We’ve shifted away from Ancient Egypt for a few weeks to my newly released, best selling science fiction romance novel (story blurb below the picture). Captain Tom Deverane is speaking to Andi, the heroine, as the excerpt starts. Although a little creative editing has occurred today, I’m adhering strictly to the WeWriWa eight sentence rule:
“Someone commits a crime, someone else takes revenge and the innocents get caught in the middle, because of who they are, who they were with, who they know. Sometimes being in the wrong spot at the wrong time gets a person killed,” Deverane said, his tone gentle.
A vision of the atrocity committed on her friend battered Andi. What would I do if I got caught in a similar situation? I didn’t even bring my personal blaster. “I’ll go back to the capital with you in the morning.”
He glared at her, eyebrows drawing together in an impressive frown, forehead wrinkles deepening even more as he said, “Have you been listening, Miss Markriss? We need to leave tonight, the sooner the better.”
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And the story blurb:
Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.
Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.
That mission proves more dangerous than he expected when rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.
Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.
ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE is available now on AMAZON for kindle and as POD paperback Nook Kobo All Romance eBooks and iTunes Smashwords
A nice excerpt. Leaves me wondering what happened, and what’s at stake!
ooh excellent! I love how the dialogue sets up the tension perfectly. I’m off to go buy my copy now!
Hey that’s my name! LOL! I’m going to read this one as soon as I finish with ancient Egypt. My TBR pile just keeps getting higher and higher. Great snippet.
It’s a good name for a heroine LOL!
Deverane sounds like quite the rough-on-the-outside but gentle-on-the-inside alpha. Every woman should be so lucky as to have this hero coming to her aid.
Deverane obviously is the type with a lot of patience. Interesting set-up to the story.
Great dialogue, nice tension!
Enjoying the urgency in this eight, i can see them standing there having this conversation!
Oh, my goodness, I love this guy. the premise of the story is super as well. TBR pile but on the top!!
I love the contrast between them. Fabulous tension from both and in different ways. Well done.
Your writing grabbed me from the first sentence. Terrific eight with two outstanding characters.
Excellent characterizations, as usual 😀
Women just never seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation, yes? Great snippet, Veronica. He’s going to be tough on her from her pov. Love it. 🙂
Nice way to show the tension. I do sense these characters are feeling each other out here. Enjoyable, as always.
Interesting. It makes me wonder what caused the trouble and how the two characters will find their balance (or not!). The 8 sentences are enough to give me a sense of how different their backgrounds are.
Nice, tense excerpt. Definitely makes me want to read more.
Intense! I want to know what’s at stake here. Great 8!
Thanks for all the support! Much appreciated 🙂 I’ll just do a week or two of excerpts from this book since it’s already published, I think, and then my next one is back to Ancient Egypt in October.
you can already tell he’ll have his hands full with her
Nice showing of his emotions and facial expressions.
A stubborn one she is. He’s got his hands full. The blurb sounds like you have quite the interesting story here. I’ve never heard of si-fi romance. Pretty cool.
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Great snippet, Veronica! I think she’s in shock, she still doesn’t understand that she’s in grave danger.
Your future world sounds intriguing. Great snippet!
Very well done – Deverane definitely comes across as one used to command – and even more importantly an intelligent one. Nicely done snippet which certainly caught and held my attention throughout.
Nice tension in this piece!
What a cool premise! And I”m already getting a sense of the characters’ personalities from this small snippet. Neat!
Where do I get a personal blaster?
Well, first you go to work for Loxton Galactic Trading….
I love how you’ve built the tension with the dialogue and showing facial expressions. Great use of the 8’s.
He’s going to have to work a little harder to convince her–or he could always haul her off, caveman style.
No, he doesn’t do that LOL. Events kind of escalate…
Have to check this out. Really liked Wreck of the Nebula Dream:)
Thank you! It’s set in the same universe and she coincidentally works for the same galactic shipping company as Mara did, but there’s no other connection between the two books. Except, hopefully a lot of adventure in both!
Great descriptions! Love the 8.
Very descriptive. I really enjoyed this!
Nice excerpt. I do love a stubborn couple. 🙂
Well, I’m enjoying his character very much…got me interested in just eight lines! Yay!
I love a girl who can hold her own. Good job.
I love how their thoughts and dialogue are such a contrast.
Nice excerpt, she interprets it one way and doesn’t realize she’d be at the wrong place at the wrong time if she goes. Nicely done.
Loved this excerpt, Veronica. Your dialogue is always great, and the inner dialogue was quite effective here too. Well done! 🙂
Very nice excerpt, Veronica. I love sci-fi romance and yours seems especially intriguing. Thanks for sharing.
Nice! I didn’t know about this story, Veronica. I don’t think I did…lol. Anyway, I just bought it. Looks good! 🙂
Thank you very much! I kinda alternate between my SFR and my ancient Egyptian stoies LOL. HUGS!
Love the urgency in this scene. The timing is perfect. Thanks for sharing it! 🙂
So many feelings fighting each other here, nice snippet.