Misty Urban wrote her first story at age 5 for the benefit of her younger sister. It was, sources say, a rather conventional piece involving cats, mats, and possibly bats (the work is no longer extant). Her next venture, a journalism/reportage effort entitled “The Urban Star,” peaked at a circulation of 3. She wrote her first novel at age 16. It remains unpublished.
Her subsequent career paths have included stints as a bookseller in Madison, WI; an MA student at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL; a combined MFA/Ph.D. student at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY; and four years as an assistant professor at Lewis Clark State College in Lewiston, ID. She has most recently come to rest in eastern Iowa, where she reads and writes in the company of one handsome park ranger, two young aspiring writers, and a rather heavy collection of books.
Awards
Outstanding Literary Arts Educator from the Midwest Writing Center
David R. Collins Literary Achievement Award
Great River Writer’s Retreat
Serena McDonald Kennedy Fiction Award
Alexander Cappon Award for Fiction
New Letters Award for Fiction
2 nominations for a Pushcart Prize
2 Best of the Net nominations
First prize, student fiction from The Atlantic Monthly
Fiction prize Writers @ Work
Viscount Overboard (Ladies Least Likely Book 1)
When the war-scarred Viscount Penrydd washes up in 1799 Newport minus his memory, Gwenllian ap Ewyas decides not to tell him he owns, and threatened to sell, the property she’s made a refuge for her and other lost souls.
More info →The Forger and the Duke (Ladies Least Likely Book 2)
A young copyist finds herself in dangerous territory when she crosses path with a would-be barrister and the illegitimate son of a duke...
Malden Grey has learned to live by his wits, and Amaranthe fears his sharp eye will detect that she doesn’t always earn her living by honest means. But when Mal’s young half-siblings turn to Amaranthe for domestic advice, she becomes deeply implicated in life at Hunsdon House, and against her better judgment, Malden Grey steals her heart—even while she’s plotting to steal the Hunsdon MS, an irreplaceable book that can make her fortune.
More info →The Painter Takes an Earl (Ladies Least Likely Book 3)
Eleven years ago, ragtag near-orphan Harriette Smythe made a lifelong friend when she defended the young Earl of Renwick from the village boys persecuting him for his stammer and clubfoot. When Ren returns to London with all the polish of his Grand Tour and the need to take up his duties, he finds a woman in crimson silk shimmying through his window: Harriette, all grown up into a delectable woman, who offers him a startling proposal.
More info →The Mad Baron’s Bride (Ladies Least Likely Book 4)
Leda Wroth is atoning for the crimes of her past in her new life as a lady’s companion, mentor, and fixer for those seeking love. But finding a wife for the Mad Baron is a task that will defeat even clever, capable Leda, for what woman would want a man—titled or not—rumored to have killed his first wife?
Leda will stay in her comfortable establishment in Bath, thank you. Until a ghost comes in search of her—a ghost determined to expose the secrets Leda has kept hidden for eight long years.
More info →Marry Me Marquess (Ladies Least Likely Book 5)
When his cousin’s death puts Leo Westrop in line to inherit a marquessate, he suddenly becomes the target of every matching-making mama in London, including his own. To save himself, Leo offers his hand to the angel who delivers him from a compromising situation—Lillian Gower, the daughter of well-known antiquarians, who could finally help Leo secure a dig of his own.
More info →