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.
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Showing posts with label Nick Andris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nick Andris. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
SEDUCTION GAME is out!
CIA officer Nick Andris wants revenge. His last mission failed after a Georgian arms smuggler killed his lover. He’s been tailing a woman for three weeks hoping she will lead him to his target. But there’s a problem with the intel. Holly Elise Bradshaw is nothing more than an entertainment writer with a love for sex and designer clothes. Clearly someone at Langley made a mistake . . .
When Holly finds herself in trouble, the only weapons at her disposal are her brains and her body. But they won’t be enough to handle the man who’s following her. He’s going to turn her world upside-down.
For an author, every book is a journey. It starts with an idea, takes shape in the writers mind, sends her off to do research, and ends in places she couldn’t imagine.
But Seduction Game…
I started it in January 2014. While I was writing the first chapter, I got the news that my former mother-in-law and friend had been in a terrible car accident. She died a few days later.
I was a few chapters in when I got the devastating news that I had invasive ductal carcinoma, a form of breast cancer. I had no choice but to set the book aside while I underwent a bilateral mastectomy, three months of chemotherapy, and five weeks of daily radiation treatments. I was too sick even to imagine writing. It seemed to me that months of sickness, pain, and fear had destroyed my creativity. I told those closest to me that I was afraid I’d never write again.
And then another January came. I was able to stop using morphine. And to my surprise, a book exploded out of my soul.
I started at the beginning, rewrote what I’d written. I wrote faster than I’ve written since the early days of my fiction career, and I loved every moment of it. I laughed, got teary-eyed, and reveled in the feeling of writing again. Holly came to be my favorite heroine ever as her story unfolded on the page. And I felt alive again.
Seduction Game isn’t just a book to me. It’s my literary fist held high in the air. It’s my way of showing the world that I am still here, still on my feet, still creating despite the horrors of cancer.
Cancer is behind me. And now I have a new full-length novel out. That thought made me burst into tears when I woke up this morning. Yes, all books are journeys, but I feel like I traveled through hellfire to bring you this one.
Seduction Game is available at e-book retailers in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia and is coming soon to Kobo and audiobook. It will be available in mass market paperback in March 2016.
I hope with all my heart that you enjoy Nick and Holly’s story. And remember — KEEP THE SECRET! :-)
Also, watch for my novella An I-Team Christmas, coming on Nov. 17! Join your favorite I-Team characters for a suspenseful, action-packed December night.
Thanks for your continued support!
All my best,
Pamela
Pamela
Monday, October 12, 2015
SEDUCTION GAME Q&A with Author Pamela Clare
We’re a week and a day away from the release of Seduction Game (I-Team #7), which tells Holly Bradshaw’s story. Here’s a short Q&A about the book and about my writing plans for the rest of the year.
Q. Is it true your editor once told you she didn’t want to Holly to get her own book?
Q. Is it true your editor once told you she didn’t want to Holly to get her own book?
A. Yes, that is true. Back when Extreme Exposure was release, she mentioned to me that she felt Holly just wasn't heroine material. I told her that was fine, but I felt pretty certain that Horny Holly would win her over. My editor eventually asked me to write Holly’s story. When I reminded her what she’d said about Holly initially, we both got a good laugh out of it.
Q. Holly is a different sort of heroine, not what we’re used to from your books or in romance generally speaking. What made you so certain you wanted to give her a story?
A: Well, it’s no secret that finding a romance hero who hasn’t had sex with lots of women is like finding a four-leaf clover. They’re rare. At the same time, we find a surprisingly high number of virgin heroines in contemporary romance. I guess our culture romanticizes the notion of experienced men leading less experienced women through the wild world of sexuality.
But reality is very different than that. The last study I read found that the average number of sexual partners a US woman has had by the time she turns 40 is 12. That’s the average. All of my other heroines have fallen far short of that average, except perhaps Laura Nilsson from Striking Distance. I actually never asked her for a tally.
My point is that our fantasies about sexuality and the reality we all know and live are very different. I suspect slut-shaming plays a role in pushing heroines to the less sexually active side in romance. And that comes from the bad old double standard that has done so much to hurt women.
I consciously chose for Holly to be a more sexually expressive character 11 years ago when I started writing this series. Through the years, I’ve gotten suggestions from fans that she really hasn't slept with those men, that she’s actually a virgin and just making it up and so forth. No, no, no. She is who she is without apology. As a writer, I found that fun.
Q: Tell us about Nick.
A: Nick is a good guy who is going to seem an awful lot like a bad guy. He lost the woman he loved in an operation that went south, and he’s been looking to even the score with the man who murdered her. He comes from a big family. His parents immigrated to the US from the Georgia when it was still part of the USSR. Nick was born into the US and served in Delta Force before being recruited into the Special Activities Division (SAD) of the CIA. He is tough, serious about serving his country, and in some ways very alone.
Q: He sounds yummy! What’s different about Holly and Nick’s story? You’ve said in some of your comments about it that it’s lighter than the other I-Team books.
A. It is lighter. After last year’s cancer battle and after Striking Distance, which dealt with some very heavy emotional issues, I needed something lighter. I think it’s the funniest I-Team story, because, well, Holly. It’s also pretty hot—again, Holly. What else could we expect? That isn’t to say it’s just humor and sex. There is some darkness in the story, starting with the way Nick and Holly come to know one another. But Holly has a way of seeing the world that brings lightness to dark moments, as Kat once observed about her.
We see most of the other I-Team members. We learn some new things about Laura and Javier’s story. We get to know Derek Tower better. Darcangelo and Hunter are still at it with the bromance and the banter. It’s getting harder and harder to fit all the couples in as the series progresses, but most of them are represented.
Q: Rumor has it that Seduction Game is the last I-Team novel and that the series is over.
