Dawson, Geralyn

views updated

DAWSON, Geralyn

PERSONAL: Married; children: two sons, one daughter. Education: Attended Texas A&M University. Hobbies and other interests: Watching college football.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author. Has worked in sales, advertising, and as a catalogue designer for a boating supply distributor. Member of advisory board, Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation.

AWARDS, HONORS: National Readers' Choice Award, for The Wedding Raffle; Career Achievement Award, Romantic Times.

WRITINGS:

ROMANCE FICTION

The Texan's Bride, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Capture the Night, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1993.

The Bad Luck Wedding Dress, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Tempting Morality, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1993.

The Wedding Raffle, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

The Kissing Stars, Sonnet Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Simmer All Night, Sonnet Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Sizzle All Day, Sonnet Books (New York, NY), 2000.

The Bad Luck Wedding Night, Sonnet Books (New York, NY), 2001.

The Pink Magnolia Club, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2002.

My Big Old Texas Heartache, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2003.

My Long Tall Texas Heartthrob, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to anthologies, including Under the Boardwalk, Sonnet Books (New York, NY), 1999, and A Season in the Highlands, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: Geralyn Dawson is an award-winning romance novelist. She started her career writing historical romances set in 1800s Texas, beginning with her 1993 novel, The Texan's Bride. In another Texas story, The Wedding Raffle, Dawson tells the story of Honor Duvall, a down-on-her-luck, thrice-widowed beauty who raffles off a horse to raise much-needed money. Luke Prescott, a Texas Ranger, wins the raffle but soon discovers that the horse is dead. Nevertheless, Luke remains true to his renown as a Texas hero and is soon defending Duvall against her father's demand that she marry a British lord. Readers learn of Luke's guilt over not being with his comrades when they died at the Alamo, as well as over the death of his own family as they tried to escape from Mexican General Santa Anna. A Publishers Weekly contributor complimented the historical accuracy of the story, the author's effective dialogue, and characters that are "funny, earthy and brave."

In Tempting Morality Dawson recounts the tale of Zach Burkett and Miss Morality Brown. Zach initially meets Morality when she is testifying at a revival meeting and he thinks she is a fraud who can help him wreak revenge on the people of Cottonwood Creek who have betrayed him. Morality is not merely pretending to be holy, however, and Zach soon finds himself falling in love.

Dawson tells a story of love lost and then rediscovered in The Kissing Stars. Married as teenagers, lawman Gabe Montana and Tess Cameron are tragically separated for more than decade until they find each other again in 1889 Texas. Their rekindled love must then go through the catharsis of sorting out their past. Writing in Publishers Weekly, a reviewer enjoyed the author's "comic style," but felt that the intrusion of too many minor characters in The Kissing Stars makes for a "slow-moving plot."

Simmer All Night focuses on Christina Delaney, a rebel whose aristocratic San Antonio family sends her to Victorian England to visit her grandfather after she gets into trouble. Along for the ride is her friend Cole Morgan. Christina becomes engaged to be married but breaks off the engagement and ultimately turns to Cole as her one true love. A Publishers Weekly reviewer found parts of Dawson's novel "childish," but noted that "a dramatic twist adds some much-needed action."

In The Bad Luck Wedding Night, Nicholas and Sara marry only to experience what a Booklist reviewer called a "hilarious and disaster-filled wedding night" that results in their marriage going unconsummated. A decade later, however, Nicholas and Sara meet again, and Nicholas determines to make Sara his bride once again.

In some of her more recent books, Dawson leaves the historical romance genre for modern romance. For example, in My Big Old Texas Heartache, she tells about the love between Kate and former Cedar Dell high school football star Max Cooper. Max fathered a child with Kate when they were both teenagers but left Cedar Dell, Texas, only to return years later. My Long Tall Texas Heartthrob is also set in Cedar Dell and tells the story of Tess, who moves to Cedar Dell from Los Angeles to live in a trailer park and take care of her helpless sister's children. When she meets Nicholas Sutherland, she finds herself falling in love but wonders if an L.A. girl can live happily ever after with a Texas cowboy.

Dawson strays from the strict romance formula in her book The Pink Magnolia Club. Writing on her home page, she explained that she got the idea for the book after attending a wedding-gown sale held by the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. Many of the wedding-gown donors included letters and pictures with the gowns. After reading the heart-rending letters that accompanied some of the donated dresses, Dawson's interest was piqued. "I found myself laughing over them and crying over them, sometimes both at the same time." The author went on, "My novel began to take shape. I knew it must be a story about three women: the woman who donates her wedding gown, the woman who buys it, and the woman whose wish will be partially funded by the sale of the club." The resulting story tells of the budding friendship between three women who are reaching turning points in their lives. Maggie Prescott has donated her gown to be auctioned after her husband forgets their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Grace Hardeman, who is volunteering at the sale, is about to celebrate her fiftieth wedding anniversary when she discovers she has cancer. And Holly Weeks buys a gown at the auction even though she has no desire to get married and refuses her boyfriend's proposal. Writing in Publishers Weekly, a reviewer chided Dawson for her "melodramatic" characters but added, "Still, there are a number of truly moving moments here."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 1998, review of The Wedding Raffle, p. 211; September 15, 2001, review of The Bad Luck Wedding Night, p. 211.

Publishers Weekly, October 7, 1996, review of The Wedding Raffle, p. 69; March 1, 1999, review of The Kissing Stars, p. 66; November 29, 1999, review of Simmer All Night, p. 58; July 8, 2002, review of The Pink Magnolia Club, p. 36.