Sunday Snippet: Inside Out

I love crossovers on television. The Flash and Arrow had a character crossover this week and it was great to watch. I think my all-time favorite might be the Homicide and Law and Order crossover. Can't really say why, but that one always sticks out in my mind when I think about the various shows that use them.

I caught a marathon of Covert Affairs on Cloo this weekend and quite enjoyed it. I usually catch shows like White Collar and Covert Affairs on Netflix or when other networks run blocks of programming. I wish networks like BBC America would offer more options than Top Gear and whatever Gordon Ramsey show, which I've seen multiple times and could care less about. Honestly, with the vast library the BBC has, isn't there anything else they could put on during the day?

Enough television, tonight's post is from Inside Out, a sexy short that may make its way into novella status. I seem to say that an awful lot. LOL

Here's the tagline:

Jamie Storm and Shane Castigli are separated by circumstance and each makes an attempt to move on with others. But Shane's got an inside out feeling, something of an intuition about Jaime returning, which doesn't go over well with his current partner.

And a sneaky peek…

Shane tossed and turned on the bed. The images in his head swirled in a misty, hazy fog, but still had weight and volume. He woke up in a different bed, one from over a year ago, alone… again. The gut-punched, kicked in the teeth feeling as strong and gritty as when it had happened.

"Jaime!" He shouted.

But he didn't expect a response. His instincts screamed she'd gone—and wouldn't return.

The dream shifted and he stood at his window, looking out over the expanse of the shipyard, watching a battle cruiser come in for a smooth docking. Another transference. He now waited at the edge of the tarmac, his view obscured by the venting exhaust of the ship's engines. A lone figure moved slowly through the swirling, steamy depths, getting closer and closer until his vision became clear.

"Jaime!"

A hand grabbed his shoulder, shaking him back and forth. "Shane." He shrugged off the offending grasp and took a step forward.

"Shane! Wake up."

The dream faded and Jaime disappeared. Shane snapped awake, sitting up in bed. A cold chill settled at the base of his spine, but he blinked several times and his head cleared.

He blew out a harsh breath.

A warm palm settled over his thigh. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Bad dream."

Rosa propped her head on her hand and looked him square in the eye. "Who the hell is Jaime?"

Um, yeah, Shane's not going to want to explain, but won't have much choice. Oddly enough, the variations on the theme of being with the wrong person fascinate me, which is probably why I tend to gravitate toward telling this kind of story.

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

ML Skye

Banner Thursday—Bucking Convention Cover

After a long hiatus, I'm back to Banner Thursday. YAY!

Today, I'm featuring the cover for Bucking Convention, the follow up to Surviving the Trap.

                                 

For this cover, I wanted a to keep the main focus of something a little steamy but not make a big change so the covers and series stayed tied together. I opted to use a purple wash to hopefully show the progression and deepening of Max and Maggie relationship. 

Take a look…

Tagline: A tragic loss puts Cutter on the edge and it's up to Maggie to pull him back.

Blurb: Max and Maggie survive Hell Week and start a relationship that works. Tragedy strikes Max's wingman and when Maggie shows up as the replacement, she discovers a very different Max. Not a good thing when he lives to fly… and can't.

Maggie wants to support Max and help get him back on an even keel, but living and working with him tests her patience and mettle. It's so much easier to handle two tons of space craft than a surly man.

Available on Amazon

Coming Soon—Banner and Cover for Dress for Dinner

The final installment of Top Dog Pilots

Thanks for reading!

Please visit my website

Get Hooked: Reel in a Great Book—Shyler: Finding Home (A Furlough 99 Novella) #MFRWAuthors #MFRWHooks

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.

I'm revisiting one of my first releases, Shyler: Finding Home, one of the offerings from the Furlough 99 line from Ellipses Press. I'll be posting a series of pivotal scenes over the next couple of weeks. Please enjoy!

Today's post features Marshton Grey's introduction.

Book Tagline: Inspector Shyler Lumen always gets her man—even if she has to go through Marshton Grey to do it.

Series Tagline: Furlough 99: The last stop before uncharted space. Welcome to the ass end of the universe.

~*~

Greyswell Industries—Head Office—Queen City, Mars

"What's the death toll?"

"One hundred and fifty-seven as of ten a.m. this morning."

Marshton Grey nodded curtly, accepting the information and his chief of security quickly exited the plush office. The man had gone above and beyond by keeping Marsh informed of the situation. Now Marsh had to do damage control and nip the problem in the bud. He'd already laid the building blocks to make that happen.

Marsh stood up from behind his desk, gathered his travel documents and pressed the intercom to his admin.

"Lucy, I'm unavailable until further notice."

"Have a safe journey," her soothing voice answered. "I'll see you aren't disturbed, Mr. Grey."

Marsh trusted her to do exactly that. Super-efficient, his admin would block, handle, or delegate whatever came up while he had to be off planet. He peeled off his suit and tie, and threw on a pair of comfortable dungarees. Didn't worry about an overnight bag, he had plenty of wardrobe options located where he'd be headed.

Furlough 99.

Ass end of the universe.

Available on Amazon

More e-retailers coming soon!

