Caine grew up in West Texas and graduated from Socorro High School in El Paso, Texas, in 1980. She earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University in 1985, with minor in music. Caine has been writing and publishing novels and short stories since 1990. She is a former professional musician who has the distinction of having played with such musical legends as Henry Mancini, Peter Nero, and John Williams. She is also an avid movie buff and TV watcher and says she "prefers a good stout Guinness to wimpy American beers". From 1999, Caine was employed in corporate communications as a web designer, editor, corporate communications manager, and finally as director of corporate communications for a large multinational company. She took an eight-month hiatus for most of 2008 to meet pressing deadlines, and retired from her position to write full-time in 2010. She lives in north Texas with her husband, artist Cat Conrad. Caine does most of her writing at home and on the road during appearances. Caine listens to music while she writes, the playlist changing from project to project. In 2018, Caine was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma.
Published works
As Rachel Caine
The ''Weather Warden'' series (adult urban fantasy)
Ill Wind
Heat Stroke
Chill Factor
Windfall
Firestorm
Thin Air
Gale Force
Cape Storm
Total Eclipse
Red Hot Rain
Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden and part of an organization that rents space from the UN. Their mission is supposed to be alleviating natural disasters before millions of people die. Joanne shows up on the run, in her hot Mustang "Delilah", from a murder of which she has been accused; she thinks if she can find Lewis Orwell, with all three Warden capabilities—Earth, Fire, and Weather—who is in hiding, she can get help. Lewis' last known action among the Wardens was to steal three bottles containing Djinn, the supernatural beings, many of whom partner with Wardens to do their work. Her life becomes one huge complication as she learns a lot of truths people do not want her to know.
The ''Red Letter Days'' series (adult urban fantasy)
The ''Outcast Season'' series (adult urban fantasy)
Undone
Unknown
Unseen
Unbroken
On August 24, 2007, Caine announced on her mailing list and her blog that she had sold a four-book series called "Outcast Season" to Roc Books. Describing the upcoming series, she said "This series is a spin-off of the Weather Warden series, and will follow the story of a Djinn who's been cut off from her fellows, and must rely on the goodwill of a Warden partner for her very existence. Along the way, she has to face enemies and challenges that the Djinn can't, or won't face themselves." The series was published yearly in February since 2009.
In 2017, Caine began publication of an intense new thriller series about Gwen Proctor, the ex-wife of an infamous serial killer who is constantly on guard for her kids against Internet trolls and real-life stalkers. When a body turns up in the lake outside their front door, and it appears to be connected to her ex-husband's methods, the spotlight's now on Gwen and her kids... and she might never escape it again. 'Stillhouse Lake' is one of five finalist for the IATWA Thriller Awards 2018.
The ''Honors'' series
Honor Among Thieves (February 13, 2018, Katherine Tegen Books,, with Ann Aguirre
Honor Bound (February 19, 2019, Katherine Tegen Books,, with Ann Aguirre
Short stories
"Roman Holiday, or SPQ-Arrrrrr" in My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon
"All Hallows" in The Eternal Kiss
"Blue Crush: A Weather Warden Story" in "The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance"
"Even a Rabbit will Bite" in "Dark and Stormy Knights"