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New Releases

I'm Not Ehrynn Rose

Sensuous Paranormal, Urban Fantasy Romance

by Linda Mooney

Word Count: 38.2K

$2.99

Not feeling well, Nadia Logermeyer, a twenty-eight-year-old dental assistant living in New York City, lies down to rest, only to wake up in the hospital...in Houston, Texas. In someone else's body. With someone else's name. And with someone else's husband.

She has no idea how or why she's now Ehrynn Rose, or why Ehrynn tried to take her own life. All she knows is that as soon as she's able, she needs to return to NYC to find out what happened to her own body. 

But that's not the worst of it. She's falling in love with Nash Rose, Ehrynn's husband. Unfortunately, the couple are in the midst of a sticky divorce, and her claims of a body switch are only making things more complicated.

She's not Ehrynn Rose, but it's quickly getting to the point where she'd give anything to be her. It isn't until she discovers the real reason why she tried to commit suicide that she realizes the danger isn't over yet.

Warning! Contains a prenuptial agreement, a monkey-shaped birthmark, visits to pawn shops, high-end fashions, long-distance revenge, and an incredible circumstance that threatens a new-found love.

Excerpt and buy links.

Unamused Muse (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency: Muse Book 2) by R.L. Naquin

Wynter Greene, newly minted Muse at the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency, is on loan for six weeks to Hades, CEO of Underworld, LLC. Not a bad gig, if she doesn’t mind running errands across the River Styx. She hardly ever has to clean up after the three-headed dogs that guard the front gates. But she could do without so many people eager to fix her up on what literally amount to blind dates from Hell.

All Wynter wants to do is get her six weeks over with so she and Phyllis, her talking plant, can go home and she can go back to work inspiring people. If she can keep from screwing up on this job, she’ll get a clean slate at Mt. Olympus. 

Stripped of her Muse title, Wynter discovers she still can’t stop herself from inspiring people, even when the people she’s encouraging are supposed to be trapped in eternal torment. 

Not the best way to win points with her new boss.

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To Curse the Darkness(Children of Night, Book 6)

 A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing…

When Conrad goes full disclosure on the twins’ heritage, Julie isn’t all that surprised. She’s already figured most of it out. But Armand’s shock over learning the woman he loves was born vampire drives him away for space to think. The chasm between Conrad and Damien yawns wider than ever as Conrad grapples with the pain he’s unintentionally inflicted.

As all hell breaks loose at home, Marc is dangerously out of touch on a trip down the coast to find Elise and bring her home—though she insists he’s a fool to trust her.

Armand, still struggling with his own feelings of guilt, inadequacy and betrayal, returns to find the Fischer-Quintano house in chaos. Julie is determined to go ahead with her plans to save Georgia for Conrad’s sake, though the knowledge she seeks—and the venom-drenched ritual she must endure to get it—could cause her to lose her mind. If not her life.

Product Warning: Handle with care. Contents are under pressure. Contains past violence, present violence, future potential violence, including, but by no means limited to, matricide, fratricide…possibly even patricide. In short, pretty much everything you’d expect to find in a multi-generational vampire love story.

To Curse the Darkness releases on December 22 in both print and ebook at:

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Other Member News

Jeffe Kennedy's THE TALON OF THE HAWK made RT Book Reviews Editors' Best Books of 2015! Regina Small said:

The Talon of the Hawk by Jeffe Kennedy — I've been a fan of the Twelve Kingdoms series since the first book, The Mark of the Tala, dropped last June. But Hawk is, by far, the best book in this fantasy romance saga. Watching Ursula stand up for herself and her kingdom, confront hard truths about her father and find love with Harlan is deeply gratifying. I have only two favorite romantic heroes of 2015. Harlan, whose love and support for Ursula is unwavering — even when she literally wants to kill him — is one of them.









Shawna Reppert is currently running an Indiegogo campaign to fund RAVEN'S HEART, the third book of her award-winning Ravensblood series!  You can read the first edited chapter HERE!

Where it all began. A long, long time ago...

Nope, not a Star Wars post.

I am a big fan and I'm seeing the movie this morning, but for my sci-fi week post I wanted to share my love of reading.  This is the first genre I fell for and it nurtured my love of books. I learned a lot from these stories. That the universe is vast and if I could imagine something then it was a possibility.

