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.
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
- Pamela Clare
- 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.
Members
My Blog List
-
NEW werewolf anthology! ALPHA WOLF2 months ago
-
Recent Read3 years ago
-
Thank you!4 years ago
-
CODE4 years ago
-
-
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Finally! A historical that I love!
After what feels like a century trapped in the desert, I have discovered a new-to-me author and a historical novel that I loved! The last time this happened was years ago when I was writing Ride the Fire and read Elizabeth Lowell for the first time. Apart from a handful of books I read written by her, I'd begun to think that it was impossible nowadays to find a historical author who writes what I want to read.
Okay, so I know I'm picky. When I read a historical novel, I want complex characters, a story that seems epic in nature, and historical veracity. I want dialogue that, as much as possible, feels genuine for that time and place. I want believable heroines who feel like real women, not proto-feminist "sheroes." I want heroes who feel like men, not metrosexuals. I want to feel the past surrounding me, carrying me away. I want a meaty story. And I want it to be as seamless as possible.
I don't want wallpaper historicals. I don't want "light, breezy" reads that feel like foam in my brain. I don't want novels about gowns and frippery and ballroom banter — unless they go to a deeper place than the wardrobe and the ballroom. I don't want anachronistic novels that put modern-day heroines into historical settings.
This week, I dug around in my TBR and found a novel I'd brought back from RWA this summer. It was Kathleen Givens' On a Highland Shore. I opened it up, plopped onto my bed... and vanished into 1263 Scotland.
Here's a description I stole from B&N:
On Scotland's western shore, the village of Somerstrath prepares for the joyous wedding celebration of Margaret MacDonald, the laird's daughter. But a dark storm of bloodshed and betrayal is closing in, as a merciless band of Vikings threatens the Highlands. Margaret is determined to hold the MacDonald clan together and to locate her abducted younger brother. But can she trust the noblemen from King Alexander's court, who insist that only by adhering to a betrothal conceived for political gain will she find safety? Or should she put her trust in an imposing half-Irish, half-Norse warrior? Gannon MacMagnus alone offers her hope of reuniting her family and vanquishing the barbarous Norsemen who would continue to rob her people of their God-given right to determine their own destinies. In whom should Margaret entrust the fate of the rugged, magnificent land she calls home?
There's sexual tension in this book, but very little sex. It's not a "hot read," but it's an amazing story. I ate it up, and at the end I wanted to read it again. That never happens to me. As I read the last page, I had a rush of goosebumps such as I haven't had... I can't remember when, really. I felt so satisfied by the story.
It's dark, gory, rich in history and full of believable, wonderfully drawn characters.
Kathleen Givens rocks. She's a RITA winner, and I can certainly see why. I sent her a slobbering fan-grrrl email, unable to help myself.
Historical novels are my absolute faves. And it's funny that any time a message board or readers' group asks readers to list their all-time favorite novels, so many of those are historicals. But, in part due to worries about being politically correct, and etc., historicals have been so muted lately. I think the publishing industry is in part to blame for that, as few houses want to venture outside the realm of Regency or European historicals. But that's another topic.
I don't make recommendations all that often, but I loved this book. It's a five-star keeper for me.
Needless to say, I haven't been writing...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Search
Blog Archive
Labels
- #IAmTwitchy (1)
- #TeamCharles (1)
- #TeamHugh (1)
- 1970s (1)
- 2013 Charitable Campaign (1)
- 2016 (1)
- 99 cents (1)
- AAR poll (4)
- absolute surrender (1)
- After the Epilogue Chat (3)
- Alaska (1)
- Alaska series (3)
- Alpine Rescue Team (3)
- American history (1)
- American history/family history (1)
- American Indian culture (1)
- An I-Team Christmas (1)
- An Interview with Alec Kenleigh/Heroes/Sweet Release (1)
- An Interview with the MacKinnon Brothers (1)
- Anna Campbell (3)
- Annual Poll (1)
