Lamb

0 votes, 0.0%

Veronica Wolff

0 votes, 0.0%

Tess Mallory

0 votes, 0.0%

May McGoldrick

0 votes, 0.0%

Michele Sinclair

0 votes, 0.0%

Kinley MacGregor

0 votes, 0.0%

Amanda Scott

0 votes, 0.0%

Haywood Smith

0 votes, 0.0%

Dawn Halliday

0 votes, 0.0%

54 total votes

28 comments

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Romance Readers R...: Jael's Reading List	17	95	Jul 02, 2009 11:11am
Novel Ladies: NL Summer Challenge 2009: Final Summary	50	60	Sep 11, 2009 07:48pm
Paranormal and Ev...: Aug 24 - Sept 1 2010	9	33	Sep 08, 2010 07:58am
Paranormal Romanc...: Questions about you!	33	163	Sep 29, 2010 12:19pm
Romance Readers R...: Read-the-Season Challenge (Summer)	714	553	Oct 02, 2010 08:38am
Challenge Overloa...: Books Read Challenge	7	29	Oct 16, 2010 02:40pm
Cover to Cover Ch...: Stephanie L's 144 Books in 2010	11	65	Dec 31, 2010 11:26am
Cover to Cover Ch...: Carolyn F's 144 now 288 books - Yipee!!	17	60	Jan 01, 2011 12:36pm

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Monica McCarty

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