Now, you're probably wondering if I love sci-fi so much why am I writing paranormal romances. (I do dabble in sci-fi with No Refuge--strong CJ Cherryh influence-- and Boarded--strong Larry Niven influence and releasing in Feb 2016.)

I was introduced into the genre with Larry Niven. My brother lent me his copy of the World of Ptavvs. A fantastic journey through space where Niven explorers ideas like what if humans colonized a world where the gravity was higher or they suffered major windstorms throughout the year. What if we colonized the asteroid belt? You will actually see a lot of his ideas on the new syfy show The Expanse.

From here I encountered Anne McCaffery.  PERN! (when will there be a movie??)

I learned from her that you could mix sci-fi with other elements and make something wonderful. She has dragons, singing ships, and psychics powerful enough to cross the galaxy. Best part? She writes strong female characters. Great for the young women in your life.

Once I read all of Anne's book, I discovered CJ Cherryh.

CJ has a fantastic world building skill. She has multiple series. All very good. Her biggest influence on me was that even aliens should be three dimensional. They have families, they love, they have different conflicts and stories. She even writes in their point of view giving you a fresh perspective. I love seeing the universe in a not human's eyes. Oh, and she's another one who writes strong female characters.

Hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane. I know I did. I even picked up a couple of their new books. ;)

If you'd like, I'm running a contest on my facebook page. I'm giving gift cards and print copy books of Scent of Valor (Strong CJ Cherryh infleunce), Bait, and Ravenous.

Annie Nicholas
www.annienicholas.com

Feminist Heroines in Science Fiction Romances

My children, who've never been all that into SF, are, like the rest of the world, quickly being converted into Star Wars superfans. (NO WE HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET NO SPOILERS BUT WE TOTALLY WATCHED SPACEBALLS TODAY!) From what I hear, it won't pain me to take my daughters to The Force Awakens because the female protagonist is not stuck in a role of damsel in distress, prize to be won, evul sexorina, or what have you. They may not be getting a Black Widow movie anytime soon and the Supergirl currently on TV may be a little...pallid...but they will have Rey (http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/12/star-wars-the-feminism-awakens/420843/) an article about how she's a great feminist character that I only read the first paragraph of to verify the spelling of her name). One day they may also have Furiosa, if they get tough enough to watch the herky jerky blood bath that was Mad Max 2015.

These two characters in particular have got me excited that it might be the first of a new breed of female protagonists on the screen and between the pages. And by "new breed" I know good and well these women have existed always, but they don't always capture the attention and respect of the masses and make the big bucks. SF romances, in particular, have never been a fantastic seller for romance publishers, as far as I can determine, though they do have a devoted readership. Before self publishing was such a thing, right when small internet-based publishers and ebooks were starting to take off, I had a pretty complete collection of "mainstream" mass market futuristics from the standard publishers.

Johanna Lindsey, Saranne Dawson, Marilyn Campbell, Susan Grant, Dara Joy, Stobie Piel, Pam Rock, Catherine Spangler -- many of these were released starting in the 1980s and early 1990s. With the onset of electronic publishing, the field became way too large for me to maintain any kind of complete list.

 

But I always loved romances with hearty SF worldbuilding and always hoped for characters like what I'm assuming Rey in The Force Awakens seems to be. (*Also, if anybody WANTS some of these old paperbacks, please let me know and I'll mail you a box of lust in space goodness!) In my SF series with Entangled, the Maelstrom Chronicles, I've written all my female characters with my daughters and with this type of female character in mind. Smart, self-reliant, in tune with their own strengths and weaknesses, Adelita Martinez (ANGELI), Sarah CallenJoseph (TRAITOR) and, in novel currently in edits, Claire Lawson (PRODIGAL) are as likely to rescue their heroes as they are to need rescuing. I can't imagine writing them any other way.

Please don't spoil Star Wars in the comments -- but please DO share some other books and movies which you think feature feminist heroines who are equal to the male characters in their world-saving abilities!

Incidentally SPACEBALLS does NOT qualify for this category of movie, but at least the heroine's uselessness was played for laughs instead of for serious.

Jody Wallace
Smart. Snarky. Seductive. And that's just the books.
http://www.jodywallace.com  * http://www.meankitty.com  

Sci-Fi Week: Battle of the Franchises? No thanks, I'll pass!

Unless you’re living under a very, VERY big rock, you’re aware that we’ve now got the first Star Wars movie we’ve had in decades in the theaters. To all initial reports, it even appears to be good. My wife and I are pretty amused at the number of early reviews we’ve seen along the lines of “everybody relax, it doesn’t suck!”

