Evelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels was born on 15 September 1909 in Leyton to a family with firm roots in the Civil Service. She spent her childhood and youth in Devonshire. She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.
In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station, until the invasion of France in 1940. She was commissioned into the TANS as a Sister on 30 May 1941. Later she worked in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where she met a Dutchman, named Johannes Meijer. They married in 1942 and had a daughter Caroline, born 1945.
The married couple lived in London, and later they moved to the Netherlands for thirteen years, where she resumed her nursing career. When the family return to England, she continued her nursing. When she eventually retired, she had reached the position of Night Superintendent.
Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969. Her career with Mills & Boonor Harlequin spanned 30 years, and she continued to write into her 90th year. She wrote 134 novels.
Her novels have several recurring themes. The main male and female characters are often brought together by circumstances before love flourishes. The male protagonist is often a Dutch surgeon. The heroine is usually either a Cinderella or a "splendidly built" queen-sized lady. A character will often have an expertise in antiques. Family pets are common.
