Monday, June 1, 2015

SFR News & Links For June 2015



This is the part where I get to tell you about sci-fi romance June releases as well as other cool news! Enjoy!

New releases

BENGAL’S QUEST (Breed #30) - Lora Leigh


He was a shadow, ever shifting and insinuating, able to blend in everywhere and anywhere. The elusive ideal conceived and created by the Genetics Council, he went by just as many names as he had identities—the last one being Gideon.

Now calling himself Graeme, he hides in plain sight, terrifyingly close to his goal. A rogue Bengal Breed, he has loyalties to no one but himself. And he has a need for vengeance that surges hot and swift through his veins.

Graeme plans to exact an extreme and ruthless vendetta against those who wronged him—Breed and human alike. All will suffer his wrath: those who created him, those who pretended to love him, and those who betrayed him.

That includes the one at the center of it all: a seductive, enigmatic woman helpless against the man whose desire is just as desperate as his need to destroy.

And he’s on her scent…

GEMINI: DISILLUSIONED (Beyond Fairytales #28) - Catherine Peace



Being one of the Embassy’s glorified treasure-seekers has its perks…
Komandan Uriah Jacobs recovers ancient artifacts in exchange for more than just decent pay; he also receives guaranteed protection from his former owners, the nyx…until an emergency landing on a too-familiar colony brings him face-to-face with his past life and something more—a surprisingly priceless treasure in the form of a human woman.

A slave to the nyx since childhood…
Shadi spends her waking hours in the forge, dreaming of rescuing her brother with the help of a man she once worshipped like a father. A crashed ship on the colony becomes her only hope to escape. But before she can steal the ship, the pilot abducts her. They may be the same species, but will he help her find her Shilah?

Their attraction is undeniable…
Fighting it seems inconsequential as they evade the nyx's bounty hunter and uncover a conspiracy that shines unwanted light on Shadi's past and reveals the corruption in Uri’s beloved Embassy, placing their fledgling love in danger.

As the universe systematically falls apart, will Shadi and Uri’s newfound passion be enough to keep them alive?

SECURED MAIL (erotic; Planet Valhalla #2) – Kate Pearce



Sven Magnusson is stuck on Earth serving his queen and dealing with a culture where women don't seem to want a man's protection. As he struggles to understand Earth females, the queen encourages him to get laid. Of course, Thea Cooper, the only woman who appeals to him, thinks men are useful for one thing and on a one-night-only basis. Despite their clash of sexual cultures and the fury of their heated erotic encounters, can Sven convince Thea that she belongs with him on Planet Valhalla?

Note: Though this book can be read as a stand alone, it is the second book in the Planet Valhalla series. Contains ménage.

SHADOW FIRES (Shielder #5) – Catherine Spangler


Jenna dan Aron, a Shielder, lives a solitary existence, shunned by her people because she has visions and can see the future. She’s even foreseen her own destiny: to be a human offering, a mate for a savage Leor warlord. When two Shielder colonies need to be rescued, the Leors who are their only hope demand a bride for their leader in return. Knowing she can’t deny fate, Jenna steps forward.

The Leors are a hybrid race and only part human. Arion of Saura finds mating outside his race abhorrent, but he has no choice, as his kind faces extinction. His life is ruled by hard logic and physical prowess, with no room for softness or emotion. Bound to him, Jenna faces a life of barbarism with a mate who seems more beast than man. In the relentless heat of the wild Sauran desert, Jenna and Arion wage a battle of wills, until they discover that the heart is mightier than any weapon—and that love can forge shadow and fire together.

THE CHOOSING (The Pruxnae #1) - Lucy Varna



Ziri Mokuru has lived her entire life in the rural village of Arden Hollow on the planet Tersi. While her parents are off having adventures and being Very Important People, she’s struggled simply to find a place where she belongs. One night, she investigates a disturbance in her home and discovers an armor-clad man sorting through her belongings. Her first thought is for her parents’ safety, not to question why this man is in her home late at night without even the courtesy of knocking. After all, no one among the trusting Tersii breaks into someone else’s home without a good reason.

Ryn abid Alna has an excellent reason for sneaking into Ziri’s home. After years spent scraping together enough vud for the bride price, he’s finally ready to steal a wife. One look at Ziri’s sweet smile and Ryn decides no other woman will do. She can fix anything she touches, so why not the loneliness he’s lived with since he was enslaved as a young boy?

Though Ziri longs for love, she’s not so sure she’s ready to settle down with the man who kidnapped her, especially after he jumps her into a nest of Sweepers, a sinister alien race bent on mayhem and destruction. As the day draws near when she faces Ryn’s family on the Choosing field, Ziri ponders the hardest decision of her life: Fight for Ryn and the place he’s made for her in his heart or choose another man as a life mate and risk never knowing love.

THE TIDE OF WAR - Lori A. Witt



Lieutenant Commander Kyle West is one of Earth Fleet’s greatest fighter pilots. Every day, he leads his squadron into battle over Earth’s cities in a seemingly endless war against a vicious alien race, defending his home and his loved ones.

Millions of miles away, the Fleet’s Elite Squadron attacks from another angle, engaging the enemy on its home turf. Casualties are high, and the Squadron needs more of the Fleet’s very best. But joining the Elite is a death sentence—a surety Kyle isn’t willing to face. Until a devastating attack wipes out the family he refused to leave.

Commander Andrei Dezhnyov, an Elite Squadron gunner, isn’t sure what to make of the cocky new American pilot. Kyle is equally uncertain about the snarly Russian, but as they warm up to each other, their tentative alliance becomes a deep bond—one that endangers them both when a daring and disobedient rescue reveals secrets that call into question everything they’ve ever believed about their enemy. Secrets that their superiors would kill to protect.

