Striking Distance

As anyone can tell from my list of recent reads, I love romance novels. It's pretty much all I read these days. And I don't care how unrealistic they may be, I love every well-written HEA, love-at-first-sight, true-love, etc. story I can get. What set Striking Distance apart was the depth and maturity of the relationship between Laura and Javier. I seem to remember seeing a quote from the author somewhere that she wrote two pages for every page that actually made it into the book. Perhaps that's the reason that this one seems so much more layered than many novels I've read recently (including the rest of the I-Team novels which are already some of the best out there), or maybe it's just that there's so much more knowledge of the show more supporting characters six+ books into the series. (Lordy, how I love seeing them in each progressive book.) Even the epilogue stood apart from others in that it brings us much further into the future than usual, adding to the depth of the characters' relationship. Whatever the case, I think this was one of, if not *the* best in the series. (And having "First Strike" out there as an extra was just icing on the cake. It was both nice and sad to see both characters in a much lighter time but what it really did was add that foundation for everything that comes afterwards.) Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys romantic suspense. show less

You’re at the top of your game. You have a prestigious position of reporting from locations all around the world trying to bring awareness to the injustices that go on. You’ve just met a man who gives you the best sex of your life in a place where unmarried sex is illegal. Things just couldn’t be better for reporter Laura Nilsson. Then her security and camera crew are slaughtered on live TV and she is taken by a terrorist to live a life of hell for almost 2 years.

The man that had that weekend of wild sex with Laura in Dubai has never forgotten her nor the feeling of helplessness when she was taken on live TV. Navy Seal Javier Corbray has waited to finally get the chance to bring down the man who killed Laura. When that mission show more finally comes up he leads the team that goes in to bring the terrorist to justice. What he doesn’t expect to find is Laura still alive and running for the HELO screaming.

This book is a no holds bar look at the atrocities that are being committed in the name of Al Qaeda and how that is spilling over into the United States. Laura’s time with the Al Qaeda terrorist has left her horribly scared on the inside. Two years after her ordeal testifying at his trial her nightmare starts all over again when he puts a terrorist hit on her head. Javier was helpless the first time but this time he is going to do everything in his power to protect Laura.

This is a very powerful book. The subject matter and the pain that Laura and Javier go through is so heartbreaking. As I was reading this book I could feel where the author poured her own experiences and culture into the pages. This is writing at its finest and I think it’s her best work to date. show less

Pamela Clare is the queen of romantic suspense. I forgot how much I love this series, and I have been hoarding this book for a while, saving it for a reading slump. Luckily I started reading it at home, because I was a watering pot before I even finished the prologue. I recommend that you read [b:First Strike|18301112|First Strike (I-Team, #5.9)|Pamela Clare|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377837919s/18301112.jpg|25789221] before starting [b:Striking Distance|15704285|Striking Distance (I-Team, #6)|Pamela Clare|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377922534s/15704285.jpg|21366184], as it gives the short story of how Laura and Javier met over a weekend in Dubai. I think knowing their origins gave more depth to the story and made it all the more show more emotional knowing what Laura went through.

Our heroine, Laura Nilsson, was an investigative reporter covering dangerous human interest stories in the Middle East. During a live news report, she is kidnapped by a group of Al Qaeda, which is followed by 18 months of hell for Laura. Laura was a strong female character whose courage and perseverance were inspiring.

Our hero, Javier, a Navy SEAL, is devastated when he sees Laura's abduction live on the air, and later learns that Al Nassar said he killed her. Javier has vowed to take down Al Nassar, even though his commanders don't know his connection to Laura. That vow was how Javier came to be on the team that infiltrated Al Nassar's camp to capture the terrorist leader, and discovered that Laura was alive. Javier's rescue of Laura triggers a series of events that eventually bring them back together, even though they are not the same people who spent that amazing first weekend in Dubai. Javier is the typical hero that we have seen in the I-Team novels - strong, capable and protective of their women. I loved Javier and the way he helped Laura get over the things that happened to her in captivity.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a steamy romance with a good dose of danger and suspense. Keep your tissues handy, because this one is a tearjerker. 4 stars / 3 flames. show less

Author Pamela Clare has been so clever with her marketing that I find it impossible to review STRIKING DISTANCE without also talking about its prequel, FIRST STRIKE, so be sure to read my review of FIRST STRIKE too. I’ll leave the finer points of the story descriptions to the blurbs, but here’s the gist of how these books fit together:

In FIRST STRIKE we meet Laura, an American TV reporter covering the Middle East, staging in Dubai before heading back to work in controversial territories, and we meet Javier, an American Navy SEAL, in Dubai for an R&R weekend after months of action with his team. Neither are looking for a relationship, so a weekend of no-strings passion is their only intention. After three dynamic days (& nights!), show more they turn their backs on the strong bond they’d unexpectedly formed. And then BAM! Pamela Clare leaves you with a cliffhanger tragedy of an ending.

