A Gift from the Stars—The SFR Brigade Presents: Midwinter Crises #sfrbp

Welcome to the Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents, a weekly sneak peek sampler hosted by the SFR Brigade.

Readers: enjoy brief glimpses of currently available, soon to be released books, or works in progress. Authors are sharing short excerpts for your enjoyment. Please have fun and spread the joy.

~*~

This week's post is from Midwinter Crises, book one of the Capital City Seasons series available from Ellipses Press, Ltd. Today, I'm showing a glimpse of Jess and Murph's first meeting.

Series Tagline: High stakes adrenaline and hot romance are an explosive combination.

Book Tagline: When a madman wants to blow up the city during the Midwinter holiday, it's just another day on the job for Ben and Jess.

~*~

A little set-up--Murph explained how he talked a drug-crazed man out of his violent fit of rage and impresses Jess.

Doubly impressed now, she had to shake her head. "So you put yourself on the hot seat. Interesting." She let her gaze peruse him, traveling from his feet upward to his face. "You don't look like you have a death wish."

Ben chuckled in response. "I don't. Trust me." He pivoted around, stepped closer to her. "Unless it would convince you to have dinner with me?" Lowered so only she could hear, his voice sent sexy shivers down her spine.

Jess made sure she kept her jaw from dropping. Still clad in full riot gear and this too handsome for his own good guy wanted to have dinner with her?

A guy who didn't wilt under pressure, put himself in the line of fire and still maintained a clean, crisp and dare she think it—fresh—appearance in ninety degree heat had to have something wrong with him.

Maybe he went for chicks in black? Or women who carried powerful weapons on the job.

And maybe she should just respond to his offer already.

Shrugging, she accepted his invitation. "Dinner's good." She had a way to discover if Murph was as unflappable as he appeared. "But only if I get to pick the place." She stood up and flipped open one of the pockets on her vest.

~*~

Blurb: Mixing the holidays with a guy who wants to blow up the city is just another day on the job for Ben Murphy and Jessa Muldoon.

Seeing each other in a tense situation six months after breaking up is not.

  

Available at Amazon 

Please visit my website 

~*~

Thank you for reading!

Gift yourself with more great sneak peeks!

Visit the other participating authors

Banner Thursday—Midwinter Crises

Welcome to Banner Day!

Today, I'm featuring my banner for Midwinter Crises, book one from Capital City Seasons.

  

Tagline: When a madman wants to blow up the city during the Midwinter holiday, it's just another day on the job for Ben and Jess.

Blurb: Mixing the holidays with a guy who wants to blow up the city is just another day on the job for Ben Murphy and Jessa Muldoon.

Capital City teems with tourists, shoppers, and anyone else who can cram their way into the limits for the Midwinter celebration. The entire holiday will go to hell in a hand basket if Ben can't negotiate a peaceful resolution with the man holding the city hostage. If he fails, sharpshooter Jess will step in and take the guy out.

Not exactly the post-breakup reunion scenario Ben has in mind for seeing Jess… but he'll take it. He let work split them up once, now it has a chance to bring them together. Ben will take the opportunity and run with it.

Capital City Seasons is a futuristic series set on a different planet. The inhabitants are descendants of Earth ancestry, but the books don't focus too much on how they got to their current location, but do mention historical points in their past.

Books available

Available here: Amazon 

Books in progress

Escape on Equinox

Midsummer Madness

Blaze on Beltane

Thanks for reading!

Please visit my website 

Sunday Snippet: Close Quarters

April 13, 2014

Whew. It's been a long week filled with a few bumps and bruises. First up, one of my published titles, Boyfriend's Brother, is temporarily off the shelf. I'm hoping I found a new home for it, but I'm waiting for confirmation. I'll keep everyone posted when I know anything for certain.

TV fare ended up being light this week, but S.H.I.E.L.D. totally delivered an awesome episode. I won't discuss because seeing Captain America: Winter Soldier is a true bonus before getting into any details. J

Tonight's post is from Close Quarters, a sequel to Follow Me, which is going through another draft. Hopefully none of the plot threads will need major readjustments after I'm done.

