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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.
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.
Here are ten Luc Quotes. These “pearls of wisdom” come from the man referred to by many in the Tarthian Empire as the Harbinger. An alpha among alphas, the immortal Luc commands attention without being vain or flashy and he gains respect by his true concern for others. Cross him however, and there is no place in the universe to hide. Luc Saint-Cyr has been in all my Tarth books and is one of the heroes in my work in progress. I chose a few from each book. Other characters have stated they decided what to do after asking themselves, “What would Luc do?”
The book is listed in which the Luc quotes are found, then the occasion of the quote.
To Senth about NarrAy
“Listen to me, my young Deshai. Despite the romantic nonsense you’ve heard about Betters being extraordinary lovers, their kisses can poison you. If her saliva mixes with yours, she can control your mind. The touch of her hands will drive you insane. There are ancient myths about sirens, women who used their voices to lure men and then slay them. Betters aren’t mythical. They’re real. If she subjects you to her passion, you’ll be at the mercy of her pleasure forever.”
To Khyff, who had been falsely imprisoned
“Know the law?” The Harbinger stood, and then laughed, obviously enjoying himself. “Son, I’ve been breaking it for so many years, I know it better than any of those high-paid courtside braggarts. Besides, none of the lawyers I contacted had enough clout. I got you a judge who’ll be fair and impartial.”
To Khyff, who had delivered a coded message for him
“I can see why you were so popular at Stalkos’s place, Khyffen. You know when to shut up, and you don’t talk back.” The Harbinger made a wave of dismissal. “Fact is, my young Senthys is ready to take wing. He’s been scratching at the nest for months. Ever since you came into his life. The way he took on the task of seeing to your freedom…” He shook his head. “Senth has been impressed with you since the day you met. So have I.”
To Khyff upon his refusing to accept a job
Saint-Cyr remained silent. With his all-black eyes, there was no telling where he looked. Finally, he nodded. “It won’t be easy finding another detail-oriented, by-the-book, stringent, weaned-on-pickle-juice hard-ass like you. But I’ll try.”
To Khyff about Senth
Saint-Cyr tossed himself back against the cushions of the car seat. “Do you suppose the woman who ordered him killed at birth knew she was his grandmother?”
To Khyff about two cops who refused to protect Luc’s son, Senth
“They’re ready for you.” Saint-Cyr motioned to him. While they walked, he explained the charges. “They’re holding her on two counts of murder by pheromones, violation of Better Laws, treason, harboring a criminal, and reckless endangerment of public officials. She was protecting Senth. She had to threaten to kill both cops that showed up before they’d call an ambulance for Senth, because he was a HalfKin.” He threw up his hands. “The fact that he’s my son should’ve sent them running for help.” His piercing black eyes narrowed. “They were both killed an hour ago. Line of duty, so they say.”
To Wulf about an enemy Wulf tried to frighten off by being seen with Luc
“Four reasons.” He laid a hand next to the shot glass. “First, the concept of scaring off one bad guy with a bigger one rarely works. That brings us to the second, which assumes your agent will fear me. He may not. Although, unless he’s a fool, he should. Third, you didn’t simply ask for my help. Fourth, you assumed I would agree to being used.”
To Empress Rheyn Destoiya about Wulf and Alitus sneaking off together
“The security tail I put on Wulf said he gave them the slip at an art gallery. He was seen walking through the place with a Better less than an hour ago. A Better who was accompanied by armed Praetorian. Unless you have Praetorian guarding anyone other than Alitus, that was him. Right now, neither of them is in sight and my goons can’t find him. What am I paying them for if they can’t keep him in sight for five minutes?”
To Jawk upon his arrival at Luc’s home
“I’m pleased to finally meet you, Jawk.” The man’s voice had a deep timbre befitting his size. Tall as a Kin, taller than Jawk. Broad shoulders filled out his tux. Wulf had been elegance; Luc was power.
To Jawk who argues that Luc’s ship can’t possibly work
“Do you know what the word shibboleth means? It’s an ancient word to describe the way a culture speaks. ‘Physics laws are immutable’ is a NETway shibboleth. They are only immutable to those who lack the technology to change them.”
Want to know more about Luc, or about these books? You can read sample chapters from each one at the links below. Each opens to a page on this website.
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure
For Women Only
Wulf, Tales of the Chosen
Alitus, Tales of the Chosen
Jawk, Tales of the Chosen
Imagine immortal warriors who spend eternity alone, watching mortal friends age and die, century after century, thousands of years on end, battling untold wars. Recalling lovers brings such pain, it’s better to forget. Why would anyone want to go on?
Humans created genetically-designed creatures to make life easier. Humans themselves disdained such enhancements, and within a few generations, the title Human Pure identified those who had never commingled blood or accepted genetic changes. Genslaves did the work; humans reaped the benefits. Depending on the job required, each genslave could be telepathic, empathic, shape-shifting, half animal, or a pleasure giver, and some were illusion casters. However, genslaves were also the finest scientists, healers, artists, and teachers.
Nothing normal described the warriors. All had various enhanced skills. Too powerful to kill, they regenerated no matter how catastrophic the wound. Immortal warriors do not take orders.. They take control.
