Fictional Romance Writers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bradford

Barbara Taylor married the American Robert Bradford in 1963, and moved permanently to the USA following their marriage. She became an American citizen in 1992. 'A Woman of Substance' told the story of Emma Harte who established her own business despite numerous problems in her personal life.

It became the first in a series following Emma and her family over many years. These books are just a few of Barbara's creations, and she has written many stand-alone novels, poetry, religious books for children and books giving advice on home decoration and design.

Answer: Regency

Georgette Heyer is credited with creating the genre of Regency romantic fiction, although the novels actually span a rather longer period of about seventy years rather than just the nine years during which the Prince of Wales was acting as regent. Heyer was meticulous in her research and her novel set at the time of the Battle of Waterloo - 'An Infamous Army' - describes the battle in detail and with great accuracy. Of her novels, twenty-four were set during the Regency period, with a further fourteen set during other historical periods.

Heyer also wrote detective stories, but is remembered mainly for her romances.

Answer: American

Judith Krantz was born in New York and spent some time in Paris working in the fashion industry. She spent some years writing from home on a free-lance for various magazines before deciding to try her hand at writing novels. 'Scruples' was published in 1978 and was followed by 'Princess Daisy' two years later. Several more books followed, and many of Judith's books have been adapted into successful television series.

Answer: Barbara Cartland

Barbara Cartland's output was phenomenal, and her name appeared in the Guinness Book of Records for worldwide sales of her books - over 1,000 million were sold in her lifetime. She could produce two full length books in a year, and broke another record for the number of novels published in one year, something in excess of twenty. Cartland's books were notable for their chaste view of romance. Barbara's daughter, Raine, became the second wife of Earl Spencer in 1976, making her the stepmother of Diana and her siblings.

Answer: Riders

The 'Rutshire Chronicles' (the name is a guide to what to expect in the stories) began with 'Riders' and included 'Polo' (1991) and 'The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous' in 1993. Between 1985 and 2010 Jilly wrote nine books based on the same set of characters, mainly 'upper class' and revolving around pursuits involving horses. These included polo and show jumping and may even have mentioned point to points and gymkhanas, but Jilly did not use these as titles for any of her books.

Jilly Cooper began her writing career as a journalist, and her output includes many serious non-fiction works.

Answer: They are the same woman

The writer's real name is Eleanor Marie Robertson. She uses several pen names for writing, including Sarah Hardesty and Jill March as well as the two in the question. Nora Roberts is the name under which most of her romance novels have been published, while she writes detective novels, with her main character being Eve Dallas, under the name of J. D. Robb.

Answer: Robins

Denise Robins was just one of the names used by the author and was her real name following her first marriage in 1918. She became the leading author for the then newly established publishing house of Mills and Boon, one of the main publishers of romantic fiction in the 1920s - as it is still in the early twenty-first century. Robins was recognised as the queen of romantic fiction of her era and produced nearly 200 books, mainly in the Gothic romance genre.

She also wrote under the names of Denise Chesterton, Hervey Hamilton, Ashley French, Harriet Gray, Francesca Wright and Julia Kane, but the vast majority of her works carry the name of Denise Robins.

Answer: Katherine

The 'Katherine' of the title was Katherine Swynford, the long term mistress, and later wife, of John of Gaunt. She was the ancestress of Henry Tudor, who claimed the throne by descent from John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford, and established the Tudor dynasty when he became King Henry VII of England in 1485.

Seton's other works include 'Dragonwyck' (1945), 'The Winthrop Woman' (1958) and 'Avalon' (1965). The other names are real book titles: 'Pamela' was written by Samuel Richardson, 'Shirley' by Charlotte Bronte and 'Forever Amber' was the work of Kathleen Winsor.

Answer: Patricia

Meggin Patricia Cabot is probably best known for her series called 'The Princess Diaries', which began in 2000 and is still ongoing in 2015. She has also written numerous other books aimed at teenagers.

As Patricia Cabot, she published several romantic novels, beginning with 'Where Roses Grow Wild' in 1998 and including other titles such as 'An Improper Proposal' (1999) and 'Kiss the Bride' (2002).

Answer: Maeve Binchy

Maeve Binchy was born in County Dublin in 1939 and began working as a journalist. She struggled to get her first novel published, receiving several rejection notes, but 'Light a Penny Candle' eventually reached bookshops in 1982. 'Circle of Friends', which came out in 1990, may be the best known of her works since it was filmed in 1995 with Chris O'Donnell, Minnie Driver and Colin Firth among the actors. Binchy died in 2012, leaving a legacy of sixteen novels, the last being published after her death, several short story collections and various other writings.