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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog.
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How nice after the months of writing to have a good review.
A Stolen Heart, along with the entire Antonello Brothers series, is $ .99 through the summer.
Check out the special June 10, 2020 on Bargain Booksy
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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.
After rescuing a half-alien / half-human child who's running for his life, warrior-turned-entrepreneur Luc Saint-Cyr stumbles onto a conspiracy at the highest levels of the powerful Thieves' Guild. Complicating matters, Luc's immortal ex might be involved.
Now Luc must deal with his ex, find a home for the child, squelch the flames of conspiracy and eradicate its perpetrators. As if that's not enough, an unseen enemy is undoing every good thing Luc accomplishes.
But when it comes time to give up the child to a family who can care for him, how will Luc bear to part with the adorable little boy who has stolen his heart...
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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.
In this scene from Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, Pietas discovers a different sort of trouble. The good kind.
Joss unfastened her hair, let it fall around her shoulders and shook it loose. The blond waves caught the fading light and gave her the soft glow of a goddess, as feminine and powerful as if she radiated sunlight. She combed her fingers through it, giving him an odd look.
Pietas coughed. “Um… What’s up?”
She gestured to herself. “You’re asking me ‘what’s up’?”
What had he missed? “Yes. Why?”
“Because I asked you what was up, and you just stared at me.”
“I did? Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“I see.” Her coy smile said she did indeed. “So, Pietas, what’s up?”
Now she was teasing him with double meanings and ambiguities. He’d love to join her in play, but until he’d learned what he needed, he ignored the temptation.
“Dessy says you’re in charge of camp security.”
“True.”
“Has my father returned, or attempted to?”
“No. I’ve kept a close watch. The twins reported no sightings. He’s laying low.” She pulled back her hair and fastened it again. “But we’re not the sole source of security. I don’t see him getting past them.”
“Them? Who is ‘them’?”
“I’ll show you.” She motioned for him to follow. “Look over there.”
On a promontory overlooking the pods, a panther sat beside a bare tree, scanning the area.
“You’re referring to the cat?”
“Yes. Now look over there.” She pointed in the other direction. On that side, another cat prowled beneath a tree on the trail leading to the pods. “They’ve been there all day. They switch every few hours. Every time they do, the big one that attacked your father stands on the edge of the caldera where you first saw the pods. After the cats change places, it goes away. It’s the changing of the guard. I can see what they’re doing and I’m grateful for it, but they’re so intelligent it scares me. They bump noses and then take up the position of the cat they’re replacing. I think they might be telepathic, but with each other, not me. I don’t pick up anything.”
“They’ve done this all day?”
“Like clockwork. You know what this means, don’t you?”
“Yes. I can get some sleep tonight.” A yawn overtook him.
“I was going to say we should name them.”
Pietas nudged his chin toward a cat. “We’ll call that one Trouble.”
Love Romances Cafe Best in Science Fiction/Futuristic Nominee
When the immortal Pietas is marooned on a barren world with no food and few survival tools, he knows it could be worse. He could be alone. But that’s the problem.
He’s not.
Half a million of his people sleep in cryostasis, trapped inside their pods and it’s up to Pietas to free them. He can’t release one at a time. It’s all or nothing. He’s facing over five hundred thousand hungry, thirsty, homeless immortals who will call on him for rescue and he has no way to answer.
It’s not all bad. The beautiful telepathic warrior he’s loved for lifetimes is at his side. He’s bonded with a sentient panther. He hates humans but the one dumped on this planet with him has become a trusted friend.
Before Pietas can build shelter, figure out how to grow food, or set up a government, he must take back command from a ruthless enemy he’s fought for centuries. His brutal, merciless father.
Immortals may heal, but a wound of the heart lasts forever…
Warning: Contains angst, humor, sweet romance, betrayal, vengeance… a ginormous, sentient panther who wants to be Pietas’s “kitty,” and a different kind of trouble with the rest of the panther tribe…
Amazon http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI
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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 WIP or previously published book by possibly new-to-you authors.
In this scene from Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, Pietas and the search party sent to find him have stopped their upward mountain trek for a short break. Prior to their reunion the previous day, Pietas had spent a year in confinement, hands bound behind him. He’d been starved to the point of death, but because he’s immortal, could not die. Although he has healed since, the brutality left a lasting toll on his once robust physical body. As they prepare to get underway, he unwittingly reveals the impairment. To a telepath…
—
Wincing, Pietas stretched to ease cramps in his back.
His sister stood. “Tas!” she called up to him. She’d started using her childhood name for him since they’d reconnected the day before. “Are you hurt?”
A quick telepathic scan from Joss swept over him before he realized it was there. Pietas had still been a teenager when she’d trained him to shield his mind from those with her gift. Not that he’d ever been able to block her. She was far too powerful, but today, she’d read him with no more difficulty than a hunter spying trail signs. He’d been near no Ultra telepaths for over a year.
His affinity with Six had made him careless and he’d neglected the basic lessons Joss had taught him.
It wasn’t a lack of trust. Trust had never been an issue with Joss.
