Garbera, Katherine

PERSONAL:

Married; children: two.

ADDRESSES:

Home—FL. Agent—The Knight Agency, 570 East Ave., Madison, GA 30650. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Romantic Times Book Club Career Achievement Award nomination for both series fantasy and series adventure.

WRITINGS:

Some Kind of Incredible, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Cinderella's Convenient Husband, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Tycoon for Auction, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Cinderella's Christmas Affair, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Cinderella's Millionaire, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2003.

In Bed with Beauty, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Sin City Wedding, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2004.

One Hot Weekend, Harlequin (New York, NY), 2004.

Night Life, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Let It Ride, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Exposed: Athena Force, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Mistress Minded, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Her Baby's Father, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Rock Me All Night, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Nalini Singh) Desert Warrior, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2005.

The Amazon Strain, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Emilie Rose) A Passionate Proposal, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Their Million-Dollar Night, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2006.

His Wedding-Night Wager, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Her High-Stakes Affair, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2006.

The Once-a-Mistress Wife, Silhouette (New York, NY), 2006.

Exclusive, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Body Heat, Brava/Kensington (New York, NY), 2006.

The Ultimate Romantic Challenge, Brava (New York, NY), 2006.

Make-Believe Mistress, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Six-Month Mistress, Harlequin (New York, NY), 2007.

High-Society Mistress, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Legends and Lies, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2007.

(With others) The Night before Christmas (novella), Kensington (New York, NY), 2007.

Sex with a Stranger, Silhouette Books (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Katherine Garbera is the author of numerous romantic novels, and over the course of her successful writing career has received many accolades, including a nomination for the Romantic Times Book Club Career Achievement Award for both series fantasy and series adventure. In addition, her books have appeared on the Waldenbooks and Borders bestseller lists for series romance, and the extended bestseller list for USA Today. In an interview on her home page, Garbera explained her choice of writing subject by stating simply: "I write romance because I love that feeling that comes when you first fall in love." Garbera's books are known for their sensual descriptions, along with fun plots and intriguing characters.

Although Garbera's novels do stand on their own, many fall within loose series, with crossover characters or settings that are shared between books. One example of this is the "Cinderella" books, which include Cinderella's Convenient Husband, Cinderella's Christmas Affair, and Cinderella's Millionaire. The last title tells the story of CFO Joe Barone, who works for the family gelato business. Having lost his wife to cancer, Joe is no longer interested in love, instead throwing himself into his work. This backfires, however, when a contest run by the family in an effort to develop a new flavor gelato results in the winner coming to visit their corporate offices, and that winner turns out to be Holly Fitzgerald, a hard-working girl who has never had time to play with emotions or relationships. Joe's and Holly's individual emotional distance serves as the spark that ignites the chemistry between them, and so begins an awkward, sometimes-painful courtship. Shirley Lyons, in a review for Romance Reader Reviews, remarked on the speed with which these two overcome their personal issues in order to fall in love, but noted that in category romance, the quick turnaround is often built into the structure of the story. Lyons concluded: "Category romance is often meant to be a fairy tale and in this case, Cinderella's Millionaire hits the mark."

High-Society Mistress falls within Garbera's "Mistress" series. The book focuses on Tempest Lambert, a spoiled but emotionally deprived young woman who was sent to boarding school following her mother's death. As a result, she resents her wealthy father for having shipped her off and ignored her. As an adult, Tempest engages in a series of meaningless affairs, swiftly earning herself the reputation of "high-society mistress," as her only apparent discriminating factor is the man's wealth. She eventually ends up falling for Gavin, who has his own grudge against her father. Shirley Lyons, again reviewing for Romance Reader Reviews, found this couple less convincing, remarking that the book "was too much revenge and too little love."

The Ultimate Romantic Challenge revolves around widow Alexandra Haughton, whose husband died only a year into their marriage, and who then loses both of her parents relatively soon after. Devastated, she goes to work for her in-laws and leads something of a reclusive life, engaging in only meaningless affairs and refusing to invest her heart again. But when Sterling Powell arrives to purchase the Charleston hotel owned by the Haughtons, Alexandra is forced to deal with him. Maria Hatton, reviewing for Booklist, praised the book overall, and in particular noted that "Sterling is quite the romantic hero in Garbera's very sensual, satisfying story."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Maria Hatton, review of The Ultimate Romantic Challenge, p. 37.

MBR Bookwatch, January, 2005, Harriet Klausner, review of Night Life.

ONLINE

Karmela Johnson Book Reviews,http://www.karmelajohnson.com/ (October 3, 2007), review of Exposed: Athena Force.

Katherine Garbera Home Page,http://www.katherinegarbera.com (October 3, 2007).

Romance Reader Reviews,http://www.theromancereader.com/ (October 3, 2007), Laura Scott, review of The Ultimate Romantic Challenge; Cathy Sova, review of Some Kind of Incredible; Irene Williams, review of Her Baby's Father; Shirley Lyons, reviews of Cinderella's Millionaire and High-Society Mistress.

Romantic Times Online,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (October 3, 2007), Pat Cooper, review, of Make-Believe Mistress and The Once-a-Mistress Wife.