Joan Johnston

Joan Johnston - aka Joan Mertens Johnston - was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1948. She has a bachelor's and master's degree in theatre, worked for a weekly newspaper, was a director of theatre at a junior college in Texas, went to law school and ended up working at the largest firm in Virginia.

As a mother of two she turned to reading romance novels to cope with the stress of being a working mother and often thought "I could write one of these..." - which she finally did. Contacting Linda Marrow of Pocket Books - she had met her at the second annual Romantic Times Magazine conference in New York - her book was accepted and published as A Loving Defiance in the Tapestry Romance line in 1985.

She writes historical romances for Pocket Books and Dell, contemporary romances for Pocket Books and Avon and category romance for the Silhouette Desire imprint.

On The Web

• Joan Johnston's Website

Books

• After The Kiss - March 1997 (Dell)
• Barefoot Bride, The - January 1992 (Dell)
• Bodyguard, The - March 1998 (Island)
• Breathless Seduction - September 2007 (Mills & Boon) = Sisters Found
• Bridegroom, The - February 1999 (Island)
• Captive - May 1996 (Dell)
• Colter's Wife - November 1986 (Pocket Books)
• Comanche Woman - April 1989 (Pocket Books)
• Cowboy, The - February 2000 (Island)
• Cowboy And The Princess, The - May 1993 (Silhouette Desire #785)
• Cowboy Takes A Wife, The - March 1994 (Silhouette Desire #842)
• Disobedient Bride, The - July 1995 (Silhouette Desire #937)
• Fit To Be Tied - May 1988 (Silhouette Desire #424)
• Frontier Woman - August 1988 (Pocket Books)
• Headstrong Bride, The - December 1994 (Silhouette Desire #896)
• Heartbeat - September 1997 (Avon)
• Honey And The Hired Hand - November 1992 (Silhouette Desire #746)
• I Promise - June 1996 (Avon)
• Inheritance, The - January 1995 (Dell)
• Kid Calhoun - March 1993 (Dell)
• Little Time In Texas, A - May 1992 (Silhouette Desire #710)
• Loner, The - April 2002 (Dell)
• Loving Defiance, A - February 1985 (Tapestry Romance #57) = No Longer A Stranger
• Marriage By The Book - April 1989 (Silhouette Desire #489)
• Maverick Heart - December 1995 (Dell)
• Never Tease A Wolf - July 1991 (Silhouette Desire #652)
• Next Mrs. Blackthorne, The - September 2005 (Pocket Books)
• No Longer A Stranger - February 2005 (Pocket Books) = A Loving Defiance
• Outlaw's Bride - November 1993 (Dell)
• Price, The - March 2003 (Atria) Hardcover
• Rancher And The Runaway Bride, The - April 1993 (Silhouette Desire #779)
• Rivals, The - September 2004 (Pocket Books)
• Sisters Found - December 2002 (Mira)
• Stranger's Game, A - March 2008 (Pocket Books) Hardcover
• Substitute Groom, The - August 1998 (Silhouette)
• Sweetwater Seduction - January 1991 (Dell)
• Temporary Groom, The - June 1996 (Silhouette Desire #1004)
• Texan, The - March 2001 (Island)
• Texas Woman - October 1989 (Pocket Books)
• Unforgiving Bride, The - September 1994 (Silhouette Desire #878)
• Virgin Groom, The - August 1997 (Silhouette)
• Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, A - August 1991 (Silhouette Desire #658)
• Wrangler And The Rich Girl, The - June 1993 (Silhouette Desire #791)

Novellas

• Bluest Eyes In Texas, The in "Abduction And Seduction" - March 1996 (Silhouette)
• Christmas Baby, The in "A Christmas Together" - October 1994 (Avon)
• Hawk's Way Christmas, A in "Lone Star Christmas" - November 1997 (Silhouette) Hardcover
• Man From Wolf Creek, The in "To Have And To Hold" - June 1994 (Avon)
• One Simple Wish in "Untamed Maverick Hearts" - July 1993 (Harlequin)
• Taming The Lone Wolf - in "Outlaws And Heroes" - September 1995 (Harlequin)

