Book Releases

Holding On (Colorado High Country #6) —
The Colorado High Country series returns with Conrad and Kenzie's story.

A hero barely holding on…

Harrison Conrad returned to Scarlet Springs from Nepal, the sole survivor of a freak accident on Mt. Everest. Shattered and grieving for his friends, he vows never to climb again and retreats into a bottle of whiskey—until Kenzie Morgan shows up at his door with a tiny puppy asking for his help. He’s the last person in the world she should ask to foster this little furball. He’s barely capable of managing his own life right now, let alone caring for a helpless, adorable, fluffy puppy. But Conrad has always had a thing for Kenzie with her bright smile and sweet curves. One look into her pleading blue eyes, and he can’t say no.

The woman who won’t let him fall…

Kenzie Morgan’s life went to the dogs years ago. A successful search dog trainer and kennel owner, she gets her fill of adventure volunteering for the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team. The only thing missing from her busy life is love. It’s not easy finding Mr. Right in a small mountain town, especially when she’s unwilling to date climbers. She long ago swore never again to fall for a guy who might one day leave her for a rock. When Conrad returns from a climbing trip haunted by the catastrophe that killed his best friend, Kenzie can see he’s hurting and wants to help. She just might have the perfect way to bring him back to the world of the living. But friendship quickly turns into something more—and now she’s risking her heart to heal his.

In ebook and soon in print!


About Me

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I grew up in Colorado at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, then lived in Denmark and traveled throughout Europe before coming back to Colorado. I have two adult sons, whom I cherish. I started my writing career as a columnist and investigative reporter and eventually became the first woman editor of two different papers. Along the way, my team and I won numerous state and several national awards, including the National Journalism Award for Public Service. In 2011, I was awarded the Keeper of the Flame Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism. Now I write historical romance and contemporary romantic suspense.

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Seductive Musings

Monday, May 07, 2007

I promised you an excerpt, didn't I?




Never let it be said that I'm a tease...

In this scene, Marc has managed to escape the police who were hot on his tail after using Sophie as a hostage to break out of prison. He hasn't refreshed Sophie's memory, and she still doesn't recognize him. He had broken into a sporting good store high in the mountains for gear to help him make his final getaway, leaving Sophie handcuffed inside her own car, which he used to get away from the prison. But Sophie, still afraid he might kill her, has done a few desperate things to escape, and those things have backfired on her in a very dangerous way...

From Chapter 4 of Unlawful Contact

Marc stepped outside, sucked cold, fresh air into his lungs, savoring the shock, the chill, the scent of it. Wind-driven snow pricked his cheeks and forehead, caught in his beard, sand-blasting the lingering stench of prison from his skin. He couldn’t have gotten better weather if he’d asked for it. The storm would delay the cops, cover his tracks, make it almost impossible for search teams to pick up his trail. By sunrise tomorrow, he’d be free and clear.

Of course, anything could happen.

He rounded the corner, stopped in his tracks. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

Sophie lay sprawled in the snow beside the open car door, struggling clumsily to get upright, arms stretched over her head, her wrists still cuffed to the door handle.

He reached her in two long strides, dropped the pack on the ground, and knelt beside her, fear kicking him hard in the gut. “How in the hell did you manage this?”

Apart from a fresh bruise on her cheek, her face was deathly pale. She shivered violently, snowflakes on her skin and lashes, her wrists badly bruised, her fingers bloodless. But when she looked at him, her eyes spat fire. “B-bastard!”

At least she was conscious and aware and cussing.

“Save the name-calling for later, sweetheart.” He covered her with the parka he’d stolen for her and shoved a hat over her head to preserve whatever body heat he could, then dug in his pack for the pocket knife, knowing he had to get her warm if he wanted to save her life. “Right now, you have bigger problems.”

He flipped to one of the attachments on the pocket knife—a thin metal blade—and jimmied it into the tiny space beside the teeth of the handcuffs, forcing back the internal locking mechanism, freeing first her right wrist and then her left. Then he slipped his arm beneath her shoulders and eased her to a sitting position.

Furious with her, even angrier with himself, it was all he could do not to shout. “Do you realize how fucking stupid this was? Jesus, Sophie! Are you trying to kill yourself?”

She tried to push him away, her motions sluggish and weak. “I-I forgot. K-killing m-me is y-your job.”

“Don’t tempt me!” He stuffed her arms into the sleeves of the stolen parka, then dug in the pack for one of the emergency hand warmers. “Can you stand?”

“Y-yes.” But she didn’t budge.

“Damn it!” He lifted her off the snowy ground, buckled her in the passenger seat, then activated the emergency warmer and slipped it inside her parka. “Stay awake, do you hear me? Watching you die is not on my list of things to do tonight!”

-----------

Tomorrow's blog: Email me your favorite moments from Surrender. I'm reading it now, and I'm going to post my favorite excerpts. Let's see how we compare — yours vs. mine. Plus I'll share the unpublished art that preceded the cover that eventually went onto the book and you can vote as to which version you like best.

7 comments:

Haven't been posting much but there is no way I could pass up commenting on this one.

Loved the excerpt. I've had such a long day and this put a much needed smile on my face.

I cannot wait, Pamela. Honestly - with all these teases - it's just too long til the release.

And is that pic going to be your cover? Verrrry nice - got my attention - no doubt about it.

Now I better head off to bed... dream about wanted men and handcuffs... ;)

Ronlyn said...

Day-um!!
Now that was worth hauling my butt into work to be able to read. (We moved again-did I mention that? Bad Landlord and mold in the walls. Ugh- and the computer has yet to be hooked up at the new and improved home.)

Just one favorite moment from Surrender? that was the first PC book I read, so it holds a special place in my heart. I'll have to think about which moment was my favorite to email you...but forgive me in advance if there's more than one moment. :)

Hi, Sue,

I'm glad the excerpt helped to soothe away the edges of your hard day. I can't wait either. First, I can't wait to finish the darn thing! Then I'll be dying for it to come out.

Did I tell you that I learned how to break out of police handcuffs to write this story? If my hero was going to do it, I felt I needed to know how.

Ronlyn -- sorry you had to move again. That sucks! Mold is unacceptable. ICK! I hope you're feeling okay and not too tired.

Feel free to suggest as many fave scenes as you want. LOL! Heck, you have have the blog for a day if you want. :-)

Can't wait till you're back online. DebbieH, too, for that matter.

Bo said...

Oooh,yummy picture,P.C.!!

And you,a tease? *scoffs* YES!!!!! But it was awesome-I loved it!

Yeah,I'm with Ronlyn,no way can I share just one-there are several Surrender scenes popping into my head right now-some nice,some oh-so-naughty! *VBG*

And I LOVED the pics of your mountain view & Ben's prom,they looked very sharp & cute together.

Debbie H said...

Pamela, thanks so much for the excerpt. Made my day considering I didn't sleep much last night. A tornado touched down in the small town I now live in narrowly missing us, our daughter and granddaughter who live 2 miles from us. Whew!! Not a fun way to be woken up!

I will have to get back to you on the favorite part of SURRENDER.

I will have to try the escape from handcuffs with our pair of red fuzzy ones! BEG

Anonymous said...

OMG! I can't wait for this book! PC you ROCK! Love the picture and agree with Sue about it being the cover art. Think they would go for it? I haven't read surrender yet but ordered it on Amazon today. The excerpts will be great I'm sure.

Nes said...

Did you get my offline message? You rock chick! I loved Hard Evidence! I'm reading Extrem Exposure now. I blogged about it. You got me out of my slump, Pam. Thank you.

MWAH!

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