Wikipedia

Lisa Kleypas

Lisa Kleypas (born November 5, 1964[2][3][4]) is an American author of historical and contemporary romance novels. Before embarking on a literary career, she was named Miss Massachusetts 1985 and competed in the Miss America 1986 pageant in Atlantic City.

Lisa Kleypas
Born
Lisa Annette Kleypas[1]

(1964-11-05) November 5, 1964 (age 61)
Temple, Texas, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
Alma materWellesley College – Department of Political Science
Period1987–present
GenreHistorical romance, Contemporary romance
Notable worksI Will from Wish List, Worth Any Price
Notable awardsRITA award – Romance Novella
2002 I Will from Wish List
RITA award – Short Historical Romance
2004 Worth Any Price
SpouseGregory Ellis
Children2
Website
lisakleypas.com

Biography

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Lisa Kleypas was born on November 5, 1964 in Temple, Texas,[5] to Linda and Lloyd Kleypas, an architect.[3][4] She spent her childhood between Watertown and Carlisle after her family moved to Massachusetts when she was three.[5] Between the ages of twelve and twenty-four she lived in the Concord and Lexington area.[6] She started writing at sixteen, during a summer camp at Wellesley College; her parents encouraged her, sending her to a writers' conference in Bretton Woods.[6] For the next five years, Kleypas wrote a new work every summer, none of which she deemed publishable, and turned to romance novels set during the English Regency after becoming fascinated by a course on the Georgian era at Boston College.[7] In 1986 she participated in Miss America with the Miss Massachusetts sash, after which she concentrated on her studies, graduating in political science from Wellesley College three months after selling her first novel to a publishing house.[1][6][7]

In October 1998, Kleypas's Texas home flooded and her family lost everything except the clothes they were wearing. Her colleagues sent clothes and books. After the flood, she and her mother (whose home had also flooded), made a trip to purchase necessities. Separately, each of them also chose a romance novel, a necessity to them in helping them escape the stress they were currently under. To Kleypas, this realization validated her decision to write romance novels instead of more literary works.[8]

Though primarily known for her historical romance novels, Kleypas made an announcement in early 2006 concerning her momentary departure from historical romances to delve into the contemporary romance genre.[9] Her debut contemporary novel, Sugar Daddy, reached the New York Times bestsellers list.[10]

In 2026, Kleypas announced a novel, Queen of Lombard Street, to be released October 20, 2026, her first new novel since 2021's Devil in Disguise.[11]

Kleypas lives in California with her husband, entrepreneur Gregory Ellis,[12][13] and their two children.[7]

Style

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Kleypas's inspirations include Wuthering Heights and E. M. Forster, as well as her contemporary writers Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase, and Kathleen Woodiwiss.[7] In 1997, she credited Woodiwiss with inspiring her to write romance: "... I was introduced to the romance genre by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss' first book, The Flame and the Flower... This wonderful experience led me to read many other romance novels, and eventually to write my own. If it hadn't been for Kathleen's vibrantly soaring work, I might never have tried my own wings."[14] She also believes that reading biographies enriches her as a writer.[15]

Kleypas's participation in beauty pageants influenced her characterization, leading her to never write physically perfect and self-confident heroines, while for the heroes of her stories she prefers a "masculine man who is able to express himself well but never speaks in flowery prose. He possesses innate strength of character and is self-made or has risen above difficult circumstances. Eventually he loves the heroine with a Heathcliff-level of intensity, and demonstrates this both verbally and physically".[6] In her plots she often uses misfits and outsiders who try to fit in, such as non-aristocratic heroes and out-of-place heroines, who are ultimately appreciated for who they are.[16] For romance, Kleypas believes that the two lovers should encourage each other to pursue their individual goals and that the heroine should improve as a person thanks to the presence of the hero in her life.[6] In her novel Dreaming of You, the female protagonist "experiences an entirely different world thanks to her relationship with the hero, and is forever transformed into a new and different person. ... Moreover, Kleypas goes one step forward and depicts the hero's transformation as well, a transformation that involves his own awakening and adoption of traditional female characteristics."[17] As her career progressed, Kleypas began to add more history into her historical romance novels: for the Ravenels series, she was inspired by the achievements of Victorian women such as inventor Elizabeth Magie and doctor Elizabeth Garrett Anderson to create female protagonists who seek professional fulfillment outside of marriage, and she consciously decided not to include the heroine expecting a child or having become a mother in the finale of Devil in Spring.[18]

