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I was never a star English student or a Literature buff, but I’ve always had a creative soul and an active imagination. Writing was a natural culmination of those two talents.
I write what I like to read: romantic suspense. I write for entertainment and escape–the same reasons I love to read. I prefer real-life language, so you’ll find profanity in my work when it fits the character. I prefer open-door sex, so my love scenes are typically hot and steamy. And because my stories involve suspense, you’ll often find violence, mystery and an inside look at the intricate world of forensics. Occasionally, I like to dabble in the lighter side of paranormal as well.
I am agented by the fabulous Paige Wheeler, founding partner of Folio Literary Management in New York. My debut novel, FEVER, releases from Kensington Brava in April 2012. Book 2 in the series, BLAZE, releases fall 2012. My editor at Kensington is the wonderful Alicia Condon, Editorial Director for Brava.
A triple RWA Golden Heart finalist as well as a double Daphne Du Maurier finalist, I am a lover of craft and closet-hoarder of writing craft how-to books.
In my day job, I work as a sonographer at UCSF Medical Center, a location with an intensity that makes me slightly insane…which works well with the writer in me. Not to mention all the character material I have access to–and I’m not talking about the patients (well…mostly).
I have been married twenty years to my own personal hero, a veteran firefighter, we have two beautiful daughters and are blessed to live in the heart of wine country on the gorgeous Central Coast of California.
Please feel free to email me with questions and comments at:
joan AT joanswan DOT com.
joan AT joanswan DOT com.
Intimate Enemies by Joan Swan, Book 1 of the Covert Affairs series
She is on a quest for answers; answers that could just get her killed.
Six months after the mysterious yacht explosion that killed Cassie Christo’s mother and stepbrother, authorities still have no answers to the cause. Searching for closure, Cassie returns to her childhood home on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico, where she launches her own investigation into the accident. She never expected to find an adversary in the man who had once touched her heart with kindness in her darkest moment.
Rio’s been fantasizing about reconnecting with Cassie for months. But not here and sure as hell not now. As an undercover agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s working the biggest sting operation in all of northern Mexico, and he definitely doesn’t have time for the wild attraction he feels for Cassie.
Not only is his cover on the line, so is his heart. Because as the end of a yearlong operation draws closer, Rio knows if he tells Cassie the truth about who and what he is, it won’t only jeopardize his mission, it may result in him losing her forever. And if he doesn’t, his lies and deception could get them both killed.
Six months after the mysterious yacht explosion that killed Cassie Christo’s mother and stepbrother, authorities still have no answers to the cause. Searching for closure, Cassie returns to her childhood home on the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico, where she launches her own investigation into the accident. She never expected to find an adversary in the man who had once touched her heart with kindness in her darkest moment.
Rio’s been fantasizing about reconnecting with Cassie for months. But not here and sure as hell not now. As an undercover agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he’s working the biggest sting operation in all of northern Mexico, and he definitely doesn’t have time for the wild attraction he feels for Cassie.
Not only is his cover on the line, so is his heart. Because as the end of a yearlong operation draws closer, Rio knows if he tells Cassie the truth about who and what he is, it won’t only jeopardize his mission, it may result in him losing her forever. And if he doesn’t, his lies and deception could get them both killed.
First Temptation by Joan Swan, Book 1.5 of the Covert Affairs series
Counterterrorist agent Taft Walker knows the Mexican cartel smuggling game. But posing as part owner of an adult store to ferret out the newest tunnel into the US is a first. So is Zoe Brooks, his partner, new to undercover and a sex-toy virgin. Taft’s up for the sexy challenge. At least until he sees the real Zoe beneath her tough façade and realizes, for the first time in his life, he’ll have to risk his heart to win.
After the death of a teammate, Border Patrol Agent Zoe Brooks is ready to get off the front lines. She’s willing to tolerate a swaggering partner like Taft for a chance to work investigations with ICE. But she’s not prepared for the way he understands her deepest, sexiest desires. Or the fact that she’ll have to break her own rules to grab hold of the passion she’s always wanted.
After the death of a teammate, Border Patrol Agent Zoe Brooks is ready to get off the front lines. She’s willing to tolerate a swaggering partner like Taft for a chance to work investigations with ICE. But she’s not prepared for the way he understands her deepest, sexiest desires. Or the fact that she’ll have to break her own rules to grab hold of the passion she’s always wanted.
This series as well as this author first came to my attention when reading one of the book packs that are being offered by Amazon entitled Wicked Firsts, a collection of novels and novellas that are all good reading. The first book in this series was released in mid-2012 and then the follow-up novella that not only told the story of a new couple involved in undercover law enforcement against the Mexican gangs and drug cartels, but also completed the story of Rio and Cassie, the main characters in Book 1. Both these books are multi-layered in their story lines, both are built around the pain and anger that is part and parcel of the the evils of power struggles, drug wars, the acquisition of millions of dollars from the sex trade, transporting women to brothels throughout the world, transporting illegals after taking massive amounts of money these people have literally spent their lives saving. In this context these romantic encounters occur and they make darn good stories.
Filled with danger, sizzle and the kind of suspense that keeps reader glued to the page, both these stories are will written, bring characters to life that are realistic, edgy and frightening in their presentation. The reader will feel the anger, the greed that drives men to murder and the conscience-less actions that would put women in slavery if they pose a challenge to gaining another inch of territory in the power struggle, stand in the way of gaining that next half-million dollars, and so forth. Ms Swan has told stories that cause readers to deal realistically with the life-threatening danger undercover law enforcement officers live with, the particular skills and ways of dealing with criminals that can change their lives and remove them from what most of us would consider a normal life with normal relationships. Yet love intrudes, sometimes in a wonderful way and sometimes with mind-crushing results.
Ms Swan's next book in this series is due to be released Spring, 2014, and I, for one, will be delighted when it becomes available.
An additional word: Amazon continues to make some spectacular collections of romance novels available for only 99 cents. Now is a good time to become acquainted with new authors or indulge in an orgy of good reading from authors long favored. Don't miss this chance to enjoy some fine writing and some darn good stories.
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