Jessica E. Subject's Blog, page 84
August 12, 2015
Arranged Marriage in the 21st century? #Sale & #giveaway from @MannValerie #1NS #romance
Arranged Marriage…What?!
post by author Valerie Mann
Who agrees to an arranged marriage in the 21st century? Beth Malone can’t believe a date request with the 1Night Stand service morphed into an arranged marriage offer. But after a heartbreaking divorce and no knight in shining armor coming to sweep her off her feet, her desire to find that knight and have a family is looking more like a dream than a reality.
After filling out a 1Night Stand questionnaire worthy of the CIA, Christian Ramos is stunned when Madame Eve offers to arrange more than a date for one night: she suggests a wife! What the hell? And after his best friend Jackson Castillo stops laughing, he advises him to consider the offer. Between the fortieth birthday looming on the horizon and his Latino upbringing, Chris is forced to take a hard look at his life. Reality check—time is running out for what he wants—a family and a woman to share his life.
First comes love, then comes marriage isn’t part of their matrimonial situation, but neither Beth nor Christian anticipated the immediate attraction and contentment that comes with saying, “I do.”
I hope you love Chris and Beth as much as I do! Madame Eve definitely knew what she was doing bringing these two lovebirds together!
You could win $25 USD in Amazon funny money to spend on anything you want (heaven knows they get lots of MY money pretty regularly), plus I’m giving away a 3-book e-book bundle—you choose the great reads!—from Decadent Publishing, and a Decadent audiobook of your choice from Audible.com!
Only one thing is mandatory: You MUST purchase First Comes Marriage (http://goo.gl/kjTk6h) from Amazon before midnight tonight. It’s only 99 cents, but for the chance to win awesome prezzies…so worth it! Email me the receipt—a screenshot of the Amazon receipt or confirmation email is fine—BAM! You’re in the running for the big win!
If you read First Comes Marriage and leave a review, please let me know! I plan to give away ANOTHER bag of prizes to one reviewer at the end of August.
Valerie is the co-owner of a Decadent Publishing, as well as Wizards in Publishing, a company that provides editing and formatting services for authors and publishers. Where to find her:
Email | Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Amazon
Goodreads | Manic TRR | Google+ | Tsu
August 11, 2015
Almost naked and very wet ~ #MidWeekTease from ALIEN ADORATION #MWTease #scifi #romance
Happy Wednesday! I’m back with another Mid Week Tease for you.
Mid Week Tease is an author meme started and hosted by author Sandra Bunino, where authors share snippets from their recent releases, back list titles, and works-in-progress (WIPs). So, please check out my tease for today and visit the other participating authors listed below.
For today’s post, I’m going to share an excerpt from ALIEN ADORATION, the first story in my Alien Next Door sci-fi romance series. I’m almost finished the third book in this series.
Would he be upset she arrived early? She knocked anyway, swallowing bile.
Clasping her sweaty hands together, she waited. No answer. Maybe he was in the backyard or still working on his bike. She peered through the window of the garage and over the fence, but couldn’t find him. Returning to the front porch, she banged again. With a click, the door popped open.
Through the crack, she caught a glimpse of his foyer. Empty. Did he intend to let me in then had to rush to get something?
She pushed it open farther. “Luke?” If he was busy with dinner, she would help him, make up for last night.
Gazing around, she searched for any sign of him. Nothing. The blue glow from yesterday still permeated his home, but it seemed to originate from the second floor unlike the day before. What could create such an illumination? The glow intensified then dulled over and over again as if it were alive and knew she stood there. Or was Luke playing a trick on her?
She stepped inside, curious to find the source. After closing the door behind her, she tiptoed up the stairs, and braced for him to jump out at her.
The pulsing of the light subdued, but she continued to search, drawn as if the source wanted her to find it.
She blinked. Wait. What am I doing? “Luke, are you home?”
In an instant, she heard a clunk. The rush of flowing water disappeared. Shit, he was in the shower, and she was inside his home, uninvited. She glanced around. The blue glow she’d followed disappeared. How the hell am I going to explain why I’m here?
The bathroom door opened, and she froze, staring at the almost naked, and very wet, hunk down the hall. Only a small white towel covered his manly parts. From the way something hard jutted against the towel and pointed at her, she guessed very manly indeed. But would she find out for herself after he’d caught her trespassing?
