Early years

Coulter grew up on a horse ranch in Texas in the United States. She comes from a family of creative people. Her grandmother, who died at the young age of 37, was also a writer. Coulter's father is a painter and singer, and her mother is a retired concert pianist.

Coulter wrote her first two novels, fifteen pages each, when she was fourteen. While a freshman at University of Texas, Coulter wrote poetry. After earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas, Coulter attended Boston College and earned a Master's degree in early 19th-century European history.

Coulter took a job as a speech writer for a Wall Street company president. Because her husband was a medical student, she spent many of her evenings alone, reading romance novels. One night when they were home together, Coulter found herself in the middle of a particularly bad book and threw it across room, asserting that even she could do better. Her husband challenged her to prove herself, and the two spent the weekend plotting out a storyline for a gothic romance. Coulter wrote the novel in the evenings.

Writing career

When Coulter finished writing her novel she sent it to an editor at Signet. Three days later Signet offered her a three-book contract. That first novel, The Autumn Countess, was published by Penguin Books in 1978. By 1982, she was earning enough to quit her job and become a full-time writer.

Since then she has written over fifty books and has had forty-two consecutive New York Times Bestsellers since 1988. Her thriller The Maze was her first book to place on the New York Times Hardcover Bestseller list, while The Cove spent nine weeks on the New York Times Paperback Bestseller list and sold over one million copies. Coulter generally publishes one historical romance and one suspense novel each year, and has been busily rewriting many of her earlier Regency romances to turn them into longer historical romances.

Personal life

Coulter sits down to her computer every morning at 6:30 a.m. to review her email before beginning writing at 7:30 a.m. She normally finishes writing by 11 a.m.

Coulter lives in Marin County, California with her husband, Anton Pogany, who is a physician. They travel often, and Coulter loves to ski.

Regency

Baron Series

1. The Wild Baron Berkley/Jove
2. The Offer (orig. An Honorable Offer) Penguin/NAL/Signet
3. The Deception (orig. An Intimate Deception) Penguin/NAL/Signet

The Bride Series (Sherbrooke)

1. The Sherbrooke Bride, Berkley/Jove
2. The Hellion Bride, Berkley/Jove
3. The Heiress Bride, Berkley/Jove
4. Mad Jack, Berkley/Jove
5. The Courtship, Berkley/Jove
6. The Scottish Bride (1/2001) Berkley/Jove
7. Pendragon (Jan. 2002); Berkly/Jove
8. The Sherbrooke Twins (Feb. 2004) Berkley/Jove
9. Lyon's Gate (August 2005) Berkley/Jove
10. Wizards Daughter (2007)

Night Trilogy

1. Night Fire Avon
2. Night Shadow Avon
3. Night Storm Avon

The Legacy Series

1. The Wyndham Legacy, 1/94, hardcover, Putnam; 9/94, Jove paperback
2. The Nightingale Legacy, 12/95, hardcover, Putnam; 9/95, Jove paperback
3. The Valentine Legacy, 8/95, hardcover, Putnam; 7/96, Jove paperback

The Magic Trilogy

1. Midsummer Magic Penguin/Topaz
2. Calypso Magic Penguin/Topaz
3. Moonspun Magic Penguin/Topaz

Single Novels

1. The Countess (orig. The Autumn Countess) Penguin/NAL/Signet
2. The Rebel Bride Penguin/NAL/Signet
3. The Heir (orig. Lord Deverill’s Heir) Penguin/NAL/Signet
4. The Duke (orig. The Generous Earl) Penguin/NAL/Signet
5. Lord Harry (orig. Lord Harry’s Folly) Penguin/NAL/Signet

Georgian

1. Devil's Embrace Penguin/Signet (re-issued, re-written version 5/2000)
2. Devil's Daughter Penguin/Signet (re-release 9/12/2000)

Victorian/Early San Francisco

1. Evening Star Penguin/Topaz (original title Sweet Surrender)
2. Midnight Star Penguin/Topaz, (reissued 10/96)
3. Wild Star Penguin/Topaz
4. Jade Star Penguin/Topaz

Medieval

1. Warrior's Song (rewritten version of Chandra) Penguin/Signet
2. Fire Song Penguin/Signet
3. Earth Song Penguin/Signet
4. Secret Song Penguin/Signet
5. Rosehaven Berkley/Jove
6. The Penwyth Curse (new release Jan. 2003) Berkley/Jove

Viking Series

1. Season of the Sun Penguin/NAL/Onyx
2. Lord of Hawkfell Island Berkley/Jove
3. Lord of Raven’s Peak Berkley/Jove
4. Lord of Falcon Ridge Berkley/Jove

Contemporary romance

• Aftershocks Silhouette/Harlequin
• Afterglow Silhouette/Harlequin
• The Aristocrat Silhouette/Harlequin

Contemporary romantic thrillers

• False Pretenses Penguin/NAL/Signet
• Impulse Penguin/NAL/Signet
• Beyond Eden Penguin/NAL/Signet
• Born to Be Wild Berkley/Jove

FBI suspense thrillers Series

Omnibus editions

• (containing The Cove & The Maze)
• (containing The Target & The Edge)