Rita Bradshaw (born 1949) is a British

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. She wrote historical romances under her real name and contemporary romances under the pseudonym Helen Brooks.

Biography

Rita Bradshaw was born in 1949 in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, England. She met her husband Clive when she was 16. They have three children. A former secretary, she began writing in 1990 at the age of 40, and published her first novel in 1992 at

Mills & Boon Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd. It was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher. The company moved towards escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. In 1971, the ...

under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Helen Brooks. Since 1998, she has also published historical romances under her actual name. She lives in Northampton.

Bibliography

As Helen Brooks

Single novels

*''Stone Angel'' (1992) *''Deceitful Lover'' (1992) *''The Devil You Know'' (1992) *''Cruel Conspiracy'' (1992) *''Gentle Savage'' (1993) *''Cold Fire'' (1993) *''Sweet Betrayal'' (1993) *''And the Bride Wore Black'' (1993) *''A Heartless Marriage'' (1993) *''Bitter Honey'' (1993) *''Dark Oasis'' (1994) *''Knight in Black Velvet'' (1994) *''The Sultan's Favourite'' (1994) *''Web of Darkness'' (1994) *''Lovers Not Friends'' (1994) *''Angels Do Have Wings'' (1994) *''Lace and Satin'' (1995) *''The Twisted Cord'' (1995) (re-edited as Rita Bradshaw) *''Fire Beneath the Ice'' (1995) *''The Marriage Solution'' (1995) *''Dream Wedding'' (1996) *''Reckless Flirtation'' (1996) *''For a Mother's Love'' (1996) *''Satisfaction Guaranteed'' (1997) *''Treasure Hunt Vacation'' (1998) *''The Bride's Secret'' (1998) *''A Man Worth Waiting for'' (1998) *''Very Private Revenge'' (1998) *''Mistletoe Mistress'' (1998) *''The Marriage Quest'' (1999) *''A Boss in a Million'' (1999) *''Mistress to a Millionaire'' (1999) *''A Whirlwind Marriage'' (2000) *''Sleeping Partners'' (2001) *''The Greek Tycoon's Bride'' (2002) *''Christmas at His Command'' (2002) *''The Passionate Husband'' (2004) *''A Ruthless Agreement'' (2005) *''Italian Tycoon's Bride'' (2006) *''The Billionaire Boss's Secretary Bride'' (2008) *''The Boss's Inexperienced Secretary'' (2009) *''The Millionaire's Christmas Wife'' (2009) *''Sweet Surrender With the Millionaire'' (2010)

Contract Marriage Series

#''Husband by Contract'' (1997) #''Second Marriage'' (1997)

A Proposal Series

#''A Convenient Proposal'' (2000) #''A Suspicious Proposal'' (2000)

Stolen Moments Series Multi-Author

*''Bitter Honey'' (1993)

From Here To Paternity Series Multi-Author

*''The Price of a Wife'' (1997)

Expecting! Series Multi-Author

*''The Baby Secret'' (1999)

Nine to Five Series Multi-Author

*''The Irresistible Tycoon'' (2001) *''The Mistress Contract'' (2001)

Latin Lovers Series Multi-Author

*''A Spanish Affair'' (2001)

In Love With Her Boss Series Multi-Author

*''The Parisian Playboy'' (2002) *''Mistress by Agreement'' (2003)

Do Not Disturb Series Multi-Author

*''The Christmas Marriage Mission'' (2003)

Dinner at 8 Series Multi-Author

*''His Marriage Ultimatum'' (2004) *''The Millionaire's Prospective Wife'' (2005) *''The Billionaire's Marriage Mission'' (2006) *''His Christmas Bride'' (2007)

Tall, Dark and Sexy Series Multi-Author

*''The Billionaire's Virgin Bride'' (2008)

Ruthless! Series Multi-Author

*''Ruthless Tycoon, Innocent Wife'' (2008)

Omnibus collections

*''Christmas Gift Pack'' (2000) *''Blind-date Brides'' (2002) *''The Devil You Know / Cruel Conspiracy'' (2004) *''Deceitful Lover / Gentle Savage'' (2004) *''Suspicious Proposal / Convenient Proposal'' (2005) *''Man Worth Waiting for / Marriage Quest'' (2006)

Collections In collaboration

*''The Parent Trap'' (1997) (with Emma Goldrick) *''French Kiss'' (2001) (with Catherine George) *''Desert Destinies'' (2001) (with

Emma Darcy Emma Darcy is the pseudonym used by the Australian husband–wife writing team of Wendy Brennan (28 November 1940 – 12 December 2020) and Frank Brennan (1936 – 1995), they wrote in collaboration over 45 romance novels. In 1993, for the E ...

and Mary Lyons) *''A Christmas Seduction'' (2001) (with

and Catherine Spencer) *''Sealed with a Kiss'' (2002) (with Judith Bowen and

Debbie Macomber Debbie Macomber (born October 22, 1948) is an American author of romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Six of her novels have become made-for-TV movies and her ''Cedar Cove'' series of novels was adapted into a television series of the ...

