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!)

So last week a number of people commented on how bleak the situation is for Rennyr, which is true. I’ve thought about it a lot and I think maybe when you only get the book in snippets and can’t keep reading to the Happy Ever After ending (whcih as a romance, it does have – you can always buy the book LOL), the journey may be a bit dark. So I’m skipping the whole death match incident.

The excerpt: Moving on to Rennyr in solitary confinement in “the pit” for refusing to fight again after the death match (where he did manage to save a number of lives, at least temporarily). He meets his first friend. May be edited from published edition.

“Soldier!”

A sound from above his head and a hissed summons woke him from the deep sleep, Adrenaline racing in his veins, Rennyr was on his feet, gazing upward, ready for anything. Light showed only a small portion of the door to this pit was open, not enough for him to force his way through. If he worked hard he could make out the features of whoever was above. It was an old man he’d never seen before, currently engaged in passing objects through the small portal.

“I’m gonna throw this down to you,” the man said. “You gotta promise me to eat every bit and not leave any crumbs. They find out you got food they’ll hunt me.”

Stomach rumbling, Rennyr was ready to agree to any reasonable condition. “I swear.”

Next minute he was frantically catching a stream of falling objects, which were revealed to be several pieces of fruit and a chunk of bread, followed by a piece of cheese. “Many thanks, stranger,” he said as he sat cross legged to eat. “But why are you doing this? Why take such a risk for me?”

“I owe someone a debt,” the man said. “Don’t reckon he even knows what he did for me but I always swore if I ever had the chance I’d repay him.”

It didn’t make sense to Rennyr but he was grateful for the food and the human interaction.

“You’re going about this all wrong, you know,” the voice said sternly from above. “Not being smart.”

Rennyr found himself smiling. “Since I’m sitting in the dark in the infamous pit, I can hardly disagree. What do you recommend?”

VS: We’ll find out next week…

RENNYR (BADARI GLADIATORS SERIES BOOK 2) by Veronica Scott

Rennyr was a genetically engineered senior soldier in his Badari Warrior pack until one day he woke up on a strange planet naked, disoriented and about to be sold into the gladiator arena for the rest of his life. Unscrupulous guards faked his death in the lab where he was created and sold him into slavery in the galaxy’s hinterlands. Kill or be killed is the rule in his new life and a Badari never gives up. He’ll fight to stay alive until the Badari goddess sees fit to decree his death and release him from the wretched existence.

Jaine Mitchel of the Sectors was on her way to an exciting research internship until pirates seized the spaceship on which she was a passenger and took her to feature in a gladiator ‘death match’ in the galactic hinterlands. She has no hope of surviving in the arena until a man she only glimpsed in passing breaks out of his cell and saves her life, declaring her to be his fated mate. Given to Rennyr as his reward for winning the death match, Jaine must share a cell and a bed with the handsome, not human, gladiator and together they have to find a way to survive in this merciless world of violence and death. Their mutual attraction is off the charts. Falling in love is the easy part, finding a way to escape or even to remain together is the challenge. At any time their mutual owner could decide thumbs up or thumbs down on one or both of them, or sell them separately.

Their only hope is a mysterious gladiator master from offworld who may be coming to buy Rennyr. Will he take Jaine as well? Could Rennyr win freedom for them both if he does well enough in the arena? Badari Warriors claim their mates for life and Rennyr has no intention of losing Jaine…RENNYR is an 80K word novel and can be read as a standalone. KYDEN is the first book in the series.

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