Pamela Clare's Blog, page 2

 There’s time to catch up on the Colorado High Country series before Take Me Higher (#9) comes out on August 31. And you can get the first four books in the series for 99 cents for a limited time only.

Join the members of the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team for love and adventure in the high mountains of Colorado in this special four-book box set! 

Kindle

Nook

Apple Books

Kobo

Here’s what you’ll get:

Barely Breathing — Lexi Jewell and Austin Taylor broke each other’s hearts in high school. Now, Lexi is back in Scarlet Springs — temporarily. After they become lovers again, Austin realizes he’ll lose her a second time if he can’t show her that what she’s searching for has been right here in Scarlet all along.

Slow Burn — Victoria Woodley is done with men. Firefighter Eric Hawke has just one week to convince her to trust her heart and take a chance with him. 

Falling Hard — Getting involved with war widow Ellie Meeks is the riskiest thing that former Army Ranger Jesse Moretti has ever done. 

Tempting Fate — When Naomi Archer’s Colorado vacation takes a deadly turn, she has no idea that the EMT who saves her life will have the key to her past — and her heart. 

See why so many of my readers wish they lived in Scarlet Springs.

 

Every superhero has an origin story. The Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team in Scarlet Springs is home to a bunch of heroes, but the couple who started it hasn't yet gotten their story. 

Megs Hall and Mitch Ahearn have been at the heart of the Colorado High Country series from the beginning. Over the past couple of years, I've gotten so many requests for their story, in part because Megs, with her smart mouth and steel spine, is such a popular character. 

Fans of the series know that the two met as young people in Yosemite Valley in the early 1970s, where they helped establish the sport of free climbing. How can I resist writing a story set partly in the 1970s when things were groovy and far out?

Writing this story has been a blast. I was 9 years old in 1973, the oldest child of a semi-pro climber who has at least one first ascent credited to his name (Cadaver Crack on Castle Rock in Boulder Canyon). His climbing partner for that climb was Richard Nixon. No, not that Richard Nixon. Can you imagine being an adult in the early 1970s with the name Richard Nixon? But I digress...

Take Me Higher will be out on August 31 in ebook and paperback. Preorder your digital copy now! Read on for the back blurb to the story. I will share an excerpt soon. 

Tropes: Older couple, small mountain town, forbidden love, celebrity couple, strong heroine, rescue, lifelong love

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For fans of the Colorado High Country series comes the love story of the couple who started it all!

He’s the love of her life…

Rock climbing saved Megs Hall. The sport gave her an emotional escape from her abusive stepfather when she was a teen and turned her into a living legend. It also brought her together with the one man who truly understood her. Elite climber Mitch Ahearn believed in her and her abilities at a time when other male climbers just wanted to get into her pants. Somehow, Mitch broke through her armor, helping the shattered girl inside to heal. He became her first and only lover and her best friend. Together, they made history and set the climbing world—and the bedsheets—on fire. 

She’s his only chance at survival…


Forty-eight years later, Megs and Mitch live in tiny Scarlet Springs, Colo. They’ve left professional climbing behind and now put their time and energy into running the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team, using their vertical expertise to save lives. But when their hard-earned climbing vacation ends in tragedy, they find themselves far from home and in desperate need of rescue, with Mitch’s life hanging by a thread. Megs must use all her experience and training to save him.

Will their love be only a memory?

With Mitch gravely injured, Megs finds herself reliving the past, reading the private journals he kept of their adventures together. It’s a bittersweet trip down memory lane, one that reveals Mitch’s innermost thoughts and his deep and abiding love for her. But will they have the chance to make more memories together and live out their happy ending—or have they come to the end of the trail?
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-7352939-8-1

 

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Paperback

Breaking Free (Colorado High Country #8) is out! It's my 35th book, and I'm excited to take you with me back to Scarlet Springs and the Cimarron. 
The story has some of your favorite I-Team characters — Gabe Rossiter and Kat James, Zach and Natlie McBride, and the West family. Even the hero, Jason Chiago, comes from the I-Team series. You first met him in Breaking Point (I-Team #5) when he helped track Zach and Natalie in the Sonoran Desert. 
This was actually a tough story to write, mostly because I'd just come off a very complicated injury to my knee that resulted in a complicated knee replacement and a loooong recovery. My brain took a while to go from pain killers to prose. 
But the book is out. It's done. And by this morning, it already had two five-star reviews on Amazon. One reader who finished early this morning said it gave her ”the best book hangover ever.”
For a short excerpt, click here and scroll down the page.
For the back blurb, read on. And thank you for following my blog. Apparently, email following is going away, so I'm not sure where that leaves many of you.

