Sapphire by Rosemary Rogers

Rosemary Rogers’s life reads like one of her incredibly adventurous novels. Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to wealthy parents, Rosemary Jansz was raised in colonial splendour—waited upon by servants, a private education, summers at the finest European spas. Shocking her family by becoming a reporter, she was to amaze them by marrying a Ceylonese sprinter known as “the fastest man in Asia.” Fed up with his racing after other women, Rosemary took their two children and relocated to London. Here she met LeRoy Rogers—an American G.I. They were married and relocated to California. Six years later, that marriage also broke up and Rosemary found herself employed as a typist supporting four children and her parents who joined her in the U.S. after they escaped Ceylon—all their possessions and wealth confiscated—in the face of a socialist takeover of the island. However, good fortune was in the wind for Rosemary and her family. As a child, Rosemary had written novels in the manner of her favourite novelists—Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini—and had continued to do so throughout her teenage years. Now, as an escape, she would rewrite and rewrite one of those childhood stories. She had completed her 24th draft when her daughter—a fan of historical romances—discovered it and urged her mother to send it to a publisher. The rest is history. That first book, SWEET SAVAGE LOVE—now available from MIRA Books—was an immediate sensation and shot to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. Fourteen more books followed—all New York Times bestsellers—and Rosemary’s status as the “Queen of Historical Romance” was unquestioned.