Review: Breaking Point

Breaking Point
Pamela Clare
Romantic Suspense
I-Team/Book 5
Berkley/May 3, 2011

From the author's website ~

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…

Pamela Clare is an author with a gift of true story telling. She not only gets you into the characters head, she lets you live there. As I started reading Breaking Point I had a feeling it would be different than her other I-Team novels in that it takes place primarily away from the teams office. The subject matter of human trafficking is spotlighted and Clare does a incredible job of showing the different affects it has on people.

While Natalie Benoit has been in previous I-Team books, very little is known of her background. She's considered a southern belle, beautiful but not exactly approachable. Natalie has a shattered past that keeps her from getting too close to anyone. She chooses to be more focused on her work, maintaining relationships with co-workers but still keeping them at a distance. As Natalie finds herself in desperate, life-threatening situations, she shows what she's made of. I would say she is one of my favorite heroines of this series. She's smart, brave but still has that southern belle feel to her. Steel Magnolia. Clare showed Natalie doing things that she never thought she would or could do, but she did them because she is a survivor. I liked how Natalie was sicked by the violence she was forced to carry out but she understood that if she didn't fight back, she would be dead. Her feelings and reactions were genuine to the situation without any TSTL moments to irritate this reader.

Zach McBride is in a world of hurt. He's looking death in the face and it's ugly. Then he hears a voice out of a dream and he has a reason to keep living. Zach and Natalie are forced to trust each other if they're going to get out alive. It's a unique way to begin a romance since, at first, neither can see the other and then when they do, they are looking far from their best. Zach is a scarred hero, both literally and figuratively. He doesn't make any promises to Natalie, just tells it like it is. The pacing is furious and you wouldn't think they would have much time to get to know each other but they do and it felt right when they do get together. And boy do they burn up the desert with their very hot, very emotional scenes. There is definitely romance and passion between Natalie and Zach.

The suspense is intense and the environment brutal. Clare doesn't hold back on the savagery or the desperation of the circumstances Zach and Natalie find themselves in. I think I would have found it disappointing had the tone been less harsh. Kudos to Clare for not backing off when it comes to showing the reality of a life where the cartels hold the power.

Another great thing about Breaking Point are the heroes and heroines from the previous novels lend a hand to help Natalie and Zach. It was wonderful to see them again, pulling together for their friend. I loved the camaraderie between the men, especially Marc and Julian.

After everything Natalie and Zach go through escaping the cartel, they still have some heavy baggage to deal with. They worked hard for their HEA and Clare gave them a lovely ending that not only wrapped up the loose ends but gave them a beautiful beginning.

Rating: A

Books in this series ~

Extreme Exposure
Hard Evidence
Unlawful Contact
Naked Edge
Breaking Point

ARC Review: Naked Edge

Naked Edge
Pamela Clare
Romantic Suspense
I-Team series/Book 4
Berkley/March 2010
ARC won from DA

From the author's website ~

What do you do when desire drives you to the very brink?

The day Navajo journalist Katherine James met Gabriel Rossiter, the earth literally moved beneath her feet. Nearly killed in a rock slide 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.

First off I want to say that I've enjoyed the previous books in Ms. Clare's I-Team series and was looking forward to Kat's story. We knew just the basics about her from previous books but that was enough to snare my interest. Unfortunately, my interest in Kat slowly dissipated as Naked Edge progressed. And Gabe Rossiter, well, lets just say I had some issues with him to. But I'll get into those later.

The story starts out with Kat heading north to do some hiking. She heads to Eldorado Canyon State Park where hero Gabe Rossiter works as a ranger. After Kat's close brush with death and Gabe's rescuing her they both go their separate ways. Kat back to Denver and her job as an environmental investigative report with the prestigious I-Team and Gabe with his ranger duties.

Move forward three months later and Kat is at Mesa Butte, participating in a Navajo ceremony when it's violently broken up by the local police. Gabe is called in because the area is part of the Mountain Parks jurisdiction. What he finds are some women and an old man not bothering anyone but being treated like criminals. I liked the Native American aspects of the story. I thought Clare worked them well into the plot and made them an interesting part of Kat's heritage.

Gabe is stunned to see Kat again. He hasn't forgotten her from when he rescued her from the rock slide. But Gabe is not a one woman man and for Kat, that's all she wants. The dynamics of Kat and Gabe's relationship were polar opposites when it came to their sexual needs. Gabe wants to fuck. Period. In fact, I got to thinking that was his favorite word since he used it so much. Kat was a 26 year old virgin with very little experience with any type of physical intimacy. I liked the fact that she stayed true to her beliefs. She was strongly attracted to Gabe but let him know that she was a virgin and planned to stay that way. Talk about being shocked! That part I thought was funny. Gabe couldn't believe gorgeous Kat James was a virgin. For a guy as experienced as Gabe, Kat was out of his realm of experience. :)

Gabe's past history with woman is front and center in his present views of women. It's not that he is disrespectful towards them, it's just that he only wants no strings sex from them. The problem I had with Gabe's outlook is that he was a smart man but couldn't see that not everyone woman was destined to treat him like crap. Kat was so different from Gabe's previous lover that I had a hard time buying into his trust issues with her (Kat). Once he got to know Kat, there is no way he could have expected her to treat him with anything other than honesty. I think it would have been easier from me to believe that his attitude about sex came from being self-centered rather than having trust issues.

Kat started out fine but slowly got on my nerves. Kat is this young woman with a very important, stressful job that most journalist would kill for. It wasn't that I had a hard time believing in her writing skills or her intelligence but her ability to deal with stressful situations became hard to believe. To put it bluntly, she turned into a cry baby. Seriously, she just seem to cry all the time. At one point, I thought "what is she, pregnant?", then I remember she was a virgin. And her need to be rescued, repeatedly. It just go to be too much.

The suspense aspect of the plot was engaging. It did run fairly smoothly until near the end. Then I pretty much had to suspend all disbelief to take in the dramatic cliff-hanger of an ending. Up until that point, I thought the development of the mystery of Mesa Butte fairly well done. I do think some of my favorite scenes were at the newspaper. Seeing the workings of a big city newspaper, that's where Clare shows her stuff. She lends her experience as a journalist to the story and gives the reader the feel that they are right there in the newsroom with the I-Team.

So, not my favorite story in the series but there were certain parts that I did enjoy. Most of the reviews I've read for Naked Edge have been very positive, so I'm chalking this one up to personal preference and that it just didn't live up to my expectations. I did take a peak at the excerpt for the next book in the series. If the excerpt is any indication, it looks to be a good one. Even with the little bump in the road that was Naked Edge, I still like Clare's writing and will continue with this series.

Rating: C+