A. That depends on how you define “last.” I am determined to give Joaquin his own story. I love him, and so do a lot of my readers. But after that, there will probably be a few more novellas to wrap up some plots for secondary characters and then the I-Team will head into the sunset. I don’t want to continue the series to the point where it grows stale. I’d rather end on a high note.
Right now, I’m working on An I-Team Christmas, which is proving to be a really interesting experience. That will be coming out on Nov. 17, in time for some fun holiday reading. But this isn’t your average heartwarming holiday tale. Think Die Hard meets the I-Team. There will be pretty Christmas trees and lights and lots of bullets.
Also in time for the holidays, I’ll have an I-Team shop set up at Café Press, featuring T-shirts and other things with the official I-Team logo. This is really important to me because the logo was originally designed by a close friend of mine, Lynsey Marion, who died suddenly and unexpectedly last March. She made them as a gift for me but hadn’t yet sent me the final files before she passed on. Carrie at Seductive Designs has been recreating them so that I’ll be able to use them. Keeping the logo alive and putting it to use is one way of keeping her with me.
Q. What’s after the I-Team?
A. Good question! Do you have a crystal ball? I have a handful of historical romances I’d love to write. There are a couple of spinoff series that I’d love to do, one featuring Javier and Derek’s black ops firm and the other set in Scarlet Springs, which is mentioned in Soul Deep for the first time. Scarlet Springs is a Colorado mountain town but unlike the idyllic mountain towns in so many romances, it’s a real Colorado mountain town with three marijuana shops and lots of eccentric residents. That series will include Gabe Rossiter from Naked Edge (and possibly other I-Team characters) as cross-over characters and will focus on the work of the county’s Alpine Rescue Team—the men and women who save people’s lives day in and day out in the high country. There will be hard-core climbers, skiers, helo pilots, rescue dog trainers, wildland fire fighters, paramedics, avalanche rescue people and more. I’ll be publishing the Scarlet Springs series independently.
Also, I may have a secret project up my sleeves.
Q. How fast can you write?
A. Not fast enough, though to have written a full-length novel and two novellas in a single year after the year I had last year feels pretty incredible to me.
Q: Speaking of last year, how are you doing health-wise?
A. I’m doing pretty darned well. I haven’t yet had reconstruction, and I have short hair. Those are the two things that bother me most. But I am trying to focus on things I enjoy and moving forward with life. I’m taking a painting class and have gotten started with aqua fitness classes, which I really like.
All of the test so far show no sign of cancer. I was diagnosed as stage 1c, and I've got less than a 10 percent chance of recurrence. I’m actually surprised at how well I’m living with the fear of recurrence. I simply don’t think about it, except when it’s time for my next bunch of tests. Then I get a little nervous—butterflies in the tummy, that sort of thing.
I will never say that I’m grateful for the experience, because I wasn’t. If there are survivors who feel that way, that’s fine. But I could have lived my entire life without going through chemo or radiation or losing my breasts and hair and been just fine.
The truth is that we have very little control over how and when we die, as my friend Lynsey’s sudden death proves, but we do have control over how we live our lives. I’m trying to put 100 percent of my energy into living, into writing, into joyous things so that when the day comes I’ll be able to feel I lived the best life I could live.
Pre-order your copy of Holly and Nick’s story now! Available on Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kindle UK, and in audiobook . (The print version will be out in March 2016.)
 |
| Feel free to download or share! |
Q. Holly is a different sort of heroine, not what we’re used to from your books or in romance generally speaking. What made you so certain you wanted to give her a story?
A: Well, it’s no secret that finding a romance hero who hasn’t had sex with lots of women is like finding a four-leaf clover. They’re rare. At the same time, we find a surprisingly high number of virgin heroines in contemporary romance. I guess our culture romanticizes the notion of experienced men leading less experienced women through the wild world of sexuality.
But reality is very different than that. The last study I read found that the average number of sexual partners a US woman has had by the time she turns 40 is 12. That’s the average. All of my other heroines have fallen far short of that average, except perhaps Laura Nilsson from Striking Distance. I actually never asked her for a tally.
My point is that our fantasies about sexuality and the reality we all know and live are very different. I suspect slut-shaming plays a role in pushing heroines to the less sexually active side in romance. And that comes from the bad old double standard that has done so much to hurt women.
I consciously chose for Holly to be a more sexually expressive character 11 years ago when I started writing this series. Through the years, I’ve gotten suggestions from fans that she really hasn't slept with those men, that she’s actually a virgin and just making it up and so forth. No, no, no. She is who she is without apology. As a writer, I found that fun.
 |
| Feel free to download or share! |
Q: Tell us about Nick.
A: Nick is a good guy who is going to seem an awful lot like a bad guy. He lost the woman he loved in an operation that went south, and he’s been looking to even the score with the man who murdered her. He comes from a big family. His parents immigrated to the US from the Georgia when it was still part of the USSR. Nick was born into the US and served in Delta Force before being recruited into the Special Activities Division (SAD) of the CIA. He is tough, serious about serving his country, and in some ways very alone.
A. It is lighter. After last year’s cancer battle and after Striking Distance, which dealt with some very heavy emotional issues, I needed something lighter. I think it’s the funniest I-Team story, because, well, Holly. It’s also pretty hot—again, Holly. What else could we expect? That isn’t to say it’s just humor and sex. There is some darkness in the story, starting with the way Nick and Holly come to know one another. But Holly has a way of seeing the world that brings lightness to dark moments, as Kat once observed about her.
We see most of the other I-Team members. We learn some new things about Laura and Javier’s story. We get to know Derek Tower better. Darcangelo and Hunter are still at it with the bromance and the banter. It’s getting harder and harder to fit all the couples in as the series progresses, but most of them are represented.
 |
| Feel free to download or share! |
Q: Rumor has it that Seduction Game is the last I-Team novel and that the series is over.
