Christina Courtenay is a bestselling and award-winning author, well-known for her historical romance novels. She was born in England and has a Swedish mother, which led to her upbringing in Sweden. Courtenay's childhood was spent in Sweden, but she also lived in Switzerland and Japan before settling close to the Welsh border in Herefordshire, where she currently resides. She is a former chairman of the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) and has won several awards, including the Best Fantasy Romantic Novel, Best Historical Romantic Novel, and the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by RNA.
Courtenay's writing covers historical romance, time slip, and time travel stories. Her interest in the Vikings stems from her Swedish heritage, and she is also a keen amateur genealogist who loves history and archaeology. She became a published author in 2009, with the release of "Marry in Haste," the debut novel of the Regency Romance Collection series. Since then, she has written more than a dozen novels and has become a prolific writer in her genre.
In addition to her writing, Courtenay is actively involved in the RNA, serving as a Vice President and former chairman. She won the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy for a historical short story in 2001 and the Katie Fforde Bursary for a promising new writer in 2006. Her novels have been shortlisted for and won several awards, including the RNA's Award for Best Historical Fiction, Big Red Reads Best Historical Fiction Award, and the Festival of Romance Award for Best Historical. In 2021, Echoes of the Runes won the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year, and Hidden in the Mists was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022.
Courtenay's writing career began as a way to be a stay-at-home mother and take care of her two children. She did not get published until her first daughter left home at twenty-one years of age. However, since then, she has become a successful and accomplished author, with a devoted following of readers who appreciate her engaging and well-crafted stories.