Training ground for professional thieves.
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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It's a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It's a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It's a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It's a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
Click covers for the buy link. Click text for the website page and excerpts.
Series page https://kayelleallen.com/antonello-brothers
#SciFi #Romance
This scene was deleted from At the Mercy of Her Pleasure.
In the published book, Captain NarrAy Jorlan meets with Senth at a coffee shop adjacent to the Thieves’ Guild. But in this version, she met him at the Starport.
Inside secret: the starport on Kelthia is named Starhaven Leojnimaj. Those are my sons names combined, backward (Joel and Jamin). NarrAy’s last name, Jorlan, was chosen in honor of the hero of Dara Joy’s book Ritual of Proof.
Kelthia, Miraj City, Starhaven Leojnimaj
Coffee Shop, Concourse D
NarrAy sat, holding a cup of coffee she didn’t want and had no interest in tasting. A plain dress hid beneath her black hooded cape, covering every inch of skin as the law required for Betters. How long would it be before they forced her to hide her face too? She blew on the coffee. Where was her thief?
“Anything yet?”
“Nothing.” Broxus answered from the south terminal.
“No sign.” Encie made ticking sounds into the transmitter. “Your pretty boy thief is late.”
“We’ll give him two more minutes.”
“You’re too easy, boss.” More ticking.
What was that noise? NarrAy scanned the area. “Encie, I thought you quit biting your nails.”
“I’m not bi– Hey. How’d you know I was doing that?”
“You may be on the north side of the concourse, but I can see you between the lockers.” She blew on the coffee.
Her assistant stood up straight and glanced around. “I forgot about those eyes of yours.”
“Yes, well, it was my ears that heard you nibbling.”
“Nibbling what?” Senth asked, dropping into a chair.
NarrAy set down her coffee so fast it spilled. “Where did you come from?”
“Cohorts didn’t see me?” His inviting mouth stretched into a smile. “Level nineteen thief, remember? If those two could spot me, I wouldn’t be worth what you’re paying.” He used her napkin to sop up the coffee.
Brox’s and Encie’s questioning voices broke into her concentration.
“He’s here. We’re leaving.” When she rose, Senth assisted her with her chair.
Not that she wanted or needed help, but imagine a thief with manners. Well, well… This could be interesting.
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
In this scene from At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, the story opens with Senth searching for his brother through the darkest side of Miraj City. The area known only as Crooktown…
Deep in the shadows outside a ruined warehouse, Senth Antonello shoved back the hood of his sensor-blocking cloak and fanned himself. The Thieves’ Guild tech let him hide from copbot scans, but it didn’t cool him. Sweat beaded on his skin. Using his fangs, he unfastened first one glove, then the other, and peeled them off. He tucked them into one of dozens of hidden pockets in the cloak, and wiped his face.
The faint sound of gang chant carried in the chilled night air. Gangs in the Crooktown District of Miraj City hunted mixed breeds like him. At first glance, Senth appeared human, but with his catlike eyes and fangs, no one could miss his Kin nature. In moonlight, his eyes would glow.
The chant grew louder, along with the sound of breaking glass. The deeper darkness that followed meant two things: another streetlight had met its end, and that gang was closer than Senth had thought.
“You come down here, I skin you.” Senth flattened himself against the brick wall. “I skin you, the Grand Master skins me. Let’s do each other a favor, huh, boys?”
Worse, the Grand Master would inform Senth’s Sen’dai. His guild master. The crime lord all the other crime lords feared. The Man. The Harbinger. Luc Saint-Cyr.
The Guild didn’t accept non-humans, unless they were enslaved to a human member. No one could rise past level ten, unless related to a human member. Guild-arranged marriages and adoptions happened regularly. To keep the Guild happy, Saint-Cyr was Senth’s lord and master and his adoptive father.
No way Senth wanted the Man angry with him. The last time, he’d almost…
Senth shook off the thought, drew his hood forward again, and edged around the corner into a darker alley. “Ffffftt!” The Kin cuss word hissed past his fangs. Where was Khyff? He had to be close. Senth had looked for hours. His HalfKin sense of smell caught a faint whiff of male, mixed with… He took another sniff. Someone–or something–else.
Pressed against the wall, Senth slipped around a corner, and hunkered down. He melted into the concealing darkness behind a barrel, and narrowed night-sensitive eyes.
His human half-brother leaned against the opposite wall of the trash-strewn alley. Khyffen Antonello’s blond hair shone in the muted light. A female pinned him, arms around his neck. She tore open Khyff’s shirt and ran her hands over his chest.
Senth folded himself into the tight space behind the barrel and settled in to wait. Protection of his brother went before any assignment. Family came first. At least tonight. And Khyff would need it in Crooktown, Miraj City’s worst district.
Senth’s mother had died after birthing him. Khyff, who’d been three, had been told Senth was dead, and Khyff had been sold into slavery. Neither of them knew the other lived until a month ago. Neither had a clue about their biological fathers. Until Khyff found him, Senth’s “family” consisted of the Man.
Pulling out a square of paper, Senth angled it to catch the dim light and read the words he’d copied from Saint-Cyr’s note once more. You and Khyffen meet me at The Ghost. I have a job for you. Do it and I’ll buy and free your brother, but it’s going to cost you.
Of course it would. The Man didn’t do anything for free. But if it got Khyff out of that hellhole, Senth would do it.
He tucked away the note, and slipped on his gloves.
Senth’s master had raised him to believe that no one should have to sell his body to survive. Saint-Cyr owned one slave, Senth, and only so he could rise within the Guild.
