Catherine Rose Gordon-Cumming was born on 27 September 1952 in Wimbledon, London. She is founder of the Katie Fforde Bursary for writers who have yet to secure a publishing contract. She was for many years a committee member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and was elected its twenty-fifth chairman (2009-2011) and later its fourth president. In June 2010 she was announced as a patron of the UK's first National Short Story Week. Many of Fforde's own experiences end up in her books. Her novel Going Dutch was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller in June 2007. Her titles include Stately Pursuits, Going Dutch, The Undercover Cook, The Perfect Match and A Summer at Sea.
Davina Porter is known for the sheer beauty of her voice and her always-intelligent renditions of both classic and popular literature. A founding narrator with Recorded Books, Porter has an impressive list of classics in her audiography, including Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. Her celebrated readings of Gabaldon's Outlander series have many fans. She won the 2006 Audie Award for Best Female Narrator with A Breath of Snow and Ashes.