Violet Winspear

Biography

Violet Winspear was born on April 28, 1928. Her first published novel was Lucifer's Angel in 1961. Winspear was a launch author for the new Presents line in 1973 with other popular authors Anne Hampson and Anne Mather. She wrote primarily from 1961 through 1987. She created a maelstrom in 1970 when she claimed that her heroes "frighten and fascinate. They must be the sort of men who are capable of rape". Winspear received hate mail for her comments[1]. Winspear's full comment, which clarifies her writing style was:

I get my heroes so that they're lean and hard muscled and mocking and sardonic and tough and tigerish and single, of course. Oh and they've got to be rich and then I make it that they're only cynical and smooth on the surface. But underneath they're well, you know, sort of lost and lonely. In need of love but, when roused, capable of breathtaking passion and potency. Most of my heroes, well all of them really, are like that. They frighten but fascinate. They must be the sort of men who are capable of rape: men it's dangerous to be alone in the room with.

Interestingly, Winspear railed against the work of authors such as Harold Robbins. Winspear's forte was creating and sustaining sexual tension between her characters while building fantastic worlds. According to Passion's Fortune: The Story of Mills & Boon by Joseph McAleer, Winspear only traveled in her books, which were set in locales such as Greece. McAleer notes that Winspear peppered her work with local expressions through the liberal use of tourist phrasebooks. Her skills at peppering her work with foreign phrases lead to author Ethel Connell/Katrina Britt being asked to look to Winspear for guidance in her own work.

Authors who were inspired by Winspear include Muriel Jensen, Jane Porter, Trish Morey, and Sandra Marton. Winspear's nephew Jonathan Winspear is also an author.

Winspear passed away in 1989 after a long battle with cancer.

As a Harlequin Presents author, Violet Winspear published 45 books. She published 22 novels as an author for Harlequin Romance, debuting with the imprint in 1961 with Lucifer's Angel, the first of many "dark and dangerous" titles associated with her work.

Books

• Awakening Of Alice, The - July 1978 Presents, #246
• Beloved Castaway - February, 1971 Harlequin Romance #1472
• Beloved Tyrant - July, 1966 Harlequin Romance #1032
• Black Douglas - April, 1972 Harlequin Romance #1580
• Blue Jasmine - May, 1970 Harlequin Romance #1399
• Bride Of Lucifer - December 1973 Presents, #30
• Bride's Dilemma - April, 1966 Harlequin Romance #1008
• Bride's Lace - October 1984 Presents, #734
• Burning Sands, The - January 1977 Presents, #174
• By Love Bewitched - August 1984 Presents, #718
• Castle Of The Seven Lilacs, the - August, 1971 Harlequin Romance #1514
• Cazalet Bride, The - October, 1970 Harlequin Romance #1434
• Chateau Of St. Avrell, The - November 1974 Presents, #70
• Child Of Judas, The - June 1976 Presents, #146
• Court Of The Veils - January, 1969 Harlequin Romance #1267
• Darling Infidel - May 1976 Presents, #142
• Dangerous Delight, The - October, 1969 Harlequin Romance #1344
• Dear Puritan - February, 1973 Harlequin Romance #1658
• Dearest Demon - February 1976 Presents, #130
• Desert Doctor - June, 1965 Harlequin Romance #921
• Desire Has No Mercy - July 1979 Presents, #300
• Devil In A Silver Room - May 1973 Presents, #5
• Devil's Darling, The - December 1975 Presents, #122
• Dragon Bay - June 1973 Presents, #12
• Forbidden Rapture - January 1974 Presents, #33
• Girl At Goldenhawk, The - June 1975 Presents, #98
• Girl Possessed, A - March 1981 Presents, #420
• Glass Castle, The - June 1974 Presents, #50
• Honey Is Bitter, The - May 1973 Presents, #6
• House Of Strangers - November 1973 Presents, #27
• Kisses And The Wine, The - August 1973 Presents, #18
• Little Nobody, The - July 1973 Presents, #15
• Love Battle, The - February 1978 Presents, #226
• Love In A Stranger's Arms - November 1977 Presents, #214
• Love Is The Honey - April 1980 Presents, #354
• Love's Agony - August 1981 Presents, #450
• Love's Prisoner - February 1974 Presents, #36
• Loved And The Feared, The - May 1978 Presents, #238
• Lucifer's Angel - 1961 Harlequin Romance #593
• Man She Married, The - January 1983 Presents, #566
• No Man Of Her Own - March 1982 Presents, #492
• Noble Savage, The - April 1975 Presents, #90
• Nurse At Cap Flamingo / Cap Flamingo - January, 1965 Harlequin Romance #884
• Pagan Island, The - August, 1972 Harlequin Romance #1616
• Palace Of The Peacocks - July, 1969 Harlequin Romance #1318
• Palace Of The Pomegranate - October 1975 Presents, #114
• Passionate Sinner, The - January 1978 Presents, #222
• Pilgrim's Castle - October 1973 Presents, #24
• Raintree Valley - January, 1972 Harlequin Romance #1555
• Rapture Of The Desert - April, 1973 Harlequin Romance #1680
• Satan Took A Bride - April 1976 Presents, #138
• Secret Fire - March, 1985 Harlequin Romance #2682
• Sheik's Captive, The - November 1979 Presents, #324
• Silken Barbarity, A - August 1987 Presents, #1006
• Silver Slave, The - November, 1972 Harlequin Romance #1637
• Sin Of Cynara, The - October 1976 Presents, #162
• Strange Waif, The - April 1974 Presents, #42
• Sun Lord's Woman - January 1986 Presents, #854
• The Sun Tower - February 1977 Presents, #178
• Tawny Sands - March 1974 Presents, #39
• Tender Is The Tyrant - May, 1968 Harlequin Romance #1208
• Time Of The Temptress - March 1978 Presents, #230
• Tower Of The Captive, The - May, 1967 Harlequin Romance #1111
• Unwilling Bride, The - September 1973 Presents, #21
• Valdez Marriage, The - May 1979 Presents, #288
• Viking Stranger, The - January, 1967 Harlequin Romance #1080
• Wife Without Kisses - June 1973 Presents, #9