BOOK SPOTLIGHT/ TOUR EXCERPT/ GIVEAWAY: Joan Swan's Rush Virtual Tour

Hello everyone! I’m thrilled to welcome back to Riverina Romantics triple RWA Golden Heart finalist as well as double Daphne du Maurier finalist Joan Swan! Today she is stopping by as part of her Virtual Tour for her upcoming release, Rush, the third book in her outstanding Phoenix Rising series which is due out on August 27th. Well executed plots, strong heroines, sexy heroes and snappy dialogue along with a paranormal kick make Phoenix Rising one of the best romantic suspense series around! And today we are lucky to have an exclusive Tour Excerpt from Rush as well as some great giveaway opportunities for you all! Many thanks to Joan Swan and Tanya from Lit Connect for having Riverina Romantics on board for yet another exciting Phoenix Rising tour!! Delilah xo

RUSH
Phoenix Rising #3
by Joan Swan

Genre: Romantic Suspense (with paranormal elements)
Heat Level: 3.5/5
Elements/Tags: romance, suspense, paranormal abilities, conspiracy, remote viewing, rescue, firefighters, escape, amnesia, reunion, lobbyist, Washington DC
Publisher: Kensington
Publishing Date: 8/27/13
Series: Phoenix Rising, 3
Format: Print and Ebook
Words: 110k







Jessica Fury, Washington lobbyist, has money, connections, and her own firm. But five years ago she had something better: happiness. Her firefighter husband, Quaid, was handsome, courageous, and crazy about her. Then one day he walked into a chemical inferno—and never walked out. Jessica has been through hell to get back on her feet. And then a rumor surfaces that could bring a miracle or shatter her world – again.

Q has been a prisoner forever. He’s honed his mind and body into weapons. He’s developed abilities no one else understands. But he’s still at the mercy of a cabal of ruthless men, who blank his memory, test him like a lab rat, and tell him lies. Although his past has been erased and his future looks grim, instinct tells him he has a woman to live for. What his mind can’t remember, his body can’t forget…

The heat is on.

Don't forget to add Rush to your Goodreads shelf!

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Owen’s anger built like steam in a kettle. “They were exposed to classified chemicals in a fire that altered their DNA, resulting in paranormal abilities. One man died. The others recovered from their injuries and all but one left the fire service. All are intelligent and skilled and formidable. I know they have agents assigned to shadow them, to monitor them and their powers as they develop. And I know O’Shay’s and Ransom’s powers are enhanced when they’re together.” His gaze dropped to the files. “Sure as hell not enough information to fill all those.”

Schaeffer pushed himself from his chair with enough effort to make the spectacle an uncomfortable one to watch, and then paced in front of the windows. “I’ll give you the highlights. You take those folders back to your office and get yourself up to speed on the details tonight. This is a matter of national security.”

Owen’s brow fell. National security? Like hell. Who the fuck did this guy think he was talking to? Before Owen let his temper loop a noose around his own neck, Schaeffer said, “The firefighter that supposedly died—”

“Quaid Legend. Jessica Fury’s husband.”

“—didn’t die,” Schaeffer finished. “He was the first on scene. The one who got hit with a double dose of the chemicals. Which made him the best research candidate.”

Owen stiffened. “The best . . . what?”

“He’s been housed at the Castle since the incident, his abilities developed and utilized to gather military intel from all over the world—Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Hong Kong, China, Egypt. His intel comes in at ninety-eight percent accuracy.

“The recent arrests of eleven al-Qaida-linked terrorists with bombs ready to blow up the Western Diplomats’ Conference? Legend. The Hezbollah cell arrested in Mexico with truck-loads of C-4 meant for the Golden Gate Bridge and smuggled into the States through undiscovered tunnels? Legend. Rescue of eight Marines in Afghanistan scheduled for beheading? Legend. Rescue of the Atomic Energy Coalition’s CEO from terrorists with plans for a dirty bomb? Every single one of those happened because Legend gave us the intel we needed.”

“Holy. Fuck.”

Schaeffer glanced over his shoulder at Owen’s stunned face. His mouth barely turned, but a condescending smile played at the corners of his eyes. “And those are only a sample of the ops he’s been involved in. He’s saved an untold number of American lives, both here at home and overseas, civilian and military.” Owen didn’t know what to make of this. The information was probably true. The incidents were too high profile for Schaeffer to pull them randomly. He’d know Owen had the clearance to find out if he was telling the truth.

