I’m Linda O. Johnston. Welcome to my website!

Mystery, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and more… I’ve a lot of interests, and the variety spills over into my writing. So does my obsession with dogs!

The good thing is that I write a lot of books. The bad thing is that, as I’ve said before, I don’t always update my website in a timely manner. But here’s how things are in late 2024.

My newest book was released in April 2025 and is the fifth in my Shelter of Secrets series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense: CANINE REFUGE. I’m sure it’s no surprise that dogs are important in it, as they are in all my Shelter of Secrets books—and all my other books. Shelter of Secrets stories are about a very special shelter that seems to be about protecting animals needing new homes—but it also takes in people in danger who need protection.

The earlier books in the Shelter of Secrets series are HER UNDERCOVER REFUGE (August 2021), GUARDIAN K-9 ON CALL (May 2022), UNDERCOVER COWBOY DEFENDER (March 2023), and CANINE PROTECTION (August 2024).

I also had two novels published in 2023!

CRY WOLF is the second Alaska Untamed Mystery for Crooked Lane Books under my first pseudonym, Lark O. Jensen. The first in the series, BEAR WITNESS, was published in 2022. They involve a naturalist who gives tours in Alaska… and solves mysteries. And yes, she has a dog. Both of these books are available in hardback.

Oh, and by the way, both Alaska Untamed Mysteries are being republished in paperback form by Harlequin’s Worldwide Mysteries. BEAR WITNESS will be available in May, and CRY WOLF will be available next year. Check the Worldwide Mysteries website.

My other 2023 release was CSI COLTON AND THE WITNESS for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, part of their vast Colton series and eleventh in 2023’s Coltons of New York mini-series. I’ve already had four books published in the various Colton series.

I’ve written other stories for Harlequin, too, including paranormal romance for their Nocturne line, but that series has ended. I’ve had over 30 books published by Harlequin.

I also wrote mysteries for Midnight Ink, including the Barkery & Biscuits series.
There were five in that series. And BITE THE BISCUIT, my first Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, was a finalist in the fiction category for the 2016 Dog Writers Association of America’s annual Maxwell Awards! By the way, all five stories are now available as audio books from Blackstone. I have also written The Superstition Mysteries for Midnight Ink. But unfortunately Midnight Ink has ended.

I’ve written other mysteries with dogs in them for Berkley Prime Crime: the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries and the spinoff Pet Rescue Mysteries. Some of them are now available as ebooks and audio books, with more to come.

Plus, some of my older romances have been republished in e-format. They included ONCE A CAVALIER, a time travel romance that features my favorites: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels!

So what’s your reading pleasure? A good story with a satisfying ending? Mine, too—and that’s what I like to write, no matter what the genre or subgenre. Oh, and dogs appear often, of course.

Dogs? Did you hear me say dogs? Did you catch all my references to them above?

I’ve loved dogs since I was a child, and once upon a time thought I’d grow up to be a veterinarian, not a writer. But then I learned I’d have to cut animals open, even to save their lives. Veterinarian? Not me, though I absolutely admire them. Oh, and I’ve also been a lawyer and a journalist.

But I’ve been owned by dogs for a very long time—and I particularly fell in love with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels when I saw one on someone’s lap in the Underground on my first trip to London. I came home and had to look hard to find one since they were pretty rare in the U.S. in those days. But I did find one: Pandaemonium, called “Panda” for short. I’ve had Cavaliers ever since, including my current ones: Cari and Roxie.

Though my favorites are Cavaliers, I love all dogs. I’m a dogaholic. A cynophilist!

And so, yes, I also love to include dogs, including rescue dogs, in my writing and do so whenever I can.

Come visit me at the Killer Hobbies blog. I blog there every Wednesday, often about pets although they’re family, not hobbies. I additionally blog and chat and provide author news at Writerspace, and blog every few months at The Writers in Residence. I'm also active on Facebook. Please come friend me there!

Happy reading,

Linda O. Johnston