Catherine C. Heywood is a bestselling author of romantic historical fiction, and a former political communications consultant and speech writer.

Raised in Red Wing, Minnesota, she studied international politics at the University of Edinburgh and has degrees in politics, writing, and communications from the University of St. Thomas and Boston College.

She explored the law and improv before settling on storytelling. Her worst job was scraping year-old tobacco spit off a shoe factory wall.  Her best is doing this.

She lives in Western Wisconsin with her husband and sons, and her interests include architecture and design, fashion and food.