Pamela Clare's Blog, page 13

1. The ebook edition of Breaking Point  (I-Team Book 5) has been marked down to $1.99 for one week only on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo! 

2. First Strike (I-Team After Hours), the super-sexy prequel to Striking Distance (I-Team Book 6) is only 99 cents and getting great reviews.

3. Striking Distance (I-Team Book 6) will be out on Nov. 5 and is still on sale at special pre-order prices on Amazon for $4.79 (paperback) and $5.99 (Kindle)!

That’s what I mean when I say it’s raining I-Team. You wait more than a year for me to have a new novel, and all of a sudden there’s a new novel, a new novella and a HUGE markdown on one of the most popular and critically acclaimed books in the I-Team series.

It’s the perfect storm of I-Team, an I-Team orgy, an I-Team extravaganza.

It’s a chance for those of you who haven’t read Breaking Point to get caught up on the series before Striking Distance comes out.

Breaking Point was honored by Amazon as one of the Top Books of 2011 and has 99 five-star reviews on Amazon. It also received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Apart from that, it’s known for its completely drool-worthy cover. I want you to know that it was my idea to make the model all sandy and dirty. You’re welcome!

You can read an excerpt or head on over to take advantage of the sale for yourself or for a stubborn friend who hasn’t listened to you when you’ve told her she needs to read this series. Grab it before the sale ends on Oct. 30. Here are the links:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/16rdJX1
Nook: http://bit.ly/17eGjeR
Kobo: http://bit.ly/HgsOi1
iTunes : http://bit.ly/1gD3sv7




First Strike, the erotic prequel to Striking Distance , just came out on Monday, A 17,400-word novella, it tells the story of how Laura Nilsson and Javier Corbray, the journalist heroine and Navy SEAL hero in Striking Distance , meet and share a mind-blowing weekend of no-strings-attached sex that changes both of their lives forever.

This was my first foray into writing erotica, and I had a lot of fun with it. For those who are a bit skittish about reading something labeled “erotica,” let me just say that it does not involve dinosaurs, step-fathers, animals of any kind, whips, fluorescent light bulbs, chains, more than two people, or anal sex. What else is there, you ask? You’ll just have to read it and find out!

At 99 cents, it’s a must-read for those of you who are waiting breathlessly for Striking Distance . So far, the cover has gotten my ads for it banished from Facebook — beheadings are apparently okay, but people in underwear embracing are not — and readers seem to enjoy looking at it. I guess that matters more to me. Right now, the story has 24 five-star reviews on Amazon, and it just came out Monday.

You can read an excerpt or follow these links to one-click your heart out.


Kindle: http://amzn.to/1gwJHFw 
Nook: http://bit.ly/16p0el8
Smashwords (all ebook formats, including Kobo and iBook): http://bit.ly/16p0nVV




Last, but certainly not least, is Striking Distance (I-Team Book 6), which will be out on Nov. 5 — less than two weeks from today! 

This full-length novel tells the rest of Laura and Javier’s story, carrying them through to their happily ever after. One of the most difficult books I’ve ever written, it took almost a year and half for me to finish the story. I was thrilled when I learned the book had received a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews. 

Striking Distance will be released in mass market paperback, ebook, and audiobook on the same day. The talented Kaleo Griffith is once again narrating the story, so those of you who need a Kaleo fix to help you with your OKD (Obsessive Kaleo Disorder) are in luck!

Read an excerpt, or head over to one of these links to pre-order a copy. Amazon currently has a sale on pre-orders, cutting $3.20 off the paperback price and $2 off the regular retail ebook price.

Here are the links:

Audible http://bit.ly/16r9kxZ 
Kindle http://amzn.to/1b8Fhh7 
nook http://bit.ly/1b8FT6v 
iTunes http://bit.ly/175u3uW 
Amazon http://amzn.to/1aAPFfX 
Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/1bQClXr 
Books-A-Million http://bit.ly/GYBbPE 
Powell's Books http://bit.ly/1bQCv0Y 
IndieBound http://bit.ly/1aANlWl

And there you have it — a harmonic convergence of I-Team. I hope it helps make up at least in part for the fact that I’m such a slow writer — and the fact that you’ll be waiting a while for the next I-Team novel.