He’s the one man she can’t have…

 

Winona Belcourt left the Pine Ridge Reservation to become a wildlife vet in the small Colorado mountain town of Scarlet Springs. She now leads a busy life caring for sick and injured animals and watching over her aging grandfather. Apart from a complete lack of romance, her life is close to perfect. She doesn’t have time for dating, even if there were available men in tiny Scarlet who interested her. Then Jason Chiago comes to town, one of many volunteers here to help rebuild her family’s summer camp. Tall, dark, and hot as hell, he’s the friend of some friends and a member of the legendary Shadow Wolves, an all-Native unit of expert trackers who patrol the US-Mexico border. Sadly, he’s also taken—or so her friends say. Winona would never get involved with another woman’s man. Still, she can’t turn off the longing she feels for him—or stop herself from imagining the heat of his kisses.

 

She’s everything he wants…

 

As a Tohono O’odham man, Jason knows that life’s journey is filled with unexpected twists and turns. Still, he never expected to be where he is now—his ex-fiancée in prison and his job with the Shadow Wolves on the line. On administrative leave for taking out a killer on the wrong side of the border, he has come to Scarlet Springs to help rebuild a kids’ camp that burned to the ground—and to clear his head before his disciplinary hearing next month. Yet, from the moment Winona stumbles into him, he can think only about her. With her big heart, sharp mind, and sweet face, she is everything he’s ever desired in a woman. But he made a deathbed promise to his grandmother that he would never abandon his responsibility to the O’odham people and move away from the reservation like so many others have done. It’s his duty to pass on traditional lifeways so they won’t disappear and to be a role model for O’odham youth. Winona deserves better than a fling with a man who can’t stick around. That’s why he’s going to keep his hands to himself, no matter how much she makes him burn.

 

A love that won’t be denied…

 

When a wealthy rancher asks Winona to help find a wolf that is killing his livestock, Jason and Winona join forces to solve the mystery. There haven’t been wild wolves in Colorado for eighty years. But working closely side by side has consequences. As they move in on the wolf and uncover a more shocking truth, their attraction ignites into passion. Jason realizes he has a choice to make. He can either keep a vow he made long ago and break both of their hearts by walking away—or he can turn his back on his duty and his people to seize a chance at true happiness in the arms of the woman he loves.

 

Tropes: Forced proximity, soul mates, law enforcement, man in of uniform

Breaking Free is available for preorder! I've missed Scarlet Springs, and I just felt it was time to take a break from romantic suspense for that good feeling of being in Scarlet again.

Here's the back blurb:

It’s the return of the Colorado High Country series! Come back to Scarlet Springs with members of the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team.

Featuring characters from Pamela Clare’s acclaimed I-Team series.

He’s the one man she can’t have…

Winona Belcourt left the Pine Ridge Reservation to become a wildlife vet in the small Colorado mountain town of Scarlet Springs. She now leads a busy life caring for sick and injured animals and watching over her aging grandfather. Apart from a complete lack of romance, her life is close to perfect. She doesn’t have time for dating, even if there were available men in tiny Scarlet who interested her. Then Jason Chiago comes to town, one of many volunteers here to help rebuild her family’s summer camp. Tall, dark, and hot as hell, he’s the friend of some friends and a member of the legendary Shadow Wolves, an all-Native unit of expert trackers who patrol the US-Mexico border. Sadly, he’s also taken—or so her friends say. Winona would never get involved with another woman’s man. Still, she can’t turn off the longing she feels for him—or stop herself from imagining the heat of his kisses.

