Despite the hard work, she still found time every day to read to her children, instilling in Dodd a love of books.
[3] The third, Candle in the Window, won the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award for unpublished authors,[5] resulting in its publication in 1991 by HarperCollins.
"[2] A Well Pleasured Lady also marked Dodd's transition to writing historical romances set in the Regency period.
Regencies allowed her to continue writing historicals while including fewer details on "what the characters are wearing, what the idioms mean, and who the scions of society were.
"[2] The heroines of Dodd's historical romance novels are based on her mother, an "impoverished yet determined woman who, in spite of adversity, fights to take control of her life and always wins.
"[1] Her novels have since been translated into twelve languages[citation needed] and have appeared on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.
She and her husband constructed a 5300-pound standing stone circle on their Washington property, where they celebrate the annual summer solstice.
She and several friends who are romance novelists, including Connie Brockway and Susan Mallery, meet at a hotel for three days.