Tag: I-Team Series

Guest Review: Breaking Point by Pamela Clare

Posted June 27, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Lori’s review of Breaking Point (I-Team book 5) by Pamela Clare

While investigating border violence in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Denver journalist Natalie Benoit is caught in a bloody ambush and taken captive. Alone in the hands of ruthless killers, she will need every ounce of courage she possesses to survive.

Betrayed by another operative, Deputy U.S. Marshal Zach McBride has endured a week of torture and interrogation at the hands of a bloodthirsty Mexican drug cartel. Ready to give his life if he must, he remains unbroken—until he hears the cries of an American woman.

Although Natalie is only a voice in the darkness of their shared prison, her plight brings renewed strength to Zach’s battered body. With her help, he overpowers their captors, and they flee through the desert toward the border, the attraction between them flaring hotter than the Sonoran sun.

But past loss and tragedy leave both of them reluctant to follow their hearts, even when the passion between them reaches its breaking point. Faced with feelings neither expected, they fight to stay ahead of the danger that hunts them as forces more powerful than they can imagine conspire to destroy them both…

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Oh how I love Pamela Clare’s heroes. And, this one had a wonderful heroine as well. Natalie did what she had to, but never ventured into TSTL. She always asked for help when necessary, but used her wits as well. Smart and sexy. With a lot of heartache in her background.

Zach… mmm. He was smart, confident, and I loved how he had to earn the respect of Julian, Gabe, and Marc. And how it took a long time, but he did it, even though he pulled some dumbass moves. He was smart and resourc…moreOh how I love Pamela Clare’s heroes. This one had a wonderful heroine as well. Natalie did what she had to, but never ventured into TSTL. She always asked for help when necessary, but used her wits as well. Smart and sexy. With a lot of heartache in her background.

Zach… mmm. He was smart, confident, and I loved how he had to earn the respect of Julian, Gabe, and Marc. And how it took a long time, but he did it, even though he pulled some dumbass moves. He was smart and resourceful. Of course, a former SEAL, why wouldn’t he be?

I liked watching them work together and maintain and grow a mutual respect for each other. While Natalie had been through a lot, she wasn’t a pushover, and made Zach stop and look into himself. Clare really has a way of getting her heroes to open up and fall at the heroine’s feet without emasculating them. Their fears, their tears, their revelations all do nothing to change the raw masculinity that they emit. And while her heroines are strong, competent women, they all keep their vulnerability and their femininity as well.

I dislike it when heroes pull the “I’m not good enough for you” line, which is why Zach left Natalie. But here, Zach had some serious guilt playing on him, and I understood it. I still wanted to smack him up one side and down the other, but I understood it.

I also really enjoyed seeing the camaraderie between the precious I-Team heroes. And how protective they were of Natalie and of their wives.

All in all, another suspenseful winner from Clare, complete with a *gasp* moment that, while it doesn’t rival the one in Naked Edge, still made me sit on the edge of my seat.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Series:
Extreme Exposure (I-Team Series, Book 1)Hard Evidence (I-Team, Book 2)Unlawful Contact (I-Team Series, Book 3)Naked Edge (I-Team, Book 4)Breaking Point (An I-Team Novel)

You can read more from Lori at I Just Finished Reading…

This book is available from Berkley . You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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Book Watch: Breaking Point by Pamela Clare.

Posted April 9, 2011 by Rowena in Promotions | 1 Comment

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Denver journalist Natalie Benoit and Deputy U.S. Marshal Zach McBride find themselves captives of a bloodthirsty Mexican drug cartel. Working together, they escape through the desert toward the border, the attraction between them flaring hotter than the Sonoran sun. They fight to stay ahead of the danger that hunts them as forces more powerful than they can imagine conspire to destroy them both…

This is the latest book in the I-Teams series and one of the series that I seriously need to catch up on. I really enjoyed the books that I read of this series but these days, I have to be in the mood for romantic suspense and I just haven’t been in the mood. That doesn’t mean that I don’t get excited when I see new books from the series coming out (greedy bitch that I am, hehe). This book sounds like it would be a good one and seriously, how hot is that cover? I want to do very naughty things to that man on that cover (hell I want to do naughty things to that cover, HA!) Mark your calendars dear readers because this book comes out on May 3, 2011 so it’s right around the corner. Pamela Clare delivers some amazing stories so I’m sure you won’t want to miss out!

This book is available from Berkley. You can pre-order it here or here in e-format.

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Review: Naked Edge by Pamela Clare

Posted March 3, 2010 by Casee in Reviews | 3 Comments

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Casee‘s review of Naked Edge (I-Team, Book 4) by Pamela Clare.

The day Navajo journalist Katherine James met Gabriel Rossiter, the earth literally moved beneath her feet. Nearly killed in a rockslide while hiking, she found her life in the tall park ranger’s hands. Although she can’t forget him she thinks she’ll never see him again. She is crushed when she recognizes her rescuer among the law enforcement officers raiding a sweat lodge ceremony one night, throwing her and her friends off Mesa Butte, land they consider sacred.

Gabe long ago swore he would never again lose himself to a woman not even one with long dark hair and big eyes that seem to see right through him. But from the moment he first sees Kat, the attraction he feels is undeniable. Appalled by what he has been ordered to do, he’s determined to get to the bottom of recent events at Mesa Butte and to keep Kat safe.