A. That depends on how you define “last.” I am determined to give Joaquin his own story. I love him, and so do a lot of my readers. But after that, there will probably be a few more novellas to wrap up some plots for secondary characters and then the I-Team will head into the sunset. I don’t want to continue the series to the point where it grows stale. I’d rather end on a high note.
Right now, I’m working on An I-Team Christmas, which is proving to be a really interesting experience. That will be coming out on Nov. 17, in time for some fun holiday reading. But this isn’t your average heartwarming holiday tale. Think Die Hard meets the I-Team. There will be pretty Christmas trees and lights and lots of bullets.
Also in time for the holidays, I’ll have an I-Team shop set up at Café Press, featuring T-shirts and other things with the official I-Team logo. This is really important to me because the logo was originally designed by a close friend of mine, Lynsey Marion, who died suddenly and unexpectedly last March. She made them as a gift for me but hadn’t yet sent me the final files before she passed on. Carrie at Seductive Designs has been recreating them so that I’ll be able to use them. Keeping the logo alive and putting it to use is one way of keeping her with me.
Q. What’s after the I-Team?
A. Good question! Do you have a crystal ball? I have a handful of historical romances I’d love to write. There are a couple of spinoff series that I’d love to do, one featuring Javier and Derek’s black ops firm and the other set in Scarlet Springs, which is mentioned in Soul Deep for the first time. Scarlet Springs is a Colorado mountain town but unlike the idyllic mountain towns in so many romances, it’s a real Colorado mountain town with three marijuana shops and lots of eccentric residents. That series will include Gabe Rossiter from Naked Edge (and possibly other I-Team characters) as cross-over characters and will focus on the work of the county’s Alpine Rescue Team—the men and women who save people’s lives day in and day out in the high country. There will be hard-core climbers, skiers, helo pilots, rescue dog trainers, wildland fire fighters, paramedics, avalanche rescue people and more. I’ll be publishing the Scarlet Springs series independently.
Also, I may have a secret project up my sleeves.
Q. How fast can you write?
A. Not fast enough, though to have written a full-length novel and two novellas in a single year after the year I had last year feels pretty incredible to me.
Q: Speaking of last year, how are you doing health-wise?
A. I’m doing pretty darned well. I haven’t yet had reconstruction, and I have short hair. Those are the two things that bother me most. But I am trying to focus on things I enjoy and moving forward with life. I’m taking a painting class and have gotten started with aqua fitness classes, which I really like.
All of the test so far show no sign of cancer. I was diagnosed as stage 1c, and I've got less than a 10 percent chance of recurrence. I’m actually surprised at how well I’m living with the fear of recurrence. I simply don’t think about it, except when it’s time for my next bunch of tests. Then I get a little nervous—butterflies in the tummy, that sort of thing.
I will never say that I’m grateful for the experience, because I wasn’t. If there are survivors who feel that way, that’s fine. But I could have lived my entire life without going through chemo or radiation or losing my breasts and hair and been just fine.
The truth is that we have very little control over how and when we die, as my friend Lynsey’s sudden death proves, but we do have control over how we live our lives. I’m trying to put 100 percent of my energy into living, into writing, into joyous things so that when the day comes I’ll be able to feel I lived the best life I could live.
Pre-order your copy of Holly and Nick’s story now! Available on Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kindle UK, and in audiobook . (The print version will be out in March 2016.)
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Countdown to SEDUCTION GAME! EXCERPT
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| US cover |
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| UK cover |
This past summer was crazy busy. We took an unexpected vacation thanks to a friend, had friends visiting from France, enjoyed a few weeks with my sister here from Sweden.
And suddenly it’s October????
That’s okay with me because it means an end to 95-degree days (35 C) and it brings us closer to the ebook and audiobook release of Seduction Game. It’s my first full-length book since my cancer battle, and I’m super-excited to share it with you.
Waaaaay back when Extreme Exposure was first released, my editor at Penguin told me she hoped I wasn’t planning on having a book for Holly. She just didn’t see Holly as heroine material.
I kept my thoughts to myself, because of course I planned on Holly getting her own story. I understood where my editor was coming from. Holly isn’t your typical romance heroine, that’s for sure, and 10 years ago it wasn’t common to see a heroine with a lot of sexual experience outside of erotica.
Fast forward about eight years, and my editor asked me if I planned on having a story for Holly. I most certainly did have a story for her. I reminded my editor what she’d said back when the I-Team series was new, and we laughed about it.
Seduction Game is the lightest, funniest, and, some reviewers say, sexiest, I-Team story to date. It has to be, right? This is Holly we’re talking about.
Here are some spoiler-free quotes from early reviews off Goodreads:
Sunny wrote: “Perfect romantic suspense. I had no idea where Pamela Clare was going to go with Holly’s story, but she made it BRILLIANT.”
Danielle wrote: “This is only the second book I have read from Clare and the I team and wow I seriously loved it! Clare delivers another fast paced story that kept me up until the early morning hours.”
Kame wrote: “You will LOVE Nick and Holly. Their love story is one of my ALL-TIME favorite books – and you know I read a lot of books. She is now my favorite heroine – not just ITeam heroine.”
I really love that because Holly is my favorite I-Team heroine, too.
The research for this story included interviewing a former CIA officer — Nick is a CIA paramilitary officer— as well as a forensic computer expert. I really enjoyed learning more about both fields. For example, did you know that federal agencies use Twitter and Facebook a lot? I didn’t. It enables them to communicate while hiding in plain sight. I had a lot of fun with that in the story.
