Padme's Library: Covert Danger by Jo-Ann Carson

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Covert Danger by Jo-Ann Carson

Title: Covert Danger

Author: Jo-Ann Carson

Series: Mata Hari #1

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: April 1, 2015

Summary:
A single woman — A double life

High fashion model, Sadie Stewart, is a dedicated undercover CIA agent used to getting her man. But this time she’s chasing a power-hungry international arms dealer stealing ancient Egyptian amulets. Brilliant, ruthless and slightly wacko, he’s a hard catch. She’s willing to risk everything to stop him, but the handsome Sebastian Wilde, who looks like a modern Viking, keeps getting in her way. Her independence is shaken as he stirs feelings in her that she thought only existed in fairy tales. Can she put their attraction aside and get the job done?

When Sebastian sees Sadie in a high speed motor-boat flying down the Grand Canal in Venice, with the Italian military police hot on her tail, her beauty and courage intrigue him. He has a personal vendetta to stop the trading of looted art, and when it looks as though she’s involved in that shady world, he decides to stop her. Could the femme fatale really be that evil?

Their adventure spans the globe with scenes in Venice, Florence, Amsterdam, Cairo and New York.

Can they work together and stop the heist planned for the Met Museum of Art? Protecting the relics becomes their shared goal, but it’s not all about ancient magic and power. Love hangs in the balance.

A cross between Indiana Jones and Covert Affairs

Award Winning
Smart Sexy Suspense

“Sadie, sweet Sadie, do you really think you can keep evading the police by sneaking around, or leading them on spectacular boat chases? Get a grip, woman. I give you six months as a jewel thief
and then you’ll be in some cold European jail cell with Bessy.”

“Bessy?”

“A big girlfriend you don’t want to meet.”

“Oh. You gotta help me, Delilah. You know people. There’s got to be a better way. I figure I need twenty million Euro to retire in style. That’s all—twenty mill.”

Delilah smiled her gotcha-smile. “If you’re not going to marry it, honey, you’re going to have to steal it or...”

“Or what?”

“Smuggle it.”

A Cross Between Indiana Jones and Covert Affairs
I love the adventure in Indiana Jones and the personal intrigue in Covert Affairs.

I want to write exciting stories with a strong, but not perfect, heroine who loves danger and adventure. I created Sadie Stewart, the modern Mata Hari.

In Covert Danger she meets her match in Sebastian Wilde, a Dutch art dealer with a past. The attraction sizzles as they fight to stop an arms-dealer with an insatiable thirst for power.

The bad guy believes in the magic of ancient Egyptian amulets. He adds an element of the supernatural to the storyline, and allows us to understand what made him go bad.

It was a really fun story to write.

A Top Five Countdown for the Modern Mata Hari
Sadie’s Top Five Reasons for Being a Spy
5. The people I meet.
Not everyone wants to live a double life. Those who do are an interesting crew of adrenalin junkies willing to risk their lives for the rest of us. They’re my kind of people. They eat danger for breakfast.

4. The travel.
I search for secrets all over the world and I love that.

3. The lifestyle.
I keep my modeling career going as a cover. Between my two jobs I make a fair amount of money and can live not extravagantly, but well.

2. I believe what I’m doing makes a difference in a seriously messed up world.

1. Living on the edge is a rush.

Character Interview for Sadie Stewart in Covert Danger
Why did you become a spy?
I love living on the edge. I never know what’s going to happen next. I tell people I do it because I’m making a difference in a seriously messed-up world, and I believe that, but the adrenalin rush is what keeps me going.

Does your code name Mata Hari fit?
I love sex, everything about sex... But Mata Hari’s reputation as a femme fatale is hard to live up to. Sensual, sexual… mesmerizing. Being compared to a legend is tough.
But… men say I nail it.<she shrugs>

Do you believe in the supernatural power of ancient Egyptian amulets?
Heck no. I value relics for their beauty and history. They belong in a museum where everyone can appreciate them. I don’t believe in magic. But I have to admit I’ve seen some pretty weird things happen around them.

What attracts you to Sebastian Wilde?
Oh my! Where do I start? He’s six feet five inches of man. He looks like a Viking Warrior, with long sun-kissed blond hair and blue eyes the color of the sky at dawn. He smells rugged and when he kisses me my whole world tilts. That’s what first attracted me to him. Then I got to know him and truly lost my heart. There is no other man like Sebastian. There is no other man for me.

Author Bio:
I've lived most of my life on islands off the the west coast of Canada, surrounded by snow covered mountains, lush rain forests and pristine beaches. While I enjoy traveling, I'm most at home on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

In my twenties I wanted to become a writer, but being practical I chose a career in teaching. I loved working with children for many years.

Time flew by, but the writing itch stayed with me, as much a part of me as my skin. My family has grown up and I’m retired. Now I spend my days spinning sexy, suspense stories edged with adventure.

Presently, I'm working on the Mata Hari series.