Here’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)
Sharing now from my newly released scifi romance Aydarr (A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel): Sectors New Allies Series Book 1. Yup, a mouthful LOL!
This is the very beginning of the novel (story blurb below the excerpt):
Why am I lying face down on the wet grass in the rain?
Jill rolled over, putting a hand to her forehead in an attempt to quell a ferocious headache. Opening her eyes gingerly, she blinked at the vividly colored pink, purple and blue leaves on the tree above her, which certainly had never grown on Amarcae 7. She’d been all around her home colony on various repair jobs, and nothing there had riotous leaves in these colors, much less with spikes at the tips. As she watched, one of the leaves snapped into a tight roll to capture a slow moving insect.
“Thank the Lords of Space I’m too big a bite.” Wary, nauseous, she sat up, swaying a bit, and examined her unfamiliar surroundings. She was in the midst of an old growth forest, with other forms of vegetation besides the carnivorous trees but nothing recognizable.
A loud roar in the distance gave her the shivers, and she forced herself to stand, staggering a few feet to lean on a less colorful tree’s broad trunk to stay upright. Despite the rain, her mouth was dry, and she had a hard time swallowing, “What the seven hells?”
Her mind was curiously blank, no memory of how she’d gotten to this place, or what had happened in the last few hours.
The book blurb:
Jill Garrison, a maintenance tech at the Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in her nightgown stranded in the middle of a forest on an unknown world. There’s no time to think as she’s stalked by carnivorous predators and rescued by genetically engineered warriors calling themselves the Badari. Turns out they and she, along with her whole colony, are now prisoners of the Khagrish, a ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the Sectors, the Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.
Aydarr, the Badari alpha, isn’t sure he can trust Jill but his attraction to her is undeniable. He impulsively claims her as his mate to prevent her death at the hands of the Khagrish.
Can he continue to protect her from the experiments already underway? Will his claiming her put his pack in jeopardy from their alien masters?
As Jill searches for a way to rescue her fellow humans and get them all to safety, she finds herself falling for Aydarr, despite the secrets he’s keeping. She has a few of her own.
The situation becomes dire when Aydarr and his pack are sent offplanet on a mission, leaving Jill unprotected, prey for the senior scientist. Can she escape the experiments he has in mind for her? Will she be able to thwart the Khagrish plans and liberate humans and Badari alike? How will she and Aydarr reunite?
Nice opening. (And a cliff hanger of a snippet!) 🙂
That’s sure starting in the middle of the action.
Great snippet !
You are a wonder, dear friend, with an extraordinary imagination. Big Hugs for this one.
That would definitely be a disturbing way to wake up.
Carnivorous trees? I like it. Sounds like Jill has landed in a pickle.
Oh, this doesn’t sound good . . . for her. For us, it sounds like the start of another great book!!
Great beginning – so many questions to be answered. Tweeted.
Powerful opening, and the blurb… oh, boy! Sounds like these scientists could use a little study of their own.
Captured my attention from the beginning.
What an awful way to wake up! Loved the description of the carnivorous trees! And a great hook. Make me want more!
Great beginning. Can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Great opening!
I love how something that at first seemed fanciful suddenly turned threatening. Great opening!
Fun start – in a weird place with hints of danger!
And just like that, I’m hooked! Carnivorous trees with pink, purple, and blue leaves, oh my! Fantastic opening, Veronica! And whoa, that cover? Hot, hot, HOT!
Great snippet, Veronica. A little humor mixed with fear. Loved this book.
So many questions! And a fascinating new world! Great snippet!
That’s an intense way to wake up. Her sense of confusion is well done and makes me wonder what’s going on.