Cheryl Bolen is an American author, educator and journalist. She is known for writing more than 30 historical romance and romantic suspense novels, many of them set among Regency aristocrats in early 19th century England.
Personal background
Cheryl Bolen is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author. She was born in Los Angeles, California and is the daughter of Al and Betty Williams, who were divorced in 1959. Later her mother remarried, and Bolen moved with her to Texas in the 1960s. She met her future husband, John Bolen, while they were students at San Jacinto College, and they married during their junior year in college. When her husband went to graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin, she enrolled at UT, where she served on the staff of the Daily Texan. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1970 from the University of Texas with a double major in journalism and English. Bolen returned to Houston in 1971 when her husband accepted a teaching position at San Jacinto College. In 1979 she earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Houston at Clear Lake City while being a stay-at-home mother to their two sons.
Professional background
;Journalism While pursuing her master's, Bolen worked on a freelance basis, writing news articles for various publication. In 1979, she accepted the position of news editor with the South Belt–Ellington Leader, where she won several awards from the Houston Press Club and Texas Community Newspaper Association for spot news reporting, feature writing, and headline writing. ;Teaching In 1985, Bolen left the South Belt Ellington Leader to teach language arts in the Pearland, TexasIndependent School District. After teaching for six years, she returned to the Leader, where she remained on staff for six more years. ;Fiction writing Bolen's first romance novel was published by Harlequin Historical in 1998. For her first novel, she was named Notable New Author by the Ohio Valley Romance Writers of America. She has also written for Kensington Books, Love Inspired Historical, and Montlake Romance, which is a publishing imprint of Amazon.com. Bolen's books have won several awards, including the Holt Medallion and the International Digital Award. In 2011, she began self publishing her out-of-print titles and some originals as eBooks and has consistently been a bestselling author. Since 1993 she has held membership in the RWA and has been awarded the Lady of the Realm award from it Beau Monde chapter which studies Regency England. She also belongs to Novelist Inc.
Reviews
Her novels have been well received by critics. For example, Patty Engelmann reviewing With His Ring states, "The second in the series focusing on Bath by newcomer Bolen proves to be a winner with its lovable characters and slightly spicy but gentle-hearted story." John Charles reviewing One Golden Ring says, "A marriage of convenience turns passionate in Bolen's latest sinfully sexy Regency, which the author skillfully wraps up in a nice bit of Christmas cheer."
Literary awards
A Duke Deceived – Finalist for Best First Book, Holt Medallion 1999; Cheryl named Notable New Author 1999
With His Ring – Finalist Best Historical, Texas Gold 2003
An Improper Proposal – Finalist Best Historical, Texas Gold 2005