She’s everything he wants…

As a Tohono O’odham man, Jason knows that life’s journey is filled with unexpected twists and turns. Still, he never expected to be where he is now—his ex-fiancée in prison and his job with the Shadow Wolves on the line. On administrative leave for taking out a killer on the wrong side of the border, he has come to Scarlet Springs to help rebuild a kids’ camp that burned to the ground—and to clear his head before his disciplinary hearing next month. Yet, from the moment Winona stumbles into him, he can think only about her. With her big heart, sharp mind, and sweet face, she is everything he’s ever desired in a woman. But he made a deathbed promise to his grandmother that he would never abandon his responsibility to the O’odham people and move away from the reservation like so many others have done. It’s his duty to pass on traditional lifeways so they won’t disappear and to be a role model for O’odham youth. Winona deserves better than a fling with a man who can’t stick around. That’s why he’s going to keep his hands to himself, no matter how much she makes him burn.

A love that won’t be denied…

When a wealthy rancher asks Winona to help find a wolf that is killing his livestock, Jason and Winona join forces to solve the mystery. There haven’t been wild wolves in Colorado for eighty years. But working closely side by side has consequences. As they move in on the wolf and uncover a more shocking truth, their attraction ignites into passion. Jason realizes he has a choice to make. He can either keep a vow he made long ago and break both of their hearts by walking away—or he can turn his back on his duty and his people to seize a chance at true happiness in the arms of the woman he loves.

Tropes: Forced proximity, soul mates, law enforcement, man in uniform

BREAKING FREE is vailable for preorder for Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, and Kobo.

Kindle
Nook
Kobo
Apple Books 


We've had a smoky time of it in Colorado. News of the wildfires close to us made national and even international news. I even got an evacuation notice, which proved to be a mistake. As my phone was telling me I must grab essentials and evacuate NOW, I was trying to finish one more paragraph of Hard Pursuit . Just one more...

We got the all-clear shortly thereafter and are fortunate that our only experience of the fires is unbreathable air and two months of smelling like there was a campfire in the house. It was dark much of that time, an eerie kind of orange light. I was so glad when the snow came and knocked the fires back. (They are still burning.)

Noon at my parents' house. This is a color photo.

I live directly beneath the plume from the East
Troublesome Fire and very close to the Calwood Fire.
This was pretty much every day.





But enough about fires. Let’s talk about books! Malik and Kristi, who burned up the sheets together in Antarctica, are getting their own happily ever after. I absolutely love the cover, with those penetrating, intense eyes. Here’s the book description:


She walked away once…
When ER nurse Kristi Chang met former Army Ranger Malik Jones in Antarctica eighteen months ago, they agreed to sex with no strings. She had no idea that Malik would turn out to be the most fun she’d ever had. Or that a big, bad soldier could be so sweet. Or that she would still be thinking of him more than a year later. Now working with an international aid organization in Nigeria, Kristi regrets letting him go. When gunmen suddenly attack and tear her from her medical unit and force her at gunpoint to care for their leader, she knows she’ll have to use her wits if she wants to stay alive. She warns her captors that she’s married to a Ranger named Malik who will kill any man who touches her. If only that were true…


Now he’ll do anything to free her…
Malik hasn’t forgotten a single incredible moment he spent with Kristi. When he gets the news that she’s been abducted, he is gutted and wants to get Cobra’s guns into the fight to free her. A veteran of more than a few rescues, he knows only too well how brutal captivity can be for a woman and wants to get her out of there as soon as possible. But the State Department decides to let local authorities handle the situation and gives Cobra a different assignment, leaving Malik no choice but to quit the job he loves to go after Kristi himself. But locating her in an area bigger than the state of Texas and freeing her from a band of ruthless killers by himself isn’t going to be easy.


But the threat is greater than they realize…
When Malik appears out of nowhere and saves her life, Kristi thinks she’s dreaming. As she recovers from her ordeal, the heat between them once again flares into passion. This time, however, it’s not just about lust and physical pleasure. Their hearts are on the line. But in rescuing Kristi, Malik has kicked the proverbial hornet’s nest, unleashing the wrath of a ruthless criminal organization bent on revenge. It will take all of their strength and skill to survive—and turn this second chance at romance into the love of a lifetime.
I hope you're as excited to read their story as I am to share it with you. It will be out on Dec. 15. I’m working hard to get it done before Thanksgiving. I had a little accident this summer and have to get my left knee replaced. My surgery is the day before Thanksgiving. No turkey for me this year. But then 2020 has been a crazy year for everyone.


Stay well, everyone! Take good care of yourselves, and enjoy escaping into fiction.


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  HARD LINE is out!

Hard Line (Cobra Elite, #5) is out both in ebook and paperback!

Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, Smashwords, Paperback

This time, Thor Isaksen is headed to Antarctica with two other Cobra operatives on a death-defying mission to recover components from a crashed military satellite before they fall into hostile hands. The only thing colder than austral winter is the heart of the traitor who wants Thor and astronomer Samantha Park dead.

It was nice to write about the coldest place on earth during a record-breaking hot summer here in Colorado. At least I could imagine being cold. I'm not sure it made me sweat less, however.

Here's a description of the story:

A woman dragged into danger…

Dr. Samantha Park’s life is shaken when her best friend and research partner dies barely two months into their eight-month stretch at the South Pole. She hasn’t begun to face her loss when men from Cobra International Security arrive to recover sensitive military components from a crashed satellite—and ask her to come with them. As a scientist, she has always been suspicious of the military, and flying across Antarctica in austral winter is more like suicide than a rescue mission. But when she hears what’s at stake, she agrees to help and is forced to put her trust in Thor Isaksen, the tall, broad-shouldered Dane who leads the Cobra team.

The only man who can keep her alive…

Thor served as an elite soldier in Afghanistan and spent two years as part of a Danish spec-ops unit patrolling sea ice in the Arctic. He’s used to the cold and constant darkness. That’s why he’s been tapped to lead this mission. Under orders to do whatever he must to keep a dangerous weapon from falling into enemy hands, he’s prepared for every scenario—except one. Samantha, with her blue eyes and brilliant mind, takes him by surprise. She’s confident in her abilities as a scientist and yet so unsure of herself as a woman. Stuck at the station with his team until the weather clears, he can’t ignore the growing attraction he feels for her even if she’s the last thing he should be doing on the job.

A killer who will destroy them all…

As temperatures drop to one hundred below, the heat between Thor and Samantha flares out of control. But a killer is lurking on station, someone with an agenda that threatens not only the lives of every person there, but also global peace. It will take all of Thor’s skill and strength to stop the murderous traitor—and keep himself and the woman he loves alive.

I hope you come to love Thor, my first Danish hero, and Samantha as much as I do.

Some good news!

My younger son, Benjamin, proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Courtney, on Aug. 6 while on an 18-mile hike from Bear Lake to Grand Lake that took them over the Continental Divide. And she said YES!

They are radiant and happy, which makes me happy, too. I am thrilled for them both. It was wonderful to have something beautiful to celebrate in the midst of the hardship that has defined 2020 for so many of us.

Congratulations, Benjamin and Courtney! You've made both of your families so very happy.

What's next?

In response to my last newsletter, some of you write in to say what you'd like me to write next, and historical romance was at the very top in terms of votes.

I haven't decided what I'm writing next, but it could well be a new historical unrelated to my previous series or something set during the Revolutionary War in the Colonies (Blakewell/Kenleigh), or even some kind of crossover that brings a MacKinnon man together with a Kenleigh woman.

I would love to write Malik's story, too, and possibly give Gabriela (Hard Edge) and Holly Andris (I-Team/Seduction Game) a novella together.

At this point, I'll have to see what the Muse has to say. In the meantime, it's nearing harvest season on our little urban farm. I've been busy with food preservation — pickled beets, pickles, peach jam, herbs, sour cherries. We've got about 50 tomato plants and are expecting a tomato tsunami soon.

Stay safe out there! Be kind. As always, thanks for subscribing to my newsletter.

All my best, 
Pamela Clare

Hard Line (Cobra Elite, #5) will be out on August 18! Set in Antarctica during austral winter—that’s winter for the Southern Hemisphere—it tells Thor Isaksen and Samantha Park’s story.

You can preorder your copy today: Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, and Kobo.

Thor, if you'll remember, is the Danish member of the Cobra crew. He served with the Jægerkorpset—Danish special forces—in Afghanistan, before joining Sirius Dogsled Patrol, pretty much the toughest unit in the world. Members of Sirius spend months at a time patroling parts of Greenland during Arctic Winter with one other person, a sled, and a dog team.

Samantha is a slightly geeky astronomer who's in Antarctica, mapping new and distant galaxy clusters. The Star Trek and Star Wars fan in me loved writing a woman scientist who deals with space. Samantha is good with science—but not very confident with men, especially not super-hot guys like Thor.