This post, however, is not going to be about the new movie, although it IS still going to be about Star Wars!

Because I’ve also seen quite a few posts and videos and such going around the net this past week, all along the theme of “this is why Star Wars is the best franchise ever”. In particular, I’ve seen a post that put Star Wars up against Lord of the Rings, and I’ve seen a video that puts it up against Star Trek. Both faceoffs are certainly clashes of titans, and the kind of post fodder guaranteed to get geeks defending the honor of whichever franchise is their favorite.

“What’s your take, then?” I might hear you asking.

Easy. I embrace the power of and. I love Star Wars and Star Trek and Lord of the Rings.

Oh, sure, I have often different reasons for loving all of them. Those reasons may even be different on different days for the same franchise, because people are allowed to be complicated creatures and full of contradictions!

Allow me to elucidate with a small sampling of why I love all three of these franchises.

Why I love Star Wars:

1. Two words: Harrison. Ford.
2. John Williams’ soundtrack.
3. To this day, I remember eight-year-old-ish me laying eyes on that gigantic Star Destroyer at the beginning of A New Hope. Formative movie influence on me, like so many other geeks my age.
4. Han’s love for the Millennium Falcon led me right into instant affection for Mal’s love of Serenity in Firefly! Because I mean honestly, Mal really is Han 2.0, isn’t he?
5. And did I mention Harrison Ford? Because he warrants mentioning twice. :D

Why I love Star Trek:

1. Three words: James. Tiberius. Kirk.
2. The way my heart lifts every time I hear “Space: the final frontier” and the horns kicking in under those iconic words.
3. I adore the whole core concept of Trek, which for me is “space is AMAZING, let’s go look at it and discover new life forms and civilizations and make friends with them”. I love the inherent optimism of that, and I frequently feel that we could use more of that optimism in all of our lives.
4. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, at least in the original series (the reboot movies aren’t doing it for me, not yet), are the threefold heart and soul of the cast. I regularly go back and rewatch that series, and the best parts for me are the parts that emphasize how these three characters all love and respect one another.
5. Uhura! Our lady of communications! Who is also a musician! How can I not love her?

Why I love Lord of the Rings:

1. Tolkien’s masterful works, as I’ve posted before, are a huge influence on me as both a reader and a writer.
2. I can rewatch the Lord of the Rings movies yearly and feel like I’m coming home.
3. Howard Shore’s masterful score.
4. Every single time I hear Annie Lennox sing “Into the West”, tears start streaming down my face.
5. Four words: Aragorn, son of Arathorn.

At the end of the day, though, what all of these franchises have in common for me is that they’ve all delivered me excellent storytelling, compelling characters, music that lifts my spirit, and worlds I believe in every time I visit them. To ask me to say that one is better than the other is like asking me to choose a one true flavor of ice cream. Dude, it’s ice cream. It’s all delicious!

All that said? That eight-year-old kid in me who went all wide-eyed in awe at the first sight of a Star Destroyer is now totally shrieking OMG OMG NEW STAR WARS OMG OMG OMG CAN WE GO SEE IT YET?

Hang in there, eight-year-old me. We’ll be going to see that movie soon enough. And Trek and Lord of the Rings will keep being there for us too!

So talk to me, everybody, and tell me what your favorite movie franchise is and why you love it so! (And if you’ve already seen The Force Awakens, this is a SPOILER-FREE ZONE, so please, no spoilers in the comments! I won’t be seeing the movie until Christmas Day! You wouldn't want to make Han cranky, would you?)

--
Angela is a hybrid author who writes as both Angela Korra'ti and Angela Highland, and she is also a gigantic geek. You can find her and everything you'd like to know about her books on angelahighland.com, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Anyone You Wish To Save? STAR CRUISE MAROONED EXCERPT

Today for SciFi Week, I'm sharing an excerpt from STAR CRUISE: MAROONED, right after the enemy had attacked the cabin the humans were sheltering in. (Red is a member of the ship's crew. Callina is one of the cruise ship passengers.):

Apparently deciding there was no more amusement to be gleaned, the pirate officer moved away from the net confining Red and Callina. “Bring the prisoners to the beach,” he said, still in Basic. “We’ll see what exactly we’ve captured and decide what to do with them.”