“Rachel?” His towel dropped to the floor, but he paid no attention, his focus intent on her. “What are you doing in my house?”
“I….” No more words formed. She couldn’t stop staring at him, gazing farther and farther down. She longed to touch every single inch. At the sight of his thick cock, she gasped. Never had she been so fascinated by a man’s parts. Her mouth watered. Wonder what he tastes like.
In an instant, he stood in front of her, but his erection swaying back and forth as he moved held her attention.
“Hello, I’m up here.” He lifted her chin until their gazes met. “I don’t mind that you’re here, Rachel, but I want to know why. And how’d you get in? I know I locked the doors.”
She chewed her bottom lip, focusing on a spot on the wall beside him to avoid his stare. “I thought we could maybe start our date early. I came over here, found the door open, and followed the blue light up here. I’m sorry.”
He stepped closer, backing her into a corner. “You saw the blue light?”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Y…yes. I saw it yesterday, too. But today it was different, pulsing.”
“Pulsing? Are you sure?” His expression changed, as if he didn’t believe her.
“Yes. I wanted to know what it was. I know I shouldn’t have come in, but when the door opened, I thought you were busy with something and wanted me to come in.”
“Geez.” He brushed his hands over his face. “Do you see it now?”
Her lust died as she contemplated why he thought the light so important. “No. It disappeared the second you stepped out of the bathroom.”
“Are you sure you even saw it?” He inched closer, sandwiching her between a wall of plaster and one of muscle. His hands resting on her hips, he claimed her mouth, drawing every thought from her mind. She wasn’t even sure she knew her name.
~ About ALIEN ADORATION ~
Erotic dreams fill her with need…
Night after night, Rachel fantasizes about her sexy, playboy neighbor. But in her small town, no one changes, least of all the bad boy next door. But when Luke rescues her not once but twice from disastrous dates, she dares to believe her knight in black leather armor may be the right man for her after all.
Until she learns the truth…
Life on Earth has never been easy for Luke. Stranded as a little boy, he struggled to craft an existence for himself, but he never forgot the first human he met–and he never stopped wanting to see her again. Returning to Hanton, Luke longs for Rachel. Yet nothing goes as he plans, and Rachel barely notices him. Convincing her he isn’t like all the jerks she’s dated means telling her the truth, but can she handle it?
Can she overcome her fears, or will she deny her alien adoration and leave him stranded once more?
Available from:
Be sure to visit the other Mid Week Tease participating authors…
August 10, 2015
Summer Writing Goals ~ Update #3
Hello! Time for this week’s writing update. This was a much better week. I got a lot done, even though I was super busy with my newsletter and audio book responsibilities at Decadent Publishing.
Beneath the Starry Sky is ready to go! I’m waiting on ACX to give the final approval, and this story will be available in audio. I reviewed the final audio files last week, had the narrator make a couple of changes, and then gave my stamp of approval. Stay tuned for more!
I completed another round of edits for Taken by the Billionaire Alien Next Door . This round took much less time, and then the story went to the line editor. I just received the final back last night. So, I now need to give it one last review myself, and then format it and get it up on pre-order. I’m aiming for a release date of August 24th.
As for Alien Attraction, I started at 13,055 words and finished this week at 16,706, for a total of 3,651 new words. My best week yet! I finished off one scene and then wrote three more. My lovely husband took the kids out on the weekend, giving me extra time to write, which was nice. I’m nearing the end with this story.
PARTY TIME! Saturday, August 15, Decadent Publishing is hosting a Facebook party to celebrate their 5th anniversary. I plan to pop in between the wedding and dinner I’m going to, but I wanted you all to know, as the Grand Prize is a Kindle. Plus, there will be plenty of other prizes.
I will be participating in a Facebook party August 24, Around the World with Cherise DeLand and Desiree Holt. My time is 10:30 to 11 am Eastern. There will be an awesome Grand Prize, and I’ll have my own prizes as well.
All of his desires are quite scandalous ~ HER BEGUILING BUTLER by @CeriseDeLand #romance #newrelease
HER BEGUILING BUTLER, #1 in series about naughty servants and their delightful masters and mistresses!