~*~

Series Blurb: The last stop before the emptiness of unknown space, Furlough 99 is inhabited with a myriad of personalities, each one looking for something different, something they can only find at the end of the line. With a bar called the Den of Inequity and a whole station devoted to pleasure and hedonism, there's nothing that can't be found here, or won't.

Book Blurb: Inspector Shyler Lumen and entrepreneur Marshton Gray don't have much in common. A manhunt for a brilliantly mad chemist brings them together and sparks fly. Shyler and Marsh can fight the wave of change… or grab hold and go along for the ride.

~*~

~*~

Please stop by my website

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

Sunday Snippet: Ignition Failure

Gotta say, I'm fairly easy to entertain, but I love it when the shows I watch elevate my standards. Right now, just about all my faves are hitting one hundred percent satisfaction levels. Once again, The Walking Dead blew me away. My super hero shows, Arrow, The Flash, Agents of SHIELD and Gotham are amping up the tension. My batshit insane shows, Haven, Sleepy Hollow, and Sons of Anarchy keep getting a little crazier and that keeps me glued to the television.

I also like a good mystery and got to watch Inspector Lewis last week. I usually catch up on the series when it's available on DVD, but I couldn't sleep and PBS was showing it. I've also been watching previous seasons of The Murdoch Mysteries (also known as The Artful Detective) on Ovation. Why they changed the name for US television is beyond me, but it's a great, fun Canadian show.

Tonight's post is from Ignition Failure, currently a sexy short that seems to want to hit novella status. LOL

Here's the tagline:

Favin Hart finally gets the man of her dreams but freaks out and ends up marrying another guy. Less than twenty-four hours later, she's facing the music and trying to fix her mess.

And a sneaky peek…

Favin glanced in Parrish's direction. "You know how you're all excited about launching and you get an ignition failure? It sucks the air right out of your lungs…"

Parrish nodded. "Yeah, I know."

She waved a hand. "That's how I felt when I woke up today. A horrible morning after regret." She shook her head. "Worst mistake ever. Why the hell did I listen to Howie?"

Parrish quirked a brow. "You were still drunk?"

Ouch. But she deserved the dig.

She shrugged. "No, just scared and he gave me an easy way out." Her shoulders slumped.

Not so easy.

Parrish sat up, his eyes wide. "Getting married to someone else is easier than being with me? Hell, Favin, I didn't even suggest marriage." He snorted. "Maybe I should have."

Favin jerked her head back and forth. "No. No way. I didn't want to get married. Ever." She straightened, leaned forward and put her forearms on the table. "My parents sucked at it. No reason to think I'll do any better." She huffed out a harsh breath. "Hell, I'm not doing any better. Less than twenty-four hours and I’m with another man talking about how much of a big ass mistake I made." On a roll, she kept spilling her guts. "The same man I had sex with less than six hours before I got married." She glanced up. "God, Parrish. Why don't you tell me to fuck off and walk away?"

Parrish sank back against his chair. "Because I can't, Fav. That would be easy. And I've learned something in the last day." He pinned her with his gaze. "I don't want easy. I want you."

Don't even ask me where the idea for this one came from, I've yet to figure it out, but once the characters took hold, I had to write their story.

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

ML Skye

Banner Thursday—Bucking Convention

After a long hiatus, I'm back to Banner Thursday. YAY!

Today, I'm featuring the banner for Bucking Convention, the follow up to Surviving the Trap.

                                 

For this banner, I wanted to keep the deep space feel but needed something a little more moody and somber. Cutter experiences the tragic loss of his wingman and doesn't deal well at all. I also needed to imply a little bit of a feminine tone because Maggie arrives to help Max out.

Take a look…

Tagline: A tragic loss puts Cutter on the edge and it's up to Maggie to pull him back.

Blurb: Max and Maggie survive Hell Week and start a relationship that works. Tragedy strikes Max's wingman and when Maggie shows up as the replacement, she discovers a very different Max. Not a good thing when he lives to fly… and can't.

Long Blurb: Max and Maggie survive Hell Week and start a relationship that works. Tragedy strikes Cutter's wingman and when Maggie shows up as the replacement, she discovers a very different Max. Not a good thing when he lives to fly… and can't.

Maggie wants to support Max and help get him back on an even keel, but living and working with him tests her patience and mettle. It's so much easier to handle two tons of space craft than a surly man.

Available on Amazon

Other E-retailers coming soon!

Coming Soon—Cover Reveal!

Thanks for reading!

Please visit my website

Sunday Snippet: Hot Rocks

October 19, 2014

Greetings!

Whew. Great television this past week. The Walking Dead premiere didn't disappoint. So happy it's back on my TV. And I'm all caught up on everything I normally watch. The Flash and Arrow are still kicking ass. Sons of Anarchy is totally insane and I can't wait to see how everything ends.

On Demand has me up to date on Haven, Sleepy Hollow, Agents of SHIELD, and Gotham. Pretty thrilled with Gotham so far. Some interesting little twists on the lore I'm quite enjoying.

Tonight's post is from Hot Rocks, a novella where my hero and heroine are put through the ringer.