- Anya Alexyev (1)
- ANZAC Day (1)
- ARRA Awards (1)
- Art (1)
- Audible.com (1)
- audiobooks (16)
- AudioGals (2)
- Austin Taylor (4)
- author interviews (1)
- Back blurb (1)
- Barely Breathing (7)
- Bent's Fort (1)
- Birthday (1)
- Blog Hop (1)
- Book pirating (1)
- book release party (1)
- Book signing (1)
- book trailer (4)
- Books I love (1)
- Box set (1)
- Boxed Set (1)
- Breaking Point (21)
- Breaking Point playlist (1)
- Breast Cancer (3)
- Breasts (1)
- Carnal Gift (5)
- Carnal Gift author cut (1)
- Chase and Anya (2)
- Chase Santee (1)
- Chasing Fire (2)
- Chaska Belcourt (2)
- Childbirth (2)
- Christmas novel (2)
- Christmas novella (4)
- Christmas romance (1)
- Christy Reece (3)
- climbing (4)
- Close to Heaven (1)
- Coast Guard (1)
- Cobra Elite Series (8)
- Cobra Elite Series. Derek Tower (2)
- Colonial American romance (2)
- Colorado High Country series (30)
- Colorado mountains (5)
- Colorado weather (1)
- Connor O'Neal (2)
- contemporary romance (1)
- contest (2)
- Contest winners (1)
- Contests (3)
- coping (1)
- Coupon (1)
- Cover (5)
- covers (3)
- crossover novel (2)
- DA BWAHA (1)
- Daphne du Maurier (1)
- Darius Silva (1)
- Dead by Midnight: An I-Team Christmas (5)
- Dead Giveaway (2)
- Deadly Intent (2)
- Defiant (19)
- Defiant trading cards (1)
- Discussion topic (1)
- Donna Thorland (1)
- Dylan Cruz (2)
- e-novella (3)
- ebook novella (1)
- eBooks (5)
- Eden and Sean (3)
- Eden Koseki (2)
- Elisabeth Naughton (1)
- Elizabeth Shields (2)
- Ellie Meeks (3)
- Eric & Vic (5)
- Eric Hawke (5)
- Eternal (1)
- excerpt (7)
- Excerpts (4)
- Excerpts/Breaking Point (4)
- Excerpts/DEFIANT (3)
- Excerpts/Naked Edge (6)
- Excerpts/Striking Distance (3)
- Excerpts/Untamed (2)
- Extreme Exposure (2)
- faith (2)
- Falling Hard (3)
- fear (1)
- Fictional sex (4)
- Fire and Rain (4)
- First Strike (6)
- First Strike excerpt (1)
- Flowers (5)
- Foreign editions (2)
- France (2)
- French and Indian War (2)
- Gabriela Marquez (2)
- Garden (16)
- Giveaway (5)
- Go Fund Me (1)
- God (1)
- Goldilocks Goes to Jail/Unlawful Contact (7)
- Hard Asset (2)
- HARD EDGE (2)
- Hard Evidence (2)
- Hard Justice (2)
- HARD LINE (1)
- Hard Target (2)
- Harrison Conrad (3)
- HEA (3)
- Heaven Can't Wait (2)
- historical romance (1)
- Holding On (1)
- Holly Bradshaw (8)
- I-Team (46)
- I-Team After Hours (12)
- I-Team Casting Couch (3)
- I-Team Reading Challenge (7)
- I-Team series (4)
- I-Team Shop at Cafe Press (1)
- I-Team Trivia (2)
- illustrated romance (1)
- International Midwife Assistance (3)
- interview with Pamela Clare (1)
- Interviews with the I-Team heroes (3)
- J'ai Lu (1)
- J’ai Lu (1)
- Jack West (4)
- Janet Killeen (3)
- Jason Chiago (2)
- jenn leblanc (1)
- Jenna Hamilton (1)
- Jesse Morett (1)
- Jesse Moretti (2)
- Joan Wood (1)
- Joaquin Ramirez (3)
- Journalism (1)
- Julian Darcangelo (1)
- Kaleo Griffith (12)
- Kathleen Givens (2)
- Kaylea Cross (2)
- Keeper of the Flame Award (1)
- Kenleigh-Blakewell Family Trilogy (7)
- Kenzie Morgan (3)
- King Arthur (1)
- Kristi Chang (1)
- Lexi Jewell (4)
- MacKinnon's Rangers (1)
- MacKinnon's Rangers series (39)
- Malik Jones (1)
- Marc and Julian Make a Beer Run (1)
- Marie Force (3)
- Marriage (1)
- Matt (1)
- Megan's Law (4)
- Megs Hall (1)
- Megs Hill (1)
- Mia Starr (3)
- mining (1)
- Mitch Ahearn (2)
- Naked (1)
- Naked Edge (28)
- Name That Scene (1)
- Naomi Archer (2)
- Navajo (3)
- Nederland Mining Museum (1)
- New Release (2)
- New series (1)
- Nick & Holly (7)
- Nick Andris (7)
- older couple (1)
- orcas (1)
- Pamela Clare (1)
- paperback release (1)
- Paris (1)
- Playlists (3)
- Polls (2)
- Pregnancy (4)
- Project: Happiness (8)
- Pulmonary Hypertension (1)
- Pulmonary Hypertension Association (1)
- puppies (1)
- Q&A (2)
- Quinn McManus (2)
- Rain & Joe (3)
- RangerCon (1)
- RBL Romantica HUGHIE Awards (1)
- Reissues (1)
- release day blitz (1)
- Religion in fiction (1)
- Reviews (4)
- Ride the Fire (7)
- RITA Awards (4)
- Rock*It Reads (1)
- Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team (1)
- romance trading cards (1)
- Romantic fiction (2)
- Romantic Suspense (2)
- RomCon (6)
- RWA (5)
- Samantha Park (1)
- Sasha Dillon (1)
- Scarlet Springs (10)
- Scarlet Springs series (4)
- Sean McKenna (2)
- Seduction Game (13)
- self-publishing (1)
- Sexcerpt Monday (1)
- Shanti Lahiri (2)
- Skin Deep (9)
- Skin Deep excerpt (2)
- Slow Burn (5)
- Soul Deep (4)
- spirituality (1)
- Striking Distance (16)
- studio smexy (1)
- Surrender (10)
- Sweet Release (9)
- Take Me Higher (1)
