April Hardy

April Hardy grew up on the outskirts of the New Forest. After leaving drama school, her varied career has included touring pantomimes, children’s theatre and a summer season in Llandudno as a Butlins Red Coat. All interspersed with much waitressin and working in hotel kitchens.

Moving to Greece in her twenties, she spent many years as a dancer, then choreographer. After hanging up her dancing shoes, she did a 7-month stint on a Greek cruise ship, was housekeeper on a Greek tycoon's yacht and worked for an eccentric celebration cake designer, before training as a pastry chef in a Swiss hotel school in Athens. Whilst living there, she also helped out at a local animal sanctuary.

Relocating to the UAE with her husband and their deaf, arthritic cat, she has lived in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where she is delighted to have found herself so unemployable that she has had plenty of time to devote to writing!

Sitting Pretty is the first of her New Forest romantic comedies.