Aloha and Mahalo Kim, Pamela Clare!... and a couple of contests (updated 7/21)

Aloha Kim (and her fans).  I was really touched to be interviewed for your blogpost today (link) and I really appreciate all that you have done to introduce me to so many wonderful authors, especially since I was being such a wallflower at the Romantic Times readers conference when it came to Los Angeles.  I am looking forward to seeing you again at RWA in Anaheim even though we communicate relatively regularly.

I have started attending chats...both Night Owl Reviews (link) and Writerspace (link) and have had the chance to interact with some fascinating characters (ahem, I mean authors, lol).   Sometimes the most fun happens after the chat is over...e.g. I attended the Writerspace chat last night (sitting in a McDonald's parking lot, of all places----but I did buy something from them so I wouldn't feel guilty, lol)....and it wasn't until the chat was over that Pamela Clare appeared!  She was very gracious and spoke with the few diehards that were still hanging out (yum, there will be at least another I-team* and two or more MacKinnon's Rangers books!).  I eventually packed up my tent and left since it was raining but she was still chatting when I tiptoed away.  I love her I-team books and some of her scenes are written from personal experience since I read once that she indeed had an accident on the mountain and knows the pain of dealing with broken bones and trying to reach assistance.

I team novels:



and there's a novella featuring the I team...


*see comment below...straight from the author's keyboard...3 more I-team novels in the works!!!!

MacKinnon's Rangers novels



And, those of you who love contests as much as I do

The Romance Reviews site is having their Sizzling Summer Reads party at this link.

and

Romance Books '4' Us is having a Christmas in July contest (although sadly I have not found the 20th link still!) at this link.
   Have a great day wherever you are and good luck!

Naked Edge by Pamela Clare

Naked Edge by Pamela Clare is one of her I-team series that centers on a mystery surrounding land held sacred by Native Americans.  There are several very realistic descriptions of rockclimbing without using safety equipment and a couple of chilling examples of the possible results of falling off a mountain.  The story is intriguing with beautiful descriptions of the natural beauty that inspires rockclimbers, a mystery, and a sizzling romance between two people who come from different culture paradigms.  Little did I realize that the author comes by her descriptions honestly, having done her own hiking through the Rockies and experiencing a horrific fall complete with very serious injuries.  A description in her own words is available on the Fresh Fiction site at this link.   It is a pretty impressive tale and almost an example of taking research a little too far...although I know it was not done deliberately.  It sure lends realism to her writing!  There is a pretty dramatic description in this book of the lengths that someone will go to in order to protect a loved one that makes my gut clench every time I read it.  My Night Owl review is here

I started this series backwards because I read Breaking Point first (after all, who can resist the eye candy on that cover combined with that blurb!) so I met the main characters of the earlier novels as a group first rather than piecemeal but I certainly have enjoyed the rich detail in all of the novels and the love stories are all heartwarming.

I purchased a copy of this title for my personal enjoyment.