Forthcoming android romance

LIBERATION'S KISS (Robotics Faction #1) – Wendy Lynn Clark



The Old Empire has crumbled. Strong factions prey on the weak, and strongest of all are those who ally themselves with the mysterious Robotics Faction...

Cressida Sarit Antiata is twelve years old when her diplomat parents learn that her name has appeared on the Robotics Faction Kill List, a classified document of dangerous individuals marked for execution. Calling in all of their connections, her parents smuggle her to a small but wealthy ore-producing moon where she grows up in anonymous luxury, secure that her data is safe.

Until now.

Xan | Arch is an x-class android with one mission: execute the target n81, also known as Cressida Sarit Antiata. Although he possesses biological skin, hair, fingernails, and eyes - and extensive conditioning to pass as a sweating, swearing, rough-and-tumble everyman - beneath the surface, he is all machine.

When he arrives at the moon, something unexpected is waiting for him. Something that circumvents his execution order and forces him to protect Cressida instead. Something that gives him the free will to question his makers, control his destiny, and awaken his heart. Together, they might escape their destinies and forge an entirely new future.

If they can survive...

Discount ebook deal


Jennifer Foehner Wells' FLUENCY (Confluence #1) is on sale for 99 cents from June 1-8. This series is SF with romantic elements (HEA/HFN happens at the series' end). Think: MOONLIGHTING type of romance.

When SFR art reflects life

Gizmodo featured an interesting article about How Planet Hunters Are Going To Find the Next Earth:

Twenty years ago, discovering another Earth sounded like a science fictional dream. But within a generation, astronomers now believe we might do just that.
 
“Finding evidence of life beyond Earth is not a pipe dream,” said Natalie Batalha, an astronomer at NASA’s Ames research center. “Its something we can accomplish—maybe not within my lifetime, maybe within my daughter’s life.”

Batalha’s sentiment was echoed last Saturday by the men and women who spoke at the opening ceremony of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University. The institute, brainchild of astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger, was founded to explore the diversity of worlds we’ve just begun to glimpse on the cosmic horizon. If we’re lucky, we may find another planet like Earth. Or a dozen. Or a thousand.

“How do you figure out if a world orbiting another star is a habitable place?” Kaltenegger said. “We’re living in the first time in history that we have the tools to answer that question.”

If I may indulge for a moment, there's a sci-fi romance for that. :)



In the sea of stars, an epic love story is about to begin...

Earth is dying. Nick Venture, the last living descendant of Christopher Columbus, embarks on a dangerous mission to find a new planet and save humanity. This places him on a collision course with Raquel Donovan, the deadliest space pirate in the galaxy.

Raquel lives for one purpose: revenge against a horrible demon from her past. When an attempt to hijack Nick’s starship backfires, Raquel becomes his protector in order to avoid capture by the tyrannical Space Defense Corps. Nick and Raquel are irresistibly drawn to one another despite the forbidden nature of their attraction. But the conflicted pirate’s deepest secret could tear the couple apart even as humanity’s time runs out…

In case you missed this alien capture romance

ALIEN UNDER COVER (Zyrgin Warriors #2) - Marie Dry



In a bleak and apocalyptic future, Julia Benzoni flees the violence-saturated world of her mafia family to build a peaceful life in a No Name Town, Montana. Now, while civilization disintegrates into anarchy around her and evil men prey on the innocent, she’s pursued by an alien, whose warrior life thrusts her back into the world where might makes right and violence is the order of the day. Torn, she now has to choose between her need to distance herself from war and violence and the alien warrior who holds her heart.

***
Conference news

Marie Dry is also a member of ROSA (South African Romance Writers). She alerted me that their second conference takes place near Cape Town this year. Per the newsletter:

#ROSACon2015 takes place in Stellenbosch on 25 & 26 September 2015. Places are limited, so book soon to ensure your place. Fees for the conference are available on our ROSA blog.

Authors in the running for Prism Awards

The 2015 Prism Awards (hosted by Fantasy, Futuristic, & Paranormal Romance Writers) were announced. Click here to view the complete list of finalists.

Here are the finalists in the Futuristic category:

FUTURISTIC
Heart Fire by Robin D. Owens*
On a Rogue Planet by Anna Hackett
Temporal Shift by Nina Croft
The Cat Star Chronicles: Rebel by Cheryl Brooks*

Congratulations to all!

SFR Brigade Summer Café


From June 1--July 12, 2015 SFR Brigade is hosting a fabulous sci-fi romance event called the Summer Café. Each week features a different theme along with book prizes and swag. Here's more information from the announcement post:

The SFR Brigade Summer Cafe starts next week, and boy do we have some delicious posts and giveaways for you! The event will run for a whole six weeks, with each week having its own theme and a specially selected prize bundle to be won. The participating authors will be posting about their books and sharing some recipes, from food and drink to recipes for disaster and love. Each week there will be a post here and at the SFR Station - who are running the event in conjunction with the Brigade - with all the links and info to take you around the blogs hosting the event. Hop along and enjoy the fun!

Yay! Sounds like a blast. Here's the schedule:


Authors blogging

The Heart of an AI by Yolanda Sfetsos (via TGE)

Let's Have a Series Talk by Yolanda Sfetsos (via Smart Girls Love SciFi & Paranormal Romance)

Vijaya Schartz delves into Conspiracy Theories About Space, Part I

Now I turn the mike over to you. Got any SFR news/links to share?

Joyfully yours,
Heather