The book will be out on Oct. 20 both in the US and in the UK, with the mass market paperback release slated for March. You can preorder now for Kindle, Nook, iBooks, and audiobook. It’s also available for Kindle in the UK.
Also, the audiobook is being narrated by the amazing Kaleo Griffith once again. He sent me a snippet just as a treat, and I loved it.
If you haven’t tried the I-Team or haven’t stayed current with the series, that gives you almost three weeks to get caught up.
I’ve been cautioning I-Team fans against reading reviews. Apart from a couple of reviews on Goodreads, most contain serious spoilers that will take away a lot of the fun of the story.
Let’s get this final countdown underway. How better to do that than with an excerpt? Here’s snippet that includes Marcangelo — that’s Julian and Marc — meeting Nick for the first time under rather ... awkward ... circumstances.
Nick and Holly the morning after....
Nick awoke the next morning to the sound of someone pounding on his door.
“Holly, are you there?”
What the hell?
A man’s voice. More pounding.
He came fully alert, found Holly still asleep in his arms, lashes dark on her cheeks. “Wake up, honey. I think we’ve got company.”
“Holly, it’s Julian!”
Her eyes flew open, and she sat bolt upright. “What time is it?”
Nick glanced at his alarm clock. “A little after nine.”
“Nine? Oh, shit!” She tried to get out of bed, but they were tangled together with the sheet, and she would have pitched headlong onto the floor if he hadn’t caught her.
“Holly! Open up!” a second male voice demanded.
Nick kicked away the sheet, stood, and went in search of a means to cover his bare ass, finding his jeans at the foot of the bed where he’d dropped them. “Don’t they know it’s Sunday morning? People sleep on Sunday morning.”
Especially people who’d been fucking all night Saturday.
“They’re taking me to the police range to teach me how to shoot my new handgun, and I forgot,” she said, darting around his room as if searching for something—her clothes. “Well, I didn’t forget, exactly, I just didn’t think I’d still be here. I was supposed to be dressed and ready to go.”
Nick ought to have remembered this himself. He knew about the 9mm Glock 19 Gen 4 she’d bought, knew her cop friends had agreed to take her to the police range this morning to teach her to shoot.
You’re slipping, Andris—in more ways than one.
He didn’t want to think about that just now.
He stepped into his jeans, found her panties, and tossed them to her.
“Where’s my bra?” she glanced around.
He tried to remember. “I think it’s back in the living room.”
“Oh. Right.” She darted out of the bedroom, putting on her panties as she went, a sight that was both amusing and arousing.
He didn’t know a person could do that while running.
She found her bra, and quickly put it on, then retrieved her dress, which was now wrinkled from a night on his floor. She drew it over her head then went in search of her shoes and purse.
He bit his lower lip. “Holly, honey, your dress is inside out.”
More pounding on the door.
“Holly, it’s Marc! Open up!”
Nick shouted back. “Shut the hell up! We’re coming!”
Poor choice of words.
They both laughed.
“It’s not funny.” Holly struggled out her dress, turned it right side out and shimmied back into it. “They’re going to know.”
“I hate to break it to you, honey, but I bet they already know, given that they’re knocking on my door and not yours.”
A look of comprehension dawned on her face, followed by one of resignation. “That’s freaking fantastic. I’m going to get lectured. You don’t know these guys.”
Actually, he knew a lot about these guys—probably more than she did.
“Hey, you’re over eighteen. It’s your life.” He walked to the door, hoping to open it before the two men beat it down with their fists. “You ready?”
She grabbed her purse, slipped her feet into her sandals, and nodded.
Nick didn’t have the heart to tell her that her hair was a tousled mess—or that she smelled like sex.
He opened the door to find Darcangelo and Hunter on his doorstep. They glared at him, their gazes softening when Holly stepped into view.
“Sorry! I—”
“I kept her up all night watching old movies,” Nick said.
He knew neither man would buy it, but if it saved Holly embarrassment and kept them from beating his face in…
“How fast can you get ready to go?” Darcangelo said. “We don’t want to lose our range time.”
“Just give me five minutes.” Holly dug in her purse for her keys then turned back to Nick, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Tonight?”
“Yeah.” He caught her and kissed her, nice and slow, just to piss off the two men.
Then Holly unlocked her door and disappeared inside her own home, and Nick found himself, alone and shirtless, facing two big guys who looked like they wanted to deck him.
“Nick Andrews.” He held out a hand, and they shook.
“Marc Hunter.”
“Julian Darcangelo.”
“So… You guys part of Holly’s security team?”
Hunter nodded yes.
Darcangelo shook his head no.
Then the two of them looked at each other.
It was Hunter who finally spoke. “We’re the guys you’ll get to know really well if you do anything to hurt her.”
(c) 2015 Pamela Clare
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
COVER REVEAL — SEDUCTION GAME, plus 10th Anniversary news!
UPDATED TO ADD THE MODIFIED COVER
Here it is at long last — the cover for Seduction Game, Holly’s story. I just got it this afternoon, and I couldn’t resist sharing it immediately. I’m amazed at how like Holly the female model looks. And the male model comes complete with Nick’s somewhat curly, David Gandy-esque hair (and a firearm, which he will need).
What do you think? Feel free to share on Facebook or on your blog. I appreciate your help in getting the word out. This is my first full-length book since last year’s cancer nightmare, and I’m hoping you will love Nick and Holly’s story as much as I do. I think it’s the best book in the series.
I’ve already posted excerpts from the story here on my blog. Those of you who missed those might want to check May in the column to the right for some sexy sneak peeks.
You can preorder a copy for Kindle, iBooks, and Nook, and from Amazon UK.
Now all that’s left is to wait until Oct. 20!
Fortunately, the wait is going to be made a bit easier by the big I-Team 10th Anniversary Celebration going on now.