The lovely widow at Number Ten Dudley Crescent hopes to lead a merry life without any husband to replace the elderly one she recently buried. Yet Lady Ranford finds herself in a pickle. Her new butler, Finnley, is not only the most obstinate man she’s ever met, but also an enigma.
She’s never been lured to naughtiness with a man. Heaven knows, she certainly shouldn’t fantasize about the tall, dark, scowling creature who runs her household like his finely tuned pocket watch.
But she can’t help herself. She needs to taste him—or dismiss him.
Finnley, poor fellow, has a few risqué dreams of his own about how he’d like to handle the delectable widow. Alone in his rooms, he tries to deny how her humor riddles his mind and how her beauty steals his breath away.
None of his solutions are proper.
All of his desires are quite…dear me…scandalous.
But what’s a butler to do when the very life of his beloved employer is at stake? And he cannot control his need to protect her and…ahem…bed her?
Available from:
AMAZON | ALL ROMANCE | NOOK | KOBO
Need a Nibble of HER BEGUILING BUTLER? Copyright 2015, Cerise DeLand. All rights reserved.
“What is your background, Finnley?”
He frowned. Why would she ask? His cover was superb. His acting, excellent.
“Ah, ah.” She waved a forefinger in front of him. “No prevarications, sir.”
He shot ramrod straight. “I told you of my past. You have my reference.”
She inched closer to him, so near he could see the purple rays in the glory of her velvet eyes. “I do, dear Finnley. But why do you speak with such crisp precision? Why do you command me with your very presence? Your power?”
“Ma’am?” Was that his voice that sounded like an echo of his own? She should not undo him. But she did.
“Wallace Finnley. You have education and breeding. I can tell. Do you know how?”
He shook his head, her nearness a magnet to his body, his soul. Her lips, his only lure.
“For one thing, you own that very fine, very French Ferdinand Berthoud pocket watch. My great-uncle owned one similar.” She dropped her eyes toward the point on his chest where he kept his treasure. “I can hear the delicate chimes when it rings every quarter hour.”
He should have left it in his rooms. But it was the dearest memento he owned from his grandfather. Besides, he ran his daily duties by the precision of it. “I cannot part with it. It keeps me on task.”
“It does. I see it.”
“May I go now?”
“No. Certainly not. I would learn more. You say you come from Yorkshire. But I detect no hint of it in your pronunciation. You went to school. Some fine institution that weaned you from your native speech. Where?”
Good god. She was perceptive. He set his jaw. He’d not reveal his year at Edinburgh. He never told anyone of that, he’d hated it so. “The Army was my schooling. Taught me responsibility.”
“Your rank?”
“Captain.”
She smiled at him, her face around her eyes crinkling in appreciation. “So then your family purchased a commission for you?”
My father gave me nothing of value. “I ran away. Began as a recruit.”
“Noble of you.”
“Necessary, ma’am.” He shook his head, thinking them done, moving to rise.
She caught his hand. “A moment, Finnley. There is more to your story. From your time in the Army, I see then when and how you acquired your demeanor with those under your command.”
He wished to escape her touch and her sound perception. “The Army gave me a good education.”
“And war is a demanding teacher,” she concluded.
“It was. I wish to never fight again.”
“Nor do any of us. My brother died. At Waterloo.”
He schooled himself to remain placid. Her brother had been his best friend. What he did here for Alicia was as much for her as for Jerome.
“I find it intriguing, dear Finnley, that with such rank in the military, you now offer yourself in domestic service.”
Her statement, he knew, was a question and he had to avoid the whole answer of his origins. “Being a butler is an honorable occupation.”
She fell back to her cushions, her hand dropping and freeing him of her hold. Her expression told him she was dismayed with his obstinate ways.
He stepped backward and rubbed his wrist.
She stared at him, clear-eyed and assured. “Finnley, I will be forthright. I look into your endearing blue eyes and can see that when you speak truth to me, your pupils darken and enlarge.”
What?
“And when you lie to me, your pupils constrict and your body tightens like a drum.”
Well, damn. Foiled by my eyes?
Once more, she took his hand and put his open palm to her soft cheek. “Might you care for me, Finnley?”
Might? There was no might.