But Schaeffer was painting a rosy picture. Owen had been around too long to forget the flip side of every op. Things no one liked to talk about. Things like how many people died for the information Legend pulled in. Like what Legend did or said to gain access to such sensitive information. Like what else Legend was doing that didn’t necessarily benefit the American people, only Schaeffer specifically.

“How?” Owen asked. “How is he performing these miracles from a cell in Nevada?”

Schaeffer turned back to the window and clasped his hands behind this back. “That’s classified as need-to-know, colonel.”

Owen clenched his teeth. Fine. He’d find out on his own. “So what about him? If he was at the Castle, isn’t he dead?”

“He was getting ready for transport to another facility for testing when the chopper hit the lab. We got him out, detoured him to a safe house in the mountains of Utah with a transport team until we get this mess settled.”

Owen narrowed his eyes, a hot stream of alert sliding down his chest. “Transport team?”

“Four of our best agents are on him.”

Owen waited for more security details, but got nothing. He wasn’t sure why he had the inclination to laugh. There was a prisoner out there—a powerful, skilled prisoner—inadequately guarded, and yes, that did make Owen’s skin tighten with the urgency to act. But he just sat there with the irony blooming in his chest until he couldn’t stem a smile and the shake of his head.

“That’s it?” Owen asked.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?”

“I mean, that’s the extent of your security on a high value prisoner?”

Schaeffer thrust his shoulders back. His mouth tightened. “That’s why I’ve called you in, Owen. You’re the expert, not me. Take whatever measures you feel necessary to secure him.”

“And what budget am I using, sir?”

“The black budget,” Schaeffer said.

This was a black op. Fine. Owen had done his share of black ops. But there was something very wrong about this one.

Meet Author Joan Swan

Joan Swan writes sexy romantic suspense for Kensington (Phoenix Rising Series) and independently (Covert Affairs Series). She also works as a sonographer at a top medical facility in San Francisco and lives in magnificent wine country on the central coast of California with her husband and two daughters.

You can connect with Joan on her:

Website / Facebook Profile / Facebook Page / Twitter / Twitter Giveaways

Joan Swan's

RUSH

Virtual Tour August 19th - September 6th

August 19: Adria’s Romance Reviews

August 20: Herding Cats & Burning Soup

August 21: Novel Reflections

August 22: Riverina Romantics

August 23: The Book Whore

August 26: Books-n-Kisses

August 27: Grave Tells

August 28: Just Romantic Suspense

August 29: Book Lovin’ Mamas

August 30: The Jeep Diva

September 2: The Reading Cafe

September 3: So Many Reads

September 4: Under the Covers

September 5: Hesperia Loves Books

September 6: Urban Girl Reader

There are several ways for fans to score some pretty awesome prizes during the Rush Virtual Tour! Listed below are the goodies you can win by entering the Tour Wide Giveaway on Joan Swan's Facebook page and the Per Stop Giveaway you can enter at all the fabulous Virtual Tour stops from August 19th thru September 6th!!

Tour Wide Giveawayfound on Joan Swan’s FB Page:

•      (3) Designer purses filled with lots of goodies.

Per Stop Giveaway:

•      (1) print copy of either FEVER (#1) or BLAZE (#2) per the number of tour stops (15 Total) – US/Ca Only.

•      (1) digital copy of FIRST TEMPTATION by Joan Swan per the number of tour stops (15 Total)

•      (1) digital copy of RECKLESS by Skye Jordan per the number of tour stops (15 Total)

Please follow the Rafflecopter widget to enter to win at each stop. Then visit Joan Swan’s FB page to enter to win one of three designer purses filled with a variety of goodies! (Full Terms & Conditions located on the widgets.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC REVIEW: Rush by Joan Swan

Rush

by Joan Swan

5 HEARTS

From Goodreads

Jessica Fury, Washington lobbyist, has money, connections, and her own firm. But five years ago she had something better: happiness. Her firefighter husband, Quaid, was handsome, courageous, and crazy about her. Then one day he walked into a chemical inferno—and never walked out. Jessica has been through hell to get back on her feet. And then a rumor surfaces that could bring a miracle or shatter her world – again.