Here's the tagline:

After trying to out maneuver their crew mates who bet on whether they'd ever hook up, Molly and Sloan discover an abiding love and embark on a committed relationship. Their biggest problem? Trying to figure out how to live in close quarters without making each other insane.

And a sneaky peek…

Molly grabbed up the latest forms that had been turned in by potential trainees. She had over one hundred to review, at last count, and she needed to weed through them within a week's time.

She could really use an office.

Currently, her quarters served that function and talk about not being ideal. She liked to spread the applications out and make separate piles for those who had potential and those who didn't. Then she broke down the possible recruits into different levels and from there she would build her newest class and any future classes.

A damned huge undertaking. One she didn't know if sure she was up for.

Sloan had been a huge help with separating the good from the bad, part of the reason she had everything in their quarters for now. It probably drove him nuts because Sloan was nothing if not neat.

For herself, she functioned better in chaos, relying on her instincts to do the job. She opened the door to her quarters and saw Sloan standing in the middle of the living area, a bewildered look on his face. Uh oh. Not good.

She breezed through the door after deciding to take a humorous approach. "You lost?" She sat the latest stack of applications on the table and then cleared a space on the seating area. "Have a seat, Sloan." She stepped back and waited.

Sloan crossed over to the seating area and sat down.

He heaved a big sigh before speaking. "Molls. I know this is the biggest attempt to recruit that we've done since the world ended, but please… our quarters look like a paper bomb went off." He scrubbed his hands over his face. "I hate being an ass about this, but gods, Molly, I'm afraid to walk through here for fear I'll move something important."

He stood up and sat right back down. He couldn't even pace around to work off his frustration.

He looked back at Molly, who hadn't responded verbally. She just raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for him to continue.

So he did. "The bed? I can't even see the bed for all the paper on top of it." He closed his eyes before continuing. "Would it be possible to contain this stuff to a single room?" He opened his eyes again and waited for a comeback.

Sloan's bitching irritated her, but unfortunately, she could see his point. Didn't mean she had to like it, though. She had one week to get through a mountain of paperwork.

What was one more week? Really?

Apparently, too much.

Molly pasted a smile on her face. "Right. Single room coming up" She walked into the bedroom and gathered all the forms from the bed in a haphazard pile and then stalked back into the living space. "Happy?"

She tossed the papers by the pile she just came home with. Dammit. She didn't want to argue with him, but she really felt the pressure to get this finished.

Sloan shook his head. "You didn't have to do that." He got up and carefully stepped around the papers still on the floor. "Look, I know you have a system that works for you and spreading out helps the process."

He stopped in front of her and pulled her to him. "I've worked on this with you enough to get that." He stroked his hand over her hair. "Let me help you. There has to be a way we can keep the process going without wrecking our own space… at least until they assign an office to you." He leaned back to see how she was taking his suggestion.

Molly's face remained impassive while she mulled over Sloan's offer.

She hated giving up any kind of control but even she couldn't stand the mess they were living with right now.

What the hell?

He could help her go through everything and organize it a little better. Which meant they'd be putting in a long night. Molly grinned and looked up at Sloan.

Instead of answering, she stepped back and pulled him toward the newly cleaned off bed. If they were going to be up all night, at least they could start things off with some fun.

I actually had the best time writing that scene. J

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

ML Skye

A Gift from the Stars—The SFR Brigade Presents: Midwinter Crises #sfrbp

Welcome to the Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents, a weekly sneak peek sampler hosted by the SFR Brigade.

Readers: enjoy brief glimpses of currently available, soon to be released books, or works in progress. Authors are sharing short excerpts for your enjoyment. Please have fun and spread the joy.

~*~

This week's post is from Midwinter Crises, book one of the Capital City Seasons series available from Ellipses Press, Ltd. I'm introducing Jessa Muldoon, an expert marksman with an elite tactical unit.

Series Tagline: High stakes adrenaline and hot romance are an explosive combination.