On Aug. 2, 2005, Extreme Exposure was released, the first of what I hoped might be a three-book series. Known at that time for my historicals, I already had ideas for the next two books in the series. Both would focus on issues I had covered as a journalist, one looking at human sex trafficking (Hard Evidence) and the other at prison issues (Unlawful Contact). I had no idea how readers would respond to Extreme Exposure, but I was hopeful they might find the world of hardcore investigative journalism that had been my home for so long to be interesting at least.
Now, ten years later, it’s not historicals I’m known for, but the I-Team series. Isn’t that wild? It blows my mind that ten years have gone by.
To celebrate, Berkley and I are offering some great giveaways.
Right now on Goodreads, you can sign up for a giveaway. Ten winners will receive the first six books of the series, giving them a chance to catch up all things I-Team before Seduction Game comes out.
Click here to read the details and enter! (US only.)
Soon, I'll have a Rafflecopter giveaway that includes books and a bound edition of the manuscript for Seduction Game. Imagine how jealous your friends will be if you win that!
Also, I will host a UK/Commonwealth-only giveaway of the first six books in the I-Team series so that readers in the UK, NZ, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere can be part of the fun.
To add to the fun, I’m bringing the price for Skin Deep (An I-Team novella) down to 99 cents on August 4-18. Those of you who haven’t read the novellas will have a chance to pick up Nate and Megan’s story for 99 cents plus tax.
So check back and stay tuned!
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Seduction Game out on Oct. 20!
I’m just popping in with a quick and dirty update.
I have a release date for Seduction Game (I-Team #7). The ebook version will be out on Oct. 20. That’s only four and a half months away. (This is an update with the correct date. I initially got the wrong one from NY.)
My editor loved the story. She made no changes it, but sent it straight off to copy editing. Berkley is releasing the ebook version separately so my readers won’t have to wait so long.
The print edition won’t be out until June 2016 unless a slot opens up earlier, in which case it could be released earlier. I don’t know when the audiobook will be released. I hope to have that information for you soon.
I also have the back cover copy for the book. I thought you might want to see it. How about a little tease?
CIA Officer Nick Andris wants revenge. His last mission failed after a Georgian arms smuggler killed his lover. He’s been tailing a woman for three weeks hoping she will lead him to his target. But there’s a problem with the intel. Holly Elise Bradshaw is nothing more than an entertainment writer with a love for sex and designer clothes. Clearly someone at Langley made a mistake . . .
When Holly finds herself in trouble, the only weapons at her disposal are her brains and her body. But they won’t be enough to handle the man who’s following her. He’s going to turn her world upside-down.
Oh, yes, he is. And, believe me, she returns the favor as only Holly can.
Mark your calendars. Oct. 20 is going to be a very special day for me. It marks my return from a place I never wanted to go. I can’t wait to share this story with you!
Also, watch for a new I-Team After Hours novella on June 23. I’m working on it right now. The hero of the story is Jack West, widower, rancher and former Army Ranger. You met him in Skin Deep and saw a little of him in Striking Distance. He owns the Cimarron Ranch in the mountains west of Denver and is Nate West’s father. He gets a second chance at love when Janet Killeen, the FBI agent he threw off his land in Striking Distance and who was badly wounded later in that story, ends up in a ditch near the ranch during a blizzard.
I don’t have a title yet, but I will soon. This story marks the first time I’ve written about an older couple. Janet is 45, and Jack is 63 (but a fully functional 63). All of my heroes and heroines have been in their late 20s or 30s. I don’t believe romance ends at 40 or 50 or even 60 or 70. I know a lot of romance readers feel that way, too. And Jack is one of a kind—gruff, physically fit, a cowboy with a romantic streak.
Stay tuned for excerpts and more news!
Monday, March 23, 2015
First Glimpse at Nick and Holly
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I thought it was time to give you a glimpse of Nick and Holly’s book. I’m about halfway done at this point and anticipate turning it in to New York at the end of April.
In my mind, Holly has always looked something like Scarlett Johannson. I promised myself my next hero would look like the amazingly sexy David Gandy. And guess what? They did a super-sexy Dolce & Gabbana shoot together, which I took as a sign.
If those images don’t work for you, feel free to imagine the blond woman and dark hunk of your choice. What you do in your imagination is none of my business.
The book doesn’t have a fully official title yet, so... Without further ado, I introduce Nick and Holly.
Holly honestly has no idea what she’s in for, but then again, neither does Nick.
From Chapter One...
Trust no one.
What the hell did Kramer mean by that?
Nikolai Andris rubbed his closed eyes with the heels of his
hands, then looked up at the clock.
Almost midnight.
Shit.
This was a waste of time.
For almost three weeks, he’d been keeping Holly Elise
Bradshaw under round-the-clock surveillance. He’d turned her life inside out
but had found nothing. He’d tapped both of her phones, sifted through her
laptop, searched her condo, memorized the details of her childhood, learned
about her friends, pored over her financial records, scrutinized her posts on
social media for hints of tradecraft, and tracked every move she’d made via
GPS. He’d found nothing remotely suspicious.
He’d even gone behind Bauer’s back and contacted Rich
Lagerman, an old buddy from Delta Force who was now working for the FBI, and
asked whether Bradshaw was one of theirs. Every federal agency in the country
now had undercover officers, and it wouldn’t be the first time operatives from
different agencies had tripped over one another while pursuing the same
suspect.
“Nope. Not one of ours,” Rich had said. “But if you need any
help with her, maybe some late-night, under-the-covers work, let me know.”
“Right.”
Nick now knew more about this woman than she knew about
herself. If Holly Bradshaw was some kind of underworld operative, a foreign
agent, a traitor who sold US secrets, then he was Elvis fucking Presley.
