I'll take what she's having.
Unlawful Contact isn't out until April 1 — that's 149 days from today. It would be 148 days from today, but I have a birthday this year. Please don't begrudge me that single day. I like having the occasional birthday.
So, Unlawful Contact will be out on April 1, but to thoroughly enjoy the story one probably ought to have read Hard Evidence. The stories stand alone, of course, but there's this Julian character in Unlawful who plays a pretty significant role. Unless you know him, you won't "get" everything I've written into the story for you to enjoy.
In honor of that — and to get your hormones flowing — I've got a special contest. If you haven't read Hard Evidence, simply post and tell me that you'd like to read it. Yes, you can enter on behalf of romance-reading friends who you believe ought to have read it. I'll pick a winner at random and send that person an autographed copy of the story. If you're new to this blog and have only lurked, welcome and please don't hesitate to post.
For those of you who have read Hard Evidence, I have this contest to offer: Tell me why you liked Julian so much. I'll pick one winner at random and send that person an autographed HARD COVER copy of Hard Evidence.
Now only Aimee is left out because she already has a hard-cover edition. Sorry, Aims, but I guess the consolation is that Julian is yours.
To whet your lust for prose, I offer the following short excerpt from Unlawful Contact:
“You should have come to me with this, Sophie.” Julian stood in the doorway dressed entirely in black—black leather jacket, black turtleneck stretched over Kevlar, black jeans, black boots, black scowl on his face. His gaze passed over her and settled on Hunt, who was already on his feet, weapon pointed straight at Julian’s chest.
“No!” Heart pounding, Sophie jumped up and put herself in the line of fire between them. “Please, don’t do this! Please don’t!”
“Sophie, move!” the two men barked in unison.
“No! I won’t let you shoot each other!”
Julian looked past her. “He’s not going to shoot me.”
“You willing to bet your life on that, cop?” Hunt’s voice was ice cold.
“I already have.”
And then Sophie saw.
Julian wasn’t holding a gun.
“He’s unarmed, Hunt. You can’t—”
“Like hell he is! He’s got a piece in a shoulder holster, and I bet he’s lethal on the draw.”
“If you wanted me dead, Hunter, I’d be dead.” Julian stepped sideways, making himself a target again. “You’re one hell of a shot. Set a new record for your sniper unit, didn’t you? Eighty-five confirmed kills.”
“Eighty-six.” Hunt held the gun steady, his gaze unwavering.
“Yeah, that’s right—eighty-six. Including that Taliban leader you took out from a hillside three-quarters of a mile away. God knows how you were able to adjust for wind speed and bullet drop at that distance. That was one in a million. You’re deadly, Hunter—stone cold.”
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And the winners are...
Paperback version for a new reader (I drew two instead of one) — Elli and Sara
Hardcover version for an FOP (that's "Friend of Pamela") — Cheryle
The drawing was blind with strips of paper in my son's fedora, and Ben drew the names. I couldn't draw two names for the hardcover version because I only have one to give. There are a few used hardcover editions on Amazon, I think.
Congrats to the winners! Please email me at pamelaclare at earthlink.net (remove spaces, add the correct symbol), and give me your mailing addresses, and I'll get these out to you. Then be sure to pop back in and tell me what you think of Julian. Oh, okay, and of Tessa, too!