Mary Balogh was born in Swansea, Wales, on March 24, 1944. She received a B.A. with honors from the University of Wales in 1965. From 1967 to 1988 she taught high school English in Saskatchewan, Canada, becoming principal of her school in 1982. In 1985, her first novel, A Masked Deception, was published and she won the Romantic Times Award for best new Regency writer. Since then, she has written more than 60 novels and has received a lifetime achievement award for her work in the genre of historical romance. Her works include The Wood Nymph (1986), Christmas Promise (1992), The Plumed Bonnet (1996), Famous Heroine (1996). Simply Magic (2007), Simply Perfect (2008), and A Matter of Class… (2009).