About

Esme Cooper is a new voice in historical fiction, specializing in Victorian-era stories with gothic overtones. She loves to fill spooky houses with passionate characters who have to face their fears in order to find love.

After abandoning her first manuscript in kindergarten, Cooper grew up dabbling in fanfiction before getting serious about writing romance. After many years of RWA chapter conferences, online classes, writing groups, and research trips, Cooper finished her first full manuscript in the 2020 lockdown.

Secrets and Smoke is the culmination of a 25-year addiction to historical romance for Cooper, who at a young age discovered by accident the upstairs closet where her mother hid her romance novels. Cooper secretly read every single book that ended up in that closet, carefully putting each book back exactly where she had found it. (Her mom still doesn't know!)

A lifelong reader, she's especially loved spooky books by Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart and has a soft spot for classics, specifically anything by the Bronte Sisters, Jane Austen, and Thomas Hardy.

When not writing, Cooper loves to travel, linger at book clubs, and put ice in her white wine. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and a small gang of cats.