Gaines wrote her first romance novel as a teenager and submitted it to Mills and Boon for publication; the company rejected it.
After her graduation from high school she attended university, where she studied French, German, Japanese and Spanish for a B.A.
She quit work after her children were born and instead freelanced as a business journalist.
Five years later, she received her first publishing contract from Harlequin Superromance.
After hearing that Harlequin Books had signed a product licensing deal with NASCAR, Gaines, who edits 'The Dirt', an open wheel speedway magazine, sent a story proposal to the company.