Sheila Riley is an accomplished author of historical fiction books, hailing from Merseyside, England. She was the eldest of seven children and was encouraged by her parents, John and Peggy, to explore storytelling through the many family anecdotes they shared. Riley's love for writing began at school, where she discovered that writing stories in the back of her exercise book improved her English exam grades. Today, she is happily married to Tony, and they share three grown-up children, five grandchildren, a German Shepherd, and a cat named Missy.
Before becoming an author, Riley worked as a ladies' hairdresser for over twenty years. Her burning ambition to write led her to win the Northwest Libraries Time To Read Competition and have her short stories published in women's weekly magazines. In 2003, Riley joined the Romantic Novelists Association's New Writer's Scheme, which gave her the confidence to engage in longer projects that combined her love of history and research. Her first novel received a second read in the NWS, and she was later published by Harper Collins. Riley is now proud to be one of the first authors of award-winning Boldwood Books.