This is arguably the most exotic location in this series, which has traveled with our Cobra heroes around the globe. It’s been fascinating to learn about Antarctica and how scientists live down there year-round despite the coldest temperatures on Earth.

It has also been fun for me, as a fluent speaker of Danish and a Dane at heart, to have a Danish hero—and, yes, to add some Danish profanity into the mix.

Here's the description from the back of the book:

A woman dragged into danger…

Dr. Samantha Park’s life is shaken when her best friend and research partner dies barely two months into their eight-month stretch at the South Pole. She hasn’t begun to face her loss when men from Cobra International Security arrive to recover sensitive military components from a crashed satellite—and ask her to come with them. As a scientist, she has always been suspicious of the military, and flying across Antarctica in austral winter is more like suicide than a rescue mission. But when she hears what’s at stake, she agrees to help and is forced to put her trust in Thor Isaksen, the tall, broad-shouldered Dane who leads the Cobra team. 


The only man who can keep her alive…

Thor served as an elite soldier in Afghanistan and spent two years as part of a Danish spec-ops unit patrolling sea ice in the Arctic. He’s used to the cold and constant darkness. That’s why he’s been tapped to lead this mission. Under orders to do whatever he must to keep a dangerous weapon from falling into enemy hands, he’s prepared for every scenario—except one. Samantha, with her blue eyes and brilliant mind, takes him by surprise. She’s confident in her abilities as a scientist and yet so unsure of herself as a woman. Stuck at the station with his team until the weather clears, he can’t ignore the growing attraction he feels for her even if she’s the last thing he should be doing on the job. 


A killer who will destroy them all…

As temperatures drop to one hundred below, the heat between Thor and Samantha flares out of control. But a killer is lurking on station, someone with an agenda that threatens not only the lives of every person there, but also global peace. It will take all of Thor’s skill and strength to stop the murderous traitor—and keep himself and the woman he loves alive.

The e-book is available for preorder for Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, and Kobo. Both the ebook and the paperback version should be available on the same date. You will also be able to find it on Smashwords.

I hope your summer has been a good one despite the hardship we’re all experiencing due to the pandemic. Stay safe, and be well!

HARD EDGE (Cobra Elite #4) is out today in ebook and paperback!I am thrilled to get the story out to you, given that I spent most of March fighting what my doctor believes was COVID-19. I was one of the lucky ones. I didn't end up in the hospital, and I managed to finish the story, bumping back the release date by just one week. Thanks for your understanding.What's the story about?Dylan Cruz, the former Seal Team Six member at Cobran International Security, finally gets his own story. It's a high-octane, sexy adventure with a heroine who turns out to be much more than Dylan expects.Kindle
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PaperbackHere’s the description:Gabriela Marquez came to her parents’ homeland of Venezuela to help its people. Working undercover for the CIA as Sister María, a Franciscan nun, she spends long days at the mission, giving food to the poor, helping the sick—and keeping a close watch on local drug trafficking. When a violent raid makes her a hostage together with two American journalists, she finds herself the prisoner of the very cartel she’s been spying on. Fortunately for the journalists—but not so luckily for her captors—Sister María is not what she seems to be. Hiding behind her nun’s habit, Gabriela puts her training to use to ensure the hostages’ survival.Dylan Cruz spent the better part of a decade with Seal Team Six, ridding the world of scum. Now an operative with Cobra International Security, he’s sent to Venezuela with a small team to gather intel for a hostage rescue. Against all expectations, he gets valuable information from one of the hostages—a beautiful young nun. Sister María of the Gorgeous Brown Eyes puts R-rated thoughts in his mind, thoughts he has no business thinking. Then again, he always figured he’d end up in hell.When the rescue fails, Dylan finds himself trapped in hostile territory with lovely Sister María. Together, they go underground to reach the Colombian border, but Sister María is full of secrets—and enticing surprises. Beneath that shapeless, gray habit is a woman whose abilities—and passions—are a match for Dylan’s. As the desire between them ignites, what should have been a straightforward mission of evade-and-escape turns into a fight for survival against a murderous cartel boss who wants them both dead.Those of you who loved Seduction Game (I-Team, #7) will love Gabriela.Grab your copy today and escape into romantic suspense.

I’ll give you a few minutes to finish staring at the sexy abs on the cover of HARD EDGE (Cobra Elite, #4) before we move on here... I know. It takes some time.

