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.
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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, leave your email address, and tell me what you think makes a love scene in a romance sexy.
Simple question, right?
Have a fabulous day!
Ekaf2022 (at) gmail DOT com
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm not sure how to elucidate what makes a love scene sexy. I know things that annoy me- too much flowery prose or repetition of adjectives. And it makes me mad when the man doesn't use a condom
This story sounds very hot, Pamela! For me, what makes a love scene work is when I can "feel" that the characters are really into each other and into what is happening. If the author can't make me feel their emotions, the scene falls flat. From the snippets you provided, it certainly sounds like yours in one of the great ones. :)
ReplyDeleteil live both of the book on your page and then i love to read an blog on them
ReplyDeleteFor me, it doesn't matter what the characters do, it's how they feel about it. If there is tons and tons of chemistry between them, they can do the most vanilla sex ever and it would still be hot to me. If they have no chemistry, no real desire for each other than quick, short pleasure, then it's not hot for me.
ReplyDeleteCannot wait to read First Strike! <3
My email address is c4casey(at)comcast(dot)net
If I knew what was sexy in a love scene, I would write them, not just read them!
ReplyDeleteSounds great! Can't wait to read it!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat makes a love scene for me?
ReplyDeleteI like it when they feel such an attraction
for each other. Like electricity flowing
through their veins. When they are just
meant to be for each other, both body
and soul.
Cannot wait to read "First Strike".
Marie R.
I don't know why it says that I'm unknown, I'm Bridget!
ReplyDeleteA love scene works for me when there is connection between the characters. it doesn't matter the when or how only the passion they share.chemistry is sexy.
ReplyDeletemy email is elena-k84 (at)hotmail (dot)com
I also shared in twitter https://twitter.com/moiramoiraki/status/392329226189168640
ReplyDeleteI love all your books and cannot wait to read first strike
desiresinthedarkATgmailDOTcom
ReplyDeleteI think that building tension makes a good steamy love scene for me.
A love scene needs heated emotions to be sexy, not just a physical act
ReplyDeleteSERIOUSLY!! THE hottest cover I have seen in a good long while! YUMMY!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Pamela. I think a love scene has to convey the tension and attraction between the couple. I tweeted. https://twitter.com/midnightjanie/status/392384565156642816
ReplyDeletejanie1215 AT excite DOT com
I feel that a love scene will blow my mind away with a strong expression of emotional connection and intimacy between lovers. There are straight lusty scenes and there are romantic scenes, but intimate scenes get me involved head to toe, inside and out.
ReplyDeleteI feel the characters need to care about each other. It doesn't sound like that is the case here initially but it develops. The mechanics are not what is important or sexy, it is what is going on in the mind and the heart.
ReplyDeleteA sexy love scene needs passion and feeling. It needs words to describe what the characters are feeling and how they interact and touch each other physically.
ReplyDeletekmccandle(at)yahoo(dot)com
Yikes, I can't think right now on what makes a good one. All I know at this moment is what makes a bad one...am currently reading a book (leaving the title and author out of my comments) that just started it's first sex scene. My problem with it is the heroine had just escaped from a madman after over 2 days of captivity where she'd been drugged repeatedly. Upon her escape she gets hit by a car while running into a street. So, no mention of teeth brushing, showering or anything and there is that car hitting her thing. But she initiates the scene. All I can think is sewer breath, greasy hair and a not quite fresh feeling. Totally NOT sexy! LOL. My email is crysteena73 (at) gmail (dot) com
ReplyDeleteI would say what makes a love scene work is the slow build in the attraction, you have the immediate attraction then you have the contact, the physical reaction..that can be explosive.
ReplyDeletetinamcclay@gmail.com
I find when the couple have a strong connection it makes for very sexy love scenes!!
ReplyDeletekathleenpower@comcast.net
not having to talk in a love scene makes it sexy to me -
ReplyDeleteAnd here are the winners!
ReplyDeleteEach of you gets an copy of my new ebook novella, FIRST STRIKE:
Cheesecake
Tina
MK
Christina
Jane
Congratulations to the winners! :-)
I'm so glad so many people are enjoying the cover. It was done as a custom photo shoot for me by Jenn LeBlanc of Studio Smexy, and the design work was done by Carrie Divine of Seductive Designs. I just love it! :-)
And I agree with all of you. It's about the emotions. If two people really connect in the heart and mind, the body follows.
Thanks for your posts, everyone!
Even though your contest is over, I have to give my two cents on what makes a love scene. For me the necessary ingredient has to be plausible sexual tension. The more the better. Good writiing that successfully builds that tension to the much anticipated release in the sex scene is more important to the hotness of the sex than the sex scene writing itself, not to deminish the importance of good creative sensual writing. I agree with all the other comments about words and turn offs that can make the erotic writing fall apart, but the emotional build for me still has to be there for an erotic story to succeed. Which brings me to the details of building that emotion. I want to hear the internal dialog and emotional subplot of each character as the romance develops but the key to that writing is descriptive brevity. Setting the mood and emotional insight with as few words as possible is the key to success. Unfortunately, many romance writers include too much description which slows down the action to the detriment of the plot often becoming repetitive and boring. The internal thoughts of each charactor need to help drive the plot and be a little surprising or counter initiative to what the audience or the other characters assume compared to the action and dialog. Pamela you are a superior writer who succeeds doing all this and improves with each book. I can't help the erotic anticipation and "intellectual" satisfaction of reading your next work of literature. Congratulations. You are a master story teller.
ReplyDelete