has been writing for more than twenty-five years and has an outstanding recordâmore than 165 novels published. She says she hopes to go on writing until she has passed the 200 mark, and maybe even the 250 mark.
Although Penny was born in Preston, Lancashire, U.K., where she spent her childhood, she moved to Cheshire as a teenager and has continued to live there. She lives with a hairy Birman cat, Posh, who assists her with her writing.
Penny is a member and supporter of both the Romantic Novelistsâ Association and Romance Writers of Americaâtwo organizations dedicated to providing support for both published and yet-to-be-published authors.
LISA PAUSED HESITANTLY outside the shop, studying the very obviously designer-label and expensive outfits in the window doubtfully.
She had been given the address by a friend who had told her that the shop was one of the most exclusive ânearly newâ designer-clothes outlets in the city, where outfits could be picked up for less than a third of their original price.
Lisa was no fashion victimânormally she was quite happy with her small wardrobe of good-quality chain-store clothesâbut Henry had seemed so anxious that she create a good impression on his family and their friends, and most particularly his mother, during their Christmas visit to his parentsâ home in the north that Lisa had felt obliged to take the hints he had been dropping and add something rather more up-market to her wardrobe. Especially since Henry had already indicated that he wanted to put their relationship on a more formal basis, with an official announcement to his family of their plans to marry.
Lisa knew that many of her friends found Henry slightly stuffy and old-fashioned, but she liked those aspects of his personality. They indicated a reliability, a dependability in him which, so far as she was concerned, outweighed his admitted tendency to fuss and find fault over minor details.
When the more outspoken of her closest friends had asked her what she saw in him sheâd told them quietly that she saw a dependable husband and a good father.
âBut what about romance?â they had asked her. âWhat about falling desperately and passionately in love?â
Lisa had laughed, genuinely amused.
âIâm not the type of woman who falls desperately or passionately in love,â she had responded, âand nor do I want to be!â
âBut doesnât it annoy you that Henryâs so chauvinistically old-fashioned?â Her friends had persisted. âLook at the way heâs fussing over you meeting his parents and familyâtelling you how he wants you to dress.â
âHeâs just anxious for me to make a good impression,â Lisa had argued back on Henryâs behalf. âHe obviously values his parentsâ opinion andââ
âAnd heâs still tied to his motherâs apron strings,â one of her friends had scoffed. âI know the type.â She had paused a little before adding more seriously, âYou know, donât you, that he was on the point of becoming engaged to someone else shortly before he met you and that he broke off the relationship because he wasnât sure that his family would approve of her? Apparently theyâre very old-fashioned and strait-laced, and Janey had been living with someone else when sheâd first met Henryââ
âYes, I do know,â Lisa had retorted firmly. âBut the reason that they broke up was not Janeyâs past history but that Henry realised that they didnât, simply didnât have enough in common.â
âAnd you and he do?â her friend had asked drily.
âWe both want the same things out of life, yes,â Lisa had asserted defensively.
And it was, after all, true. She might not have fallen deeply in love with Henry the night they were introduced by a mutual friend, but she had certainly liked him enough to accept his invitation to dinner, and their relationship had grown steadily from that date to the point where they both felt that their future lay together.
She might not be entirely comfortable with Henryâs insistence that she buy herself a new wardrobe in order to impress his wealthy parents and their circle of friends, but she could sympathise with the emotion which had led to him making such a suggestion.
Her own parents would, she knew, be slightly bemused by her choice of a husband; her mother was a gifted and acclaimed potter whose work was internationally praised, whilst her fatherâs stylish, modern furniture designs meant that he was constantly in demand, not just as a designer but as a lecturer as well.