“I see in your eyes that you do,” she whispered. “Tell me who you really are, dear sir. And then we can begin again. Anew.”
An author acclaimed for her eloquence and scintillating tales of romance and suspense, Cerise DeLand writes historical and contemporary novels with spice and charm. Visit http://www.cerisedeland.com
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August 9, 2015
#SFRMonday: He’s programmed to kill, not to love ~ LIBERATION’S KISS by @Wendy_Clark #scifirom
Please welcome Wendy Lynn Clark to the blog with her Sci-Fi Romance Liberation’s Kiss.
LIBERATION’S KISS
Robotics Faction #1
by Wendy Lynn Clark
The only one who can keep her alive is the man who was sent to kill her.
The Old Empire has crumbled. Strong factions prey on the weak, and strongest of all are those who ally themselves with the mysterious Robotics Faction…
Cressida Sarit Antiata is twelve years old when her diplomat parents learn that her name has appeared on the Robotics Faction Kill List, a classified document of dangerous individuals marked for execution. Calling in all of their connections, her parents smuggle her to a small but wealthy ore-producing moon where she grows up in anonymous luxury, secure that her data is safe.
Until now.
Xan | Arch is an x-class android with one mission: execute the target n81, also known as Cressida Sarit Antiata. Although he possesses biological skin, hair, fingernails, and eyes – and extensive conditioning to pass as a sweating, swearing, rough-and-tumble everyman – beneath the surface, he is all machine.
When he arrives at the moon, something unexpected is waiting for him. Something that circumvents his execution order and forces him to protect Cressida instead. Something that gives him the free will to question his makers, control his destiny, and awaken his heart. Together, they might escape their destinies and forge an entirely new future.
Available from:
Amazon US | Nook | iBooks |Kobo
and more at http://wendylynnclark.com
“You’re like a grenade that could go off at any time! How can you just sit here like nothing is wrong?”
“Are you going to run away?” he asked quietly.
She realized that she’d already taken several steps away. She wavered, the historical instinct to run fighting the impulse to trust, just a little longer, that it was all a mistake. That there was something more. She retraced her steps until she was standing before him. “No.”
His jaw moved. Thoughtful. He nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“Just explain so I can feel safe again,” she said. “Are you not a grenade?”
He scratched his head, a rueful smile curving his lips. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
She hugged herself. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
He flashed to her and sobered. “I don’t know who the person was that installed the other program, so I don’t know their intentions. I don’t even know if they’re human. I don’t know the scope of their program, or what defenses it has against hacking if I am recaptured. The Faction will certainly want to deconstruct the code, which may require disassembling me completely. I don’t know.”
She swallowed. “Disassembling?”
“That is the usual consequence for an android that goes off assignment.” He sighed. “That goes rogue.”
She knelt down. “But it wasn’t your fault.”
His brows drew together. “What does fault have to do with anything?”
She sat back on her heels.
“I don’t really care either way.” He cupped the back of his neck. “It’s not like I have a biological imperative forcing me to stay alive and transmit my genes. Up until a day ago, I, like all of my brethren, had only one imperative: to enact the will of the Faction. And now…”
He released his hold and filled his eyes with her. His expression changed to awe, almost pleading, and his voice turned raw, as if she could answer his questions.
“What is it about you that makes me so fucking compelled to hold you? Even now, when you distrust and fear me, I just want to yank you into my arms and squeeze you until your eyes glaze with pleasure and your breath comes in gasps. It’s not an assignment. It’s not the will of the Faction. I just want you. I want to memorize every single molecule, from the inside to the outside, from the chemical bond to the neuro-physical configuration, so that I could be your resurrect if you needed it. It feels like burning under my skin, but when I query my dermal receptors, they report nothing but ambient temperature. I don’t understand these sensations. I need you.”
Wendy Lynn Clark is an award-winning author of contemporary and science fiction romance. Find out more by visiting her online home at http://wendylynnclark.com.
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Sex Scene Championships 2015 ~ Read a HOT excerpt from HER ALIEN HERO #SSceneC2015 #vote #NSFW
Hello everyone! Today is the day Her Alien Hero is up for best sex scene in the Sex Scene Championships hosted by Scorching Book Reviews. So, pop on over, give it a read, and be sure to vote. Remember, voting enters you in the giveaway. Plus, check out all the other hot scenes while you’re there.