Someone at Langley had screwed up.
Nick had been recalled from assignment in Tbilisi amid whispers
that a handful of officers were missing or dead and that the Agency was
conducting an shake-up and internal investigation of its Special Activities
Division, or SAD, the top-secret branch of the CIA that had recruited Nick out
of Delta Force nine years ago. He’d never been assigned to operate within US
borders, so he’d arrived in Langley expecting to find himself in the middle of
an inquisition.
Instead, Bauer had given him a file with the latest intel on
Sasha Dudayev, aka Sachino Dudaev, the Georgian arms smuggler who’d killed the
only woman Nick had ever loved.
“He killed an officer and stole a flash drive containing
classified information vital to US operations outside the homeland,” Bauer had
said. “Keep Bradshaw under surveillance, recover the data, and neutralize them
both using any force necessary.”
As a rule, the Agency left affairs within the homeland to
the NSA and FBI, but they sometimes broke that rule when it came to high-value
international targets and US citizens who’d crossed the line to work with those
targets. It was unusual for Nick to run surveillance on a fellow American in
her home, but apart from that element of his current mission, Bauer had given
him exactly what he’d wanted for two long years now—a chance to make Dudaev
pay.
Dudaev had played the Agency and brought the Chechen op down
on their heads. Nick had been there that night. He’d watched, wounded and
pinned down by AK fire, as the son of a bitch had emptied his Makarov into
Dani’s chest, then made off with the cache of arms the Agency had wrested away
from Chechen terrorists. Nick had
crawled over to her and held her body afterward, held her until he’d passed out
from blood loss.
His sole task that night had been to protect her, and he’d
failed.
But now things were about to come full circle.
There was only one problem.
The suits at Langley had clearly made a mistake when they’d
fingered Ms. Bradshaw as Dudaev’s contact. Okay, so it was an understandable
mistake. The bastard’s last lover had been an Italian journalist who’d acted as
his mole and messenger—until he’d had her killed. Analysts must have assumed
he’d recruited Ms. Bradshaw when she’d interviewed him about his new art
gallery and then begun dating him.
As understandable as the error might be, nothing changed the
fact that Nick had now wasted three weeks discovering that Holly Bradshaw was
exactly what she seemed to be—an entertainment writer, a smart but shallow
blonde, a woman who loved sex, expensive clothes, and good times with her
friends. He’d explained all of this to Langley, sharing every bit of intel he’d
gathered on her. If Dudaev was about to sell the flash drive, the deal would go
down without Bradshaw’s knowledge or participation.
Bauer had shrugged. “Stick with her. The analysts swear
she’s the one.”
Some people just hated to be wrong.
Nick’s time would be better spent trailing Dudaev and
hunting down the real contact—or sorting truth from rumor on the internal
investigation and the missing and dead officers.
Trust no one.
Kramer had contacted him this afternoon insisting they speak
face to face. He’d told Nick when and where to meet him. Nick hadn’t needed to
ask what was on Kramer’s mind. It wasn’t unusual for an officer to be killed in
the line of duty, but it was strange that Nick and Kramer had worked with all
of them. Then Kramer had ended the call with those three words—and Nick’s
imagination had taken over.
“They’re ombré crystal pumps in royal blue with four-inch
heels.”
Nick took another swig of cold coffee. In his earpiece,
Bradshaw and her friend Kara McMillan were still talking.
“I love them,” Bradshaw said, “but my shoe budget is blown
for the next ten years.”
Nick doubted that. Bradshaw’s daddy was a retired brigadier
general who had served with US Army Intelligence—another reason analysts
believed Dudaev had chosen her—and Daddy had created a nice little trust fund
for his baby girl.
“How much do a pair of Christian Louboutins cost?” McMillan
asked.
Nick ran through the key facts on her, more to help himself
stay awake than because he’d forgotten anything.
McMillan, Kara. 40. Journalist, author, journalism
instructor at Metro State University. Wife of Sheridan, Reece, lieutenant
governor of the state of Colorado. No arrests. No suspected criminal
associations. Three children. Formerly employed by the Denver Independent on
its Investigative Team, aka, the I-Team. Met Bradshaw through work. Close
personal friend.
“Well, it depends on where you buy them, whether they’re on
sale, which shoe you choose—that sort of thing.”
“Holly,” McMillan said in a stern voice. “How much?”
Bradshaw hesitated. “These were just over three thousand.”
Nick had just taken another swig of coffee and nearly
choked.
Three thousand dollars? For a fucking pair of shoes?
“Wow!” McMillan laughed. “Reece would divorce me.”
Damn straight!
“Did you get them for your big date with Sasha tomorrow?”
“I needed something to go with my new dress.”
Nick rolled his eyes. The woman’s closet was full of shoes.
The last thing she needed was one more pair—especially one that cost three
fucking grand.
“I read in the paper that he’s a billionaire—gas and oil
money,” McMillan said.
Nick felt his jaw clench.
Dudaev’s fortune had been built on human lives, including
Dani’s. Murdering her had been nothing more than a business transaction to him.
He could change his name, wear designer suits, and open a dozen art galleries
trying to make himself seem respectable, but nothing could wash the blood off
his hands.
“You should see the sapphire necklace he gave me last week.
The chain isn’t actually a chain. It’s a strand of diamonds.”
Nick already knew from another conversation—this time with
Sophie Alton-Hunter, another friend from the newspaper—that Bradshaw had bought
the dress to match the necklace. Now she’d gotten the shoes to go with the
dress. And at last Nick understood what a woman like Holly Bradshaw would see
in Dudaev.
Well, greed was blind.
She had no idea what kind of man he truly was. If she wasn’t
careful, he’d strangle her with that necklace.
“Sophie told me. It sounds like he’s serious about you. Do
you think this will be it—the big night?”
