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I don’t have a cover. I don’t have an official title, though I’m willing to mud wrestle my publisher to keep this one. I don’t even have a publication date.

But what I do have is a completed manuscript for Holly and Nick’s story. I sent it to my publisher on Sunday night and am very happy with how the story turned out.

Celebration!

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What do I love about this story? There are so many things!

It’s sexy. It has to be sexy, right? It is Horny Holly’s story, after all. In Nick Andris, she finds a man who matches her libido, but has a very different view of love and sex.

It’s lighter than most of the other I-Team novels. After the past year, I needed some humor and fun in my life, and Holly and Nick brought that, making me laugh almost every day.

It’s poignant. Holly and Nick have had their share of personal tragedies, and with each other they find their way forward to a love they never thought they could have.

It’s exciting. A CIA officer. Terrorists. Holly and Nick...

It has a tear-jerker ending and epilogue. Well, I wrote it, right? And I love tears at the end of a story. Not giving anything away here.

As soon as I have the publication date, I will announce it. We’ll have a big cover reveal, too.

For now, I’m taking a week to clean my house and take care of other things that were neglected during the months that I was writing this story.

Next week, I’ll be starting an I-Team After Hours novella that will be released prior to Seduction Game. It will tell the story of Jack West, the decorated former Army Ranger and father of Nate West, the hero of Skin Deep. Jack owns the Cimarron Ranch, where he runs cattle and breeds horses. A widower, he has put his heart into the ranch and into Nate and his family. The last thing he expects is to fall in love again. But that’s what happens after he finds former FBI agent Janet Killeen off the road near his property in the middle of a Rocky Mountain blizzard.

Jack and Janet have met before. The last time Janet saw him, he was about to kick her off his property. (That scene is in Striking Distance.) Recovering from a gunshot wound she sustained while on a protection detail for journalist Laura Nilsson, Janet has no patience for Jack. But she also doesn’t want to freeze to death in her car.

The chance meeting is a new beginning for them both. For Jack, it’s a second chance at true love. For Janet, it’s the beginning of a new life.

I hope to have Jack and Janet’s story to you by mid-June. It’s my way of giving you some I-Team to chew on before Holly and Nick’s store comes out. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve had a book out. Stay tuned for more information!

When the novella is done, I will be throwing myself into a new contemporary romance series set in the mountains involving members of a mountain rescue team — men and women who are rock climbers, mountaineers, paramedics, wildland fire fighters, and pilots who save lives by rescuing people from life-threatening situations in the mountains or battling the dangers of the mountains. Here are some events from real life that have involved mountain rescue teams: avalanche rescue, people falling while climbing, lost hikers, people who break bones while hiking, people falling down mine shafts, dumb frat boys dragging a keg to the top of one of the Flatirons and then being too drunk to get down (this falls into my favorite category — “Stuck on a rock”); heart attacks or sudden illness on remote mountain trails; and so on.

My own life was saved by a mountain ranger in 1994 after I fell 40 feet climbing. Because of my experience and the fact that I was raised in a mountain climbing family, this is going to be a fun series for me to write. It won’t be romantic suspense, but there will be plenty of excitement and perhaps even some crossover with the I-Team series in the form of Gabe Rossiter and the West family from the Cimarron Ranch. It’s a Colorado mountain series written by someone who grew up in the Colorado mountains.

I hope you’re as excited as I am for all of this!

Thanks for your continued support. I saw a plastic surgeon yesterday and am bolstered by what he said. We’re planning to start the series of surgeries for my reconstruction in September.

Life is slowly returning to normal. After facing cancer, what could be more wonderful than that?

If you’ve read this far, it’s time for an EXCERT! This is from Chapter 10 of Seduction Game.


Holly and Nick enjoy supper outside on her back deck on a summer evening...

“I have a surprise for you.” She scooted her chair away from the table, lifted her dress high up her thighs to reveal the garters, and then did The Leg Cross.

He gave a long, slow exhale, his brow furrowing when he saw that she wasn’t wearing panties. “Please tell me that’s dessert.”

“You’re still hungry?” She stood, picked up her wine glass, and walked slowly toward the door, leaving the plates and silverware for later.

A strong arm shot out, caught her around the waist and drew her back. “Where do you think you’re going?”

She lowered her voice. “Somewhere the neighbors and CIS guys won’t see us.”

He took the wine glass from her hand and set it on the table. “I am the neighbors. Fuck the CIS guys.”

He drew her into his lap so that they sat face to face, her legs straddling him, then drew down his zipper and freed his erect cock from his boxers. “I want you now.”

A shiver ran through her.

“But people—”

“People will be jealous.” He grinned. “Just try not to give us away.”

He reached down with one hand to tease her inner thighs with light brushes of his finger tips that made her skin tingle.

She felt herself grow wet, already wanting him inside her. She took his cock in hand and began to stroke him, felt his hips jerk, heard his breath catch.

But his gaze never wavered.

He caught her clit between his fingers, gave it a little tug, then explored her fully, the tip of one finger making delicious circles over the opening to her vagina before sliding inside her.

“See, that right there is what’s going to give us away, honey. Don’t let your head fall back all sexy like that. Keep your eyes open. Look at me. We’re just having a conversation here.”

And what a conversation.

His fingers caressed her deep inside, taking their time, asking her if she wanted more. Her body answered yes.

He withdrew his fingers and began to tease her clit with his thumb, asking it to join in the game. It swelled beneath his touch—another yes.

Oh, God, she was melting, coming to pieces in his lap, the gliding pressure of his thumb making the ache inside her worse.

He reached into his pocket with his free hand, drew out a condom and handed it to her. She opened it, rolled it over his erection, while his hands reached beneath her dress to grasp her buttocks. When the condom was in place, he shifted in his seat, took his cock in hand, and guided himself inside her.

She couldn’t help but moan, her eyes drifting shut.

He felt so good, as he thrust into her from below, stretching her, filling her, the slick friction already carrying her home.

“Keep it together, honey.”

She opened her eyes, smiled at him.

Two could so play at this game...


 (c) Copyright 2015 Pamela Clare