Vote here
August 8, 2015
All Romance Celebrates Release of New Android App with 50% eBook Rebate #sale #mobile
All Romance Celebrates Release of New Android App
with 50% eBook Rebate!
The All Romance Reader Android App comes with a library pre-loaded with six free ebooks, courtesy of AllRomance.com, the largest and oldest independent seller of Romance eBooks in the world.
With the All Romance Reader App for Android, readers can browse sixty categories or focus their search by specifying a particular title, author, series, publisher or keyword. Search returns can then be further sorted by best selling, top rated, recently added, heat level, length, title, or price—including discounted ebooks and freebies. They can also access ARe’s bestseller list, discover what’s trending, or peruse picks selected especially for them. Highlander warriors, spaceship captains, pack leaders, vampires, doms, bad boy bikers, billionaires, Navy SEALs… ARe has them all.
Those with the App will easily be able to take advantage of special rebates, discounts, sales and promotions. They’ll be able to use the wish list feature to help plan for a nd manage future purchases. Then rate and review the books they’ve already read to help others make selections. “The best part is that we’re celebrating the release by offering a 50% rebate on thousands of titles on Sunday, August 9th(US/Central),” said Lori James, CEO of. “For the first time our Customers will be able to download and read their purchases using the App’s robust reading features, or tap on our nifty gift icon to send it to a friend. And, our multi-format files are easy to share and read across platforms. An iOS version will be coming soon.”
Download the All Romance Reader for Android to:
Browse, buy, and read seamlessly.
Read EPub, PDF, and Adobe® Content Server protected ebooks on your Android phone or tablet (version 2.3 and higher).
Side load for use on your Kindle Fire/HD.
Browse over 130,000 ebooks from more than 9,000 publishers.
Search by title, author, series name, publisher, keyword, or category—we have sixty.
Sort search returns by best selling, top rated, recently added, heat level, length, title, or price—including discounted and freebies.
Discover what’s trending.
Download thousands of free ebooks.
Access tools to personalize your reading experience by tapping the bottom of the screen while reading. Set bookmarks, highlight, add notes, search the text, or adjust settings such as text size, line spacing, text color and background, orientation, and page turn.
August 7, 2015
“I want these clothes off” #MySexySaturday from CELESTIAL SEDUCTION #scifirom #1NS @DecadentPub
Hello everyone! Thank you for joining me for the 104th week of My Sexy Saturday. Here are the details: every Saturday, published and unpublished authors will be sharing 7 words, sentences, or paragraphs from a work-in-progress or an already published story.
Today’s theme is…
LATE SUMMER SEXY
Here’s seven from CELESTIAL SEDUCTION, an erotic sci-fi romance about an alien who has decided to live on Earth.
Set-up: Frey has confessed to Carrie that he is from another planet. Yet, she still wants to continue their date.
He carried her over to the bed. Frey hadn’t expected her to remain so calm after taking in his appearance. And her kiss surprised him and stirred his desire for her once more. She’d been worth every minute he spent waiting.
Before they reached the bed, she had his shirt, already torn open from his change, off his shoulders and began to run her fingers down his chest. “Your body is more ripped than I imagined.” Her mouth trailed kisses across his neck and down his chest, readying his body for mating. He’d seen the act performed in the instructional videos, but it did not include touching the way Carrie touched him. The male in the video always took much longer to be ready to mate.
When he set her down, she kneeled in front of him, tugging at his belt. “I want these clothes off.”
Her hands were quick. His pants fell to the floor and her hands surrounded his cock before he could worry what she’d think. While his shaft was smooth like a human male’s, the head had several nodules that released his mating fluid.
She looked up at him and smiled while her thumb brushed across the bumps on the end of his cock. Tandee had never touched him down there. When our time for mating arrives, I will prime you, she’d always said. Until then, it is an unnecessary action that will make you act in an inappropriate manner.
Unnecessary or not, his body filled with need. He wanted to plunge himself inside Carrie and release his seed.
His knees buckled as she took his cock into her mouth. About to object and ask her the purpose of the act, he lost all thought, trying hard to keep himself standing. Then he remembered the human instructional videos for sex. This happened all the time. He’d never understood why until now.
