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J. R. Ward

J. R. Ward

JR
24 featured booksJ. R. Ward

Jessica Rowley Pell Bird was born on 1969 in Massachusetts, USA. She is the daughter of Maxine F. and W. Gillette Bird, Jr. She began writing as a child, penning her thoughts in diaries as well as inventing short stories. She read her first Harlequin Presents novel in a rose garden when she was in her teens. She was hooked immediately. By the time she went to college, she had boxes and boxes of Harlequins and Silhouettes. Every year, her mother would ask why all those books had to live in the house and Jess would reply that if even one of them disappeared she would know. (She'd catalogued them.) Jess finished her first romance manuscript the summer before her freshman year of college. She attended Smith College and graduated with a double major in history and art history. She then received a law degree from Albany Law School. Shortly after that, she began working in the healthcare industry in Boston. She spent many years as one of the premier medical center’s Chief of Staff. While working as a lawyer in Boston, she completed two novels more and started a number of partials. In 2001, Bird married John Neville Blakemore III. Both her mother and her new husband kept telling her to send something in to an agent, a publisher, the Tooth Fairy, anyone. She thought they were nuts, but eventually got her nerve up and bought a lot of stamps. Since getting published, she has written contemporary romances as Jessica Bird and paranormal romances as J. R. Ward. She has been a Rita Award finalist, received two Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice nominations and has been a HOLT medallion finalist. New England born and bred, Jess is surprised to find herself living south of the Mason Dixon line. (But that's what happens when you marry a Southern gentleman.) She and her husband live with their golden retriever, who oversees her writing in a supervisory role.

OL1120447A

Overview

Catalog identity and bibliographic footprint for this author.

24 representative editions

Author pages in Bookitis are intended to show only works actually attributed to the author and a representative edition for each of those works.

Catalog identity

How this author appears inside the active Bookitis catalog.

  • Display name

    J. R. Ward

  • Personal name

    J. R. Ward

  • Source identifier

    OL1120447A

Featured books

Representative editions for works actually authored by this person.

Works in catalog

Quick navigation into the work-level grouping pages behind the featured books.

  • Crown of War and Shadow

    Representative edition published 2026

    Open Work
  • St. Ambrose School for Girls

    Representative edition published 2024

    Open Work
  • Forever

    Representative edition published 2023

    Open Work
  • Lassiter (Black Dagger Brotherhood 21)

    Representative edition published 2023

    Open Work
  • Lassiter

    Representative edition published 2023

    Open Work
  • Lassiter

    Representative edition published 2023

    Open Work
  • Darius

    Representative edition published 2023

    Open Work
  • Viper

    Representative edition published 2023

    Open Work
  • Dead After Dark

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • The Wolf

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • Lover Arisen

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • Claimed

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • Forever

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • The Viper

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • Jackal

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • The Viper

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • Lover Arisen

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • The Wolf

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • Darius

    Representative edition published 2022

    Open Work
  • The Jackal

    Representative edition published 2021

    Open Work
  • Black Dagger Brotherhood 19

    Representative edition published 2021

    Open Work
  • Warm Heart in Winter

    Representative edition published 2021

    Open Work
  • Lover Unveiled

    Representative edition published 2021

    Open Work
  • Claimed

    Representative edition published 2021

    Open Work