Patricia Burford and her twin Pamela were born on August 9, 1954 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.A.. They are reputedly descended from "Little John," the best friend of the legendary "Robin Hood", this helped inspire Patricia's love of history. Married, they live with their daugthers in a house shared with a variety of cats in Rochester, Monroe County, New York.

Before beginning to write, she worked in the publishing industry in New York City and Rochester, as both a marketing manager and editor. She writes contemporary and historical romance novels with her married name: Patricia Ryan, mystery novels as P.B. Ryan (her first and middle initials with her married surname) and erotica novels as Louisa Burton (in homage to Sir Richard Burton, who translated the Kama Sutra).

As Patricia Ryan, she won a Golden Heart award in 1994 in the category "short contemporary series", a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and a RITA for "Best Long Historical Romance", the top award of the Romance Writers of America in 2000. As P.B. Ryan, she was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award.