A southerner by birth, Mary Ellen Taylor's love of her home state, Virginia, is evident in her contemporary women's fiction, including Winter Cottage, Spring House and Honeysuckle Season, and her latest The Words We Whisper. She's also celebrated the city of Alexandria and its storied history in her books The Union Street Bakery, Sweet Expectations, At the Corner of King Street, and The View from Prince Street.

As do so many people, her protagonists search for their place in the world, exploring issues of family, home, love, and belonging. Inevitably, Mary Ellen's stories entwine with those of the places in which they're set, and the mysteries at their core span past and present.

Mary Ellen is also known nationally as New York Times and USA Today bestselling suspense novelist Mary Burton. Together, they have published forty-five novels and five novellas.

When not traveling or holed up writing, Mary Ellen spends time with her husband enjoying their empty nest and spoiling their miniature dachshunds, Buddy, Bella and Tiki.