He treasured her, but he ought not to have been so unguarded and open. Vulnerable.
“Pietas.” Joss stood. The waves of emotion he picked up from her held love and concern in equal measure. And a bit of disappointment. “You’re injured.”
He ducked his head like a schoolboy who’d forgotten his lessons. Admit mortals had damaged him? Never. Neither would he lie about it. He’d take better care to hide the pain.
“Don’t worry about me.” Whistling, he circled a finger in the air. “Let’s go! Long climb ahead.” He leaped down from the rocks. “Joss, you lead.” Last thing he wanted was her behind him, using him as an object of focus.
What telepaths focused upon, they controlled.
Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire
Science fiction with romantic elements
Rated PG13 for violence (no explicit content or profanity)
Humans created a genetically enhanced race to defend mankind. Instead, the Ultras became humanity’s greatest threat. Traitors among them help humans imprison half a million and exile them on an alien world.
Pietas has no tech, tools, or resources, but he vows to unite and avenge the Ultra people. First, he must regain command from a ruthless adversary he’s fought for centuries–his brutal, merciless father.
Ultras are immortal, and with few exceptions, they revive after death. Some injuries heal instantly. A few take time. But battered trust and a broken heart… That pain lasts forever.
This military science fiction novel is scheduled for a December 29th release.
Publisher Romance Lives Forever Books
Genre science fiction with romantic elements
Rating PG13 for science fiction violence (no explicit content or profanity)
Length about 74,000 words / 300 pages
To take part in an exclusive pre-release online party and get advance notice of its availability, join the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group. You’ll also get free books and other downloads and goodies.
The prequel for Forged in Fire is Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas. Next book in the series is Bringer of Chaos: Watch Your Six.
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“Humans were made to be ruled.” A scene from Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas (Military Sci Fi, Soldiers, Bad Boys, Adventure, and Angst) In this snippet, Pietas receives an ultimatum.
The leaders of his people gathered in sleep around Pietas, sealed inside their curved, steel stasis tubes.
“You think to imprison me? You think to bring me down like a hunted animal?” He indicated the other life-pods. “I will not cower before you. I will not bow. I will not kneel. I will not serve. I will never submit. Humans were made to be ruled, not by my people, but by me.”
The silhouettes above him contrasted with the bright light behind them. One by one, they slipped away, until one remained.
“Fighting us accomplishes nothing.” The disembodied voice echoed in the chamber. “Enter the pod, Pietas, or we’ll siphon the air. You’ll die.”
“I’ll revive. I’ve died countless times. I do not fear death. Death fears me.”
[bctt tweet=”I do not fear death. Death fears me. –Pietas” username=”kayelleallen”]
Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas
Why should Pietas end the war with humans?
His people are winning, yet they insist on peace talks. The Ultra people want to grant humans a seat on the Council. Pietas ap Lorectic, Chancellor of the High Council, War Leader and First Conqueror, disagrees. What’s best for mortals is oppression, control, and if necessary, elimination.
Pietas seethes with rage at the idea of human equality. Humans might have created Ultras, but the creation has far surpassed the creator. Humans die. Ultras are reborn, no matter how grievous the injury. They have no equals.
His people permit him no choice. He must attend these insipid peace talks on Enderium Six and what’s worse, be polite. To humans.
Available free on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon https://amzn.to/28QOTpb
Get an illustrated book of quotes by Pietas
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I’m writing the sequel to book one in the Bringer of Chaos series. The first was Origin of Pietas, the second is Forged in Fire. In it, we get a lovely flashback of his first love. When Joss and Pietas meet for the first time, he is young, isolated, and alone. This is from the work in progress. May have final edits before being released. Currently, it’s on track for Sept 2017.
Pietas didn’t sleep with Joss until he was twenty, but he fell in love with her at first sight.
He was sixteen. She was ageless.
The older woman had plucked him off the streets, fed and clothed him, given him a job and dignity. That wasn’t why he’d slept with her. It had taken several years to become her lover because he didn’t know how to ask. She told him later he’d been too young to know what he wanted and she’d promised herself she wouldn’t make the first move. This time, he knew how it was done, he had no intention of waiting, and he knew exactly what he wanted. Her.
As he hiked beside her, he recalled that first meeting. He’d been starving, standing in lines to join work crews. For days. No one would hire him. He had no identification. No money. His father had thrown him out with nothing. Obtaining his own weapons hadn’t been difficult. He’d wagered his skill to gain those. But a job? He had no war campaigns to claim and no ID to acquire passage for one. He was too proud to steal and far too proud to beg. He refused to buy falsified documents. He’d either earn his keep the right way or he’d starve.
Once you sell your honor, nothing else has value.
[bctt tweet=”Once you sell your honor, nothing else has value. — Pietas #Quotes” username=”kayelleallen”]The day had grown late and it had started raining. He ducked into a covered alley and huddled against the wall for protection from the wind. The greasy food cooking at the diner across the street had started smelling good two days ago. Skinny Ultras stopped by the diner’s back door every night and accepted a handful of scraps. A few picked through leavings. He would bear stomach cramps forever before he’d do that.