To make this more fun, I’m giving away five more copies of First Strike ! Just share the news, tell me where you shared it, and leave your email address below. I’ll pick five winners a day today, Thursday, and Friday!


Coming soon:
One last pre-release excerpt from Striking Distance .

1. The ebook edition of Breaking Point  (I-Team Book 5) has been marked down to $1.99 for one week only on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo! 

2. First Strike (I-Team After Hours), the super-sexy prequel to Striking Distance (I-Team Book 6) is only 99 cents and getting great reviews.

3. Striking Distance (I-Team Book 6) will be out on Nov. 5 and is still on sale at special pre-order prices on Amazon for $4.79 (paperback) and $5.99 (Kindle)!

That’s what I mean when I say it’s raining I-Team. You wait more than a year for me to have a new novel, and all of a sudden there’s a new novel, a new novella and a HUGE markdown on one of the most popular and critically acclaimed books in the I-Team series.

It’s the perfect storm of I-Team, an I-Team orgy, an I-Team extravaganza.

It’s a chance for those of you who haven’t read Breaking Point to get caught up on the series before Striking Distance comes out.

Breaking Point was honored by Amazon as one of the Top Books of 2011 and has 99 five-star reviews on Amazon. It also received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Apart from that, it’s known for its completely drool-worthy cover. I want you to know that it was my idea to make the model all sandy and dirty. You’re welcome!

You can read an excerpt or head on over to take advantage of the sale for yourself or for a stubborn friend who hasn’t listened to you when you’ve told her she needs to read this series. Grab it before the sale ends on Oct. 30. Here are the links:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/16rdJX1
Nook: http://bit.ly/17eGjeR
Kobo: http://bit.ly/HgsOi1
iTunes : http://bit.ly/1gD3sv7




First Strike, the erotic prequel to Striking Distance , just came out on Monday, A 17,400-word novella, it tells the story of how Laura Nilsson and Javier Corbray, the journalist heroine and Navy SEAL hero in Striking Distance , meet and share a mind-blowing weekend of no-strings-attached sex that changes both of their lives forever.

This was my first foray into writing erotica, and I had a lot of fun with it. For those who are a bit skittish about reading something labeled “erotica,” let me just say that it does not involve dinosaurs, step-fathers, animals of any kind, whips, fluorescent light bulbs, chains, more than two people, or anal sex. What else is there, you ask? You’ll just have to read it and find out!

At 99 cents, it’s a must-read for those of you who are waiting breathlessly for Striking Distance . So far, the cover has gotten my ads for it banished from Facebook — beheadings are apparently okay, but people in underwear embracing are not — and readers seem to enjoy looking at it. I guess that matters more to me. Right now, the story has 24 five-star reviews on Amazon, and it just came out Monday.

You can read an excerpt or follow these links to one-click your heart out.


Kindle: http://amzn.to/1gwJHFw 
Nook: http://bit.ly/16p0el8
Smashwords (all ebook formats, including Kobo and iBook): http://bit.ly/16p0nVV



Last, but certainly not least, is Striking Distance (I-Team Book 6), which will be out on Nov. 5 — less than two weeks from today! 

This full-length novel tells the rest of Laura and Javier’s story, carrying them through to their happily ever after. One of the most difficult books I’ve ever written, it took almost a year and half for me to finish the story. I was thrilled when I learned the book had received a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews. 

Striking Distance will be released in mass market paperback, ebook, and audiobook on the same day. The talented Kaleo Griffith is once again narrating the story, so those of you who need a Kaleo fix to help you with your OKD (Obsessive Kaleo Disorder) are in luck!