It took many centuries before a traitor within their ranks helped trap the invincible army. Imprisoned on a world dubbed Sempervia, far out on the galaxy’s rim, these immortal warriors had no way home. With little more than a handful of farming tools and a few crates of seeds, the exiles faced a battle unlike any that had come before. In a twist of irony, the ragged and starving immortals died, only to rise again and face one more bleak day of survival.
Thousands of years later, those same half-million now live as one with the world they’ve transformed into a paradise. There are no children. All are barren. Calling themselves Reborn, they take pains to hide their world from outsiders, and are peace-loving, docile, and content.
Except for one hundred renegades and their leader, Pietas. They refuse to forgive their expulsion from their birthright — their loss of freedom to roam the galaxy. One hundred and one live for revenge. Rejecting the pacifist name Reborn, the exiles called themselves Sempervians. The name means ever living.
Pietas held his people together by preaching a doctrine that only death made life meaningful. Peril is a real-time role-playing game lived out in forty-year increments. As the Gamemaster, Pietas oversees details of his followers’ lives. Players strive during each lifetime to achieve goals against friends who are adversaries or allies, depending on the toss of the dice. They crave wining at all costs. Peril pits empires and worlds against powers far beyond any mortal’s ability to know, understand, or even glimpse.
To fail means a solid year of Penance at the hands of the Gamemaster, Pietas. Repeated, daily deaths. Dying and coming back at their peak age. The Gamemaster plays no favorites, grants no mercy, even to the one he loves — the one follower who has challenged Pietas throughout the centuries but cannot bring himself to love Pietas back the way he himself is loved, yet defers to the Gamemaster’s power. Cyken Tomarus, known in this lifetime as Luc Saint-Cyr.
No one leaves Peril. If the others don’t hunt you down, or the android referees can’t find you, the galaxy is full of bounty hunters eager for a scalp, and no price is too high to pay for a traitor. No mercy awaits immortal warriors dragged back for Pietas’s wrath.
Assisting in the game are the Chosen, generations of mortals who know the secrets of the Sempervians and vow to make their transitions from life to life possible, a rare few ending up as lovers of their immortal masters. Two such Chosen were Wulf, once belonging to Luc Saint-Cyr, and Alitus, once belonging to Empress Rheyn Destoiya. These Chosens’ unforgivable sin was to fall in love with each other, thereby pitting the two strongest players — former allies — against one another.
Pietas declared the two Chosen untouchable, safe within his keeping, and he watches from afar. The story plays out among the worlds of the Tarthian Empire. He reveals that a few decades earlier, he created a group of “Changelings.” Death or an infusion of immortal blood awakens dormant cells to begin their transformation into an immortal. The Chosen Alitus is one. Others wait, reared by mortals as mortals, without knowledge of their rightful heritage.
Who are the next Changelings? Will they be immortal warriors? Or perhaps they will bring Peril to a riotous end. Subscribe to the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group and find out as each new book reveals more of the truth.
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.
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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.
If you want to date a gay immortal, what should you consider? Here are ten tips.
So, what are your tips for dating a gay immortal? If you’ve got one, share it in the comments.
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Izzorah Loves the Ocean. |
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I love this photo. I created ears for him, and that was about all I had to do to make this picture of my feline humanoid Izzorah work.
In an upcoming book, Izzorah (Rah) and his lover marry and go on their honeymoon. In one scene, Luc comes up behind him at the seaside and stands quietly, taking in the beauty of his younger lover as he enjoys the splash of warm water and the cooling waves.
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” Keats said. That certainly fits here. Golden, tan, fit, in love with life. Who could not adore a man like that? Luc is certainly smitten.
Pietas ap Lorectic was introduced in the book For Women Only. He’s a physically beautiful immortal male who appears young, despite being over twelve thousand years old. He and his twin sister were the only naturally conceived and born Ultras.
The name Pietas comes from the word “pieta“, meaning “representation.” A famous statue by Michelangelo called “The Pieta” represents a dramatic event in Christendom. Another word for “pieta” is “creation.” Pietas was considered (at his birth to two supposedly infertile immortals) to be the highest creation, the epitome of success. His mother, Helia hid her pregnancy from all but a close circle of others, fearful of what might happen if humans discovered she was fertile.
Unknown to Helia, she carried twins. A female child was delivered only minutes after Pietas, and she was considered a delight, and a good omen. She was named Dessy from the root word decet (dess-say) meaning good or proper. We know her today as Empress Rheyn Destoiya, or the Conqueror. She detests being called Dessy. Pietas makes a point of calling her that to irritate her.
Pietas and Dessy’s father is Mahikos. Those who’ve read Surrender Love had an opportunity to meet him. Helia will appear in an upcoming book.
Other names for Pietas in human history are Marauder, Impaler, Hammer of God, Soul Ripper, Destroyer of Worlds, Slayer of Innocents, and Hound of Hell. He is mentioned in the Tales of the Chosen series, and Surrender Love. There is a love-hate relationship between Pietas and Luc Saint-Cyr, whom Pietas insists on calling by his Sempervian name, Cyken.
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| Luc Saint-Cyr – an extraordinary entrepreneur. |
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| Izzorah with his drums. |
