Sunday Snippet: Personal Involvement

Ugh. A long week again. At least it was more about recovery than ongoing crises. Had a flurry of work projects come in and I'm glad to have some new stuff to dive into.

Had a short week of television viewing. I started with The Brokenwood Mysteries and quite enjoyed the episode, which featured sharks and spiders and I'm not a huge fans of either so there's that.

Finished up an episode of Blue Heelers and started another one. I'm kind of amazed how themes from almost twenty years ago are even more prevalent today. The episode focuses on colonization and theft of indigenous artifacts. Very interesting.

Started a new two-part Silent Witness. I remembered bits of this one but not all of it. Should finish up the second part this week.

Caught the second to last arc of season 18 of Classic Who. The Master has returned and I'm pretty sure he'll be then end of Four. Sometimes I like not remembering how and when the regenerations occur.

Finished up UFO Witness and enjoyed the series overall. I'll be starting a new series this week but haven't decided what it'll be yet.

Watched two more episodes of The Muppet Show. Helen Reddy and Harry Belefonte were the guest stars. I really enjoyed Harry's episode.

Started a rewatch of Prime Suspect. I'd forgotten how thoroughly asshattish the men were toward Jane in the early seasons. I wanted to kick all of them in the balls.

Finished out the week with Peak Practice. Can't say I'm a big fan of Will's lady friend but I can't quite put a finger on why I'm not fond of her. Overall a good episode.

That's pretty much it for this week. Tonight's post is from Personal Involvement, a novella with family drama and a hot romance in spite of it.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Tarin Glade gets caught up in a nightmare when she's brought before a disciplinary council for her personal involvement with a student who failed basic flight. When Ellis Spector, the brother of the complainant, speaks on Tarin's behalf, it rocks the foundation of his family—especially since the commandant who brings the charges is Ellis's father.

And a sneaky peek…

Tarin Glade carefully counted down the minutes before she'd call her class to order. She loved teaching basic flight—even if she gave some of the old-timers heart palpitations with her unorthodox teaching methods. Someone needs to bring the curriculum into this century.

Her lips twitched. "Bet the fab four are even now going over my course material to see if they can find fault." The group of flight instructors used to be five men, but one of the old buzzards finally had to retire.

Fresh from the new instructor program, Tarin entered the school and set the fab four on their asses with an accelerated class schedule that put the students in simulators by the second week. The old guard battled back and beginning with her third class—the one she'd start in two minutes—she had to wait until week three to put her cadets in the cockpit.

Flipping open the roster, she started to run down the names of her newest recruits. Commotion at the door drew her attention and her mouth dropped open when her current flame, Eddie Spector, strolled into the room.

She snagged the file, jumped up, and cut him off before he cleared the back row of desks. "What are you doing here?" Her voice hissed between her lips.

Eddie smirked. "Hey, babe. I'm reporting to class."

She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hall outside the classroom. "You're not in my class. And don't call me babe anywhere on campus. Ever." She hated the endearment and absolutely wouldn't tolerate anything resembling that kind of familiarity while Eddie went through training.

Eddie waved a piece of paper. "I'm definitely in your class." He nodded toward the folder tucked under her arm. "Check your roster, ba—er, Lieutenant. I'm there."

Sure enough, when she reviewed the names, Eddie's took up the bottom space on the page. Her heart sank. She couldn't have her significant other in her class—even if she regularly thumbed her nose at propriety.

Folding her arms over her chest, she shook her head. "This can't happen, Eddie. You're going to have to switch instructors." How in the world did he think this could work?

Eddie's lips formed a pout. "I can't switch now. I specifically requested you."

Her face flamed with anger. "Are you insane? Why would you think it was a good idea to request the person you're dating as your instructor?"

Eddie's mouth twisted into a grin. "Because I can earn all kinds of extra credit when I'm not in class."

The anger bloomed into red-alert status. "Geez, Eddie. No. No. Get your ass out of this building and think about what you just said. There's no way I'm going to let you into my classroom." She'd be stupid if she did.

"Is there a problem here?"

Her head angled around and she met the questioning gaze of Eddie's brother, Ellis.

Can this day get any worse?

I love writing family dynamics and Ellis is going to jump head-first into a hot mess between Tarin and his brother and the outcome might not be pretty.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye