Although he isn't "out there" anymore due to the fact that he passed away in 2011 from diabetes, I still consider Lain Blair to be one of the all time greats. He wrote under the pen name of Emma Blair for many years and produced some really fine romantic novels. I still remember the shock of finding out that Emma is actually Lain back in 1998 because of his novel, Flower of Scotland. It actually received a nomination for "Romantic Novel of the Year" which prompted him to reveal his true identity.

If you have read romance novels like The Red Shawl, Story Bay, The Restless Spirit, Portrait of Charlotte, The Long Way Home, The Restless Heart, Secrets of the Sea, Reach for Tomorrow, Dangerous Shores, Stay With Me, Secrets of a Whitby Girl and many, many others, then you will know that they were written by Jessica Blair. What you may or may not know is that Jessica Blair was actually William John Duncan Spence, or "Bill" to his friends. Spence didn't just have an impressive resume of historical romances under his belt, but he also wrote war novels and Westerns, all under different pseudonyms. His romances were by far the most successful, though. Not bad for a World War II veteran!