Nick frowned.
What did McMillan mean by that?
“I don’t know. I mean, he’s good looking enough.”
“Good looking enough?” McMillan laughed. “He’s a lot better
looking than that banker you went out with last year. Where was he from?”
“South Africa.”
“He’s better looking than that Saudi prince, too, whatever
his name was. In the news photos, he looks a lot like George Clooney but with a
more aristocratic nose and a mustache. Sure, he’s got some gray, but I’ll bet
he’s fully functional.”
They were talking about Ms. Bradshaw’s love life.
Nick glanced for a moment at the photos of her he’d pinned
to the wall above his desk. He could see why men were eager to sleep with her.
She was hot.
Okay, she was incredibly hot. Platinum blond hair. A
delicate heart-shaped face. Big brown eyes. A full mouth, and a body that…
Get your mind off her body.
What good were looks if they got you into trouble? There
were men who preyed on beautiful women, and Dudaev was one of them.
“Yeah, but he’s… I don’t know… self-absorbed. He’s probably
the kind of man who rams into you for five minutes and then acts like he’s just
done you a big favor, the kind who makes you wish you had a magazine to read
when you’re in bed with him.”
McMillan was laughing now.
But Bradshaw hadn’t finished. “A lot of guys are like
that—oblivious to what women want. ‘Don’t worry about getting me off, babe. I
just want to go down on you all night long’—said no man ever.”
Nick shook his head. Is that what she truly expected?
A dude would have to have a motorized tongue to pull that
off.
Did all women talk like this about sex? Nick couldn’t
imagine his sister sharing details about her sex life with her friends or using
this kind of language. His mother, a devout Georgian Orthodox Christian, would
have had a coronary if she’d caught her daughter or even one of her five sons
talking like this.
Not that it offended Nick. He found it kind of sexy,
actually. But then, given the things he’d seen and the things he’d had to do, a
conversation about oral sex was pretty damned tame.
“Not all men are selfish.”
You tell her, McMillan.
“No, I suppose not. But lots of them are. It makes me want
to take out a full-page ad in the paper just to help out womankind. ‘It’s the
clit, stupid.’”
Nick let out a laugh—then caught himself.
Keep your shit together, Andris.
# # #
Holly Bradshaw glanced over her shoulder at her living room
wall. “Mr. Creeper must be watching something funny on TV. I just heard him
laugh. I never hear him.”
“You still haven’t met him?” Kara asked through a yawn.
“He’s lived there for almost a month now and hasn’t once
come over to say hello. He stays indoors and keeps the shades drawn. I’ve seen
him outside once. He was taking out the trash, but he was wearing a hoodie. I
couldn’t see his face.”
Kara’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Maybe he’s a serial
killer.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Who cares about him anyway? If I were you, I’d be so
excited about tomorrow night. You lead such a glamorous life. I’m so jealous.”
But Holly knew that wasn’t true. “You and Sophie and the
others—you spend every evening with your kids and a man who loves you while I
watch TV by myself or go out to the clubs. I think you’re the lucky ones.”
Like the rest of Holly’s friends, Kara was happily married
to a man who cherished her. Reece was one of the kindest, most decent, and
sexiest men Holly had ever met—which was really strange, given that he was a
politician. He’d bent over backward to prove to Kara that he loved her. Now,
they had three kids and lived what seemed to Holly to be a perfect life.
The fact that all of her friends were now married and most
had children had changed her life, too. She spent a lot less time out on the
town with them and a lot more time alone while they took on new roles and
responsibilities. As much as she craved excitement and enjoyed the city’s
nightlife, some secret part of her had begun to long for what they had, and that
longing seemed to grow sharper all the time.
But Kara didn’t seem to believe her. “Are you saying you’d be willing to trade
places with me?”
“And sleep with Reece?” Holly stretched out on her sofa and
felt herself smile.
“That’s not exactly what I meant.”
But the question, however intended, had Holly’s imagination
going.
Reece was sexy with dark blond hair, blue eyes and muscles
he hid beneath tailored suits. How fun it would be to peel one of those suits
away from his skin.
Tessa was married to Julian Darcangelo, the city’s top vice
cop and a former FBI agent who’d worked deep cover. Tall with shoulder-length
dark hair, a ripped body, and a strikingly handsome face, he was sex on a
stick—and crazy in love with his wife.
Then again, Marc Hunter, Sophie’s husband, had served six
years in prison and had that badass vibe Holly loved. A former Special Forces
sniper, he was also a devoted family man—and sexier than any man had a right to
be.
Gabe Rossiter, Kat James’s husband, had a rock climber’s
lean, muscular build and had all but given his life for the woman he loved. Kat
was a lucky woman.
Zach McBride, a former Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor
recipient, had saved Natalie from being murdered by the leader of a Mexican
drug cartel. All lean muscle and confidence, he had the hard look of a man who
was used to taking action.
Nate West, Megan’s husband, had been badly burned in combat,
his face and much of his body disfigured. The part of him that wasn’t scarred
was extremely handsome—and he had a cowboy charm that brought the song “Save a
Horse, (Ride a Cowboy)” to Holly’s mind.
Javier Corbray had rescued his wife, Laura Nilsson, from
captivity in a terrorist stronghold in Pakistan, sacrificing his career as a
SEAL. With a sexy Puerto Rican accent, dreamy, dark eyes and a mouth that—
“Are you fantasizing about my husband?” Kara’s accusing
voice jerked Holly out of her reverie.
“No, of course not. Not really. Okay, a little,” Holly
confessed. “I was just deciding which one of you I’d most like to trade places
with.”
It was just a game. Holly had never so much as flirted with
a married man. She didn’t poach on other women’s territory. But that didn’t
mean she couldn’t fantasize.
