Baker, Jeanette 1953–

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Baker, Jeanette 1953–

Personal

Born March 25, 1953, in Long Beach, CA; daughter of Eugene (a commodities broker) and Marion (a teacher) Baker; married (marriage ended); married Stephen J. Farrell, 2002 (deceased, 2006); children: Jennifer Ramirez, Michael Ramirez. Ethnicity: "Irish." Education: University of California at Irvine, B.S. (journalism and international relations), 1974; United States International University, M.A., 1985. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Traveling, reading, politics, swimming, walking.

Addresses

Home—Lake Forest, CA. Agent—Loretta Barrett, 101 5th Ave., New York, NY 10003. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Educator and writer. Lake Forest Public Schools, Lake Forest, CA, middle-school teacher, beginning 1979. Formerly worked as a transportation coordinator for an engineering company.

Member

Romance Writers of America (Orange County Chapter).

Awards, Honors

Saddleback Valley Teacher of the Year award, 1997; Reviewers Choice Awards, 1997, for Catriona, 1998, for Irish Lady, 1999, for Nell; Rita Award, Romance Writers of America, 1999, for Nell; Orange County Literary Guild Woman Writer of the Year award, 2000; Romantic Times career Achievement Award.

Writings

ROMANCE NOVELS

Tuesday's Child, Kensington (New York, NY), 1996.

Legacy, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

The Reckoning, Kensington (New York, NY), 1997.

Catriona, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Irish Lady, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Nell, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Irish Fire, Pocket Star Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Spellbound, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Blood Roses, Mira (Dons Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

The Delaney Woman, Mira (Dons Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

Chesapeake Tide, Mira (Dons Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

A Delicate Finish, Mira (Dons Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

The Lavender Field, Mira (Dons Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Chesapeake Summer, Mira (Dons Mills, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

Contributor of reviews and articles to periodicals, including School Library Journal.

Sidelights

Since beginning her writing career in the mid-1990s, Jeanette Baker has published more than a dozen novels, all of them in the romance genre. Since her first book, Tuesday's Child, appeared in 1996, she has gone on to balance a teaching career and a busy family life that included raising two children with a productive writing schedule that has produced such award-winning novels as Catriona, Irish Lady, and Nell. Praised by Booklist contributor Patty Engelmann as a "sweet romance [that] will appeal to young and old alike," the novel A Delicate Finish draws readers to the wine-growing region of Northern California and the story of a single mother who finds love while helping her widowed mother-in-law save the family vineyard. The Lavender Field, which also takes place in Baker's home state of California, finds a forceful young attorney captivated by Thoroughbred owner Gabe Mendoza when she represents a competing interest anxious to gain control of the single father's stable of rare Lipizzaner horses. Reviewing The Lavender Field for Booklist, Patty Englemann wrote that Baker's "heartwarming" novel "focuses on the heartbreak and joy that family brings," while in Publishers Weekly a critic praised the "thoughtful exposition and flawless writing" Baker exhibits in her "provocative" novel based on her personal experiences of the religious conflict ongoing in Northern Ireland.

Perhaps because of her Irish ancestry, Baker admits to "a penchant for storytelling, which," as she recalled, "adults labeled fibbing" when the talent emerged during childhood. When her talents expanded to reading, Baker became a voracious consumer of books of all kind, and she majored in journalism at college before embarking on a career as a middle-school teacher. As Baker explained to SATA, she credits a chance sighting of a noted British writer with inspiring her to begin writing. "I was struck dumb watching Georgette Heyer eating pancakes and maple syrup for dessert at the Savoy in London…. After all if Miss Heyer could craft her wonderful story ideas on paper napkins while eating pancakes, then surely anything was possible."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 1999, Deborah Rysso and Jack Helbig, review of Nell, p. 965; May 15, 2005, Patty Engelmann, review of A Delicate Finish, p. 1640; June 1, 2006, Patty Engelmann, review of The Lavender Field, p. 46.

Publishers Weekly, January 11, 1999, review of Nell, p. 69; July 8, 2002, review of Blood Roses, p. 37.