Brenda Novak

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s bestselling author career.

“I caught my day-care provider drugging my children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while I was away,” Brenda says. “It was then that I decided I needed to do something from home.”

However, writing was the last profession she expected to undertake. In fact, Brenda swears she didn’t have a creative bone in her body. In school, math and science were her best subjects, and when it came time to pick a major in college, she chose business.

Abandoning her academic scholarship to Brigham Young University at the age of twenty in order to get married and start a family, Brenda dabbled in commercial real estate, then became a loan officer.

“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”

Brenda sold her first book OF NOBLE BIRTH, and the rest is history. Many of her novels have won or placed in contests such as the Rita, the National Reader’s Choice and the Bookseller’s Best, and she now runs a warm and enthusiastic book group on Facebook with over 17,000 members.

Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually raising money for diabetes research. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, playing pickle ball, hiking and biking — she rides an amazing 20 miles several times a week!

On The Web

• Website [1]

Books

• Baby Business - 2000
• Baby Of Her Own, A / That One Night - 2002
• Banned Books Club, The - 2024
• Bastard, The - 2013
• Before We Were Strangers - 2018
• Big Girls Don't Cry / Finding You - 2005
• Blind Spot - 2019
• Blood In, Blood Out - 2012
• Body Heat - 2010
• Bookstore On The Beach, The - 2021
• California Christmas, A - 2020
• Christmas In Silver Springs - 2019
• Cold Feet - 2004
• Come Home To Me - 2014
• Coulda Been A Cowboy / More I Love You, The - 2007
• Dead Giveaway - 2007
• Dead Right - 2007
• Dead Silence - 2006
• Dear Maggie - 2001
• Discovering You - 2016
• Dundee Christmas, A - 2010
• Every Waking Moment - 2005
• Expectations / Back To You - 2000
• Face Off - 2018
• Family By Christmas, A - 2011
• Family Of Her Own, A / First Love, Second Chance - 2004
• Finding Our Forever - 2017
• Hanover House - 2015
• Heart Of Christmas, The - 2014
• Hello Again - 2017
• Her Darkest Nightmare - 2016
• Home To Whiskey Creek - 2013
• Home For The Holidays - 2021
• Home Of Her Own, A / Say You Love Me - 2004
• Honor Bound - 2014
• Husband Of Her Own, A / Falling for You - 2003
• In Close - 2011
• In Seconds - 2011
• Inside - 2011
• Just Like The Ones We Used To Know / Best Christmas Surprise, The - 2006
• Keep Me Warm At Christmas - 2021
• Killer Heat - 2010
• Last Stand Collection Volume 2, The - 2017
• Matter Of Grave Concern, A - 2014
• Messy Life Of Jane Tanner, The - 2024
• No One But You - 2017
• Of Noble Birth - 2099
• On A Snowy Christmas - 2009
• One Perfect Summer - 2020
• Other Woman, The / Just The Two Of Us - 2006
• Perfect Couple, The - 2009
• Perfect Liar, The - 2009
• Perfect Murder, The - 2009
• Right Where We Belong - 2017
• Sanctuary - 2003
• Seaside Library, The - 2023
• Secrets She Kept, The - 2016
• Secret Sister, The - 2015
• Shooting The Moon - 2002
• Small Packages - 2004
• Snow Baby - 2000
• Stop Me - 2008
• Stranger In Town / Meant For You - 2005
• Summer On The Island - 2022
• Summer That Changed Everything, The - 2025
• Take Me Home For Christmas - 2013
• Taking The Heat - 2003
• Talk Of Coyote Canyon, The - 2023
• Talulah's Back In Town - 2023
• This Heart Of Mine - 2015
• Through The Smoke - 2013
• Tourist Season - 2024
• Trust Me - 2008
• Tying The Knot - 2024
• Unforgettable You - 2019
• Until You Loved Me - 2017
• Watch Me - 2008
• We Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - 2001
• What A Girl Wants / To Win Her Heart - 2004
• When Lightning Strikes - 2012
• When Snow Falls - 2012
• When Summer Comes - 2013
• When I Found You - 2021
• When We Touch - 2012
• White Heat - 2010
• Winter Wedding, A - 2015