~ About CELESTIAL SEDUCTION ~
At the end of his obligated commitment to the Space Service, Frey Berger decides to stay on Earth to further experience human emotions rather than return to Ginnun where his intended has already mated with another. Looking for real love and someone to accept him for what he is, Frey enlists in Madame Evangeline’s popular dating service. Although he does not understand the concept of a one-night stand, he hopes to find his perfect mate.
Carrie Cooper’s husband divorced her for someone who could provide him with children, leaving her with little self-confidence and no desire to let a man hurt her again. Her best friend convinces her to join a dating service, claiming Carrie needs to get laid, while not winding up with a broken heart since her date requires no commitment after the night is over.
Although several misunderstandings nearly derail them before the date has even begun, Carrie and Frey end up becoming closer than they ever believed possible. Still, Frey will need to convince Carrie that her perfect mate isn’t human at all, and that one night can lead to a forever love.
AVAILABLE FROM:
Also available in the following 99¢ box sets:
Intergalactic Heat
An Alien to Love
17 Sizzling Nights
Be sure to check out other MY SEXY SATURDAY excerpts!
August 5, 2015
The most powerful soul-bond in @Liza0Connor’s SURVIVING OUTBOUND #Multiverses #scifi
How the series came to be…
When I first wrote this sci-fi series, I began with the story Surviving Outbound which refused to end, so I broke it down into 2 books. The first book covers the dangerous voyage to a new world, then second is their struggle to survive on a planet with T Rexs, large sentient blue cattle called Sargons, giant bears, and a billion large rats that will devour anything in their path. One of those result in the key Gods getting very drunk in the book that is finally declared #3.
Once the colonists befriend the sentient race of blue bulls, they move to the Sargon’s valley where the giant blue bulls can protect them so I can focus on the lives of the colonists. Like typical humans, they fall in love, some marry, some have to wait and thus just long to marry, babies arrive, and a great deal of conniving and bad behavior occurs.
Less typical is that my main characters are a Soul-bond of Three. That means three bodies hold a single massive soul comprised of the three before they bonded.
While each still retains their own personality, they can hear and feel what their soul bonds do unless one purposely blocks the others. They only do this when they need to protect the other two from something they think the others are better not knowing. For example, when Saran was chained, face to the wall, in the basement and whipped daily, she imagined herself in her room. Thus Tamara never had a clue of her true state. Nor did Saran realize Tamara had married a man, then died on his ranch, since they mind-spoke every day and she never mentioned either situation.
When Saran also married Dmitri (the man Tamara had previously married) they had expected it would be a normal two-bonded fems with a non-bonded husband. For that was the way it had always occurred before. However, for the first time in any multiverse, a three-bonded soul was created from the sweetest woman you’ll ever meet, a sassy spirit, and a hardworking, honorable, strong man.
These three books center around the Soul-bond of Three and their offspring. But one other character in the last book so intrigued my early beta readers, they demanded a book one to set the stage and explain how this sentient being came to be. So I wrote The Gods of Probabilities. At first I wrote it with the Gods working silently in the background, but then I realized the books would be so much funnier if I let the Gods come out from behind their curtain and let us see how badly they can behave and how hard it is to save someone within their bureaucratic rules. So in book one we meet the adorable water children of Oceana, including the very nice and talented Drogan, plus a whole bunch of sassy, cranky Gods. (I am assuming you’ve read book 1. If not, you may start at book 2, since it was the original beginning. However, I recommend reading book 1 first.
In Book two, you will begin on Earth with the humans and gain a berth in the outbound ship. (Sorry, all I could afford was a 3rd class cube for you, but the captain assures me no one dies from curling up in a ball and sleeping in a rubber cube.)
Now, if the Gods can solve a great deal of issues with the few God interventions left for them to use, hopefully you and the colonists will all make it to Terranue in one piece. I promise not to leave you hanging, you either will or won’t land, depending on how the probabilities fall. (This will cease to be a Schrodinger’s cat situation once the even collapses).
I wrote it so you and the colonist would land, but another me in another universe may be perverse and write it where they die in space. It’s all too likely that another me will do that. And if you grasp that concept, you’ll understand why the Gods are so cranky. They don’t just have to control one of me, but billions of me.
