Author Information
LaVyrle Spencer
  • Bibliography:
    23 Books
  • First Book:
    October 1979
  • Latest Book:
    November 1997
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About the Author

LaVyrle Spencer was born July 17, 1943 in Browerville, Minnesota. Today, she is a bestselling author of historical and contemporary romances. Her flair for writing was evident in high school but she didn’t start her first novel at that time. Instead, shortly after graduation she married Dan Spencer. They had two daughters. In her thirties, she read a novel by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. That prompted her to think about a becoming a novelist. Her first novel, The Fulfillment, was spawned from a recurring dream she had been having about her grandmother’s life on a Minnesota farm. She sent the manuscript to Woodiwiss, who read it and sent to her editor at Avon. It was published in 1979.

Spencer likes to write stories that center around the themes of abiding love, strength in adversity and family bonds. Several of her books have been made into films. She has also won numerous awards for her writing.

Book List in Order: 23 titles



  • HE ASKED HIS BROTHER TO GIVE HIS WIFE THE ONE THING HE COULDN'T. Together they worked the land. Together they loved a woman. But when Jonathan asked of Aaron what he could ask of no other man a brother's act of compassion becomes a man'...



  • FROM THE STREETS OF 19th-CENTURY BOSTON TO THE HARSH FRONTIER--SHE WOVE A WEB OF DECEPTION TO ENSNARE HER MAN! Lovely, fiery tempered Anna Reardon was forced to lie to get out of the street urchin's life that shamed her ... to become Karl Lindstro...



  • Spirited Allison Scott thought she had everything -- a promising career and Jason, an exciting lover. Together, as photographer and model, they would make it to the top. Then Jason left, shattering her heartfelt dreams. Allison's new model, Rick L...



  • Lee Walker strode through a man's world with the proud strength of her Cherokee ancestors, outbidding the toughest competition in the construction industry - and hiding the hurt of a secret loss. Then she unwittingly switches suitcases at the air...



  • The Bandit and the Gentleman Both were wounded in the same train robbery in frontier Colorado and left on Abigail McKenzie's doorstep to nurse back to life. Gentle, loving David Melcher, promising her a happiness she'd lost hope of find...



  • Only the Gift of Love Could Free Their Lonely Hearts AGATHA was the picture of primness and propriety although her green eyes could blaze with anger or sparkle with humor... SCOTT was the picture of lazy charm and happy indifference to what oth...



  • Sometimes destiny follows no rules... Winnifred Gardner, maid of honor at her best friend's wedding, never dreamed she'd be tempted by handsome, teasing Joseph Duggan, the best man. Her own wedding was only three months away! The attraction wa...



  • SWEET MEMORIES... of tender breathless passion, of a bond betrayed by lack of trust, of a love too long denied.... Like a haunting melody that recalls a special moment, Sweet Memories will stir your senses and touch your heart. It is the poignant ...



  • A Heart Divided... LAURA. Five long years ago, lovely Laura Dalton waited on the bleak Nantucket shore for the day her beloved husband Rye would return ... and then she learned his ship was lost at sea. DAN. Rye's closest friend. And for Laura,...






  • WHAT WOULD PEOPLE SAY? Rachel Hopis had only just become a widow, and who should be pounding down her door but Tommy Lee Gentry. Tommy Lee. Crazy boy. The hell raiser of Russellville, Alabama, had three marriages behind him and a string of fast...



  • They became husband and wife...in name only The wedding of Clay Forrester and Catherine Anderson was the social event of the season. It seemed like a page out of a fairy tale. But everything about it -- from the formal vows to the magnificent rece...



  • THE SWEEPING PLAINS HELD THE PROMISE OF A LIFETIME LINNEA Eager to begin her first teaching position, lovely Linnea Brandonberg stepped off the train looking as grown up and worldly as her eighteen years would allow. The golden fields and fra...



  • One kiss... could change her life forever. Emily -- With her sky-blue eyes, big dreams, and strong will, she was engaged to a man whose touch left her aching for something more. Tom -- The new man in town, he was a handsome and infuriating de...



  • LOVE IN A STRANGER'S EYES... ELLY In town, they called her "Crazy Widow Dinsmore." But Elly was no stranger to their ridicule--she had been an outsider all her life, growing up in a boarded-up old house under the strict eye of her eccentric grand...



  • How do you teach a heart to love again? MAGGIE Shattered by the loss of her husband, she struggled each day to put her grief behind her. To be there for her teenaged daughter. And to face life again. When she returned to her Wisconsin hometown,...



  • There's a place in every heart for forgiving.... SARAH She came to Deadwood, a rough and tumble western town, with an ambitious dream of starting a newspaper. But her journey had another purpose--to find her sister and mend the family tie that ...



  • After a bitter divorce, Bess and Michael Curran have nothing left to say to each other. Their children are their only bond. When their daughter Lisa brings them together unexpectedly at a dinner party, they must face each other again. And when Lisa m...



  • Set at the turn of the century, November of the Heart tells of Lorna Barnett, a young woman from a wealthy Saint Paul family, and Jens Harken, the ambitious dreamer who works in the kitchen of her family’s summer estate. Lorna’s father, Gideon, ...



  • Out of the deepest grief comes the greatest love ... Lee Reston, a widow in her mid-forties, had a full and rewarding life with her three incredible children and a thriving florist business. And like most of us, Lee never imagined how she would cope ...






  • Principal Tom Gardner comes face-to-face with a past indiscretion when a new student transfers to his school: Kent Arens. Tom only has to look at him to see that this teenager is the son he never knew he had, the result of a one-night stand on the ev...



  • The year is 1916. The place is a tiny New England village called Camden--where a newly divorced woman learns that love can be more special the second time around ... When free-thinking divorcee Roberta Jewett returns to her hometown of Camden, Mai...



  • Eighteen years ago, young Tess McPhail left her tiny hometown of Wintergreen, Missouri, population 1,713. She headed for Nashville--and never looked back. Now one of country music's brightest lights, "Mac" McPhail is a millionaire many ti...



  • Can love survive a shattering loss? Browerville, Minnesota, 1950: Life is just about perfect for Eddie Olczak. A man of unshakable faith, he derives intense pleasure from the life he's built. He cherishes his wife, Krystyna, their daughters, Anne ...


Award-Winning Books by LaVyrle Spencer

The Endearment
1982 Golden Medallion -- Mainstream Historical
The Gamble
1987 Golden Medallion -- Historical
Hummingbird
1983 Golden Medallion -- Historical
Morning Glory
1989 RT Reviewers Choice Award -- Historical Romance Set during WWII
1990 Rita Award -- Best Romance
Twice Loved
1984 Golden Medallion -- Historical


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

LaVyrle Spencer has published 23 books.

LaVyrle Spencer does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Then Came Heaven, was published in November 1997.

The first book by LaVyrle Spencer, The Fulfillment, was published in October 1979.

No. LaVyrle Spencer does not write books in series.