Diana Dempsey

Biography

Diana Dempsey traded in an Emmy-winning career in TV news to write fast, fun romantic fiction. Her debut novel, FALLING STAR, was nominated for a RITA award for Best First Book by the members of Romance Writers of America. It centers on the personal and professional travails—and eventual triumphs—of a primetime anchorwoman. TO CATCH THE MOON, a Romantic Times Top Pick, combines a murder mystery with a love triangle. TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN goes behind the glossy veneer of a Napa Valley winery to find forbidden love, intrigue, and betrayal. CHASING VENUS is a romantic suspense about Annie Rowell, who discovers that being a best-selling novelist can be a killer ...

Since Diana enjoys the occasional well-executed murder, she's launched a cozy mystery series. MS AMERICA AND THE OFFING ON OAHU introduces beauty queen and budding sleuth Happy Pennington, who must clear her name when her fiercest competitor tumbles dead out of the isolation booth during the pageant finale. The ongoing installments are MS AMERICA AND THE VILLAINY IN VEGAS, MS AMERICA AND THE MAYHEM IN MIAMI, and MS AMERICA AND THE WHOOPSIE IN WINONA.

In her dozen years in television news, the former Diana Koricke played every on-air role from network correspondent to local news anchor. She reported for NBC News from New York, Tokyo, and Burbank, and substitute anchored such broadcasts as Sunrise, Today, and NBC Nightly News. In addition, she was a morning anchor for KTTV 11 Fox News in Los Angeles. She started her broadcast career with the Financial News Network.

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York - Go, Bills! - Diana is a graduate of Harvard University and the winner of a Rotary International Foundation Scholarship. She enjoyed stints overseas in Belgium, the U.K., and Japan, and now resides in Los Angeles with her husband and a West Highland White Terrier, not necessarily in that order.

Diana loves to hear from readers! Visit www.DianaDempsey.com to email Diana, and sign up to her mailing list to hear first about her new releases. Also join her on Facebook at Diana Dempsey Books and follow her on Twitter at Diana_Dempsey.