Read an excerpt, or head over to one of these links to pre-order a copy. Amazon currently has a sale on pre-orders, cutting $3.20 off the paperback price and $2 off the regular retail ebook price.

Here are the links:

Audible http://bit.ly/16r9kxZ 
Kindle http://amzn.to/1b8Fhh7 
nook http://bit.ly/1b8FT6v 
iTunes http://bit.ly/175u3uW 
Amazon http://amzn.to/1aAPFfX 
Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/1bQClXr 
Books-A-Million http://bit.ly/GYBbPE 
Powell's Books http://bit.ly/1bQCv0Y 
IndieBound http://bit.ly/1aANlWl

And there you have it — a harmonic convergence of I-Team. I hope it helps make up at least in part for the fact that I’m such a slow writer — and the fact that you’ll be waiting a while for the next I-Team novel.



Coming soon:
One last pre-release excerpt from Striking Distance .

Today is one Monday that will suck just a little bit less.   First Strike is out — one day early!

The story is available on Kindle and Nook, as well as Smashwords, which offers all ebook formats without international restrictions. It will soon be out on iTunes and Kobo, as well, though both of those formats are already available on Smashwords.

For those who’ve missed prior posts about this 17,400-word e-novella, it is the erotic prequel to Striking Distance (I-Team Book 6), which will be out on Nov. 5.

It was originally one of the prologues to the story. I cut it, saved it, and have expanded it for release as a stand-alone novella that introduces us to Laura Nilsson and Javier Corbray, the heroine and hero from Striking Distance , and takes us along for the crazy weekend when they meet in Dubai City—and can’t keep their hands off each other even though it means risking a flogging and prison.




Here’s the description:


Just a weekend…
Laura Nilsson knows what she wants: a successful career as a broadcast journalist—and a little fun between the sheets now and again. What she doesn’t want is marriage or kids. When a ripped and sexy stranger intervenes to stop a couple of drunks from harassing her in a hotel bar in Dubai City, all she can think about is spending the rest of the weekend with him—in her bed. There’s just one little problem. Unmarried sex is illegal in Dubai.
… of no-strings sex …
Navy SEAL Javier “Cobra” Corbray is on his way home from a rough deployment in Afghanistan when he finds himself having dinner with “the Baghdad Babe.” What she wants from him—sex with no strings—could land them both in prison. Still, he’s more than happy to oblige her. She’s confident and sexually assertive, and he’s secure enough to lie back and let her make the first strike. But, as she’s about to find out, he’s more than her match.
… or the beginning of something more?
Yet, neither Laura nor Javier has any idea what lies ahead—or how this weekend of mind-blowing sex will impact their emotions. Will they act on their new-found feelings in time, or will they let something special slip away… perhaps forever?




I had a lot to work with before I started working on First Strike . It was already very long—for a prologue. And it helped that I knew everything there was to know about Laura and Javier’s story, having just finished Striking Distance .

But what took me by surprise as I wrote it was how poignant the story felt to me, knowing, as I did, what lay in store for them. I found myself getting choked up several times. I suggest reading it again after you finish Striking Distance , and you’ll see what I mean. The last sex scene actually made me cry. And be warned: This story ends with a cliffhanger, binding it to the action in Striking Distance .

I hope you enjoy it! I am so excited to share this story with you and absolutely giddy to think we’re only two weeks and change away from the release of Striking Distance , which completes Laura and Javier’s story.

Without further ado, let’s get down to the giveaway! To celebrate the novella’s release, I’m giving away FIVE ebook copies of the story. What do you have to do to win? If you want to help spread word about the story, that’s great. Otherwise, just comment below, l eave your email address , and tell me what you think makes a love scene in a romance sexy.

Simple question, right?

Have a fabulous day!

First, the bad news — I bumped the release date for First Strike back to Oct. 22 after some people expressed concerns about the month-long wait between the prequel and Striking Distance . There is a significant cliffhanger at the end of First Strike . With the Oct. 22 release date, there will be only two weeks between the two stories.