Book Tagline: When a madman wants to blow up the city during the Midwinter holiday, it's just another day on the job for Ben and Jess.

~*~

Not far from the airport, in a cozy apartment, the phone rang.

Crashed out after a long training session, Jessa Muldoon fumbled around to answer it. Her voice sleepy, she managed to catch the call on the third ring. "Better be good."

Her CO, Chris Renfer's voice came through loud and clear. "Black Alpha."

Instantly alert, Jess sat up and swung her legs out of the bed. As a sniper for the Specialized Tactical Unit, when Jessa received a call, it didn't matter if she'd been out late and up all night working with fellow law enforcement types. When they said go, she went.

And when they used the top operational code, she went in a big hurry.

She bit back a yawn and made herself focus. "Yeah. I'm up. Give me the bullet points." She grabbed her pants and tugged them on. Glancing at the clock, she groaned and fished around for her shirt. She hated middle of the night wake up calls.

"Team's been called up. Guy wants to blow the power grid. Talker's been called in."

Jess stopped struggling into her t-shirt. A negotiator. Great. She had no doubt who it would be.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gave herself a moment to be pissed.

Why did the crazy people have to come out during the holidays?

Probably so she'd have to face the one person on the planet she'd rather avoid?

Dammit.

"Muldoon." Renfer's clipped tone snapped her back on task.

"Yeah." Jess shook her head and stood up. "Yeah. Gimme fifteen. I'll be in." She clicked off the phone and grabbed her shoes.

Happiest time of the year her ass.

~*~

Blurb: Mixing the holidays with a guy who wants to blow up the city is just another day on the job for Ben Murphy and Jessa Muldoon.

Seeing each other in a tense situation six months after breaking up is not.

Available at Amazon Amazon 

Please visit my website 

~*~

Gift yourself with more great sneak peeks!

Visit the other participating authors

Sunday Snippet: Climate Control

Holy crap. What a week in TV—oh, and a kick awesome movie, too.

The Walking Dead's finale delivered the best ending line, maybe ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but damn close. I completely enjoyed Rick's journey over the entire season. And seriously, The Talking Dead and Chris Hardwick are so great. I love having that hour after TWD to decompress.

I have to take a moment to mention S.H.E.I.L.D. also. I'm one of the fans who completely enjoy the show, but the last several episodes have really amped up the drama and awesomeness. I'm excited to see what happens through the end of the season.

Arrow's Deathstroke blew my mind. Manu Bennett is truly remarkable in his performance. I love and hate him… at the same time. LOL I had a flurry of back and forth emails with a friend not long ago and one of the things we love the most about the show is how much Oliver totally screws up so much. His heart is usually in the right place, but he'll make the wrong call and everything blows up in his face. I, for one, love that about the show.

And finally… Bitten. Whoa. The season finale rocked!! I can't believe how much they crammed into forty-something minutes. I made the right call about who really pulled the strings, but I won't spoil anything here. LeBlanc and Santos got brilliantly awesome send offs. Basically, the perfect finale… even the very, very end. LOL I do have a bit of a quibble with Rachel, but I'm actually hoping there's more to her too stupid to live moments… and maybe my speculation will pay off regarding her. Come on, season two. *prays for news soon*

Last, but not least, gotta mention Captain America: Winter Soldier. I LOVED it. It's now at the top of my fave Marvel movies. I've always been a Cap girl anyway, but this movie just kicked major ass. And totally blew up the Marvel 'verse. LOL

My one and only gripe is having Natasha be former KGB. If her birthdate is 1984, the timeline doesn't fit since the KGB disbanded in something like 1991. Hmm… unless she joined at birth. *shrugs* It's a tiny blip. Besides, I can go with comic canon and assume she's doing the slow aging thing if I really need to. J

Whew… should get to the actual post, right? Tonight's snippet is from Climate Control, a short story that puts my characters in a bizarre situation where they have to get creative.