Senth and Saint-Cyr might not agree on much, but they both believed Khyff needed his freedom. With Khyff’s record, freeing him wouldn’t be cheap, and it sure wouldn’t be easy.
[bctt tweet=”Check out this sweet Sci Fi romance with a kick: At the Mercy of Her Pleasure” username=”kayelleallen”]Antonello Brothers 1: a Scifi Romance
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure is a military science fiction romance set in a dystopian world. The standalone story has a heat level of sweet and has a happy ending.
Hired to steal back a prototype taken by the imperial armada, Senth Antonello retrieves it, but his brother is kidnapped to force Senth to surrender the device.
Now he has to rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. He must do it in the company of NarrAy Jorlan, a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss.
He’s a thief. She’s a soldier. Do opposites attract? Oh, mercy!
—
Genre: Sweet Romance, Science Fiction Romance, Scifi
Heat level: PG – sweet romance with a kick
Book length: 59,650 words (full novel)
Publisher: Romance Lives Forever Books
Series: Antonello Brothers (standalone books)
Universal buy link https://books2read.com/u/m2o9P1
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
I’m editing a previously released scifi romance in preparation for re-release. It’s mainstream scifi (but was erotica). Taking out the graphic content means the story itself shines for a whole new audience.
The story deserves an all new cover as well. It’s had two previous ones. The first one was by Laura Givens, and the second by Anne Cain. The Author’s Secret did this one. Since I own the business, I have to brag. Our custom covers come with a month of ad space on The Romance Studio, and a month of DMCA Take Down service from Book About.
This is the first book I ever wrote, and it’s in need of some shaping. I’ve written other books since, and this is in the same universe as they are. I’ve fine tuned details since this came out. This is not the absolute final version, but it’s not likely to change much. I’ve even rewritten the blurb to better fit the story.
I’ll be sharing info on how and why I edited various scenes as I recreate the book. This is the first in a series and contains the new blurb, as well as the first two pages.
Here are the blurb, and the first three paragraphs of At the Mercy of Her Pleasure. I hope you enjoy it.
—
If he touches her, he’ll be at the mercy of her pleasure.
Professional thief Senth Antonello is hired to retrieve a stolen prototype for which the imperial armada has already killed twice. When Senth’s brother is kidnapped to ensure the device is surrendered, Senth must rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. Senth must accomplish it in the company of a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss.
Once in the shadows, Senth Antonello shoved back the hood of his sensor-blocking cloak and fanned his face. The Thieves’ Guild tech let him hide from copbot scans, but it didn’t cool him. Using his fangs, he loosened first one glove, then the other, and peeled them off. He tucked them into one of dozens of hidden pockets in the cloak.
The faint sound of gang chant carried in the chilled night air. Gangs in the Crooktown District hunted mixed breeds like him. At first glance, Senth appeared human, but with his catlike eyes and fangs, no one could miss his Kin nature. In moonlight, his eyes glowed.
The chant grew louder, along with the sound of glass breaking. The deeper darkness that followed meant two things: another streetlight had met its end, and that gang was closer than Senth had thought.
You come down here I skin you. Senth flattened himself against the brick wall. I skin you, the Grand Master skins me. Let’s do each other a favor, huh, boys?
Worse, the Grand Master would inform Senth’s Sen’dai. His guild master. The crime lord all the other crime lords feared. The Man. The Harbinger. Luc Saint-Cyr.
The Guild didn’t accept non-humans, unless they were enslaved to a human member. No one could rise past level ten, unless related to a human member. Marriages and adoptions happened, regularly. So, to keep the Guild happy, Saint-Cyr was Senth’s lord and master and his adoptive father.
No way Senth wanted the Man angry with him. The last time he’d almost…
Don’t even go there. Senth shook off the thought, drew his hood forward again, and edged around the corner into a darker alley. “Ffffftt!” The Kin cuss word hissed past his fangs. Where are you? Come on, you have to be close. Senth’s HalfKin senses caught the scent of his quarry.
Pressed against the wall, Senth slipped around one last corner, and hunkered down. He melted into the concealing darkness behind a barrel, and narrowed night-sensitive eyes.
His human half brother leaned against the opposite wall of the trash-strewn alley. Khyffen Antonello’s blond hair shone in the muted light. A female pinned him, arms around his neck. She tore open Khyff’s shirt and ran her hands over his chest.
Senth folded himself into the tight space behind the barrel and settled in to wait. Protection of his brother went before any assignment, at least tonight. Family came first.
Senth’s mother had died after birthing him. Khyff, who’d been three, had been sold into slavery. Neither of them knew the other lived until a month ago. Neither had a clue about their biological fathers. Until Khyff had found him, Senth’s only “family” had consisted of the Man.
Pulling out Saint-Cyr’s note, Senth read it once more. Get your half brother and meet me at The Ghost. I have a job for you. Do it, and I’ll buy Khyffen and free him, but it’s going to cost you.
Of course it would. Senth slipped his gloves back on. The Man didn’t do anything for free. But if it got Khyff out of that hellhole, Senth would do it. Leaning out from behind the barrel, he spied Khyff.
His brother had clenched his fists, eyes squeezed shut, face lifted to the night sky, mouth open in a silent scream.
Senth’s master had raised him to believe that no one should have to sell himself to survive. Saint-Cyr owned one slave only, and that was Senth, and only so he could rise within the Guild. They might not agree on how but they did agree on what.
Khyff needed his freedom.
—
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure will be out by the end of July, along with its sequel, For Women Only (Khyff’s story). To get one email when one of my books is released, sign up on Author Alarms. You can also subscribe to the newletter and follow the blog. Both options are listed on the left.
