McCall, Penny (Penny McCusker)

PERSONAL:

Born in MI; married; children: a daughter and two sons. Education: Associate degree from community college; attended the University of Michigan.

ADDRESSES:

Home—MI

CAREER:

Writer and accountant.

WRITINGS:

AS PENNY MCCALL

All Jacked Up, Berkley (New York, NY), 2007.

Tag, You're It!, Berkley (New York, NY), 2007.

AS PENNY MCCUSKER

Happily Ever After, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Two for the Road, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Tonight, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 2000.

The Marrying Kind, Kensington (New York, NY), 2000.

Lover Come Back, Kensington (New York, NY), 2000.

Mad about Max, Harlequin Enterprises (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Noah and the Stork, Harlequin Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Crazy for Ellie, Harlequin (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Penny McCall, who also writes under her birth name, Penny McCusker, began her career writing traditional romance novels as Penny McCusker. She later added slapstick humor to her novels writing under both the names Penny McCusker and Penny McCall. According to a biography on both of the author's Web sites, McCall was the seventh of nine children. She stood out for her habit of reading five books a week while she was in grade school. However, McCall did not begin writing until after her children were born. Staying at home to look after her daughter and two sons, she would write during the children's naptime. Encouraged by her sisters, she sold her first romance novel in 1997, followed by four more before she took a hiatus. When she returned to writing, McCall changed the direction of her novels to include humor in her romance tales.

Noah and the Stork, published in 2005, features Noah Bryan, who got Janey Walters pregnant ten years earlier and then promptly left town. When Noah comes back to Erskine, Montana, he is surprised to find that he has a daughter and that Janey is the town's mayor. However, Janey has more on her mind than the past she shared with Noah; she is also concerned about Noah's business project, which may ruin their small hometown. "Appealing secondary characters provide a strong sense of community," noted Madeleine Laird, writing on the Romantic Times Online.

In her novel Mad about Max, McCall tells the story of Sara Lewis, who has fallen for Max Devlin, a private man who is not sure whether or not he is willing to give up his privacy and commit to his old friend from college days. Furthermore, Max is still recovering from his now ex-wife's decision to go to Hollywood to become a star and, in the process, leave behind her life as a wife and mother in a small town. It takes a realization by Max that he may lose Sara forever before he can face his true feelings for her. Laird, once again writing on the Romantic Times Online, noted that the author "has a gift for writing physical comedy."

In her next book, Crazy for Ellie, the author features Clarence "Clary" Beeber, a deputy sheriff, and the object of his affection, Ellie, an assistant in her uncle's medical practice. The klutzy Clary actually knocks Ellie down on their first meeting. Despite a less than stellar first impression, Ellie is attracted to Clary. However, she has no time for romance as she is also raising her teenage brother and is still dealing with a past tragedy. "Light touches of physical comedy offset the … poignant moments," noted Laird in a review on the Romantic Times Online. Writing on the Harriet Klausner's Review Archive Web site, Klausner called Crazy for Ellie "an interesting small town contemporary romance."

McCall's novel Tag, You're It! contains "razor-sharp repartee and sexy humor," according to Jill M. Smith on the Romantic Times Web site. The plot revolves around Dr. Alexandra Scott and Tag Donovan, an FBI agent who is involved in a plot to get Alex to help find a Spanish treasure. Alex is studying mountain lions in the outdoor natural habitat in Colorado when a low-flying plane dumps a body into the snow at the very moment Alex is talking to her mother, who is complaining that Alex needs a man. Tag is not happy, however, as he sees the assignment as a diversion to keep him from investigating his late partner's murder. From the start, there is an attraction between Tag and Alex, but Alex has always steered clear of relationships. Eventually she learns that Tag has been lying to her about too many things. In a review on Harriet Klausner's Review Archive Web site, Klausner referred to the novel as "a humorous exciting romantic suspense thriller starring two likeable protagonists and a horde of eccentric treasure hunters."

Mary K. Chelton, writing in Booklist, noted that the author "may have created a new hybrid" of romantic suspense and comedy with her novels, including her book All Jacked Up. This novel features protagonist Aubrey Sullivan, who is a small but feisty librarian abducted by an FBI agent named Jack Mitchell. Jack is out to clear his name; he has been accused of being a murderer and a mole for a drug lord. He has taken Aubrey because she has a photographic memory and has seen something that may help Jack clear his name, and because a drug dealer has put a price on her head due to something that she knows. Noting that the two protagonists mix like "oil and water," Romantic Times Online contributor Jill M. Smith went on to write that Jack and Aubrey's "head-butting is sexy and amusing." A contributor to the Love Romances & More Web site noted that All Jacked Up has "everything readers could possibly want in a romantic suspense" novel, adding: "It is funny, witty, fast-paced, steamy, and just plain a real fun read."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2007, Mary K. Chelton, review of All Jacked Up, p. 32.

MBR Bookwatch, May 2005, Harriet Klausner, review of Mad about Max.

ONLINE

Berkley Jove,http://berkleyjoveauthors.com/ (January 12, 2008), profile of author.

Harriet Klausner's Review Archive,http://harrietklausner.wwwi.com/review/ (January 8, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of Tag, You're It! and Crazy for Ellie.

Love Romances & More,http://www.loveromancesandmore.com/ (January 12, 2008), review of All Jacked Up.

Penny McCall Home Page,http://www.pennymccall.com (January 30, 2008).

Penny McCusker Home Page,http://www.pennymccusker.com (January 12, 2008).

Romance Reader,http://www.theromancereader.com/ (January 12, 2008), Penny McCusker, review of Mad about Max.

Romantic Times Online,http://romantictimes.com/ (January 12, 2008), Jill M. Smith, review of All Jacked Up and Tag, You're It!; Madeleine Laird, reviews of Noah and the Stork, Mad about Max, and Crazy for Ellie.