Kate Bateman / K. C. Bateman, is the #1 bestselling author of Regency and Renaissance historical romances, including the Secrets & Spies series: To Steal a Heart, A Raven’s Heart and A Counterfeit Heart. Her Renaissance romp The Devil To Pay is a 2019 RITA nominee. Her books feature feisty, intelligent heroines, (badasses in bodices!) wickedly inappropriate banter, and heroes you want to both strangle and kiss. When not writing, Kate leads a double life as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several TV shows in the UK. She currently lives in Illinois with a number-loving husband and three inexhaustible children, and regularly returns to her native England ‘for research.’