Fast forward 18 months and you’re in the STRIKING DISTANCE prologue. Unbeknownst to the world, Laura has been held hostage by an Al-Qaeda group since just after Javier kissed her goodbye in Dubai. Javier is the SEAL team leader of an op against a compound where the last thing he expected was to rescue the woman he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about for over a year. Chapter one opens two years after the rescue, with Laura now working as an investigative newspaper reporter in Denver, Colorado, and Javier on leave, suffering from PTSD. Laura and Javier are brought together once again, each with a freight train of personal baggage, working side by side to extinguish a terrorist threat.

Once you've been sufficiently teased by the prequel, you're ready for the explosive (quite literally -- those flames on the cover? not a bonfire!) follow-up novel. I’ve never read a stronger opening to a book than the prologue in Striking Distance. Clare posted it online months ago as a teaser and it slayed me. Thank God the book lived up to its promise!

Laura is a survivor. Despite that she spent nearly two years in captivity by terrorists, where she was frequently raped, that when her captor was brought to justice he put a hit on her head, or that she has to continuously deal with a great heartbreak, Laura is determined to live life on her terms. She doesn’t wilt in the face of danger, but she also doesn’t take stupid risks, so when Javier enters her life again, she doesn’t turn down his offer of protection while the threats and risks are eliminated.

Javier’s mixed heritage, Spanish guitar serenades, Navy SEAL intensity, and dedication all combine to make a sexy and likable hero. His patience and creativity in easing Laura back into an intimate relationship is incredibly sweet. It also makes for some creative hanky-panky. ;-) For fans of SEALs, you’ll die for the scene near the end where he gets to put his frogman skills to use in an effort to rescue Laura. And as if all that wasn’t enough, his actions and words in the final three chapters regarding an emotional thread of the plot – not the romance or suspense threads – are what make him an incredible hero. (Sorry, no spoilers here!)

One of the really beautiful aspects of the story is the way Laura interacts with the Muslim family of someone who’s accused of trying to kill her in a terrorist plot. Not only is Laura not blinded by stereotypes, but even after everything she suffered as a prisoner of an extremist, truth and respect are what govern this heroine’s emotions and actions; I can’t think of a more heroic trait than that. Laura’s final scene with this family was one of my favorite in the whole book.

In fact, it was refreshing to read a book that dealt with terrorism in such a real, personal way, where it was more than simply a plot device to represent ‘bad things’. Clare’s I-Team books always tackle gritty real-world problems, so it’s not surprising that she didn’t shy away from this current affairs hot topic. I felt Clare did a truly great job of showing the importance of respect, tolerance and perspective in a non-preachy way.

The series name I-Team stands for Investigative Team, because all of the books in the series have a heroine that works as an Investigative Reporter for the Denver Independent. (Sidebar: Clare used to be just such a reporter in Denver, so she brings authenticity and first-hand experiences to the table.) One of the few things that caused a minor ding on my rating scale was that Striking Distance felt a little less investigating-y (hey, I’m an editor; I can make official rulings on spellings) than previous books in the series. In the prior books, both the heroines and heroes have independent storylines that converge, and the heroes play big roles in the mystery/investigation side of the plot, but I felt that was a little less true for Javier. He was a strong and fully fleshed-out character, but most of his arc was of the internal variety; his external goal was more-so to support and protect Laura, and I felt it leant a slightly different tone to the book. Laura, too, seemed to do a little less investigating than other I-Team heroines.

Although this book is fully capable of being standalone, the joy of reading the I-Team series in order is all about the bromance. The heroes and heroines are all friends and make an appearance in this book, and the men work together in some capacity (politician, law enforcement, etc.). Their interactions jump off the page, most often from hilarity and ribbing, sometimes from sheer cohesion, and when you’re lucky, some tender sincerity. Sherlock and Watson, step aside.

And let it be known that I’m not a big crier when I read, but I teared up a few times with this one. Gah!