Collections

• Hawk's Way Bachelors - December 2000 (Silhouette) Trade Paperback (The Rancher And The Runaway Bride / The Cowboy And The Princess / The Wrangler And The Rich Girl)
• Hawk's Way Brides - October 2001 (Silhouette) (The Disobedient Bride / The Headstrong Bride / The Unforgiving Bride)
• Hawk's Way Grooms - July 2008 (HQN) (The Substitute Groom / The Virgin Groom)
• Hawk's Way Rogues - September 2001 (Silhouette) Trade Paperback (Honey And The Hired Hand / The Cowboy Takes A Wife / The Temporary Groom)
• Hawk's Way: Faron & Garth - January 2007 (HQN) (The Cowboy And The Princess / The Wrangler And The Rich Girl)
• The Men Of Bitter Creek - October 2004 (Avon) (The Christmas Baby / The Man From Wolf Creek)
• Texas Brides - October 2005 (HQN) Hardcover (The Rancher And The Runaway Bride / The Bluest Eyes in Texas)

Series/Related Titles

1. The Inheritance, 1995
2. Maverick Heart, 1995

Characters of the second books were introduced in the first

Sisters Of The Lone Star

Stories cover the history of the Republic of Texas from 1836-1846.

1. Frontier Woman, 1988
2. Comanche Woman, 1989
3. Texas Woman, 1989

• sequel: The Creeds of the Bitter Creek series are descendants of the Sisters of the Lone Star.

Wolf Series

1. Never Tease A Wolf, 1991
2. A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, 1991

Hawk's Way

Life and loves of three generations of a Northwest Texas ranching family, the Whitelaws

• prequel A Little Time In Texas, 1992

1. Honey And The Hired Hand, 1992 (1rst Generation)
2. The Rancher And The Runaway Bride, 1993 (1rst Generation)
3. The Cowboy And The Princess, 1993 (1rst Generation)
4. The Wrangler And The Rich Girl, 1993 (1rst Generation)
5. The Cowboy Takes A Wife, 1994 (1rst Generation)
6. The Unforgiving Bride, 1994 (2nd Generation)
7. The Headstrong Bride, 1994 (2nd Generation)
8. The Disobedient Bride, 1995 (2nd Generation)
9. The Temporary Groom, 1996 (3rd Generation)
10. The Virgin Groom, 1997 (3rd Generation)
11. A Hawk's Way Christmas, 1997 (3rd Generation)
12. The Substitute Groom, 1998 (3rd Generation)
13. Sisters Found, 2002 (3rd Generation)

Captive Hearts

Series set in Regency England and Scotland, connected through friends and family.

1. Captive, 1996
2. After The Kiss, 1997
3. The Bodyguard, 1998
4. The Bridegroom, 1999

• sequel: The Blackthornes of the Bitter Creek series are descendants of the Duke of Blackthorne (The Bodyguard).

Bitter Creek

Two feuding Texas ranch families - the Blackthornes and the Creeds - and the animosity that's existed between them since the Civil War. The origin of the feud is told in The Texan, featuring Cricket, the heroine of Frontier Woman. The relationship between Jackson Blackthorne and Lauren (Ren) Creed is a red tape through the first novels of the series.

• prequel: Frontier Woman, 1988 (Jarret and Cricket Creed, ancestor of the Creeds)
• prequel: The Bodyguard, 1998 (Duke of Blackthorne, ancestor of the Blackthornes)

1. The Cowboy, 2000
2. The Texan, 2001
3. The Loner, 2002
4. The Price, 2003
5. The Rivals, 2004
6. The Next Mrs. Blackthorne, 2005
7. A Stranger's Game, 2008

Awards/Honours

• 1988-1989 Career Achievement Award Winner - Romantic Times Magazine - Western Historical Series
• RWA Honor Roll (2008)