            A moment later, a pirate soldier scooped up the double burden as if the net and its contents weighed nothing, hoisting them a good eight feet off the ground onto its shoulder. Carrying them with ease, the alien took the path toward the lake. Head down over his captor’s spiny mantle, Red couldn’t do much more than endure the next few moments until they were tossed carelessly onto the sand by the lake. Fortunately, the way he was trapped in the coils of the net, he cushioned Callina’s fall. He heard thuds and cries of pain or protest as a few other prisoners were deposited close by. Craning his neck painfully, he found the Primary in the net next to him on one side.

            Figures that guy would survive, while Meg…he forced himself to redirect his thoughts. “Hey, how you holding up?” he asked Callina.

            “I-I’m okay. What are they going to do with us?” she whispered.

            “Hard to say. I’ll protect you as much as I can.” He made the promise, knowing full well there might not be anything he could do. “Our treatment will depend on what brought the Shemdylann here.”

            “Silence.” The closest guard kicked sand at them, and Red closed his eyes against the shower of grit.

            A few moments later the sticky webbing dissolved, as a Shemdylann soldier passed a light emitter over them, set to the proper frequency to counteract the coils. Before he could make a move to do anything, Red was pinioned from behind by one alien, while another dragged Callina by her hair into a position next to him. He and the other survivors were in a line, seven altogether, facing the insect-like Shemdylann officer, lounging in a complicated seat brought for him by his subordinates. A lower-ranking officer stood behind the chair, waiting to carry out any orders. Shemdylann by the dozens bustled to and fro on the beach, setting up some kind of apparatus, more of the strange chairs, and performing other tasks. One or two of the hulking, dark red-and-black creatures had wandered into the lake to their double-jointed knees and were staring at the Falls. Assessing the odds, Red took note of the three large craft crowding the landing pad. Too many to all be from one ship, unless it was a battlecruiser. The Shemdylann must have a major presence in this planetary system.

            “I didn’t expect to gather slaves here, did you?” The commander spoke over his shoulder to the waiting officer.

 “A bonus,” the subordinate said, snapping his mandibles in apparent pleasure.

The Shemdylann in charge waved one appendage at the prisoners. “Remove your outer clothing, humans, in order for me to assess your value.”

            Glancing at each other as if for courage, most of the group prepared to obey the order. Mr. Finchon stepped forward.

            “What are you doing? Don’t provoke them.” His stepdaughter grabbed his elbow.

            Shaking off her grip, he adopted his usual arrogant stance and said, “I invoke the rules of the Freemarket Repatriation Pact.” Chest puffed, chin jutting, he waved his right wrist. “I have the terms here, on an embedded chip.”

            “What’s he talking about?” Red asked Mr. Bettis, who was standing on the other side of Callina.

            “Like an insurance policy, very hush-hush. Some of the wealthiest in the Sectors paid through a broker on Freemarket for the right to be ransomed rather than killed or enslaved in the event of capture by the Shemdylann,” Finchon’s assistant replied.

            “Now, this is intriguing,” the commander was saying, clicking his mandibles. “Bring him to me. If you lie, human, your death will be protracted and entertaining for my crew.”

            “No lie.” Not waiting for escort, Finchon strutted to a position in front of the chair and stood motionless as his wrist was scanned by a subordinate who rushed forward, instrument in one pincer. “I’m Ahmeril Finchon and I like to know who I’m dealing with. You are?”

            Making the guttural cawing sound that was a Shemdylann laugh, the officer said, “Like all of your kind, you believe in your own importance, despite the evidence to the contrary.” Tapping his clawed toes on the sand, he studied the scanner as his soldier held it close. “Hmm, I’ll make a tidy profit on this trip besides the other rewards. Congratulations, human, you do have the prepaid right to transmit a hefty ransom through the Freemarket broker.” Opening a pouch at his belt, the commander withdrew a chain made from intricate silver links, with one cuff at the end. Leaning forward, he snapped the shackle over Finchon’s left wrist, saying as he attached the other end to a loop piercing his carapace, “You’ll stay with me at all times, both for your protection and to ensure I collect my reward. And I, by the way, am Captain Ar-Taan-Crxtahl, since you have such a desire to know who holds your fate in his claws.” The alien yanked on the chain slightly and cackled anew.

            Biting his lip, the billionaire regarded the cuff with distaste, turning it on his wrist with one finger, but said nothing.

            “Sir,” the soldier with the scanner said, “According to the terms of the agreement, he also paid for the right to ransom anyone else he chooses.”