“Holly!” Kara laughed. “I’m sorry I phrased it the way I
did. Let me try again.”
Tessa, Holly decided.
She’d trade places with Tessa. She’d always had a secret
crush on Julian.
But Kara went on. “If you want to meet good men, maybe you
should quit going to the clubs. Most of the guys there are just looking for
someone to hook up with.”
It wasn’t the first time Kara had suggested this, but she
didn’t understand.
How could she?
Holly fired back. “You met Reece at a bar.”
Okay, so it had been a restaurant. Still, Kara had consumed
three margaritas, so it might as well have been a bar.
“Only because someone interfered,” Kara replied.
Holly smiled to herself. It had been so easy.
“Where else can a woman meet men? If I don’t go out, I’ll
never meet anyone. It’s not like Mr. Right is going to just walk up and knock
on my front door.”
“You never know.”
Kara changed the subject. “Hey, did you hear that Tom is converting to
Buddhism?”
Holly sat upright. “Tom? The same Tom Trent I know? The one
who spends his day shouting at everyone? He’s converting to Buddhism?”
“That’s what my
mother says.”
Kara’s mother Lily lived with Tom.
“She would know. But Tom—a Buddhist? He and the Dalai Lama
have so much in common, like, for example… nothing.”
Tom was the editor-in-chief of the Denver Independent, where
his temper was as much of a legend as his brilliance as a journalist. As an
entertainment writer, Holly didn’t work directly beneath him like her I-Team
friends did. Beth Dailey, the entertainment editor, was her boss. Beth never
yelled, never insulted people—and she appreciated Holly’s shoes.
“I think it’s perfect,” Kara said. “If anyone needs to
meditate, it’s Tom. Gosh, it’s after midnight. I need to get to bed.”
“Same here.” Kara wasn’t the only one who needed a good
sleep.
The two said good night and ended the call.
Holly got up from the sofa and went through her nightly
routine, undressing, brushing her teeth, and washing and moisturizing her face,
a sinking feeling coming over her. Naked, she walked over to her dresser and
carefully took her new Louboutins out of their red silk bag, moving them so
that the light made the crystals sparkle.
She didn’t want to spend another moment with Sasha Dudayev,
but she’d already accepted and had the shoes…
Just one more date and that would be it.
She tucked the shoes carefully back in the bag, turned out
her light, and crawled between her soft cotton sheets.
(c) Copyright 2015 Pamela Clare
Thursday, March 12, 2015
What’s new?
It’s been a good month here at Casa Clare. My health continues to improve. The first three books of the I-Team series are out in the UK. Ride the Fire (Kenleigh-Blakewell #3) came out in audiobook with Kaleo Griffith voicing one of my personal favorite tortured heroes, Nicholas. Sweet Release, my first historical, is being translated for release in May in Japan. And, best of all, I’ve written almost half of Holly’s story.
Now for the details...
Eternal Romance released Extreme Exposure, Hard Evidence, and Unlawful Contact on March 5, bringing the I-Team series to readers in the UK and Commonwealth nations. The books are available in print and ebook format. I’ve gotten so many emails over the the past year asking when the books would be out. I hope my UK readers are enjoying them.
The next three — Naked Edge, Breaking Point, and Striking Distance — will be available on April 2, with four of my historicals set for release in May.
My author copies of the first three books arrived, and it has been wonderful to hold them in my hands!
The Kenleigh-Blakewell Family Saga is now available in its entirety in audiobook format from Tantor Audio. Kaleo Griffith is again giving voice to my characters — good news for all of you Obsessive Kaleo Disorder sufferers. Yes, it’s OKD Fix Time! Kaleo has outdone himself on this series, which has a gazillion different characters with at least that many accents. Most of the series features characters who speak with different British English accents, so if you loved Kaleo as a Scott, you’re going to love these, too. I’ve listed to Sweet Release and Carnal Gift myself and am a few hours into Ride the Fire, a novel of which I am particularly fond. Carnal Gift got an A+ review from Audio Gals, which is pretty terrific!
Readers in Japan can look forward to Sweet Release in May. They really love the MacKinnon’s Rangers series there and are particularly fond of Lord William. Yes, HE is the the star of that series for them. So, while they wait for his book, they’ll have the Kenleigh-Blakewell series to read. Thanks to Kyoko Nakai for her hard work on the translations!
I love the cover to this book — Laura’s striking blue eyes and Javier’s dog tags.
Mariajo Losada does a fabulous job translating my books for Spanish readers, putting so much of herself into the effort. I’ve told her that I consider them to be our books, not just my books.
And then for the news that has me smiling most...
I am more than a third of the way done with Holly Bradshaw’s story. The working title is Dead Giveaway, though I am still hoping to come up with something naughtier and sexier. This is Holly’s book we’re talking about, after all.
What can I tell you about it?
You all know Holly pretty well, as she’s been in each I-Team book since the beginning. Nick Andris, the man who finally wins her heart, is new to the series. Let me tell you about him...
Nikolai (Nick) Andris is the son of immigrants from Georgia. He grew up in the States in a close family, has a sister, and four brothers. He went into the Army and made his way into Delta Force, but was quickly recruited by the CIA to serve as a paramilitary operator.
Two years before the story opens, he is involved in an operation that goes sideways — and costs the life of the woman he loved. Now, he’s been recalled to the US and given the chance to take out the arms dealer responsible for her death. The arms dealer just happens to be the man Holly is dating.
Poor Holly! You know it’s been a bad date when 1) you’re drugged and 2) you wake up half naked in bed with a dead man.
The words have really been flowing on this book, and it has been so fun to write. It’s probably the lightest and funniest I-Team novel, and Holly and Nick together are setting the pages on fire.
Watch for an excerpt soon!
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