As a standalone romantic suspense novel if I hadn’t read any of the other I-Team books, I’d give Striking Distance 4.5 stars. (Bear in mind I'm incredibly precious with 5 stars, reserving a true 5 for only a handful out of all the books I've ever read.) Comparing it to the rest of the I-Team collection, my personal rating is 4, which goes to show how amazing the whole series is! Check out my favorite Striking Distance quotes here at Goodreads.

Thank you to Berkley for giving me a free Advanced Reader Copy of Striking Distance in exchange for an honest review.

Pamela Clare’s blog has some excerpts of Striking Distance, so you can check things out for yourself.

And if you’re even the teensiest bit interested in audio books, there should be a law that you also try Striking Distance on audio. Why? The narrator, Kaleo Griffith, will curl your toes. (Go on, I’ll wait why you sample him, er, ugh, his narration.) Seriously, I’m happy just listening to him read copyright and production information. I haven’t yet heard his rendition of Striking Distance, but I have heard the rest of the series, so I know it’ll be impossible for it to not be great. (And for the record, I’ve never liked an audiobook until these.) If you buy any of Clare’s books in Kindle format through amazon.com then you can snag the audio companions for a bargain $3.99 each at audible.com. DO IT. Unfortunately the titles aren’t available at audible.co.uk (lots of sad faces) but you can order the CDs elsewhere.


*Original review posted on my blog at Romance Refined* show less

Listened to audio narrated well by Kaleo Griffith.

Laura was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda, believed dead until a SEAL team mission on the compound eighteen months later.

Javier has been a Navy SEAL for fourteen years, the mission that ended up saving Laura was the best mission he'd ever had. Two years later, he's on leave due to an injury and trauma when he ends up reconnecting with Laura.

After two years rebuilding her life and healing from the trauma of her capture, rape and abuse Laura faces her captor in court, only to have him call to his followers to kill her. The attempts on her life throw these two together as Javier is determined to protect her, as well as help uncover who is trying to kill her.

I really liked these two for each other, show more despite all that happened to Laura she's a fighter and shows a lot of strength and compassion, even under death threats. Javier's gentle handling and romancing Laura was incredibly well done and swoon worthy.

While some parts are predictable, Pamela Clare keeps you guessing as to who's really trying to kill Laura. This is my favorite in the series so far.

If you like my reviews I hope you will follow my blog. https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/ show less

This book was too much and not enough. The many, many attempts on the main chica's (Laura) life became numbing. I lost my ability to feel suspense...in a suspense story :/

Javier and Laura's relationship was very slow burning, and it should have been because of the emotional and physical trauma Laura suffered due to her kidnapping. At the same time though, this slowness didn't feel sensual or anticipatory. I hate to say it but I felt bored. I didn't feel the chemistry between Javier and Laura.

There was just way too many story threads going on here. Laura's kidnapping trauma, Javier's combat PTSD, Laura wanting to get her child, Nassar's (Laura's kidnapper) call to brother-in-arms to kill her, Tower's (owner of company who was assigned to show more protect Laura and went bankrupt when failed to do so) wanting revenge, soldier wanting revenge for a story Laura did years ago, and finally was Ali a terrorist, are terrorist trying to kill Laura? I'm even probably missing something.

Whew, that was exhausting to type, imagine how it was to read. I was so excited to read this story but it just wasn't for me. I needed more and less.

*It's getting rave reviews on GR so it could be I have a shitty opinion. :)

This storyline is a little bit like "Hard to Hold" by Stephanie Tyler. I rated that one 5stars and loved it. Just in my humble opinion, done better. show less

Somehow this one just didn't grab me. I love this series but this one was a bit of a disappointment to me. I didn't really feel the heat between the two characters but I really liked them in the prequel novel. The relationship development was a bit lacking for me. Hmm... I can't quite put my finger on what else. I thought the plot hung together well enough but it was fairly predictable. And ultimately I didn't care for the ending. It just didn't work for me that she gave up her daughter in the end. I know it worked well in one of my all time favorite books, [b:Cry No More|187500|Cry No More|Linda Howard|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172540015s/187500.jpg|181224] by Linda Howard, but here I didn't get the feeling that it show more really mattered at all to the heroine. And since the whole rest of the book was about trying to get her baby back the end just fell flat. It kind of felt like oh well never mind.

I know PC can write emotionally tense books but this one just didn't do it for me.

Still awaiting the next one. Not everything an author writes is going to work for every reader and I remain a staunch fan. show less