It’s with sadness that we announce the passing of widely regarded and much-loved Australian author Valerie Parv. She was first published by Mills & Boon in 1982 with Love’s Greatest Gamble and went on to write 56 further romances across various Harlequin, Mills & Boon and Silhouette imprints, as well as other novels and non-fiction titles. Her last title for Harlequin was With a Little Help, published in Superromance in 2011.

I was privileged to work with Valerie in her early days with Mills & Boon, eventually meeting her at one of the Romance Writers of Australia conferences, and found her to be warm-hearted, generous with her time – and totally devoted to her writing.  Always happy to share her love of romance and her writing knowledge, she held seminars and workshops based on her two bestselling guides.  Her dedication was recognised in the Queen’s 2015 Birthday Honours List when she was made a member of the Order of Australia for ‘significant service to the arts as a prolific author, and as a role model and mentor to young emerging writers’.

Valerie was a champion of romance and selflessly gave her time to encouraging aspiring authors.  She will be sadly missed by all those who knew her and were inspired by her.

Linda Fildew

Senior Editor, Harlequin Mills & Boon Series Acquisition Team, London

By Lauren Gardiner