Here's the tagline:

When the climate control on their ship goes haywire, Ned and Lakin have to heat things up and cool things down. During the wait for a fix, they discover a mutual attraction and the temperature goes from chilly to blazing in record time.

And a sneaky peek…

Ned shivered. "Lakin, is it getting cold in here?" He glanced up, his gaze scanning the ducts.

Lakin followed his line of sight. Sure enough, a burst of frosty air spewed from the vents.

She rolled her eyes. "Dammit. It's gotta be something with the climate control." She rubbed her hands over her arms, the friction bringing goose bumps to the surface.

[Pass the word. Climate control is down for at least six hours. Pass the word]

Ned groaned and headed over to his locker to grab some fatigues and an extra blanket.

Lakin took the clothes and shoved them back onto the shelf, but took the bulky cover from Ned.

She had a better idea. "Ned, you're not on shift any time soon, are you?"

Ned shook his head. "No. Not until midday, why?"

Lakin's lips curved into a smile and she jerked her head toward his bunk. "Wanna share body heat?"

Ned grinned. "When did you get so smart?"

She smirked. "I always have been. You've just never noticed." She sat on the edge of the berth and drew her legs up onto the thin mattress, scooting over to give him room.

Ned spread the blanket out, then crawled in beside her. "Remind me to pay better attention." He shifted around, trying to get comfortable.

Lakin rolled onto her side, facing the wall. "Stop. You gotta be sideways. Turn toward me." She reached back, trying to grab his hip.

Instead she found the solid flesh of his torso. His abdomen rippled under her fingers, reacting to the light touch. Holy shit. How did she not know how built he'd become?

Huffing out a breath, she apologized. "Sorry. I hate that tickly feeling when someone gets me in the gut."

Ned angled forward, spooning up behind her. "It's all right. Just unexpected." He relaxed, drawing the blanket more snugly around them.

Lakin shivered a little and let the warmth of his body seep into hers. She grasped his hand, dragging his arm across her hips, draping it around her waist. He moved in closer, bringing his groin flush with her ass.

The hard ridge of his cock nestled between her cheeks. Even through the thin pants they each wore, she couldn't mistake the swelling of his erection.

Oh, my. She got goose bumps again… but not from the chill.

Gotta love it when characters discover their attraction in unusual ways, right? LOL

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

ML Skye

A Gift from the Stars—The SFR Brigade Presents: Midwinter Crises #sfrbp

Welcome to the Science Fiction Romance Brigade Presents, a weekly sneak peek sampler hosted by the SFR Brigade.

Readers: enjoy brief glimpses of currently available, soon to be released books, or works in progress. Authors are sharing short excerpts for your enjoyment. Please have fun and spread the joy.

~*~

This week's post is from Midwinter Crises, book one of the Capital City Seasons series available from Ellipses Press, Ltd. I'm introducing Ben Murphy, an extraordinary negotiator who never loses his cool under pressure.

Series Tagline: High stakes adrenaline and hot romance are an explosive combination.

Book Tagline: When a madman wants to blow up the city during the Midwinter holiday, it's just another day on the job for Ben and Jess.

~*~

Capital City.

Where no one knew anyone's name… especially during the Midwinter holidays.

Everyone went about their self-prescribed traditions—too busy to care about anything more than spending money and finding the next 'perfect' item so it could be crossed off a way too long list.

But somehow, not even the sheer volume of credits exchanged from Discovery Day to Midwinter's Eve managed to quell the number of embittered and downtrodden who picked this time of year to go off the deep end or make a stand for their cause.

And someone had to deal with them… diffuse the situation, garner a peaceful outcome. If not, things could get very ugly.

The 'someone' people called? Ben Murphy. A top negotiator, his proven ability and track record made him the go-to person when wanting to avoid bloodshed.

Because why would anyone want that to go along with their holiday cheer?

A lone man held the city hostage, his metaphorical fist ready to destroy the main power grid. A person might wonder how he'd managed to position himself to do it. That would, no doubt, be addressed in the slew of after action reports turned in once the crisis had been averted. Heads would roll. Jobs would be lost. And none of those issues mattered now that the guy had taken control of the central power facility.

