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Samantha James

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/SamanthaJames

gender

female

website

http://www.samanthajames.com/index.php

genre

Romance

member since

May 2011

About this author

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Growing up in Joliet, Illinois, Samantha James had many childhood aspirations--being a writer was never one of them. When she was ten, she was certain she was destined to be an astronomer. That soon changed (happened a lot during those pre-teen years!) when she decided archaeology was in her future. Detective work was her next goal, thanks to the Trixie Belden mysteries she was reading, and before long, nursing beckoned (courtesy of the Cherry Ames series). In college, she set her sights on teaching history, then briefly entertained the notion of becoming a flight attendant, only to discover she did not like to fly.

Having been raised in a family of avid readers, she was rarely without a book in hand. Her tastes were rather eclectic. She go...more Growing up in Joliet, Illinois, Samantha James had many childhood aspirations--being a writer was never one of them. When she was ten, she was certain she was destined to be an astronomer. That soon changed (happened a lot during those pre-teen years!) when she decided archaeology was in her future. Detective work was her next goal, thanks to the Trixie Belden mysteries she was reading, and before long, nursing beckoned (courtesy of the Cherry Ames series). In college, she set her sights on teaching history, then briefly entertained the notion of becoming a flight attendant, only to discover she did not like to fly.

Having been raised in a family of avid readers, she was rarely without a book in hand. Her tastes were rather eclectic. She got hooked on the Doc Savage series and Edgar Rice Burroughs after her older brother finished them, in her teen years, moved on to Agatha Christie, Daphne DuMaurier, and Phyllis A. Whitney.

In the meantime, the right guy came along. They met on a semi-blind date at an office Christmas party. She was told he wanted to go out with her, and he was told she wanted to go out with him. Six months later, the U.S. Army shipped him off to Germany--and she wrote faithfully at least three times a week--she often jokes this was the start of her writing career!

Marriage followed, as well as three daughters. Samantha left the detective work to her husband and turned her attention to raising their girls. When her youngest was six months old, two things happened: 1) she read Moonstruck Madness by Laurie McBain and scrambled to find every historical romance she could lay her hands on; 2) her older brother revealed he was writing and submitting his short stories to big-name magazines. As he put it, "I've been rejected by the best of 'em."

The seed was planted. Rejection was a dreaded word, but Samantha figured, "Well, if he can take it, so can I."

That summer, she wrote not one book, but three--longhand, in a notebook, during naptime. Bedtime. Any time she could. The burning desire to write was a long time in coming--she was nearing thirty by then--but she discovered that once she set pen to paper, she couldn't stop.

Those three manuscripts did get the dreaded rejection letter (they're still languishing somewhere in her attic), but she finally hit pay dirt with her fourth. Samantha's brother promptly proposed collaborating on a fantasy together--alas, still unwritten... Nowadays, she's firmly convinced she's the queen of rejected titles for her books. She's only managed to retain two original titles thus far, but writing is indeed a dream come true...

To date, her books have been published in numerous foreign countries (her daughters' number one choice for show-and-tell were always the foreign editions of Mom's books). Known for her heartfelt, emotionally charged "three-hanky reads", her books have been nominated for numerous awards, and have consistently hit the bestseller lists.

Maybe someday she'll do that fantasy-romance collaboration with her brother. For now, she's having a great time spinning dramatic, passionate tales of old...
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Books by Samantha James

Average rating: 3.76 · 4,764 ratings · 321 reviews · 28 distinct works

	A Perfect Bride (Sterling trilogy, #1) 3.85 avg rating — 563 ratings — published 1999 — 10 editions	My rating:
	A Perfect Groom (Sterling trilogy, #2) 3.89 avg rating — 535 ratings — published 2004 — 8 editions	My rating:
	The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell (McBride Family, #1) 3.72 avg rating — 490 ratings — published 2007 — 7 editions	My rating:
	His Wicked Ways (McKay, #1) 3.85 avg rating — 404 ratings — published 1999 — 7 editions	My rating:
	A Perfect Hero (Sterling trilogy, #3) 3.89 avg rating — 360 ratings — published 1999 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Gabriel's Bride by Samantha James (Goodreads Author), Sandra Kleinschmidt 3.84 avg rating — 344 ratings — published 1994 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Bride of a Wicked Scotsman (McBride Family, #3) 3.64 avg rating — 264 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Seduction Of An Unknown Lady (McBride Family #2) 3.62 avg rating — 255 ratings — published 2008 — 6 editions	My rating:
	His Wicked Promise (McKay, #2) 3.76 avg rating — 173 ratings — published 2000 — 6 editions	My rating:
	One Moonlit Night 3.79 avg rating — 167 ratings — published 1998 — 5 editions	My rating:

More books by Samantha James…

Series by Samantha James

Sterling trilogy (3 books)
by Samantha James (Goodreads Author)

3.88 avg rating — 1,458 ratings

McBride Family (3 books)
by Samantha James (Goodreads Author)

3.68 avg rating — 1,009 ratings

McKay (2 books)
by Samantha James (Goodreads Author)

3.82 avg rating — 577 ratings

Heather Duvall (1 book)
by Samantha James (Goodreads Author)

3.63 avg rating — 489 ratings

Lords of Sheffield Square (1 book)
by Samantha James (Goodreads Author)

3.38 avg rating — 144 ratings

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Samantha James voted for When Beauty Tamed the Beast (Happily Ever Afters, #2) in Best Romance in the Semifinal Round of the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards. cast your vote
Nov 15, 2011 12:32pm

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Novel Ladies: Author Alphabet	566	33	Aug 25, 2010 08:22pm
Romance Readers R...: Read the Month Challenge: July	309	275	Sep 09, 2010 01:21pm
We Love Lisa Kleypas: October's Build Your Own Challenge - No Restrictions!	624	121	Nov 07, 2010 08:29pm
Cover to Cover Ch...: Robyn's 2010 Book List	15	59	Apr 19, 2011 11:34am
Historical Romance: James, Samantha	1	15	May 07, 2011 09:55pm
Happily Ever Afte...: Historical - Regency/Victorian Era	21	87	Jul 21, 2011 11:43am
Paranormal Romanc...: 2011 October Challenge	385	431	Nov 03, 2011 06:12am

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Samantha's Bookshelves

Samantha's Friends (23)

Samantha's Fans (124)

Samantha James

Goodreads author profile

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Samantha's Bookshelves

Samantha's Friends (23)

Samantha's Fans (124)

Samantha James

Goodreads author profile

combine editionsBooks by Samantha James

Series by Samantha James

Upcoming Events

rssSamantha's Recent Updates

Topics Mentioning This Author

Samantha's Friend Comments

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combine editions
Books by Samantha James

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Samantha's Recent Updates