            “A well thought out codicil,” said the commander. “I applaud you. Are there any among this clump of humans you wish to add to the deal? At full price, of course.”

            Finchon turned on his heel in the sand and frowned at his fellow prisoners, assessing each one in turn.

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?

Only $.99 until January! Buy Links: Amazon     iBooks     Kobo     Barnes & Noble

Nerdgasms: A Smorgasbord of Science Fiction Delights

It couldn’t be a better time to be a sci-fi nerd. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the long-awaited seventh movie in the franchise, opens this week, Doctor Who is going strong and the annual Christmas special airs on Christmas Day, the X Files returns in January, and a third Star Trek reboot movie is in the offing. Not to mention the plethora of Marvel and DC TV shows and movies that just keep coming. (Though I’m sure some will argue that comics aren’t “true” science fiction. And those people can argue that until they’re blue in the face—like Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan or Dr. Manhattan.)

I just binge-watched Jessica Jones, which I highly recommend, and I was psyched to see that Luke Cage is getting his own Netflix show in April. And I’m pretty sure I actually yelled “OMG, WHAT IS HAPPENING ON MY TELEVISION?” when I saw the previews for Legends of Tomorrow during last week’s Flash/Arrow crossover and saw that Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams from Doctor Who) was playing Rip Hunter.

I’ve always been a science fiction fan. I grew up with Star Trek, almost literally—I’m exactly 17 days older than the original series—and was one of those kids who saw the first Star Wars movie repeatedly when it first aired in theaters. I watched every possible science fiction show and movie I could find on our little six-channel, no-cable black-and-white television, gobbled up every science fiction book in the library, and started writing science fiction stories for extra credit in sixth grade.

One might expect that lo, these many years later, I’d be busy scribbling away on my own science fiction novels. But I’ve never written one, and I have no plans to do so. For some reason, science fiction writing (outside of those short stories in sixth grade) has never come naturally to me. The stories that always find their way out of my head are fantasy, with a liberal dose of romance. I suspect that somewhere along the way, I absorbed the messages girls are bombarded with that science fiction isn’t our domain, no matter how much we love it. Little by little, though, Hollywood is beginning to realize that women love science fiction just as much as men, and stronger female characters, like Jessica Jones, are becoming more common.

Nonetheless, those stories I loved growing up made an indelible impression on me, and I couldn’t be more excited about the resurgence of some of my favorite shows and characters. To me, science fiction and fantasy are two sides of the same coin, anyway, so I don’t make a huge distinction between my love for the X Files and my fangirling over Tom Mison’s eyebrow in Sleepy Hollow. ;) As long as there’s a little romance in all of them, I’m happy.

Which sci-fi premiere are you most looking forward to? Tell me in the comments and I'll choose one commenter at random to win a copy of my latest release. While it isn’t science fiction (unless you count the science of relocating nature spirits from the old world to the new), The Lost Coast is out today.

"This gothic-inspired modern romance is built on a supernatural base that drips with intrigue, mystery and some deliciously dark humor." ★★★★ — RT Book Reviews

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Here Be News

New Releases

The Lost Coast

Some histories should stay lost. Especially those written in blood.

The only things Millie Lang’s mother gave her were third-degree burns, and a name Millie refuses to use. Abandoned as an infant, Millie grew up as “the girl with the scars”, shunted from one foster family to the next.

Before she met Lukas Strand, she’d never understood what “home” meant. Then Lukas disappeared without a word. Eight years later, Millie is secure in the life she’s built as a physical therapist. Until she gets a letter from a mysterious stranger who knows her real name.

From the moment she arrives at the sprawling vineyard manor on California’s Lost Coast to work with the owner’s young son, she begins to doubt her secret benefactor’s motives. The vineyard is known as The Strand—and Lukas is her patient’s father.

As Millie delves into the tangled threads of their family histories, she realizes the fire that scarred her may not have been an accident—and Lukas’s son is in danger. Unless she survives long enough to unearth the key to some very uncomfortable truths…

Warning: Contains a vineyard owner whose family tree may not have the ideal number of branches, and a woman who is about to discover the magic hidden in her own DNA. May cause unsettling feelings of creeping anxiety and a sudden urge to make bad puns about wood.

The Lost Coast is available on December 15 from the following vendors in both ebook and print:

Amazon | ARe | Barnes & Noble | BAM! | iBooks | Kobo | Samhain Publishing