Here's the tagline:

Ada and Walt are taken by the enemy and subjected to torture. They won't find a better time to examine their long and storied past, right?

And a sneaky peek…

Ava struggled against the restraints. "Look, Walt. I fought beside you. And yet, you still doubt I can survive?" Of course, another round with the electotongs didn't really appeal either.

Walt sputtered. "No. It's not that." His shoulders slumped, pulled hers back. "It's just…" He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

He didn't have to say it. "Right. That chivalrous streak you can't ever seem to shake." Fighting the ache in her arms, she continued working on the tethers, ignoring the blood dripping from her wrists, too pissed off to care. "Well, guess what, Walt? You should take a good long look and realize no one gives a shit about how men treat women. Most don't even consider females the weaker sex anymore."

Walt countered. "It's not about women being weaker… it's about being decent in the face of adversity. I haven't always been."

She stopped trying to escape. "Right. Since when?" The guy ranked doing the right thing akin to breathing.

Walt heaved a sigh. "Logan died because of me, because I didn't wait to retreat." He blew out a hard breath. "I ordered everyone to fall back, but he wouldn't leave."

Ava tensed at the mention of Logan. "Why the hell not? You gave a direct order." She'd loved Logan, but orders were orders.

Walt lifted a shoulder. "We fought about the maneuver. He wanted to clear the village and I accepted the stragglers as collateral damage. We didn't have time to get everyone out and the colonel needed us to hold the line."

Ava shook her head. "Which you could've done with half a platoon, leaving the rest behind to gather up the survivors and get them to safety."

Walt snorted. "Exactly. But I was too cocky and arrogant to even consider another option. I gave my order and he disobeyed it." He paused. "And I left him. Alone. To die."

Ava's eyes slid shut. Son of a bitch. Such a waste. All because Walt couldn't be wrong. Red hot anger surged through her. She opened her mouth to blast Walt for being an asshole, but the heavy clang of the door interrupted her tirade.

Woggins entered, wearing a sinister smile on his face. "Well, my sweet Ava, are you ready for another round?"

Seriously? My money's on Ava this time around. :D

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

ML Skye

Get Hooked: Reel in a Great Book—Shyler: Finding Home (A Furlough 99 Novella) #MFRWAuthors #MFRWHooks

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.

I'm revisiting one of my first releases, Shyler: Finding Home, one of the offerings from the Furlough 99 line from Ellipses Press. I'll be posting a series of pivotal scenes over the next couple of weeks. Please enjoy!

Today's post features Shyler's interaction with a droid on Furlough 99.

Book Tagline: Inspector Shyler Lumen always gets her man—even if she has to go through Marshton Grey to do it.

Series Tagline: Furlough 99: The last stop before uncharted space. Welcome to the ass end of the universe.

~*~

Shyler elbowed her way out of the transport and ran through her mental checklist. First, she had to find out who to cajole, threaten, or bribe to be able to work in relative peace or at least not step on toes. Second, find a place to meet, and third, well, she needed to take care of the first two before worrying about number three. She glanced around, found a porter and flagged him down.

"Can you tell me who runs security—not the official kind—on Furlough and where the best place to meet would be?" As he got closer, Shyler realized 'he' was a droid, very lifelike, but a machine nonetheless. "And um… maybe how I can get a message to them?"

Droids always threw her. She never knew if they had to have commands or if simple conversations were possible. And of course it always varied by model.

The blond machine's eyes blinked several times then looked directly at her. "Oh, they'll find you, sweetie cakes. Trust me."

Shyler couldn't help it, she laughed out loud. And felt much more at ease. An android who talked like a flaming queen? Exactly what she needed to feel more at home.

Her outburst stopped a gentleman on the glide path in his tracks. She flicked her gaze sideways and narrowed her eyes. She'd seen him before but couldn't place where. The answer hovered just out of reach, yet she knew he'd come from Mars, the rock she called home.

He had to be from Queen City, the largest metropolis on the red planet. 4.5 million souls strewn throughout—from the swank, high end condos down to the no rent tent squats—and she ran into one of them way out on Furlough?

Interesting.

Dismissing him, Shyler focused on the droid again. "I'm sorry. They'll find me?"

The porter shocked her again when he rolled his eyes. "Sweetie cakes, you've got enforcement written all over you." He made air quotes to emphasis enforcement.

Shyler chuckled. "I'm not enforcement per se. More like ISP. And I'm not exactly trying to hide it. Don't have the time to waste going covert." The guy from home moved away slowly, maybe too slowly, and it piqued her curiosity.

Available on Amazon

More e-retailers coming soon!

~*~

Series Blurb: The last stop before the emptiness of unknown space, Furlough 99 is inhabited with a myriad of personalities, each one looking for something different, something they can only find at the end of the line. With a bar called the Den of Inequity and a whole station devoted to pleasure and hedonism, there's nothing that can't be found here, or won't.

Book Blurb: Inspector Shyler Lumen and entrepreneur Marshton Gray don't have much in common. A manhunt for a brilliantly mad chemist brings them together and sparks fly. Shyler and Marsh can fight the wave of change… or grab hold and go along for the ride.

~*~

~*~

Please stop by my website

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