Q has been a prisoner forever. He’s honed his mind and body into weapons. He’s developed abilities no one else understands. But he’s still at the mercy of a cabal of ruthless men, who blank his memory, test him like a lab rat, and tell him lies. Although his past has been erased and his future looks grim, instinct tells him he has a woman to live for. What his mind can’t remember, his body can’t forget…

The heat is on.

Joan Swan is back and better than ever with Rush, the third installment in her exceptional Phoenix Rising series!

Rush is Quaid and Jessica’s story. Two characters I wasn’t sure I would be interested in reading about since there hasn’t been much of a chance to make any kind of connection with them but believe me I couldn’t have been more wrong. Rush is by far the best, and my favorite, book out of the Phoenix Rising series so far! It’s impossible not to be captivated by the ongoing governmental conspiracy in this series and now with the revelation of Quaid and the appearance of some new players (and sudden disappearance of others) we are really getting into the thick of things!

Rush takes over where the previous book Blaze leaves off. The Castle is now in ruins, Cash has been rescued and the team finds out that there is a very real possibility that the prisoner that Cash befriended named Q is actually Quaid Legend, Jessica Fury’s deceased husband and their former team member. And in what I think is one of the highlights of Rush, Ms. Swan starts off by affording us a glimpse of Jessica and Quaid’s life, as well as the teams’, not only before but DURING that life changing warehouse fire.

So what would you do, how would you feel if suddenly you are faced with the fact that the husband you thought had died, and you have mourned for five long years, might actually be alive? Jessica Fury is suddenly smacked in the face with that realization and is given a second chance with her husband, one she thought she would never see again, only to find out the man she is with isn’t anything like her husband at all. While he resembles him physically, mentally he is nothing like the man she married. Five years spent as nothing more than a lab rat will do that do a man. Quaid has been programmed to be the ultimate fighting machine, the invincible soldier. He’s nothing like the carefree firefighter we get a glimpse of in the beginning of the book. It actually hurt to watch Jessica get Quaid back only to have her realize that she really didn’t have him back at all and the chance existed that the Quaid she knew and loved might never come back. It was like watching her lose him all over again.

But it wasn’t just Jessica who was feeling the loss of the old Quaid while trying hard to adapt to the new one. Ms. Swan does a great job of showing how the reintroduction of Quaid back into the fold emotionally affects the rest of the team as well, especially Kai who took Quaid’s death, or supposed death, exceptionally hard since it happened on his watch.

Even more heart breaking than watching what Jessica was going through was watching Quaid try to remember who he is and was and what he means to Jessica and the rest of the team. Here is a man who has spent the past five years locked in a cell being nothing more than someone’s personal science experiment and only knows himself as a letter, Q. And even though he never knew her name Quaid has spent the last five years doing nothing but dreaming of Jessica. The dream of her is what has kept him going all this time. And now that he finally gets to see her, knows that she is actually real, he finds that he has all these intense feelings but has no idea how or why he has them because he doesn’t remember himself as Quaid. You can just feel not only his anger and frustration over that but how much it hurts him each times he has to tell Jessica he doesn’t remember anything. Because you know how much he wants to remember not only for her but for himself as well.

Mystery and intrigue runs high in Rush and the reappearance of Quaid helps bring about not only some pretty interesting revelations but also some pretty interesting unsolved mysteries as well, like Trent Dare, Quaid’s partner from the Castle. With the whole team back in Rush, minus Seth who is off doing research, the quips are flying left and right! And in the middle of the team uncovering important evidence we are witness to a rare glimpse of emotion from Mitch a/k/a “Mr. Mouthy” and are then treated to a sneak peek of Shatter, Mitch’s long awaited book, at the end of Rush. And oh what a book this is going to be! Screaming women everywhere, including myself, have been begging for his story and in January we are finally going to get it!!

While the previous couples in Fever and Blaze certainly had issues to overcome nothing compares to what Jessica and Quaid have to endure in Rush. And while this couple certainly didn't get the ending I expected they got the ending that they needed and I for one can't wait to see what Ms. Swan has in store for them in the future!!

Make sure to check out Joan Swan's Virtual Tour for Rush which makes its stop today right here on Riverina Romantics!

Hotness Rating

3.5 out of 5

**This book was received by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review**