Melissa Payne is the bestselling author of six novels, including In The Beautiful Dark and The Wild Road Home. After an early career raising money for nonprofit organizations, a brief attempt at selling jewelry, and a wildly unsuccessful stint as a barista, Melissa wrote her first novel. Her stories feature small mountain towns with characters searching for redemption, love, and second chances. They have been three-time Colorado Book Award finalists and Colorado Authors League 2020 and 2023 winners for mainstream fiction. Melissa lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her husband and three children, a friendly mutt, a very loud cat, and the occasional bear.