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!)
I’ve switched to Trapped on Talonque, which came out in August. Briefly, part of the book is a scifi take on the Sleeping Beauty tale. The story synopsis is after the excerpt.
We’re further on in the story now than we were last week, and Nate has an encounter in a dream with the mysterious woman. She tells him they aren’t dreaming but communicating, and apologizes to him. Slightly edited from the published version:
“Why are you sorry?” Nate stayed with her first words to him, “You’ve done nothing to harm us.”
“I pity anyone trapped here on this cursed planet. The king will sacrifice you to his hungry gods when you don’t produce the miracles he expects. Demands. I—I didn’t tell him the truth when he asked.” Brow furrowed, she studied Nate’s face. Biting her lower lip, she said, “Honesty on my part would have brought instant death for you – he believes you’re my father’s warriors, come to rescue me, so I agreed with his conclusion. I said you were also sent to retrieve certain possessions because he’s desperate to acquire the marvels my father wielded. My deception may give you time, perhaps a chance to save yourselves – you must play the game.”
The story:
Will an alien sleeping beauty awaken to save him, or destroy everyone around her?
When a Sectors Special Forces soldier and his team crash land on an alien planet, they’re taken captive and given a challenge–win at the violent ball game of sapiche and live. Lose, and they die, sending a mysterious, alien beauty to an even uglier fate. To survive, these soldiers must win the game and find a way to free the dangerous prisoner from her locked chamber.
Nate Reilly and his team are in deep trouble. Prisoners on a backward alien planet, they’re brought before an alien ‘goddess’, sleeping in her high tech seclusion. Nate is astonished when she awakes and establishes a psychic link with him. But her news is not good–he and his men must win a brutal challenge set by their captors, or they will die. She’ll give her aid, but in the end their courage and strength must win the contest.
Bithia sleeps in her chamber, as she has for thousands of years, since her own people unaccountably left her there. Viewed as a goddess by her captors, she must hide her ancient secrets to survive. But only the bravest of men may free her. Can she use her psychic powers to keep Nate and his men alive long enough to help her escape, or will her only hope of freedom die with them?
This is the last week to get a copy and have a portion of the proceeds go to Hero Dogs Inc. Next week I’ll move on to another book.
Join the adventure as nine pet loving sci-fi romance authors take you out of this world and pull you into their action-packed stories filled with suspense, laughter, and romance. The alien pets have an agenda that will capture the hearts of those they touch. Follow along as they work side by side to help stop a genetically-engineered creature from destroying the Earth to finding a lost dragon; life is never the same after their pets decide to get involved. Can the animals win the day or will the stars shine just a little less brightly?
And the blurb for Star Cruise: Stowaway:
I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL) and as always I recommend sampling before you buy!
ARCHANGEL’S HEART (A GUILD HUNTER NOVEL) by Nalini Singh
PERILOUS HUNT (FALLEN EMPIRE BOOK 7) by Lindsay Buroker
JUMPER’S HOPE: CENTRAL GALACTIC CONCORDANCE BOOK 4 by Carol Van Natta
THE TIDES OF BARA (SORCEROUS MOONS BOOK 3) by Jeffe Kennedy
FROM THIS FAE FORWARD (PARANORMAL WEDDING PLANNERS BOOK 2) by A. E. Jones
ILLICIT (A NOVEL OF THE SAZI) by Cathy Clamp
CLOAK OF WAR (THE EMPRESS GAME TRILOGY 2) by Rhonda Mason
The machines believed their extermination of the human race would be over as quickly as it began. They were wrong. As the war against extinction intensifies, people are beginning to gain the upper hand.
reading pleasure.
companion, Angela, vanishes after a nasty argument. Vampire cops slap her with an ultimatum. She’s got seven days to prove Angela’s alive or spend a century in prison.
MIND, to take care of his friends and keep them all safe. While the Meta-Alien Investigation and Neutralization Department is busy monitoring an emergence of human psychic and alien activity, Bates takes his first solo assignment searching for a woman who claims to see the future, only to botch it up and let her get away.
Antanasia knows better than anyone that being royal comes with lots of expectations. Born into war as a Vampyre Witch, she has to battle the ultimate enemy: her own blood. When she has a terrifying Vision, Antanasia fights harder than ever to prevent it from coming to pass. Will she succeed? Or does she die trying?
Dragon, has found his long-lost mate. The only problem? She’s a captive of the dark forces he’s allied himself with in order to meet his own selfish ends. But Aegis knows how to be a hero, it just takes the right motivation. Like saving the only person that has ever mattered to him.
the pages of this book, you’ll find just such tales…along with a sprinkling of ghost stories, possessed machinery, and wicked deeds cloaked in Steampunk.
Granny’s dying, but Zoraida can save her with a magic crystal of smoky quartz. Too bad the crystal is in Scotland—in a haunted castle—guarded by mind-reading, psychopathic sorcerers.
The Delaney Dare needs a new leader—one from outside, after their own Alpha’s actions led to the shifter war. Gage McAvoy has agreed to marry one of the previous Alpha’s daughters and try to keep the dare from falling apart. Unfortunately, the daughter he’s agreed to marry is not the one he wants.
rebellion’s Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.
destined mate. Meridan’s alluring scent, soft curves and the fire in her spirit call to him the way no female ever has. She is his destined mate. He’s certain of that.