In her first novel, the female protagonist is forcefully seduced by the male protagonist, a scene that Kleypas later said "made me so uncomfortable that I had the hero being sorry and apologizing for the entire rest of the book. I have never done one since."[6] In a 2017 interview, she recounted that at the beginning of her career "there were a lot of very sexist, misogynistic beliefs that I unconsciously had absorbed. Also my personal feeling about men, like what was attractive, what was sexy, was different then than it is now. I was very taken with the idea of being forcefully kissed and passionately carried away, and now, to me, that isn't as sexy as two intelligent, strong people challenging each other and finding out who each other are." She therefore inserted dialogues before love scenes in which the hero asks the female protagonist for consent.[18] Her personal rules for writing historical romance novels include "no hitting ever. No physical abuse ever between the hero and heroine. ... Even in terms of verbal abuse, I have pretty strict boundaries with that, because once you feel like that respect is no longer there, if someone's willing to hurt someone to that extent, to me you can't recover from that."[7] Some audio editions of her books have been revised and updated to make certain scenes more consensual.[19]

She writes her contemporary novels from a first-person perspective.[7]

Bibliography

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Historical novels

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Berkley-Falkner series

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  1. Where Passion Leads (1987)
  2. Forever My Love (1988)

Only Vallerand series

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  1. Only in Your Arms (1992), republished as When Strangers Marry (2002)[20]
  2. Only with Your Love (1992)

Gamblers of Craven's series

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  1. Then Came You (1993)
  2. Dreaming of You (1994)
  3. Against the Odds, in the anthology Where's My Hero with Julia Quinn and Kinley MacGregor (2003)

Stokehurst Family series

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  1. Midnight Angel (1995)
  2. Prince of Dreams (1995)

Capitol Theatre series

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  1. Somewhere I'll Find You (1996)
  2. Because You're Mine (1997)
  3. I Will, in the anthology Wish List with Lisa Cach, Claudia Dain and Lynsay Sands (2001)

Bow-Street Runners series

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The series features the Bow Street agents, who carried out detective investigations and served as London magistrates before the city had its own police force.[13]

  1. Someone to Watch Over Me (1999)
  2. Lady Sophia's Lover (2002)
  3. Worth Any Price (2003)

Wallflowers series

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The series, inspired by the bond between Kleypas and her school friends and the way they supported each other when they were not asked to dance by boys, follows four young women as they help each other find husbands during the Regency era.[8]

  1. Again the Magic (2004)
  2. Secrets of a Summer Night (2005)
  3. It Happened One Autumn (2005)
  4. Devil in Winter (2006)
  5. Scandal in Spring (2006)
  6. A Wallflower Christmas (2008)

Hathaways series

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The novels revolve around the orphaned Hathaway family – one brother and four sisters – who suddenly inherit a peerage and a property in Hampshire.[21] Some characters from the Wallflowers series return, and Cam Rohan from Devil in Winter is the male protagonist of the first volume.[22]

  1. Mine Till Midnight (2007)
  2. Seduce Me at Sunrise (2008)
  3. Tempt Me at Twilight (2009)
  4. Married By Morning (2010)
  5. Love In The Afternoon (2010)

The series also consists of a short story titled A Hathaway Wedding (2009), which takes place right after Seduce Me at Sunrise.

The Ravenels series

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Set in the Victorian era,[18] the series begins with a rake, Devon Ravenel, who inherits from a deceased distant relative the title of earl and a bankrupt estate, inhabited by the deceased's widow and sisters.[23] Devil in Spring is inspired by the story of Elizabeth Magie, inventor of The Landlord's Game, the precursor to Monopoly, while the heroine of Hello Stranger, Dr. Garrett Gibson, is based on the first female British doctor, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson.[18] Evie and Sebastian from the Wallflowers series return as extras along with their children, two of whom – Gabriel and Phoebe – are protagonists in the third and fifth volumes respectively.[24] Devil in Disguise serves as a further crossover between the two series.[25]

  1. Cold-Hearted Rake (2015)
  2. Marrying Winterborne (2016)
  3. Devil in Spring (2017)
  4. Hello Stranger (2018)
  5. Devil's Daughter (2019)
  6. Chasing Cassandra (2020)
  7. Devil in Disguise (2021)

Standalone novels

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  • Love, Come to Me (1988)
  • Give Me Tonight (1989)
  • Stranger in My Arms (1998)
  • Where Dreams Begin (2000)
  • Suddenly You (2001)

Novellas

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Contemporary novels

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Travis series

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The series, set in Houston, Texas, marks Kleypas' first exploration of contemporary rather than historical romance fiction and follows the adventures of the four Travis brothers, oil magnates.[26]

  1. Sugar Daddy (2007)
  2. Blue-Eyed Devil (2008)
  3. Smooth Talking Stranger (2009)
  4. Brown-Eyed Girl (2015)

Friday Harbor series

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  1. Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor (2010)
  2. Rainshadow Road (2012)
  3. Dream Lake (2012)
  4. Crystal Cove (2013)

Awards

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  • 2002 – RITA Award for best Romantic Novella, I Will in Wish List[27]
  • 2004 – RITA Award for best Short Historical, Worth Any Price[27]

Adaptations

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In 2012, her novel Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor was adapted by Hallmark into a TV movie, Christmas with Holly.[28]