Where to find Diana Dempsey online

Books

Ms America and the Naughtiness in New Orleans
Series: Beauty Queen Mysteries. Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 93,540. Language: English. Published: January 17, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Humor & comedy » General
Who better than Ms. America Happy Pennington to grace Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans? She packs party moves and sleuthing smarts—which come in handy when the king for an old-line krewe is bumped off during a Carnival parade. No ghost, vampire or even voodoo spirit will keep our scrappy beauty queen from nabbing the killer—not when the stakes are sky-high for someone dear to her heart...
Ms America and the Brouhaha on Broadway
Series: Beauty Queen Mysteries. Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 94,630. Language: English. Published: December 27, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Cozy, Fiction » Humor & comedy » General
(Beauty Queen Mysteries #5) Ms America Happy Pennington can’t sing a note, but that doesn’t keep her from landing a consulting gig on a Broadway musical. All would be A-OK on the Great White Way were it not for one hitch: a death on stage during a preview performance. Might it be murder? Find out why readers call Happy “the next Stephanie Plum” and the Beauty Queen series "a giggle a minute" ...
A Diva Wears the Ring
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 32,440. Language: English. Published: February 26, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary, Fiction » Women's fiction » General
(30-thousand word novella from the anthology RING OF TRUTH) Opera singer Veronica Ballard will discover that an ancient Irish Claddagh ring possesses magical powers. Whether she likes it or not, the ring will force her to listen to the innermost secrets of her heart. What truth will she find there about herself, and about the handsome stranger who might answer her lonely heart's deepest riddle?
Atrapar la Luna
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 137,220. Language: Spanish. Published: October 15, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary, Fiction » Women's fiction » General
Abogada experta Alicia Maldonado necesita un caso de mucha notoriedad para acelerar su carrera, y lo consigue cuando un candidato para gobernador de California es asesinado. Milo Pappas un reportero carismático aparece para cubrir la historia más destacada de la nación—solo para encontrarse aún más intrigado por la hermosa asistente del fiscal del distrito que por el drama en la sala de juicio.
Desafiando al Sol
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 133,450. Language: Spanish. Published: October 15, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary, Fiction » Women's fiction » General
La viticultora Gabby DeLuca está recuperándose de un corazón roto y haciendo su mejor intento de crear cosechas de vino añejo de las cuales pueda estar orgullosa. Entonces Will Henley entra en escena, rondando en busca de una adquisición. Will podría causar graves problemas a Gabby, tanto para su corazón como para su bodega. O su propuesta podría resultar ser el mejor acuerdo de sus vidas ...
Estrella Fugaz
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 143,020. Language: Spanish. Published: October 15, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary, Fiction » Women's fiction » General
Natalie Daniels no pasa por su mejor momento. Su marido acaba de abandonarla. Su jefe planea deshacerse de ella. Y se está enamorando de su atractivo representante de televisión australiano, que está comprometido con otra. ¿Qué debe hacer una mujer en este caso? Reunir fuerzas y mostrar a los demás de que pasta está hecha, aunque por el camino pueda perder su trabajo y al hombre de sus sueños.
La Captura de Venus
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 121,750. Language: Spanish. Published: October 15, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Suspense, Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
La última novela de Annette Rowell está escalando las listas de los más vendidos. Su éxito literario se ve empañado por un asesino que está matando a los autores de bestsellers. Reid Gardner es un ex policía que presenta un programa sobre crímenes. Ninguna víctima despierta más su ardor como lo hace la bonita escritora que se ha convertido en el blanco de este psicópata…
Ring of Truth
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 104,130. Language: English. Published: July 15, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary, Fiction » Women's fiction » General
When your heart speaks, will you listen? This trio of romantic and inspiring tales imagines the lives of three San Francisco women transformed by the iconic Claddagh ring—the timeless Irish symbol of love, friendship, and fidelity worn not only by Jackie Kennedy and Princess Grace, but by scores of citizens and firefighters who fought their last battle in New York’s Twin Towers on 9/11.
Ms America and the Whoopsie in Winona
Series: Beauty Queen Mysteries, Book 4. Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 79,240. Language: English. Published: November 21, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Holiday » Christmas
(Beauty Queen Mysteries #4) Happy Pennington loves Christmas, but this year murder gets in the way of the tinsel and the candy canes.. In small-town Minnesota, Happy discovers that nothing is what it seems. Society matrons worship Norse goddesses and Victorian mansions hide salacious secrets. Just in time, heartthrob Mario Suave swoops in to help any way he can. Especially under the mistletoe..
Ms America and the Mayhem in Miami
Series: Beauty Queen Mysteries, Book 3. Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 91,340. Language: English. Published: March 27, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Humor & comedy » General
(Beauty Queen Mysteries #3) Happy Pennington can’t say no when hunky reality-show host Mario Suave asks her to step in as a last-minute judge for the Teen Princess of the Everglades beauty pageant. But in glittery Miami—the land of the tanned, the toned, and the treacherous—pageant preps screech to a dead halt when one of Happy's fellow judges is found strangled by a string bikini ...
Ms America and the Villainy in Vegas
Series: Beauty Queen Mysteries, Book 2. Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 74,910. Language: English. Published: May 2, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Humor & comedy » General
(Series#2) “Superfab fun mystery”…“A giggle a minute”…“Happy might be the next Stephanie Plum!” Beauty queen and budding sleuth Happy Pennington goes to gaudy Las Vegas for the nuptials of pageant-wear purveyor Sally Anne Gibbons. The last thing she expects at the altar is a corpse. But at these over-the-top nuptials that’s what she finds: a dead best man and a groom who just might be the killer.
Chasing Venus
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 101,140. Language: English. Published: August 30, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary, Fiction » Romance » Suspense
Annette Rowell is enjoying the literary success she long dreamed of, but it's made her the target of a killer. Reid Gardner hosts a crime show dedicated to capturing dangerous fugitives and helping victims. No victim arouses his ardor more than Annette. Yet falling in love with her could cost him not only the reputation he's spent years building, but the one killer who keeps eluding him ...
Ms America and the Offing on Oahu
Series: Beauty Queen Mysteries, Book 1. Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 77,750. Language: English. Published: June 9, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths
(Series#1) Happy Pennington finds out it’s not all sequins and silicone when she competes on Oahu for the Ms America crown. When her fiercest competitor tumbles dead out of the isolation booth during the pageant finale, Honolulu PD gets to thinking Happy might have killed her. What’s the only thing a beauty queen worth her sash can do? Nab the real killer ... Visit Diana at www.dianadempsey.com
Too Close to the Sun
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 117,470. Language: English. Published: May 15, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary
Winemaker Gabby DeLuca is back in gorgeous Napa Valley, nursing a broken heart and doing her best to create wonderful vintages she can be proud of. Then hotshot financier Will Henley appears on the scene, prowling for an acquisition. Will could be big trouble - for Gabby’s heart as well as her winery. Or his ingenious proposition might just prove to be the best deal of both their lives ...
To Catch the Moon
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 124,630. Language: English. Published: May 15, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary, Fiction » Women's fiction » General
Prosecutor Alicia Maldonado nets a high-profile case when a candidate for governor is murdered. Charismatic TV reporter Milo Pappas shows up to cover the story-only to find himself even more intrigued by the beautiful assistant D.A. than by the courtroom drama. Ethics demand that Alicia and Milo keep their relationship strictly professional. That's easier said than done when passion ignites ...
Falling Star
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 129,470. Language: English. Published: May 13, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » Contemporary
(4.90 from 10 reviews)
Natalie Daniels' husband just dumped her. Her boss is scheming to replace her. And she's falling in love with her sexy Australian TV news agent - who's about to propose to somebody else. What's a woman to do? Dig deep and show what she's made of - which just might land her both the job and the man of her dreams. Nominated for a Rita Award for Best First Book by the Romance Writers of America