Series/Related Titles

9 Months Later (multi-author series)

21. Expectations / Back To You

26. Snow Baby

27. Baby Business

35. A Baby Of Her Own / That One Night

The Birth Place (multi-author series)

2. Sanctuary

Bulletproof

1. Inside
2. In Seconds
3. In Close

Coyote Canyon

1. Talulah's Back In Town
2. The Talk Of Coyote Canyon
3. The Messy Life Of Jane Tanner

Dundee, Idaho

1. A Baby Of Her Own / That One Night
2. A Husband Of Her Own / Falling For You
3. A Family Of Her Own / First Love, Second Chance
4. A Home Of Her Own / Say You Love Me
5. Stranger In Town / Meant For You
6. Big Girls Don't Cry / Finding You
7. The Other Woman / Just The Two Of Us
8. Coulda Been A Cowboy / The More I Love You
9. [[A Dundee Christmas

Evelyn Talbot Chronicles

1. Hanover House
2. Her Darkest Nightmare
3. Hello Again
4. Face Off
5. Blind Spot

Fairham Island

1. The Secret Sister
2. The Secrets She Kept

Hired Gun

1. White Heat
2. Body Heat
3. Killer Heat

Last Stand

1. Trust Me
2. Stop Me
3. Watch Me
4. The Perfect Couple
5. The Perfect Liar
6. The Perfect Murder

Silver Springs

1. Finding Our Forever
2. No One But You
3. Until You Loved Me
4. Right Where We Belong
5. Unforgettable You
6. Christmas In Silver Springs
7. A California Christmas
8. When I Found You
9. Keep Me Warm At Christmas

Stillwater

1. Dead Silence
2. Dead Giveaway
3. Dead Right

Whiskey Creek

.5 When We Touch

1. When LIghtning Strikes
2. When Snow Falls
3. When Summer Comes
4. Home To Whiskey Creek
5. Take Me Home For Christmas
6. Come Home To Me
7. The Heart Of Christmas
8. This Heart Of Mine
9. A Winter Wedding
10. Discovering You

10.5 Home For The Holidays

Awards

• 2015 RT Reviewers Choice Award Winner - Contemporary Romance, This Heart Of Mine
• 2012 RT Reviewers Choice Award Winner - Contemporary Romance, When Snow Falls
• 2003 RT Reviewers Choice Award Winner - Harlequin SuperRomance, Sanctuary

Recognitions

• 2021 Publishers Weekly Starred Review, The Bookstore On The Beach
• 2019 RITA Award Finalist - Romantic Suspense, Before We Were Stangers
• 2018 RITA Award Finalist - Contmeporary Romance: Long, No One But You
• 2017 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, No One But You
• 2017 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, Until You Loved Me
• 2016 Booklist Starred Review, Her Darkest Nightmare
• 2016 RITA Award Finalist - Contmeporary Romance: Long, The Secret Sister
• 2016 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, Her Darkest Nightmare
• 2015 Booklist Starred Review, This Heart Of Mine
• 2015 Library Journal Starred Review, This Heart Of Mine
• 2015 RT Book Reviews Tpop Pick, The Secret Sister
• 2015 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, This Heart Of Mine
• 2015 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, A Winter Wedding
• 2014 Library Journal Starred Review, The Heart Of Christmas
• 2014 Library Journal Starred Review, A Matter Of Grave Concern
• 2014 RITA Award Finalist - Contmeporary Single Title, Home To Whiskey Creek
• 2014 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, Come Home To Me
• 2014 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, The Heart Of Christmas
• 2013 Library Journal Starred Review, Take Me Home For Christmas
• 2012 RT Book Reviews Top Pick, When Snow Falls
• 2011 RITA Award Finalist - Romantic Novella, A Dundee Christmas
• 2010 RITA Award Finalist - Romantic Novella, On A Snowy Christmas
• 2009 RITA Award Finalist - Romantic Suspense, Stop Me