Ladd, Linda

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LADD, Linda

PERSONAL: Married; husband's name, Bill; children: Laurel, Bill.

ADDRESSES: Home—MO. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Doubleday Book Club, 401 Franklin Ave., Garden City, NY 11530-5945. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

Wildstar, Avon (New York, NY), 1984.

Moonspell, Avon (New York, NY), 1985.

Fireglow, Avon (New York, NY), 1986.

Dream Song, Avon (New York, NY), 1988.

Frost Fire (first novel in "Fire Trilogy"), Avon (New York, NY), 1990.

Midnight Fire (second novel in "Fire Trilogy"), Avon (New York, NY), 1991.

Dragon Fire (third novel in "Fire Trilogy"), Avon (New York, NY), 1992.

White Lily (first novel in "White Flower Trilogy"), Topaz (New York, NY), 1993.

White Rose (second novel in "White Flower Trilogy"), Topaz (New York, NY), 1994.

White Orchid (third novel in "White Flower Trilogy"), Topaz (New York, NY), 1995.

Lilacs on Lace, Topaz (New York, NY), 1996.

Forever, My Love, Topaz (New York, NY), 1997.

A Love So Splendid, Topaz (New York, NY), 1997.

A Love So Fine (sequel to A Love So Splendid), Topaz (New York, NY), 1999.

Running Scared, Doubleday Book Club (Garden City, NY), 2000.

Also author of Midnight Fire and Silverswept.

SIDELIGHTS: Linda Ladd is the author of historical romance novels. Her first, Wildstar, is set in the 1800s, it is the story of Starfire (Elizabeth), a blonde girl raised by Cheyenne Indians after the wagon train in which she was traveling was raided, leaving her the only survivor. On the night of her wedding to Lone Wolf, Wildstar is kidnapped by Logan "Tracker" Cord, who has been hired by her wealthy grandparents in St. Louis to find her. West Coast Review of Books contributor Suzy Nelson wrote that "this is a fun, romantic story that is easy to read and quite enjoyable." In a Los Angeles Times Book Review article, Kristiana Gregory called it "fun, but predictable."

Frostfire is set in 1871, and is the first novel of the "Fire Trilogy." Tyler MacKenzie travels to Chicago to recover what is rightfully hers. Railroad magnate Gray Kincaid's union regiment had trashed Rose Point, the family plantation, and as a result of his bankruptcy, her father had committed suicide. Gray bought Rose Point, and Tyler's plan is to swindle enough of his money to buy it back. Instead, Gray offers it to her as a wedding present, and Tyler, who marries him grudgingly, finally accepts that he is not only rich, but charming. Penny Kaganoff of Publishers Weekly reviewed the opener, saying that the story "is packed with subplots and supporting characters that keep the action percolating."

Ladd also wrote the "White Flower Trilogy," beginning with White Lily, which takes place during the U.S. Civil War. The Lily of the story is Lily Courtland, an Australian who is rescued from white slavers by Union spy Harte Delaney. Lily is on a search for her brother, Derek, who is working for the Confederacy as a blockade runner, helping bring supplies into the war-torn South, and who Harte is also trying to locate in order to imprison him. Lily is a clairvoyant, and she has been seeing visions of Harte for years, but she does not see his true reason for helping her. A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that "attitudes towards the people of color in this book go beyond historical accuracy to offensiveness."

Derek appears in White Rose, the heroine of which is Cassandra Delaney, an anthropologist working for the Smithsonian and also as a Confederate spy. When Derek is captured by Union soldiers, Cassandra plans his escape to the Caribbean, and her brother, a Yankee agent, arranges for her to be kidnapped by Derek and taken back to Australia to keep her out of trouble. Cassie is furious when she learns that they are not going to South Carolina as Derek had told her. However, her professional curiosity is aroused at each of the exotic ports of call at which they stop, and she and Derek become attracted to each other on the trip to Australia. A Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that "the plot tends not to hang together in many places, dialogue is often stilted, and Derek is rather a cardboard hero, but their bizarre adventures do keep the pages turning."

In White Orchid, British Anjelica Blake and Nicholas Sedgwick have been married by proxy since they were ten. Now twenty, Anjelica, who has lived in India for the entire time, is about to be rescued from the court of a boy maharajah who has pronounced her a man so that she can be his advisor. Her rescuer is Stuart Delaney, a former Confederate agent who has been hired by the Sedgwicks to bring her back to England. By the time they convince the young ruler to let her go, the couple are in love, but because of Anjelica's married status, they remain separate for nearly two years.

Lilacs on Lace is set in seventeenth-century Scotland, where Ainsley Campbell is labeled a witch because of her powers and her unusual eyes. After her parents were murdered, her guardian, Hugh Campbell, placed the child Ainsley in a convent where she was educated.

Now a young woman, she is taken from the convent by the handsome Rodric MacDonald, who she first believes has been sent to bring her to meet the man to whom she has been betrothed, but who she soon discovers is a member of an enemy clan believed to have been responsible for the death of her parents. Rodric tells Ainsley that her father is actually alive and that he has promised her hand in marriage to him. She doesn't believe his story but soon finds out that she is the connection between the two clans. A Publishers Weekly contributor called Lilacs on Lace "a rousing story filled with vivid emotion, plot twists, memorable characters, and period color."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Los Angeles Times, June 10, 1984, Kristiana Gregory, review of Wildstar, p. 6.

Publishers Weekly, February 23, 1990, Penny Kaganoff, review of Frostfire, p. 213; July 12, 1993, review of White Lily, p. 74; May 9, 1994, review of White Rose, p. 68; March 20, 1995, review of White Orchid, p. 55; May 20, 1996, review of Lilacs on Lace, p. 255.

West Coast Review of Books, September, 1984, Suzy Nelson, review of Wildstar, p. 55.