Star Cruise: Marooned. This is from the first moment things start to go wrong, although no one realizes it yet.
“What did the ranger say?” Meg asked, plating more mini sandwiches.
Shaking his head, Red said, “No one there.”
“What?” She paused in the middle of drizzling artful condiments on the individual Azrigone beef patties. Laughing, thinking perhaps he was kidding, she said, “Are they out to lunch or something?”
“Place is all closed up. I knocked, on the off chance someone was left as a caretaker, but the station shows all the signs of being abandoned.” He ran one hand through the dark maroon hair that gave him his nickname.
“Impossible, the rangers and their families live here year round – I’ll go check for myself later.” Annoyed at his failure to complete the simple task, she said, “Mr. Trever asked to go fishing, and that’s your job.”
The Story:
Meg Antille works long hours on the charter cruise ship Far Horizon so she can send credits home to her family. Working hard to earn a promotion to a better post (and better pay), Meg has no time for romance.
Former Special Forces soldier Red Thomsill only took the berth on the Far Horizon in hopes of getting to know Meg better, but so far she’s kept him at a polite distance. A scheduled stopover on the idyllic beach of a nature preserve planet may be his last chance to impress the girl.
But when one of the passengers is attacked by a wild animal it becomes clear that conditions on the lushly forested Dantaralon aren’t as advertised – the ranger station is deserted, the defensive perimeter is down…and then the Far Horizon’s shuttle abruptly leaves without any of them.
Marooned on the dangerous outback world, romance is the least of their concerns, and yet Meg and Red cannot help being drawn to each other once they see how well they work together. But can they survive long enough to see their romance through? Or will the wild alien planet defeat them, ending their romance and their lives before anything can really begin?
Amazon iBooks Kobo Barnes & Noble GooglePlay
Have you booked your Star Cruise yet?
Yes, distract us with food!
Happy homemaking Veronica. Loved the snippet. Love the storyline (I went to Amazon and got my very own copy).
I like it. Starts out so realistic, but with hints of what’s to come. Just bought it!
Nice slow boiling tension here. Great work, Veronica!
A good start to the story, and I can foresee the possible trouble ahead. Nice job!
From luxury to dangerous foreshadowing in a couple of paragraphs. You never disappoint, Veronica!
I’m also thinking Meg needs an attitude adjustment–the premise should do it! 😀
Best of luck settling into the new place Veronica! This story sounds intriguing, as usual–looking forward to seeing these two get to know each other. We sense Meg’s “all business” attitude here and I’m hoping we get to see more of Red’s personality next week!
An abandoned ranger station? And a bunch of tourists… oh, do Meg and Red have their work set out for them! (Nice interplay and drizzling of details.)
The set up is frightening from the first words, nobody’s home. Intense situation but as always, you’re up to the task. Promises, promises as to commenting. Best to you and the good life in a smaller dwelling.
Everything seems so normal… Definitely the build-up to something going wrong! Great build-up! 🙂
Oh boy, now I want to know why the shuttle leaves…who were they trying to kill and who is “they”? Great snippet, Veronica. 🙂
“drizzling artful condiments” Great line and great snippet!
She seems to be a bit of a control freak. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to consider what it means that there are no rangers there.
Ooh, just picked this up. Can’t wait to read it:)
Love her in-charge attitude and how she dismisses the warning signs. All great for the build-up of tension.
Hope you are all settled in – moving can be exciting but hectic.
Good tension building in the snippet – she figures he can do the little thing – I’m guessing a big surprise is instore.
Love the little detail about his hair.
I don’t know that I’d be so dismissive, but you don’t expect things to go wrong, do you? That’s when they do go wrong–spectacularly wrong.
Thanks for the good wishes on the move! Still surrounded by a sea of boxes but making progress…wow, I really appreciate the comments on the excerpt and special thanks to everyone who’s bought the book – hope you enjoy the full story! I had fun writing it…yes, next week I’ll keep going with another excerpt from this one.
Woohoo! Back in space;). Love the snippet and tension/sparks between them. I have a feeling Meg will learn pretty quickly that things are not what they seem. Great 8.
Great hook here. And I love the way she’s dismissed him as not being able to figure out if someone is there or not. Like if she goes of course someone will be there. I can see the sparks flying already. 🙂 Good luck settling in!
It looks like Jenna had the same reaction I did, so read her comment twice, okay?
Will do, Ed, LOL!
Moving…such a daunting task. Good to hear you’re settling in. Marooned sounds awesome! Going to be a head butting good time, until whatever’s in the bushes scares her into his arms! 😉
Hopefully her attitude will change when things get messy and she’ll be able to trust Red’s input. Great excerpt!
I love your Sci/Fi books. I can’t wait to read this one.
Thanks, Elaine! I hope you’ll enjoy the story and I appreciate the compliment 🙂
Oh, she’s so cool toward him. Bet something’s about to happen to make her warm up to him a bit. 😉 Good 8, Veronica! 🙂
great cover … sounds like a great story. liked today’s excerpt!
Wonderful beginning. Can’t wait to read more.
Wow, she really doesn’t have a high opinion of his capabilities. I think she’s about to find out she’s wrong, which is both good and bad. 🙂
Intriguing….I can feel things going wrong, even if they can’t yet…might just need to add this to the ever growing, never vanishing Kindle TBR list.
Also, forgot to mention that I hope the new digs are home sweet home in no time. I didn’t get around to anyone last week either. I’m blaming intransigent characters and a lot of homeschool red tape that needed to be dealt with – tis the season!
Hmm. Interesting goings on. Drawing the small visual details for us makes this a very strong scene.
Going on as if everything is normal with the food prep. almost lulls us into a false sense of safety, and great tension building.
Congrats on your new digs.
Nice beginning. I like how it starts off calmly and then hints at more dramatic things to come.
So sorry for the late response on this weeks. I’m playing catch up on Sunday Snippets.
Now you’ve got me curious as to why the rangers are gone. She seems a bit exasperated by him, I’m guessing he isn’t very good at finishing small tasks? Or any tasks at all? Great snippet.