Rachel was born in Boise, Idaho, USA. Her father worked for a telephone company, and her mother was a house wife. Idaho has the largest population of Basques outside of the Basque lands of Spain. She grew up with kids with last names like Uberuaga, Berriochoa, and Egisquiza, but years later she discovered the rest of the country didn't really know much about the Basque culture or history.

Rachel's storytelling career began at the age of sixteen when she ran her Chevy Vega into the side of a hill, retrieved the bumper and broken glass from the ground, and drove to her High School parking lot. With the help of her friend, she strategically scattered the broken pieces and told her parents she'd been the victim of a hit and run. They believed her, and she's been telling stories ever since. Afther the High School, she married with Mr. Gibson. At 25, she already had three children. One day, her TV broke, and she read her first romance, The Spanish Rose by Shirlee Busbee, she loved it, and six years later she published her first novel. With the publication in 1998 of New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Gibson's first book, Simply Irresistible, readers discovered one of contemporary romance's freshest voices. Her debut novel was named one of the ten favorite books by the membership of the Romance Writers of America, and other of her three novels were named among the Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year by Romance Writers of America. Her fourth novel, True Confessions, was awarded the RITA, Romance Writers of America's highest honor of excellence. Some of Rachel's other awards and achievements include The Golden Heart Award, the National Reader's Choice, Amazon Editor's Top Pick, Publisher Weekly's Quill nominee and Borders bestselling romantic comedy for 2006. Rachel continues living in her native Boise, and when not writing, Rachel can be found boating on Payette Lake with Mr. Gibson, shopping for shoes, or forcing her love on an ungrateful cat.