For those of you who missed it — this novella was kind of a surprise to everyone, including me — here’s the scoop on how this story came about:


By the time I finished Striking Distance , I had perhaps two discarded pages of text for every manuscript page I sent to my editor. While some of the material is going to find its way here as little blog extras, some will never see the light of day. The story’s original prologue, however, has been transformed into an erotic novella.
First Strike tells the story of how Laura Nilsson and Javier Corbray meet in Dubai City—and lose themselves in a weekend of no-strings-attached sex. Since unmarried sex is illegal in Dubai, their time together comes at a risk. But the bigger risk may come in the form of feelings they didn’t expect.
Here’s the book’s blurb:

Just a weekend…
Laura Nilsson knows what she wants: a successful career as a broadcast journalist—and a little fun between the sheets now and again. What she doesn’t want is marriage or kids. When a ripped and sexy stranger intervenes to stop a couple of drunks from harassing her in a hotel bar in Dubai City, all she can think about is spending the rest of the weekend with him—in her bed. There’s just one little problem. Unmarried sex is illegal in Dubai.
… of no-strings sex …
Navy SEAL Javier “Cobra” Corbray is on his way home from a rough deployment in Afghanistan when he finds himself having dinner with “the Baghdad Babe.” What she wants from him—sex with no strings—could land them both in prison. Still, he’s more than happy to oblige her. She’s confident and sexually assertive, and he’s secure enough to lie back and let her make the first strike. But, as she’s about to find out, he’s more than her match.
… or the beginning of something more?
Yet, neither Laura nor Javier has any idea what lies ahead—or how this weekend of mind-blowing sex will impact their emotions. Will they act on their new-found feelings in time, or will they let something special slip away… perhaps forever?


First Strike will be available as an ebook only through the usual ebook retailers. At 17,000 words, it’s too short to justify publication in print. The cost to readers would truly be unfair. Fortunately, both Amazon and Nook have downloadable applications that enable people without e-readers to read stories on their computers. 

Now how about an excerpt? 
I thought you’d never ask! Here you go.


From Chapter 1 of First Strike: The Erotic Prequel to Striking Distance




What was it about men who gave off that “don’t fuck with me” vibe that made Laura want to do just that?
“You didn’t like Jumeirah Beach?” For a man who’d come to Dubai City to see the sights, he didn’t seem very impressed.
“Nah, not really.” He raised his beer mug and finished the glass, Laura’s gaze drawn first to his flexing bicep, then to his moist lips. “Growing up, I spent summers at my grandmother’s place in Humacao. You want to see a beach, come to Puerto Rico.”
So he was Puerto Rican—probably a mix of Taíno Indian, African, and Spanish.
“I’m sure it’s beautiful.”
He nodded, smiled, looking into her eyes. “A lover’s paradise.”
A bolt of heat shot through her belly, her pulse skipping.
He made the words sound erotic, pronouncing every syllable slowly, the warmth in his eyes signaling that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
Surprised by the intensity of her own physical reaction, she raised her glass to her lips, only to find it empty.
“Let me buy you another.”
She set the glass down. “I’d like that. Thanks.”
She watched as he made his way through the crowded restaurant toward the bar to get another glass of wine for her and another beer for himself, his perfect, muscular ass shifting beneath the denim of his jeans as he walked, his movements sleek, confident.
People stepped aside for him, as if they knew instinctively that they shouldn’t cross him.
But he wasn’t arrogant. Most men who were ripped and sexy like Javier had egos to match, standing at the center of their own vain little worlds. But Javier hadn’t shown a hint of swagger. Instead, he’d asked her a half-dozen questions about her job, seeming genuinely interested in her answers. He even knew about some of her bigger stories—her exposé on the Pentagon’s failure to supply soldiers with body armor, her investigation into the group of servicemen who’d been running a protection racket in Baghdad. She sensed something deeper in Javier, something that went beyond his good looks and charm, something real.
God, he turned her on.
From the moment he’d sat at her table, her mind had begun spinning sexual fantasies of the two of them together. Everything about him seemed to draw her in—his smooth skin, his voice, the stubble on his square jaw, his clean scent, those full lips. What would they feel like when he kissed her, tasted her, went down on her?
The very thought made her wet.
She’d always been careful about the men she allowed into her bed, sometimes going months and even years between lovers. Her job put her in the public eye, and the last thing she wanted was to leave a trail of men who would watch the news, point to her, and say to their buddies, “Yeah, I slept with her. I fucked the Baghdad Babe.”
Her career didn’t leave a lot of time for men, anyway. She had dreams of one day being a news anchor or perhaps even hosting an evening news program. She had no desire to get married, settle down, and have kids, and that meant she needed to steer clear of men who might mistake her interest for something more than sexual.
 She watched as he paid for the drinks and then started back toward the table, another glass of chardonnay in one hand, a mug of beer in the other.
Would he be good in bed?
Pondering that question made her ache inside.
Oh, yes, he would be.
She couldn’t say what made her so sure of that. Maybe it was the way he paid attention to every word she said. Maybe it was the way he moved, so in control of his own body. Maybe it was the heat in his eyes when he looked at her. But she had a feeling that if she ended up in bed with him, he would make it well worth her while.
She crossed her legs, squeezed, trying to appease the ache, but that only made it worse, the feeling of arousal between her thighs impossible to ignore.
Pull it together, Nilsson.
Of course, there was no way for them to hook up—not here. Unmarried sex was illegal in Dubai. It was even illegal for unrelated men and women to be alone together. They couldn’t just get into the elevator, head to her room, and get it on. If they were caught, they’d go to jail, maybe even be flogged.
And wouldn’t that make for a nice news teaser?
Laura Nilsson arrested in Dubai for illicit sex with man she barely knew. Hormones to blame. Film at eleven.
She ran the words through her mind and found herself wondering again what Javier did for a living. Was he Delta Force? An Army Ranger? A Green Beret?
Most U.S. servicemen trusted her enough to tell her what they did for a living, but Javier wasn’t one of them. That meant the work he did was highly classified—or that he worked for a private contractor that specialized in covert ops.
He could be an arms dealer for all you know.
There was no doubt. He was dangerous.
Somehow that thought left her feeling even more aroused.
You need to buy a battery-operated boyfriend.
Even if she’d had one, she wouldn’t have been able to bring it along on her travels. She was pretty sure she’d get into less trouble if she were caught smuggling an AK-47 into Dubai than if she were found in possession of a vibrator.
Javier handed her the wine glass, his warm fingers grazing hers, striking sparks off her skin. He slid into the seat across from her. “This place gets crowded.”
She glanced around them. “It’s Friday night. Most of the city is shut down. Expats have to do something with themselves.”
“Cheers.” He raised his beer glass and drank.
Her gaze locked with his, desire for him driving all other thoughts from her mind.
She set her glass aside, leaned toward him, lowering her voice to a whisper, her pulse spiking as she shared what she was thinking. “Will this conversation get awkward if I tell you how very much I want to fuck you?”

(c) copyright Pamela Clare 2013All rights reserved

Pella Crossing/Fall 2012
What a crazy time it’s been since my last blog update. In that span of time I’ve finished and edited a novella — First Strike: The Erotic Prequel to Striking Distance — been through the biggest flood in the state of Colorado’s recorded history, and helped my younger son pack up and head off for eight months as a teaching assistant in France.

Not exactly a dull time.

Let’s start with the floods.

You probably all saw it on television — massive flash floods caused by a perio...

Hey, everyone!

Just back from a whirlwind tour of Bent’s Fort near La Junta, Colorado, to find that RT Book Reviews gave Striking Distance a 4.5-star Top Pick review. This made my day!