The Wallflowers series had a 2-volumes manga adaptation in 2015.[29] The Hathaways series has been adapted into manga between 2011 and 2017 with drawings by Reiko Kishida, Akino Nanami, Jun Hasegawa, Chiho Saito, and Hibiki Sakuraya.[30][31][32]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Miss America 1986 Candidates". Miss America. Archived from the original on 2024-07-12. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  2. ↑ Patterson, Amanda (2019-11-04). "Literary Birthday – 5 November – Lisa Kleypas". Writers Write. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  3. 1 2 Fuller, Amy Elisabeth, ed. (2010). Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields. Gale eBooks. Detroit, Mich: Gale. pp. 211–217. ISBN 978-1-4144-4597-7. ISSN 0275-7176.
  4. 1 2 Ruby, Mary, ed. (2017). Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields. Gale eBooks. Vol. 311. Farmington Hills, Mich: Gale, Cengage Learning. pp. 218–225. ISBN 978-1-4103-2290-6. ISSN 0275-7176.
  5. 1 2 Cork, Carol (2016-04-29). "In the Spotlight: An Interview with Lisa Kleypas". Rakes And Rascals. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 White, Claire E. "Lisa Kleypas Interview". Writers Write. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Faircloth, Kelly (2015-05-13). "An Interview With Historical Romance Legend Lisa Kleypas". Jezebel. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  8. 1 2 Grinnan, Dabney. "Interview with Lisa Kleypas". All About Romance. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  9. ↑ Coleman, Sandy (May 2006). "All About Romance Novels - Connie Brockway & Lisa Kleypas interview - 2006". Likes Books. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  10. ↑ Field, Chloe (2025). "Well-Loved Heroines in Contemporary Romance: Substantive, Likable, and Relatable Heroines in Contemporary Romance". Unsuitable: Conversations about women, history & popular fiction. Duke University.
  11. ↑ "Queen of Lombard Street". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
  12. ↑ "Lisa Kleypas". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  13. 1 2 "Kleypas, Lisa 1964-". Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  14. ↑ "Kathleen E. Woodiwiss - Love Notes". Avon Books. November 1997. Archived from the original on 20 January 1998.
  15. ↑ "Bedside Reading". Avon Books. August 1997. Archived from the original on 11 November 1997.
  16. ↑ Soleore, Keira (2019-02-19). "In Conversation with Lisa Kleypas". Archived from the original on 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2026-04-05.
  17. ↑ Pérez Casal, Inmaculada (2018). "The Romance Novel as Bildungsroman in the Works of Rosamunde Pilcher and Lisa Kleypas". In Ferrández San Miguel, María; Neumann, Claus-Peter (eds.). Taking Stock to Look Ahead: Celebrating Forty Years of English Studies in Spain. Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias de la Universidad de Zaragoza. p. 143. doi:10.26754/uz.978-84-16723-51-5. ISBN 978-84-16723-51-5.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Thompson, Eliza (2017-04-11). "Romance Queen Lisa Kleypas Talks Consent, Trump, and Writing Ambitious Heroines". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2026-04-05.
  19. ↑ Grinnan, Dabney (2020-07-03). "the ask@ARR: How do you feel about updated romances?". All About Romance. Retrieved 2026-04-05.
  20. ↑ "WHEN STRANGERS MARRY by Lisa Kleypas". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  21. ↑ "La serie romance al femminile per l'estate è Hathaways" [The female-driven romance series for the summer is Hathaways]. Oscar Mondadori (in Italian). 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  22. ↑ "Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas". Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  23. ↑ "Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  24. ↑ Walker, Savanna (2019-02-06). "Lisa Kleypas: Fan favorites and the joys of farming". Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  25. ↑ "Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas". Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  26. ↑ Scott, Veronica. "Interview: Lisa Kleypas, author of 'Brown-Eyed Girl'". USA Today. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  27. 1 2 "Past RITA Winners". Archived from the original on 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  28. ↑ Lowry, Brian (2012-12-06). "Christmas With Holly". Variety. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  29. ↑ "ロマンス小説家リサ・クレイパスの「壁の花」シリーズ5作のマンガ版発売" [Romance novelist Lisa Kleypas' "Wallflower" manga series is now available] (in Japanese). 2015-10-12. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  30. ↑ Kleypas, Lisa (2011). 夜色の愛につつまれて [Wrapped in Night-Colored Love] (in Japanese). Illustrated by Reiko Kishida. Emerald Comics. ISBN 9784776730309.
  31. ↑ "令嬢とロマの青年の切ないロマンスを描く「夜明けの色を紡いで」発売" ["Weaving the Colors of Dawn," a poignant romance between a noblewoman and a Roma young man, is now on sale]. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2026-04-24.
  32. ↑ "さいとうちほ・長谷川潤・桜屋響が変わり者兄妹の恋物語を紡ぐ、3冊同発" [Chiho Saito, Jun Hasegawa, and Hibiki Sakuraya weave a love story about an eccentric brother and sisters in three books released simultaneously]. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2026-04-24.
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