Okay. Are you all with me now?

Hard Edge is Dylan Cruz's story and takes place in Venezuela amid the social unrest and humanitarian crisis that has forced so many Venezolanos to flee their own country, including a good friend of mine.

He’s got a long journey to his happily ever after. In fact, he doesn’t anticipate having a happily ever after. But life has other plans. Here’s a sneak peek at the story:

Gabriela Marquez came to her parents’ homeland of Venezuela to help its people. Working undercover for the CIA as Sister María, a Franciscan nun, she spends long days at the mission, giving food to the poor, helping the sick—and keeping a close watch on local drug trafficking. When a violent raid makes her a hostage together with two American journalists, she finds herself the prisoner of the very cartel she’s been spying on. Fortunately for the journalists—but not so luckily for her captors—Sister María is not what she seems to be. Hiding behind her nun’s habit, Gabriela puts her training to use to ensure the hostages’ survival.

Dylan Cruz spent the better part of a decade with Seal Team Six, ridding the world of scum. Now an operative with Cobra International Security, he’s sent to Venezuela with a small team to gather intel for a hostage rescue. Against all expectations, he gets valuable information from one of the hostages—a beautiful young nun. Sister María of the Gorgeous Brown Eyes puts R-rated thoughts in his mind, thoughts he has no business thinking. Then again, he always figured he’d end up in hell.

When the rescue fails, Dylan finds himself trapped in hostile territory with lovely Sister María. Together, they go underground to reach the Colombian border, but Sister María is full of secrets—and enticing surprises. Beneath that shapeless, gray habit is a woman whose abilities—and passions—are a match for Dylan’s. As the desire between them ignites, what should have been a straightforward mission of evade-and-escape turns into a fight for survival against a murderous cartel boss who wants them both dead.

So far, it’s been a fun story to write, and now that the action is heating up, I expect things to get steamy on my computer.

The story will be out this spring in both ebook and paperback. You can preorder your copy now and have it in your hands on April 21. Right now, you can preorder on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo.

I can’t wait to share their crazy adventure with you all.

As for the rest of this year, I still have Thor Isaksen and Malik Jones' stories to share. I hope to get a historical written — possibly Lord William's story — as well as one other book. Not sure what yet. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, and, hey, WASH YOUR HANDS!

HARD JUSTICE is out in ebook and print!Get ready to fall in love with sexy Scotsman Quinn McManus. Hard Justice (Cobra Elite #3) is out today, and this time the badass men and women of Cobra International Security head to Glasgow, Scotland.

I confess that I was selfish when I wrote this book. So far, the Cobra series has taken us to Afghanistan and Bangladesh. But I love Scotland and find Scottish accents irresistibly sexy. So when I needed to pick the next location for an adventure, I chose Scotland. Can you blame me?Read below for a description of the story, followed by a fun little excerpt.

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Elizabeth Shields has always craved adventure. That’s why she went to work for the CIA straight out of college. That’s probably also the reason she feels drawn to Quinn McManus, a veteran of the British Special Air Service. The big Scotsman gives off a dangerous vibe that she can’t resist. Yet, resist she must. She and Quinn both work for Cobra International Security, which has a strict policy against hook-ups between employees, and she’s too much of a professional to date a coworker. She and Quinn can never be more than friends. But when his best buddy from the SAS is found murdered on the streets of Glasgow, Elizabeth will do all she can to help Quinn cope with the loss … and find the culprit.

Quinn McManus escaped a life of poverty by joining the British Army. His fellow soldiers became his family, forging a bond stronger than blood. Now, with his best friend dead, he needs Elizabeth’s special skills to help track down the killer. He has no intention of getting physical with her. Rules are rules. But as their unofficial investigation heats up, so does the attraction between them. Still, he refuses to surrender. Because if they cross the line from friends to lovers, there will be no going back.

But some battles can’t be won, and soon the passion between Quinn and Elizabeth ignites, hot enough to melt the cold Glasgow winter. As they move closer to the truth and to each other, they find themselves in the sights of a stone-cold killer, who won’t hesitate to destroy them both to keep a terrible secret.

Excerpt from Hard Justice

Quinn walked in wearing a T-shirt and gym pants that rode low on his hips. He flashed Elizabeth a smile and walked over to the free weights, setting up the chest press.

