Angell, Kate [A pseudonym]

PERSONAL:

Education: Attended North Dakota University. Hobbies and other interests: Literacy, animal activist, and sports enthusiast.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Naples, FL. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Works as a literary agent.

WRITINGS:

Calder's Rose, Dorchester Publishing (New York, NY), 2003.

Drive Me Crazy, Dorchester Publishing (New York, NY), 2004.

Crazy for You, Dorchester (New York, NY), 2005.

Squeeze Play, Love Spell (New York, NY), 2006.

Curveball, Love Spell (New York, NY), 2007.

Strike Zone, Love Spell (New York, NY), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

Kate Angell is the pen name for a literary agent who writes romantic comedies, including romances that focus on the world of baseball players and their love interests. However, her first book, Calder's Rose, published in 2003, focuses on two authors who are cowriting a novel. Devin James writes western romances with prim heroines and Shane McNamara writes western adventures with a gunslinger hero. Working together, the two find that not only do their writing styles clash but their personalities also throw sparks. Harriet Klausner, writing on the Best Reviews Web site called the author's first romance "an entertaining tale that ‘breaks’ the wall with a book within a book," adding that the "protagonists fuss, fight, and fall in love" in both tales.

Drive Me Crazy features a romance between Cade Nyland and TZ Blake, who meet when TZ bangs the door of her classic Mustang automobile into Cade's vintage Sting Ray. Both are in the car business: Cade through his family's Action Auto parts store and TZ through the Tune and Lube garage, which she owns. Eventually, the two get together to participate in the SunCoast Road Rally, a five-day race in which Cade drives and TZ serves as the navigator, despite the fact that she can't read a map. "This contemporary road rally romance is a fun drive due to a fine lead couple and a delightful support crew," wrote Harriet Klausner on the Midwest Book Review Web site. Referring to the romance as "a purely fun read," Romantic Times Online contributor Susan Mobley added: "The sexual tension simmering beneath the surface is well done."

"The story line is hilarious and ardent," wrote Book Review.com contributor Harriet Klausner of Angell's next book, Crazy for You. The story revolves around a supposed murder-suicide that occurred in 1925 on Randolph St. Croix's cruise ship, the SS Majestic. Croix was supposedly killed by flapper Daisy Alton after he left his fiancée, Eloise Hogue. According to the police, Daisy then killed herself. The cruise ship has been stored away because no one wants to buy a vessel that many believe to be haunted by Daisy. When Randolph's great nephew, Sexton St. Croix, takes the ship for a "psychic cruise" on a lark, he brings along psychic Bree Emery. Bree soon comes to the conclusion that Randolph and Daisy were madly in love and both murdered by someone else. In the meantime, the playboy and the psychic find themselves falling in love. "Fans will treasure the modern day romance between the clairvoyant and the skeptic, and the love story that transcends time," wrote a contributor to MBR Bookwatch.

Squeeze Play is the author's first novel to feature baseball and romance. Risk Kincaid is the captain of a the Richmond Rogues, a team that has won the World Series. He plans to top off his team's success by asking his old high school friend, Jacy Grayson, to marry him. Risk has come to Jacy's rescue many times over the years as a form of support when her romances have failed. Jacy's boyfriends, however, have been little more than friends and a way to keep Risk in her life. However, Jacy is afraid to change their relationship for fear that a long-term romance might not last. Maria Hatton, writing in Booklist, called Squeeze Play an "amusing and sexy tale," adding that it has "terrific, likable characters." A contributor to Julia's Book Corner Web site called the novel "a good fun, summer read with delicious and sizzling romance."

Curveball focuses on three love stories, all featuring baseball players. Called the "Bat Pack," Psycho, Romeo, and Chaser all get suspended from the team for fighting and soon find themselves with lots of time on their hands, leading them into romances. "You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy these three intertwined romances," wrote Susan Mobley on the Romance Times Book Review Web site. In her review in Booklist, Maria Hatton called the novel "a sexy, quick-paced tale."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2006, Maria Hatton, review of Squeeze Play, p. 46; May 15, 2007, Maria Hatton, review of Curveball, p. 26.

MBR Bookwatch, April 2005, review of Crazy for You.

ONLINE

Angie's Romance Reviews,http://www.romancebooktrader.com/ (June 19, 2007), review of Curveball.

Best Reviews,http://thebestreviews.com/ (March 12, 2003), Harriet Klausner, review of Calder's Rose; (April 14, 2003), Linda Hurst, review of Calder's Rose; (February 23, 2004), Harriet Klausner, review of Drive Me Crazy; (August 16, 2004), DeborahAnne MacGillivray, review of Calder's Rose; (March 15, 2005), DeborahAnne MacGillivray, review of Crazy for You; (March 25, 2005), Harriet Klausner, review of Crazy for You; (April 15, 2005), DeborahAnne MacGillivray, review of Drive Me Crazy; (June 9, 2006) Kristi Ahlers, review of Squeeze Play; (June 13, 2006), Marilyn Rondeau, review of Squeeze Play; (June 29, 2006), Harriet Klausner, review of Squeeze Play; (July 2, 2006), Marilyn Rondeau "New Baseball Series Is Deliciously Hot," review of Squeeze Play.

Book Review.com,http://www.bookreview.com/ (March 18, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of Crazy for You.

Dear Author,http://dearauthor.com/ (June 8, 2006), review of Squeeze Play.

Dorchester Publishing,http://www.dorchesterpub.com/ (March 20, 2008), brief profile of author.

Julia's Book Corner,http://juliasbookscorner.blogspot.com/ (July 17, 2007), review of Squeeze Play.

Kate Angell Home Page,http://www.kateangell.com (March 20, 2008).

Midwest Book Review,http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (March 18, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of Drive Me Crazy.

Road to Romance,http://www.roadtoromance.ca/ (March 9, 2008), Tracey West, review of Crazy for You.

Romance Reviews Today,http://romrevtoday.com/ (May 2, 2008), Patti Fisher, review of Strike Zone.

Romantic Times Online,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (March 18, 2008), Susan Mobley, review of Curveball; Autumn M. Harrison, review of Squeeze Play; Susan Mobley, reviews of Crazy for You and Drive Me Crazy; Kay Mayo, review of Calder's Rose.

Vamps and Scamps,http://vampsandscamps.wordpress.com/ (June 5, 2006), Shiloh Walker, "Kate Angell Interview."