35 ratings | 13 reviews | avg rating:4.51

more photos (1)

Melinda’s Year In Books

Melinda’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Melinda’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Melinda’s 2025 Year in Books

Melinda Hammond’s Followers (49)

Melinda’s Bookshelves

to-read (3)
currently-reading (2)
read (35)
did-not-finish (0)

Melinda’s Friends (343)

Alison

3,107 books | 12 friends

Annie Seaton

684 books | 3,759 friends

Erin

7,708 books | 2,559 friends

Jane

8,981 books | 756 friends

Genevieve Long

6,664 books | 252 friends

Literary Redhead

4,743 books | 5,775 friends

rachid idjiou

2,189 books | 1,107 friends

Elizabeth John

436 books | 531 friends

More friends…

Melinda Hammond

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.sarahmallory.com

Member Since

June 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/lindahooper

edit data

I write under the names of Melinda Hammond and Sarah Mallory.

I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember - many of them born of frustration when I was stuck in a classroom longing to be rescued! I love anything romantic, whether it is a grand opera or a beautiful painting. It doesn't necessarily have to be happy, as long as it is inspiring.

I was born in Bristol and grew up on Barton Hill, an area of small terraced houses built in the nineteenth century between the mills and the railway. I think my love of adventure stories is due to the fact that I grew up with three older brothers and lived in a street full of boys! My love of history and the English language was fostered at grammar school, where I soon discovered the deligh I write under the names of Melinda Hammond and Sarah Mallory.

I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember - many of them born of frustration when I was stuck in a classroom longing to be rescued! I love anything romantic, whether it is a grand opera or a beautiful painting. It doesn't necessarily have to be happy, as long as it is inspiring.

I was born in Bristol and grew up on Barton Hill, an area of small terraced houses built in the nineteenth century between the mills and the railway. I think my love of adventure stories is due to the fact that I grew up with three older brothers and lived in a street full of boys! My love of history and the English language was fostered at grammar school, where I soon discovered the delights of Georgian and Regency fiction, first of all with the works of Jane Austen and then Georgette Heyer.

I left school at sixteen to work in companies as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company, but I never lost my love of history, and when I wasn't reading and researching the Georgian and Regency period I was writing stories about it.

When I was at home with my first child, I decided to try my hand at writing seriously, and my first historical novel, Fortune's Lady, was published by Robert Hale in 1980. I have now published more than twenty novels, over a dozen of them as Melinda Hammond, winning the Reviewers Choice award in 2005 from Singletitles.com for Dance for a Diamond and the Historical Novel Society's Editors Choice in 2006 for Gentlemen in Question. Writing as Sarah Mallory for Harlequin Mills & Boon, The Earl's Runaway Bride won a coveted CataNetwork Reviewers Choice award for 2010 and the RNA's RoNA Rose Award in 2012 and 2013.

For many years I lived in an old farmhouse on the edge of the Pennines in West Yorkshire, literally a stone's throw from open moorland. Now I live by the sea in the wild Highlands of Scotland. I love walking to think up my latest plot, or just to clear my head ready for another session of writing. ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Melinda Hammond questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Melinda Hammond’s books

Average rating: 4.05 · 1,997 ratings · 299 reviews · 109 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Lady at Midnight 3.83 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dance for a Diamond 3.76 avg rating — 49 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Autumn Bride 3.66 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 1983 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Duke's Christmas Bride 3.92 avg rating — 36 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Winter Inheritance 3.56 avg rating — 39 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Summer Charade 3.46 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 1982 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lucasta 4.54 avg rating — 28 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dream Chasers 3.80 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 2003 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Four Regency Seasons 3.93 avg rating — 29 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Duke and The Debutante 4.05 avg rating — 21 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Melinda Hammond…

Series by Melinda Hammond

Lagallan Brothers (2 books)
by

Melinda Hammond (Goodreads Author)

3.72 avg rating — 71 ratings

Melinda is Currently Reading

Melinda Hammond is currently reading

The Happiest Ever After

by Milly Johnson (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 11, 2025 11:06PM

Melinda Hammond is currently reading

A Ghost in Shining Armour

by Therese Beharrie (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jan 28, 2023 09:09AM

rss
Melinda’s Recent Updates

Melinda Hammond wants to read An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 19, 2026 04:25AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Melinda Hammond rated a book it was amazing Christmas at Flora's House by Freya North (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 12, 2026 02:00PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Christmas at Flora's House by Freya North. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Christmas at Flora's House by Freya North <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Melinda Hammond liked Janet's review of A Kiss to Stop a Wedding: "Great story! This is a charming read with wonderful characters. "
Jul 15, 2025 01:19AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Kiss to Stop a Wedding by Sarah Mallory. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Kiss to Stop a Wedding by Sarah Mallory <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Melinda Hammond and 3 other people liked Frankie's review of A Kiss To Stop A Wedding: "Austen-esque flirtatious fun! I am thrilled to little biddy bits that Matt Talacre has his own story, the moment I ‘met’ him in The Earl’s Marriage Dilemma, I knew he had to have his own story, and here it is. Though at first I wasn’t 100% won over, I" Read more of this review »
Jul 15, 2025 01:10AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Kiss To Stop A Wedding by Sarah Mallory. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Kiss To Stop A Wedding by Sarah Mallory <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Melinda Hammond rated a book it was amazing Ordinary Girl in a Tiara by Jessica Hart (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 16, 2025 06:40AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Ordinary Girl in a Tiara by Jessica Hart. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Ordinary Girl in a Tiara by Jessica Hart <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Melinda Hammond rated a book it was amazing Murder at the Crooked Horse: A gripping whodunnit set in the English countryside (A Libby Sarjeant Murder Mystery Series Book 26) by Lesley Cookman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 24, 2024 02:40PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Murder at the Crooked Horse by Lesley Cookman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Murder at the Crooked Horse by Lesley Cookman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">