Imogene Hale is a lowly parlourmaid with a soul-crushing secret. Seeking solace, she takes work at a local hive, only to fall desperately in love with the amazing lady inventor the vampires are keeping in the potting shed. Genevieve Lefoux is heartsick, lonely, and French. With culture, class, and the lady herself set against the match, can Imogene and her duster overcome all odds and win Genevieve’s heart, or will the vampires suck both of them dry?
the land of last-minute secret gigs at famous musical venues, when she’s kidnapped by aliens. Unfortunately, no one ever writes about how to handle alien abduction in those fancy NYC guidebooks.
Cat Kincaid is obsessed with killing the man she believes is responsible for the torture and death of her sister, but when she eventually catches up with him, survival becomes a greater priority than revenge.
But for better or worse, the new queen had claimed many of the remaining Talented. Teegan had felt it. It brought her to her knees, the shockwave nearly causing her to black out.
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White. I have no clue how many times I reread this one. A swan with a trumpet? How cool is that?
(Veronica sez: My grandson had the movie of this, as “Homeward Bound”, on permanent repeat for a while there. He especially loved any and all interactions between Sassy the cat and Chance the young dog.)
position aboard the Atlantis can’t save him; if anything, it has left him questioning his own motives. He never thought that could happen until he met Simone Campbell.
I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL) and as always I recommend sampling before you buy!
FOOLS RUSH IN (THE INTERSTELLAR RESCUE SERIES BOOK 3) by Donna S. Frelick
DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE: EMERGENCY CUPID (A KINDLEWORLDS NOVELLA) by R. L. Naquin
BARBARIAN’S HEART (ICE PLANET BARBARIANS BOOK 10) by Ruby Dixon
DEADER HOMES AND GARDENS (SOUTHERN GHOST HUNTER MYSTERIES BOOK 4) by Angie Fox
for Ledo. But as a son of Ares the Fates rule his life. His rebirth serves one purpose: to stand with Zeus when he faces Cronus and to die doing it. That never bothered him. He’d lived many lifetimes and knew his destiny, willingly embracing it.
LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS: A NOBLEBRIGHT FANTASY SET by Various including Lindsay Buroker
find their way to Collegium headquarters in New York. She has magic—and a big Greek family, all ready to “help” her (they mean, interfere). When Jet Walsh moves in next door with no family except the two young orphaned cousins he’s responsible for, it’s a situation of opposites attracting, especially since Jet is a bear-shifter….
inbetweens. But… as a curvy lawyer in New York, where talk is cheap and love is cheaper, how’s she supposed to find that? Thank the stars that there’s a service for that…
Beast wants only a few things out of life: to be left alone, to join the Blackwings so he can be left alone, and for everyone to stop expecting anything from him and leave him alone. He was king of the lion shifters once, but his fall from power came at a huge personal cost. Rumors run rampant over what really happened to his pride, but the truth has hardened Beast’s heart to stone. He’s kept the Blackwings at arm’s length, but when a human starts stalking his crew, his inner monster-kitty gets curious. Kiera is gorgeous and mysterious, but she also has strange eyes and a scent that is calling to his animal. No human has ever interested him quite like her….
Greenlands, New Hampshire. After all, there’s land to be claimed, sexy male shifters lurking behind every towering pine tree, and – death challenges? Apparently, Dakota Sheffield picked the wrong woman to impersonate when she decided to go undercover for a little vacation. Now she’s falling hard for Miles Williams, the dominant Alpha Prime of the Fenris pack….
Finding themselves on the wrong side where illegal potions importer, Jax Rochefort, is concerned, now their only focus is finding a way to stay alive. But being taken hostage and tortured isn’t Bram’s style. Will this suave, centuries-old vampire find a way to free himself and Dulcie? Or will they both fall prey to the up and coming rebellion, the union of all the illegal potions gangs who seek to take over control of the Netherworld?
invaluable commodity to the known galaxy. Now his mentor’s intriguing and secretive new student goes out of her way to challenge his loyalty to everything he values.
why sixteen-year-old Jonas Crosswell did not die in a drug-related shoot-out at a neighborhood church, the last thing she expects is a modern-day miracle. But how else to explain how the boy survived multiple gunshot wounds? more…
bolt hole for Satalis.
Yakira feels safe and cherished with Wulf, but he is a Coletti–the ultimate predator with a taste for blood, a passion for battle, and the need to control everything in his life. The big question is: how does she make Wulf understand she’s a powerful psychic with kick-ass bionic limbs and quite capable of taking care of herself?
Ghost, one of Thunder City’s alternative human defenders, it was Nik’s responsibility to keep his high school classmates safe. That included notorious bad girl Daniella Rose. Ten years later, he needs to locate Daniella to deliver an urgent request from her estranged family.
Egypt, 1500 BCE: Nima’s beauty and skill as a dancer leads an infatuated enemy to kidnap her after destroying an Egyptian border town. However, she’s not the only hostage in the enemy camp: Kamin, an Egyptian soldier on a secret mission for Pharaoh, has been taken as well.
