Athina Paris was born and went to school in Mozambique. Living her formative years in the confines of strict convents and boarding schools, she escaped by dreaming of faraway exotic places, and it created a deep curiosity about life and people. Feeling the need to liberate her inquisitive mind from conformist restraints, she took refuge in libraries and bookstores, leading to an avid interest in reading, storytelling, and a lifelong obsession with the written word and books.
At age fourteen, she joined her family: father, mother, and a younger brother in South Africa, where she continued her schooling. Now able to read English, she quickly went through most of the classics, discovered ancient civilizations, and became fascinated with various mythologies; a love she has kept to this day. After her father left the family, she went to college to study Interior Design, but the pull of her true talent took her into Creative Writing. She followed that with Scriptwriting.
Raised in a culture where meddling is seen as ‘caring’, she became a spectator of human nature. Quiet and shy, she preferred recording conduct, rather than participate in what she calls ‘familial mass hysteria’, building a treasure-trove of relationship observations from which she eventually drew backgrounds for the characters in her novels.
Her epic romantic work takes her characters on voyages of self-discovery while dealing with catastrophic love lives and an imperfect world. Her first novel Love & Madness, layered and complex, is the story of a family tested by selfish ambition, misplaced passions, and an exploration of the recesses of the human psyche.
Knight Kisses tells the story of a young woman thrust into a life with a scoundrel of a father she never knew after her mother’s death from cancer. Gabrielle must deal with loss and mistrust and turns to keeping secrets, the only thing she knows how to do.
Her third novel, shifts focus from heartbreak to empowerment. Dani, the heroine of When Dani Smiled, is smart and self-assured, desires to be a fashion designer, and is blessed with a beauty that can turn any man’s will into putty. Ironically, it’s not her looks or designing ability but computer programming skills that land her a job in the high-pressure world of fashion, where she is soon pursued by two men; the rich playboy and heir to the company, and her jealous high school suitor, who is determined to possess her.
Feuds should stay buried, but not where the Barrymores are concerned. In All I Ever Wanted: Jessie, the first novel of a two part story, Athina returns to spinning complex family webs that ensnares the heart. And all turns to bedlam when the youngest son strikes up a friendship with the Stevens' daughter. Soon, so much more than a 60-year old vendetta is at stake.
Athina has recently vacated the position of high school teacher, where she polished her skills to concentrate on her professional goals of writing, editing and proofreading. She has joined RockHill Publishing LLC as Editor-in-Chief.

NOVELS

​LOVE & MADNESS
Benjamin Powell believes he has begun an empire. He has three sons and owns the most successful construction company. But it all begins to crumble when he chooses to manipulate their lives. Twenty-seven years later, the consequences of his decisions are still being felt.
Three women enter this world and fall in love with the Powell men – Sofia, Christie, and Gloria – they will suffer, fight, win, and lose. Can one or all find their way back to happiness; whether with the man she loves, or with someone else?

​​Knight Kisses
After losing her mother to cancer, Gabrielle swears off love. Because loving hurts too much when things go wrong. Then, she travels to Africa to meet her father - a man whose existence she was oblivious to. Before long, there is also a baby sister to look after, and intuitively she knows that she needs to protect her. Promptly, there is another tragedy, and more than ever, Gabrielle realizes how wise she is to lock away her heart. But that was before she met Jonathan Knight, a man who amuses and confuses her, and Paul, his best friend, who is just as smart and funny. Through an unfortunate sequence of events, she finds herself in a troublesome situation, but being who she is, she tries to handle it alone, unwittingly sinking into a morass of danger. A solution comes in the form of Paul, who makes a harebrained suggestion, which Jonathan - for reasons of his own - grabs and presents her with the providential arrangement. Instinctively, she declines the proposal, but Jonathan is persuasive and paints a wonderful picture of security. She accepts out of need, but soon, Jonathan’s ulterior motives unravel, and nothing is as it should be. But she can’t disclose the truth, for her secret could undo the safe future she is trying to create for her little sister.
After losing her mother, Gabrielle swears off love. She travels to Africa to meet her father, a rogue, and before long there is a baby sister who needs protecting. Gabrielle meets Jonathan Knight, a man who amuses and confuses her. Soon she finds herself in a sticky situation and unwittingly sinks into a morass of danger.

​When Dani Smiled
Stranded on the side of a highway, Dani, a young fashion designer and IT expert, calls to reschedule an important interview, only to discover that her future boss is in the hospital. Nicholas, playboy and heir to Galfrey’s, can't help but be intrigued by the young woman's voice on the phone and races to her rescue.
Attraction is immediate and mutual, but whereas Nicholas has never waited for anything in his life, Dani quickly dampens his enthusiasm by refusing to be rushed into a casual liaison.
Sams is handsome, ambitious, and rich, but also self-centered, with huge self-entitlement issues, manipulative, and believes Dani belongs to him. A master programmer, he is also no fool and realizes that he is about to lose what he has never had; Dani, and so begins a dangerous stalking game. It is up to Dani not only to outsmart Sams, but also save Galfrey’s and herself, as Sams is the keeper of a secret, which he hopes will coerce her into submitting to his twisted desires.


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All I Ever Wanted: Jessie

​When Jessie meets John at college, they begin a friendship that should have never happened, for the Stevens and Barrymores parted ways 60 years ago, under acrimonious circumstances.
Then, John complicates things further by taking her to the family home and hiding her identity from his family. She meets his three brothers, and soon finds herself embroiled in four very different relationships.
Which one will be the love of her life? James, the heir to the Barrymore fortune. Mathew, the heartbreaker. Mark, the one who gives her sleepless night, or John, her best friend?
But can anything meaningful come out of these fateful encounters, when it has all been started on the shaky ground of subterfuge?