But asking questions can be dangerous almost as dangerous as risking one’s heart. And soon Kat and Gabe’s passion for the truth and each other makes them targets for those who would do anything, even kill, to keep Native Americans off their sacred land.

This book was meh for me. It begins and ends with Kat. I had a problem reconciling the tough-as-nails investigative reporter to the naïve virgin that acted like she was straight out of a historical romance. With the long wait between books, my memory about Kat wasn’t exactly up to par. What I did remember was that she was kick ass. Because you had to be kick ass to be on the I-Team.

The book started top-quality which is exactly what I expect from Pamela Clare. She’s very accomplished at throwing the reader into the story right from the beginning. After the initial action passed, the book was bogged down by pages of detailed Native American traditions. Kat was Navajo, so there was obviously room for Navajo beliefs and customs. I found the inipi ceremony to be particularly fascinating. The coyote superstition as well. There were several other parts that were critical to the story as well. In addition to that, there was more. And more. And more.

Gabe Rossiter is attracted to Kat from the start. When their paths cross months after their initial meeting, Kat makes it clear that she is not the type of woman that will jump into bed with a man. In turn, Gabe makes it clear that he will never make promises to her b/c they both know he wouldn’t keep them. A tragedy in his past took Gabe from being a relatively care-free man to a bitter one. Gabe will stick his dick in any woman that wants it. He just won’t stick around. He was very blunt and to the point when it came to sex.

The constant see-sawing of Gabe’s emotions on top of the heroine that Kat turned out to be was a lot. When you add in the story that Kat’s investigating, it felt like something got lost. In between history lessons, I would put the book down and not have any urge to pick it back up. That’s not usually how it is for me and Pamela Clare.

Up until the last 50 or so pages, I probably would have given this book a three out of five. Then Gabe makes an incredible sacrifice. A sacrifice so profound that it made me cry. At work, no less. That did show me that Pamela Clare still has it. This just wasn’t that book for me. I loved the epilogue and was really happy that both Gabe and Kat could find peace.

3.75 out of 5.

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

The series:

Book CoverBook CoverBook CoverBook Cover

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Review: Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare

Posted April 15, 2008 by Casee in Reviews | 5 Comments

Review: Unlawful Contact by Pamela ClareReviewer: Casee
Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare
Series: I-Team #3
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: April 1st 2008
Genres: Fiction, Suspense
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
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five-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

Taken hostage by a convicted murderer while reporting at a prison, Sophie Alton has no idea that the man holding the gun to her head is the bad boy who was her first love in high school. Condemned to life without parole, Marc Hunter finds himself with no choice but to break out of prison after his younger sister disappears with her baby.

Though he regrets what he has to put Sophie through, he can’t let anything get in the way of his stopping the corrupt officials who are set on destroying what’s left of his family. But being near Sophie rekindles memories for both of them. As the passion between them heats up, so does the conspiracy to put both of them in their graves.

Sometimes I have this problem with reviewing. It usually happens when a book just blew me away or surpassed my expectations. When that happens I usually have a hard time reviewing it without sounding like a moron (see: Jo Goodman). That is the case with Unlawful Contact. I read it about a week ago and every time I tried to review it, the words just wouldn’t flow. That is super annoying.

I met Pamela Clare last year at RWA. She is the one of the nicest and funniest people I met on that trip. A friend that I was dragging around got dragged right up to Pamela’s table where she proceeded to make us laugh like loons. If I remember right, even her autograph to my friend was funny.

I picked up Extreme Exposure on a whim after it first came out. I haven’t looked back since. Though I didn’t like Hard Evidence as much as Extreme Exposure, Unlawful Contact more than made up for it. This book was amazing. Utterly and completely.

As an Investigative Reporter, Sophie Alton strongly believes in what she does. Through her years as a reporter, Sophie has had the opportunity to help a lot of people. Lately she has been trying to help a woman named Megan. A recovering drug addict, Megan is on parole and fighting to get her seven month old daughter back. Sophie has been following Megan’s story from the beginning and plans to be there when Megan is reunited with her daughter at last. Of course the unthinkable happens…Sophie arrives to find out that Megan has taken her baby and run. Determined to track her down, Sophie requests to see Megan’s brother who is in prison for murder.

When Marc Hunter finds out that Megan has run, he knows exactly why. Conceiving a plan that will either get him out of prison or get him killed, Marc lures Sophie to the prison with the promise of information about Megan. To Marc’s disbelief, Sophie doesn’t recognize him. After dreaming about her for years, he’s thrown a little bit off by that fact. That doesn’t stop him from doing what needs to be done. Taking Sophie at gunpoint, Marc escapes prison in a hail of bullets with Sophie at his side.

It doesn’t take long for Sophie to realize that Marc Hunter is the boy she only knew as ‘Hunt’. The boy that took her virginity all those years ago that she has never forgotten. Although her first instinct is to help Marc and Megan, they are both fugitives. It’s not until she begins uncovering the real reason that Megan on the run that she realizes she’s too far in to back out.

Unlawful Contact was an amazing book from cover to cover. Clare did such a great job of writing Marc’s desperation to find his sister. You could literally feel it coming off the pages. What started out as Marc determined to help Megan on his own turned into both him and Sophie racing to find Megan and her daughter before someone else does. The feelings between Marc and Sophie were both sweet and hot at the same time. You can’t help but root for these two and wonder at the same time how in the world Clare is going to give Marc his HEA. Rest assured, she most definitely did.

5 out of 5

five-stars

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