However, you can help. As you read the book, you can focus on positive resolutions. Positive thinking is very important in Quantum Physics. In fact, it turns out to be more important than the concept of Reality.
Surviving Outbound
by Liza O’Connor
Saran along with her ‘not dead, just no longer human’ soul-bond—Tamara, and their giant blue bull leave in search of a handler so Blue can escape Earth and travel outbound. The man Saran meets and falls in love with turns out to be Tamara’s husband. Their spiritual joining of three sets into play a prophecy written long ago. Together, they become Tamsarandem, the most powerful soul-bond in all the multiverses.
The shamans pay for their voyage to Terranue, an unknown planet, never before colonized by humans. In return, Tamsarandem must look after the other colonists and help them to prosper and find their Paths of Light. They will need to do this mostly on their own, for the Gods are running out of authorized interventions. However, the God Pane, with the help of the sentient ship-computer, Marybell, constantly search for clever workarounds to ensure The Path of Light will reign supreme upon the final collapse. But there is only so much they can do within their bureaucratic rules.
Having failed to stop Tamsarandem from leaving Earth, those who walk the Path of Darkness embed their own people, including their darkest lord, on the ship to ensure it will never arrive at Terranue.
Focusing, Tamara created a faint, shimmering image of her former self. She could have created a solid appearance, but she thought a shimmer might make Saran realize the change in her existence without the sudden blow of what it meant.
“Tamara, is that you?” Saran whispered.
“Yes,” Tamara replied through mind-speak.
Saran’s face distorted in anguish. “Are you dead?”
Tamara flinched at the waves of pain Saran exuded. As soul-bonds, what one felt, the other felt, unless they purposely blocked their soul-bond from the truth, which she had done during her painful death.
Saren’s torment was exactly the reason she had delayed returning. She could not bear to feel sweet Saran in pain, nevertheless be the cause of it. “I prefer to be called no longer corporal.” She moved closer, wishing she could embrace her soul-bond, but that was not possible. All she had to comfort were her words. “You possess half of my soul. I cannot die as long as you live.”
As Tamara neared, goose bumps formed on Saran’s arms, which she tried to rub away.
“Sorry for the chill. It’s the ionization process I use to create my form.” Unable to endure her soul-bond’s current distress, she checked out the animals.
Tamara had purposely portrayed herself exactly as she had looked the day she’d run away six years prior, the last image Saran had of her. She’d hoped the familiar brown, weaved pants and white shirt of a handler would make their first meeting less stressful. Her blond hair was braided down the center of her back, just as Saran had done for her six years ago.
Available from Amazon
Check out book 1: The Gods of Probabilities, also on Amazon
Liza is a multiple genre author of 15 novels. A Late Victorian Series, The Adventures of Xavier & Vic, plus a spinoff, A Right to Love, is an ongoing series. A Long Road to Love is a humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance series of five books. She has two single books. One is a humorous, bad boys contemporary novel with ghosts, called Ghost Lover, the other is Untamed & Unabashed, a spinoff from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Now, she’s rolling out her Science fiction series (with romance & humor) called The Multiverses. The first four books are slotted for last half of 2015. In addition she hopes, if she hasn’t dropped from exhaustion by then, to re-release a sometimes humorous/suspense thriller called Saving Casey.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LIZA O’CONNOR
Investigate these sites:
Liza’s Blog and Website | Facebook | Twitter
August 4, 2015
A good guy stuck in a bad situation ~ A STELLAR AFFAIR @Laurel_R_books #scifi #romance
Please welcome author Laurel Richards!
In my SFR novel, A Stellar Affair, I wanted to create a hero who really was a good guy, but a man in the middle of a bad situation. Jack is kind and loyal and stands up for his principles. He’s not afraid to fight or throw a punch once in a while, but he isn’t the typical alpha male you see in a lot of romance books. Thanks to his psychic ability, he’s not only a mind-reader; he’s also empathic. This is a man who definitely relies on his brain, though his smarts come wrapped in a very attractive package.
His psychic abilities are both a blessing and a curse. They allow him to help his people in a time of war and uncover critical intel that could save lives. At the same time, they make having a romantic relationship difficult. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with him being able to read their minds, and knowing everything a woman is thinking and feeling creates a lot of performance pressure.