- Tantor Audio (10)
- Tempt the Devil (1)
- TEMPTING FATE (2)
- The Road to Avalon (1)
- Thor Isaksen (1)
- Travel (1)
- Travel Diary/New York/MacKinnon's Rangers (6)
- Twitchy (1)
- UK editions (3)
- UK releases (2)
- Unlawful Contact (4)
- Untamed (7)
- Untamed contest (1)
- Untamed contest/Camp Followers (1)
- Upon A Winter's Night (1)
- Urban homesteading (10)
- USA Today Bestseller list (1)
- USA Today Happy Ever After interviews (1)
- Verdun (1)
- Web site (1)
- wedding (2)
- Wildest Alaska (6)
- Winona Belcourt (2)
- women in prison (7)
- World War I (1)
- Zach and Natalie (3)
Favorite Writing Quotes
—Emile Zola
"I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day."
—James Joyce
"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery."
—Jane Austen
"Writers are those for whom writing is more difficult that it is for others."
—Ernest Hemingway
"When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth."
—Kurt Vonnegut
"The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar is the test of their power."
—Toni Morrison
"No tears in the author, no tears in the reader."
—Robert Frost.
"I'm a writer. I give the truth scope."
—the character of Chaucer in A Knight's Tale
10 comments:
Hey, girl! I love historicals, especially ones that draw you in so deep you forget where you are. That fogged feeling when the phone rings and you are wondering "what is that?" LOL I want the gory down to earth true history with the fictional story. I have seen her works advertised in my Scottish Life Magazine but haven't read any of hers yet. Now I will have to go looking for it.
Remember what I said about your writing, it will come back. You've had a lot on your plate lately and I bet you will be full swing after the new year. Take time to breathe and enjoy the holidays!
Well Thank you for the recommend. I will definately look for this book and pick it up.
It is good to see you back and I agree with Debbie take time and enjoy your holidays!
Cheryle
Kathleen Givens was one of the first authors I read when I started reading historicals several years ago. I typed in Scottish historical romance and the site that came up had Kilgannon listed. I loved it and proceeded to read everything written by her. She writes incredibly rich stories. She didn't have anything new out in quite a while, so I was thrilled to see a new book come out. I'll have to get it!
Karen
Hi, DebbieH -- If you like to disappear into a story so deeply that you think you're there, this book will do the trick, for sure! And I know you love Scotland...
I do remember what you said about my writing, you sweetie. I hope to catch up over Christmas vacation, when my kids will be mostly gone and it will just be me at home.
Hi, Cher — I'm certain you'll enjoy the story. And thanks! It's good to be back. You have a wonderful holiday season as well. And stick around! I'm going to have some prizes...
Karen, I'm so glad you've read most of her books. I'm going to track the others down. I just can't tell you how long it's been that I've enjoyed a historical quite this much. Hope all is well with you!
I would have sworn I responded to this last night. Things were a little crazy at the time with dinner on the stove, baby in my arms and opening some goldfish crackers to prevent a meltdown...not sure what happened to my message in all that. LOL
Anyhoooo...I'm going to jot that name down to my ever growing list of authors to try out! thanks!
Too funny, Ronlyn! That's what happens with tiny kids and babies in the house! Good luck. And keep yourself armed with those goldfish crackers. A valueable tool for any mom. :-)
P.
goldfish crackers and chicken nuggets. I don't know what I'd do without them.
*G*
Plus, A got up on his hands and knees last night. He didn't know what to do once he managed that, but he's that much closer to crawling. Can you imagine the chaos then? LOL
You're in for fun times, Ronlyn. once those babies become mobile, they sure know how to raise a ruckus! Good thing A has S to watch over him. ;-)
P.C.
I actually have this book in my TBR list how cool is that! And now I'm moving it way up so I can get to it very soon because if you liked it that much I can't wait to read it myself!
Thanks a lot. LOL. I started this book late yesterday and was up till 1am reading it. I finally finished it a few hours ago. All I can say is wow. There are few historicals that stay with me, but I know this one will.
I'm off to Amazon to order as many of Kathleen Given's books as I can.
Thanks for the rec, Pamela.