What did matter?

Resolution.

Hopefully quick, painless, and peaceful. No one wanted to watch the city grind to a screeching halt during the most profitable quarter of the year. Not that Murph cared much about that aspect, especially when the joy of the season usually got lost in the shuffle of the crowds.

In fact, the holiday cheer being piped through the sound system of his private transport grated on Murph's last nerve. He tuned it out and focused on the view from the window, looking out over the expanse of Capital City. As of now, everything remained bright, shiny and lit up… and Murph loved the sight.

He should… he'd grown up with it. He might not have seen much of it lately—his self-imposed exile from the city and Jessa Muldoon prevented it—but he would always appreciate the sight.

For better or worse, Ben Murphy had come home.

~*~

Blurb: Mixing the holidays with a guy who wants to blow up the city is just another day on the job for Ben Murphy and Jessa Muldoon.

Seeing each other in a tense situation six months after breaking up is not.

Available at Amazon Amazon 

Please visit my website 

~*~

Gift yourself with more great sneak peeks!

Visit the other participating authors

Get Hooked: Reel in a Great Book—Surviving the Trap #MFRWHook

Welcome to Book Hooks, the weekly smorgasbord sampler hosted by the MFRW Authors Blog.

Readers: get hooked and reel in some great books. Authors are sharing short excerpts from their work. Please enjoy and consider picking up the full book by clicking on the buy link.

Today I'll be sharing a glimpse of Surviving the Trap, book one of the Top Dog Pilots series coming this summer. J

Series Tagline: Two top pilots, Max Cutter and Maggie Harper, like to mix a little personal with their professional life.

Book Tagline: A week of hell pushes Maggie into taking risking her friendship with Max by sleeping with him.

~*~

Groggily, Max glanced at the clock wondering why Maggie didn't just look for herself. "Twenty-two minutes." Yawning, he sat up, blinking and trying to focus. "Why?" Something seemed off with her, but he couldn't pin it down, so damned tired his brain rebelled against anything taxing.

Maggie grabbed his arm, tugging him out of his seat. "Come on." She led him out of the ready room, not giving him time to ask questions. Questions she wouldn't answer anyway if she didn't want to. "Come with me." Not letting go, she made her way down the corridor and across a passageway.

Max tried to play catch-up. By the second day of madness, he'd learned real, honest rest would not be an option and trained his body to go on half-alert when not in the cockpit, sort of like being on standby. He figured it the only way he could catch some sleep. Maggie had effectively interrupted his schedule of a catnap and bracing shower followed by hauling ass back to the hangar deck to run pre-flight checks. The routine played like a mantra in his head. Nap, shower, checks.

So, right. Running a little behind here. Max didn't know what Maggie wanted, but she seemed determined to drag him as far away from the ready room as possible. "Maggie, where are we going?" And how the hell did she even have the energy to walk right now. She almost crackled with vigor.

Maggie slowed down, but didn't let go of his arm. "Cutter, just shut up and come with me." Without another word, she rounded the next corner to duck through an open hatch, quickly pulling Max in behind her.

He stumbled a bit, barely clearing the raised threshold before she dogged the hatch. They were in an empty causeway. One used if a fire broke out on the ship. It was supposed to remain empty unless the fire signal had been activated. Clearly, the lack of sleep had Maggie unhinged.

Reaching to undo the hatch, he muttered. "You know we can't be here, Mags." Next thing he knew, Maggie had him backed up against the bulkhead, her lips sucking on his neck sending him into a state of shocked arousal. "What the hell?" He shook his head, wondering if he'd maybe fallen asleep somewhere back on the flight deck. "Mags?"

~*~

(Cover art subject to change)

~*~

Blurb: One week of extreme training, two top guns, and a healthy dose of unresolved sexual tension equals two pilots pushed to their limits, looking for a way to get through the hellish experience and possibly into each other's arms.

~*~

~*~

Please stop by my website 

Reel in more great books! Visit the other participating authors.