Damn.

Elizabeth had seen him work out before—all that muscle in action. Cobra had a gym in the basement that most of the employees used to stay fit. The difference between Cobra’s gym and this place was that they were on vacation now—and they were alone.

It would be so easy to give in and let her hormones win. She’d danced with Quinn and knew he was good with his body. He’d probably be as lethal in bed as he was out of it. But she’d hooked up with a coworker once before and had paid a terrible price for it. She’d sworn to herself never to make that mistake again.

Still, she was on vacation. It didn’t hurt to ogle him—just a little.

Bench press. Bicep curls. Triceps. Incline press.

He got to his feet, raised the hem of his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, exposing that delicious six-pack.

Elizabeth didn’t realize she’d stopped running until the machine tossed her onto the floor. She toppled with a shriek, landing flat on her butt.

“Are you hurt?” Quinn jogged over, held out a big hand to help her up.

Heat rushed into her cheeks. “I’m fine.”

She took his hand, stood, coming face to face with him—or face to sternum. He smelled like salt and sweat and soap, the warm scents filling her head, leaving her intoxicated.

Pheromone alert.

“Did you forget you were runnin’?” The gleam in his blue eyes told her he found all of this funny.

She couldn’t tell him the truth, so she lied. “I’m not sure what I did.”

She was such an idiot.

He leaned down, bringing his gaze level with hers. “Next time you’re wantin’ to watch me at the weights, turn off the machine first, and come pull up a chair.”

# # #

Quinn saw Elizabeth’s eyes go wide, her cheeks flaming scarlet.

“You!” She glared at him, gave him a wee shove.

“Me?” He fought not to laugh. Och, she was adorable when she was angry. “It was you gawpin’ at me and you who fell. What did I do?”

“Oh, like you’ve never stared at my ass before.” Furious now, she gave herself a slap on the bum and then cupped her breasts through her T-shirt. “Or ogled my tits.”

The sight of her cupping her own breasts sent blood rushing to his groin and brought his gaze to the exact place it should not be.

Sweet blazin’ hell!

“Aye, I’ll no’ deny it. We’re both adults. What’s the harm in lookin’?”

His words seemed to make her angrier. She opened her mouth as if to blister his ears—then leaped into his arms and kissed him.

Quinn caught her, drew her hard against him, his shock washed away by a rush of lust. He forgot about Jack’s murder. He forgot they were in the hotel gym. He forgot that they shouldn’t be doing this, because, sweet Jesus, they ought to have done it years ago. He forgot everything but Lilibet—her taste, the soft feel of her body against his, the sweet scent of her skin.

Och, the woman could kiss. She took everything he could give her and demanded more, her tongue teasing his, her teeth nipping his lips—

“Is this man harassin’ you, miss?”

Elizabeth went stiff in Quinn’s arms, the two of them opening their eyes to find a young security guard walking toward them.

Quinn set Elizabeth on her feet, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “We’re just havin’ a wee snog, aye?”

“Miss?” The man didn’t seem to believe Quinn, but waited for Elizabeth to answer. “It didnae look like snoggin’.”

It took Quinn a moment to understand the accusation—a measure of how distracted he was just now. The guard must have seen Elizabeth shove him on the surveillance feed and had gotten the wrong idea.

Fuck.

Elizabeth gave the man that beautiful smile of hers. “I’m fine. Thank you. I fell off the machine. He helped me up and teased me about it, so I gave him a shove and, um, kissed him. I guess we forgot where we were. I’m so sorry we worried you, but I do appreciate your concern for my safety.”

“If you’re certain, miss…”

“Yes, thank you.”Quinn couldn’t fault the guard for watching out for women, but the thought that anyone could believe him capable of abusing Elizabeth set his temper on edge. He wasn’t that sort of man. No matter what anyone said, he was nothing like his father. Some part of him wanted an apology, but that would make him a right prick.

The guard was just doin’ his job, aye?

Elizabeth turned to Quinn. “I’m done with my run. I’ll see you upstairs.”

“Aye, I’m comin’, too.”

The security guard walked out of the gym with them. “Enjoy your stay wi’ us.”

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt. Grab your copy today, and snuggle up with Quinn and cup of hot cocoa.

Copyright (c) 2019 Pamela Clare