Here’s the heart of their review:

“This sixth I-Team installment sees Clare at her very best, combining scorching desire with a gripping, often painful, exploration of healing and redemptions. The plot's mystery and suspense elements are exceptionally well researched and expertly plotted, but the real achievement...

Remember how I’ve been promising you something to hold you over until the Nov. 5 release of Striking Distance ? Well, here’s your first glimpse. I hope you like it!

First Strike , which I’m working on right now, is the erotic prequel to Striking Distance . And here’s the story of how it came to be.

When I wrote Striking Distance , I originally started with a prologue set in Dubai City in 2009. The prologue would tell how Javier Corbray and Laura Nilsson, the hero and heroine from Striking Distance,...

I hope this makes your Monday a bit brighter.

Defiant , the third book in the MacKinnon’s Rangers series, is out today in audiobook format narrated by the extremely talented and award-winning Kaleo Griffith. Now the entire series is available.

Defiant , like Surrender  back in 2007, was a RITA finalist this year. The RITA Awards are the highest honor bestowed on romance novels by the industry. I was thrilled that this book, which came close to never being written, received such an honor. Now...

Photo: Dubai City at night

I’ve taken a long break from writing — and I needed it. But as of this week, I’m back to writing again.

The first project I’m biting off involves the hero and heroine from Striking Distance . Because I rewrote that story about eight times, I have a lot of outtakes to share. That’s rare for me. In fact, it hasn’t really happened before. One of those outtakes is the original prologue.

Laura Nilsson, a broadcast journalist on her way to Pakistan, and Javier Corbray, a...

The wait is over, and the MacKinnon’s Rangers audiobooks are back on track!

As those of you who follow me on Facebook know, Surrender (MacKinnon’s Rangers #1) was released in July only for those of us who listened to it right away to realize that something had gone wrong. There were so many editing errors in the audiobook that the listening experience was compromised.

Tantor Audio, which has released all of my audiobooks, immediately withdrew Surrender from the market, corrected the mistakes, and reissued it. But it took ages for the audiobook to be redistributed through all of the channels where it had been for sale for a short time.

Today, Surrender is finally back on Audible.com! Those of you who downloaded it right away from either Tantor Audio or Audible.com ought to be able to get the new, corrected version simply by contacting customer service.

In the meantime, of course, Untamed was released, but a lot of people held off from getting it because they were still waiting for Surrender . Now, both books are out and available on Audible, on Tantor’s website and on iTunes.

Here are the links for Surrender :

Audible: http://bit.ly/1d3d8fN
Tantor Audio: http://bit.ly/17Mk2Vh
iTunes: http://bit.ly/17HV58I

Here are the links for Untamed :

Audible: http://bit.ly/16GbQBe 
Tantor: http://bit.ly/16GbWZs 
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1cHJjRY

And this leaves us a mere six days away from the audiobook release of Defiant , the third book in the series and a RITA finalist for Best Historical this year. Click here for a sound sample.

Defiant is narrated by Kaleo Griffith, who has lent his tremendous talents to all of my audiobooks thus far. At more than 14 hours in length, it tells the story of Connor MacKinnon, the youngest MacKinnon brother, and Lady Sarah, the niece of Connor’ most hated enemy — Lord William.  

Kaleo told me he really enjoyed voicing the series and that Defiant is his favorite. I can never choose a favorite. I love each of them for different reasons. Besides, asking an author to pick a favorite book is like asking her to choose her favorite child. It just doesn’t work.

If you want to pre-order Defiant , here are its links: 

Audible: http://bit.ly/1bQoCQA
Tantor: http://bit.ly/14zdylZ

It’s not available on iTunes yet but will be on release day.

After this, I have no scheduled audiobook releases until Striking Distance (I-Team #6) in November. Those of you with bad cases of OKD — that’s Obsessive Kaleo Disorder — are going to have a bit of a wait for your next fix!

Have a great day, everyone! See you again soon.