A female soldier passing by slowed, looked him up and down, and then stopped. She wore an officer’s uniform: simple black jacket, white blouse, black skirt, shiny shoes. “Hello.”
He stood taller. Finger-combing his hair, he smiled at her. “Hello.”
“Are you looking for work?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She entered the alley, gesturing for him to accompany her.
He turned to follow, staggering with dizziness. No matter what kind of work she needed done, he would find a way to do it, hungry or not. Once they reached the alley’s deepest end, she pulled up her skirt and held out paper money.
It took a moment for it to register what she expected him to do. He’d never been around any women other than his mother and sister. Did people…do that…in an alley? Surely not. He must be mistaken. Surely she needed something else and he had misunderstood.
When he just stood there, she gestured with the money. “I don’t have all day, do you want this or not?”
He turned and fled and didn’t slow down until he reached the Ultra’s union hall. There, he dropped onto the ground in the drizzling rain, back against the wall. Arms resting on upraised knees, he hung his head, sopping wet, cold and miserable.
“Hello?” called a gentle voice.
“I am not for sale!” He clenched his teeth and glared up at her.
“That’s good to know.” The woman looking down at him was not the one who’d offered to buy him earlier.
Pietas clambered to his feet.
Unlike his platinum blond, her hair held tones of gold. Kind blue eyes seemed to look right through him. The rain had ceased and a beam of sunlight illuminated her. Seeing her, a man could believe in angels.
He pushed hair out of his face. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Are you Pietas?”
“I am.” Was this someone who could hire him? It wouldn’t do to look sloppy in front of her. He drew back his sodden hair into a tail and tossed it over his shoulder. Wiping wet hands on wetter clothes, he held himself in militarily correct posture. “How do you know me?”
“From your mother’s description.”
“My mother?” A wave of homesickness arose in him so strong he lost his breath. He might be new to the greater Ultra world, but he hadn’t been raised a fool. He kept his distance. “How do you know her?”
“Helia and I were created at the same time. She was scientist class and I was warrior, but we became friends. I introduced her to Mahikos. Thankfully, she doesn’t hold that against me.” A wry smile tilted her mouth. “She called me, told me she had a son named Pietas and a daughter named Dessy. She said you and your father had a fight and asked me to look for you. She sends her love.”
“You must be Joss!”
“That’s right.”
“Growing up, Mother told me all about you. She said you were the sister she never had.”
“Did she?” Her amusement came through the aether, as warm and embracing as his mother’s had ever been. “I’m glad to know that. I wish she’d told me about you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. That isn’t your fault.”
“Is Mother here? Have you seen her?”
“No. But she was worried so I said I’d try to find you. Looks like I did. She said to try the work halls. This should have been the first place I looked.” Smiling, she spread her hands. “But I finally found you.”
Surely it wasn’t wrong to fall in love so fast. Mother had said not to trust strange women, and from his experience with the one earlier, she’d been right. But this was Joss. Her friend and sister. Pietas took two steps toward her, stopped himself and stuck his hands in his pockets.
Joss offered her hand. When he shook it, she clasped both of hers around his.
The moment she touched him he knew he would survive. He could do anything. His life was not over before it began. He’d had no idea then she was using her gift of Clarity to help him see his path. All he knew was this amazing woman cared about him.
“Thank you for looking for me. Finding me.”
“My pleasure.” She slid her fingertips down his jaw, out to the dimple in his chin and released him. “Now, let’s get you off these streets, into some dry clothes, and find you a meal. If you want to, you can call your mother.”
(download a pdf of the Joss and Pietas meet excerpt taken from Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, sweet science fiction romance – coming soon)
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According to Wikipedia, the phrase Mayday Mayday Mayday is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners. In some countries local organizations such as firefighters, police forces, and transportation organizations also use the term. The call is always given three times in a row ("Mayday Mayday Mayday") to prevent its being mistaken for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions, and to distinguish an actual Mayday call from a message about a Mayday call. I thought Mayday was a fitting release date for a book about Pietas, known throughout the galaxy as the Bringer of Chaos.
This scifi book is now available on all retailers.
Download the Pietas coloring book and share it with friends.
Read the introduction, a foreward by the hero of the book, below.
A foreword from Pietas
This book you hold is being presented as fiction, but it did happen. It is as real as the air you breathe. While this is not a first-person story, it follows my point of view.
I would never have allowed a human to know these things, but a friend persuaded me there can be no vengeance unless those in the wrong know what they did. When one has wronged another, one must face the consequences.
Having been persuaded to tell the story, I now allow it to be placed into your hands. I want you to know the truth. Why? Because other Ultras have hidden the truth. Buried it beneath fables and false retellings, as if you were a child unable to bear harsh reality. Unwilling to face the consequences of what your kind has done.
Above all, because I will not lie to you.
When I come for you, I want the satisfaction of seeing your regret for what your ancestors did to my kind. I want to see your fear, and taste your terror.
This is no horror story. It's merely science fiction. Tell yourself it is only fable, if that will help you sleep. By all means, human, do sleep.
Read this, if you dare to know the truth.
~ Pietas