When Ardra is taken captive and brought to Jack for interrogation, his mental talents let him see Ardra as a beautiful woman and not just the enemy. The more he delves into her mind, the more he falls for her, and that’s a problem in the middle of a war. Jack struggles with loyalty and love, while Ardra tries to sort out where she stands in the conflict. She never wanted to be part of the violence. All she ever wanted was a home of her own and someone to love. Can she have that with Jack?
A Stellar Affair is a sweet/sensual romance set against the backdrop of an interstellar conflict. In this case, men and women might be from different planets, but that won’t stop them from reading each other’s minds.
A Stellar Affair
by Laurel Richards
Sometimes the heart leads and the mind must follow.
Ardra has no idea why she’s been abducted and thrown into a Roimiran interrogation room. She is simply a Tetch botanist on her way to a distant planet, not an enemy spy. She’s scared of the piercing eyes of the mind-reading precept assigned to uncover whatever secrets her mind might be holding. But even more worrying is the strange soul-deep connection between her and her captor.
Jackson Deimos excels at slipping in and out of someone’s memories to retrieve military intelligence deliberately hidden away—even from an unwitting carrier. But Ardra’s brain is a labyrinth of defenses he’s never encountered before. Plus, her beauty shouldn’t be this much of a distraction.
As their battle of wits and wills wears on, their emotions are the first to betray them. But if Jack can’t break through Ardra’s barriers, his superiors will turn her over to someone who will—by force. Leaving Jack having to choose between doing his duty or following his heart.
Available from:
Samhain Publishing | Amazon | Kobo | All Romance
Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Apple iBooks
A white satin divan sat in the middle of the garden. She kissed Jack as they moved toward it and felt the urgent heat of his tongue and lips. He unzipped her dress and let it fall to the ground. Once he removed her undergarments, he gazed at her naked body. Ardra tried to undo the buttons of his shirt, but her hands shook, and he had to help her. When he was as nude as she was, she let her gaze sweep past his waist. She felt her whole body blush as she saw her effect on him.
Jack continued to court her mouth even as he rubbed against her. He dipped her back and pushed her gently onto the smooth bed of satin. There were no sheets, so their skin was bare to the night breeze. He kissed his way down her chest and belly and thigh with lingering presses of his lips. Then he worked his way back up, and she began to tremble in anticipation.
“I’m nervous,” she admitted.
He looked her right in the eye. “I know you are. But you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
He slipped a hand between her legs, making her gasp. Her lips parted on a sigh as he took his time stroking and preparing her. He planted warm kisses on every reachable inch of her body until her tremors ceased. Once she was panting, he dropped his hips between her legs and pressed inside her. She moaned as he thrust forward, but it was solely a sound of pleasure. He was tender and careful with her as he started to move.
Gradually gaining momentum, he rocked into her beneath the open stars, and she swore she could feel the celestial energy pulsing through her. Jack’s tongue was between her lips, and he grew frantic beneath her encouraging hands. She lost herself in the feel of him moving rhythmically inside her. Their bodies twined—two separate beings sharing one single, unbearable pleasure. It was love and lust, making love and sharing it. She lost track of where she ended and he began and loved that he could read her every desire.
His thrusts grew faster until they both climaxed with a moan.
“Oh!” Ardra woke with a cry and bolted upright in bed.
Her heart was pounding and her nerves still tingled, but she was alone in her confinement room. She marveled that the dream had seemed so real. Then she had to wonder. It had been a dream, hadn’t it?
She thought of Jack and immediately felt the brush of his mind against hers. A jolt of surprise hit her, though she wasn’t sure if it came from him or herself.
“Not a dream,” she said with a groan.
She buried her face in her pillow. It would have been easy to blame him since he was the precept, but somehow she knew this wasn’t his doing. Or at least not his alone. How was she supposed to face him after this mental coupling? Connecting with Jack telepathically and having dream sex with him was more intimate than a simple physical act would have been. It might not have been so embarrassing if…
Ardra sighed. What was the point? No matter how she looked at their situation, she couldn’t see things ending well for them.
Find Laurel Richards here:
Laurel’s Website | Twitter | Google+ | Amazon | Goodreads