) (My Funny Valentine / Mom And Mr. Valentine / Her Secret Valentine) *''Business Affairs'' (2003) (with

Lynne Graham Lynne Graham (born 30 July 1956 in Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish author of over 100 romance novels. She published her novels in Mills & Boon since 1987. Biography Graham was born on 30 July 1956 in Northern Ireland to an Irish- Scot ...

and Kim Lawrence) *''Contract Husbands'' (2003) (with Catherine George and

Jessica Steele Jessica Steele (9 May 1933 – 23 November 2020) was a British author of 88 romance novels that spanned a career over four decades, Her novels have been published by Mills & Boon since 1979 starting with The Icicle Heart. Her last novel was The ...

) *''Marrying the Boss'' (2003) (with Alison Roberts and

) *''Falling for the Boss'' (2005) (with

Barbara McMahon Barbara McMahon (born July 1, 1945, in Virginia) is an American writer of over 100 romance novels published by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd and Indie Published since 1984. Biography Barbara McMahon grew up in northern Virginia. Later her family mo ...

and Cathy Williams) *''Her Greek Millionaire'' (2005) (with

Helen Bianchin Helen Bianchin (born 20 February 1939) is a New Zealand-born Australian writer. Since 1975, she has written over 55 romance novels for Mills & Boon. Biography Bianchin was born on 20 February 1939 in New Zealand. She worked as a legal secretary ...

and Sara Wood) *''After Office Hours...'' (2006) (with

and Lee Wilkinson) *''Christmas Treasures'' (2006) (with Caroline Anderson and

Betty Neels Betty Neels (born 15 September 1909 in Leyton, England – d. 7 June 2001 in England) was a prolific British writer of over 134 romance novels (first publication entirely for Mills & Boon in United Kingdom and later reprinted in the North Ameri ...

) *''City Heat'' (2007) (with Catherine George and

Rebecca Winters Rebecca Brown Burton (February 14, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was a popular United States writer of over 175 romance novels under her married name Rebecca Burton, under her complete name Rebecca Brown Burton, and as Rebecca Winters for Harlequ ...

) *''It Happened At Christmas'' (2007) (with

Penny Jordan Penelope Halsall (née Jones; 24 November 1946 – 31 December 2011) was a prolific English writer of over 200 romance novels. She started writing regency romances as Caroline Courtney, and wrote contemporary romances as Penny Jordan and histo ...

and Carol Wood) (Bride At Bellfield Mill / Family For Hawthorn Farm / Tilly Of Tap House) *''Mistress by Consent'' (2007) (with

Margaret Way Margaret Way (07 August 1935 in Brisbane - 10 August 2022 in Cleveland, Queensland, Australia) was an Australian writer of romance novels and women's fiction. A prolific author, Way wrote more than 120 novels since 1970, many through Mills & Bo ...

and Sara Wood) *''The Joy of Christmas'' (2007) (with

and

) *''Winter Waifs'' (2007) (with

and Carol Wood) *''Reckless Flirtation / Luc's Revenge'' (2008) (with Catherine George) *''Bride at Bellfield Mill / Family for Hawthorn Farm / Tilly of Tap House'' (2008) (with

and Carol Wood) *''A Passionate Affair'' (2009) (with

Elizabeth Power Elizabeth Power is an English actress. Power began her career in repertory theatre and went on to appear in several West End musicals. However, she is best known for her work on British television, in particular her role as Christine Hewitt in ...

and Kathryn Ross) *''Her Mediterranean Boss'' (2009) (with

and Trish Morey) *''Millionaire's Woman'' (2009) (with Catherine George and Angie Ray)

As Rita Bradshaw

Single novels

*''Alone Beneath the Heaven'' (1998) *''Reach for Tomorrow'' (1999) *''Ragamuffin Angel'' (2000) *''The Stony Path'' (2001) *''The Urchin's Song'' (2002) *''Candles in the Storm'' (2003) *''The Most Precious Thing'' (2004) *''Always I'll Remember'' (2005) *''The Rainbow Years'' (2006) *''Skylarks at Sunset'' (2007) *''Eve and Her Sisters'' (2008) *''Above the Harvest Moon'' (2008) *''Gilding the Lily'' (2009) *''Born to Trouble'' (2009) *''Forever Yours'' (2010) *''Break of Dawn'' (2011) *''Dancing in the Moonlight'' (2013) *''Beyond the Veil of Tears'' (2014) *''The Colours of Love'' (2015) *''Snowflakes in the Wind'' (2016) *''A Winter Love Song'' (2017) *''Beneath a Frosty Moon'' (2018) *''One Snowy Night'' (2019) *''The Storm Child'' (2020)

References and resources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Rita 1949 births Living people English romantic fiction writers English women novelists British women romantic fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Writers from Northampton