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Tag Archives: Sci-Fi Romance

Science fiction and fantasy novels with romantic elements or a romantic plot.

A ginormous, telepathic panther and an immortal king. What’s not to love? #FreeBook #SpaceOpera #SciFi

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This book is free until 3/27/18

A ginormous, telepathic panther and an immortal king. What's not to love? #FreeBook #SpaceOpera #SciFiBringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire is free on Amazon until March 27, 2018  http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI
Coming soon to Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, and other resellers.
Science Fiction, Space Opera, Genetic Engineering, Colonization, SciFi Romance

In this scene, Pietas’ mother is critically ill and her immortal life is in danger. He’s been sitting beside the lifepod which double as a shelter, holding her hand. Pretosia, one of the sentient panthers, has adopted his mother and is lying alongside her in the pod. The telepathic panther, Tiklaus, pays a visit….

Telepathic Panther

Pietas shifted position to better see his mother. With her so gravely ill, nothing mattered more than healing her.

After a time, Pretosia’s ears flicked. The cat rose on its haunches, facing the cave entrance.

Turning to see why, Pietas found Tiklaus and two other cats approaching. He stood to greet them. “Good morning.”

Tiklaus continued alone, carrying something in its mouth. After reaching the end of the pod, the telepathic panther set down a dead rabbit.

Pretosia took a single leap and landed beside it, picked it up, and retreated deeper into the cave.

Tiklaus flicked its ears and another cat approached. After taking a rabbit from the cat’s mouth, Tiklaus flicked its ears and the other cat backed away. Tiklaus set the rabbit at the feet of Pietas and nudged it toward him.

He went down on one knee. “You hunted for me?”

The panther butted his chest, then looked back at the third cat. When it joined them, Tiklaus took the prey that cat carried and waited until it backed away. Once it had, Tiklaus swiped one massive paw at the pod and placed the second rabbit beside the first.

Gratitude swamped Pietas. It took a full minute before he trusted himself to speak. “And for my mother. Thank you. How you honor me!” He tapped a fist over his heart. “You have no idea how much I appreciate what you’ve done. I’d like to pet you, but I respect that you might not like to be touched. If I may, nudge my right hand. If not, please nudge the left.” He held them both out.

Tiklaus chose the right side and Pietas petted it.

Pretosia streaked past them and out of the cave.

While Pietas stroked the sleek back of the massive panther, the smaller Pretosia wandered back inside and sat down. It licked one paw and started cleaning its face.

“How was breakfast?” Pietas started to offer his palm to the little cat, but checked himself. A soldier did not interfere with the troops of a different commander. “Tiklaus, may I pet Pretosia?”

The panther sneezed, which Pietas took for a yes. He held out his hand to the other cat and when it nudged him, he petted it and rubbed its ears. The animal flopped down on its back with no more dignity than a housecat. He rubbed its belly.

After a few moments of indulgence, Tiklaus stepped between them.

Pretosia stood and shook itself. With one leap, it landed beside his mother. Not a whisker went too close. The panther stretched out again and curled that long tail around Helia’s head, then set one paw across her legs.

Tiklaus turned and the other cats backed away. Once they had, Tiklaus licked Pietas on the face and rubbed its nose under his chin.

“Thank you.” He scratched the cat’s ears.

Without a sound, the panther turned and lumbered off, the other cats in tow.

To read this story for free until March 27th click the link http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI

Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire is a #FreeBook until Mar 27th #SciFi http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI Click To Tweet
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This is why humans do not deserve freedom #SciFi #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks

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Pietas knows what’s good for humans, and it’s not freedom. An excerpt from book one of the Bringer of Chaos series.

Humans deserve nothing

The leaders of his people gathered in sleep around him, sealed inside their curved, steel stasis tubes. Above him, humans waited for Pietas to enter the last one.

He folded his arms.

“Feast your eyes, vultures.” Pietas lifted his chin. “Humans are ruled, not obeyed. You think to imprison me? You think to bring me down like a hunted animal?” He spread his hands outward, indicating the 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 of humans above him contrasted with the bright light behind them. One by one, they slipped away, until a single silhouette remained.

“Fighting us accomplishes nothing.” The disembodied voice echoed in the chamber. “You won’t leave that room until you’re in stasis. Enter the pod or we’ll siphon the air, and let you die.”

“I’ve died countless times. I do not fear death. Death fears me.”

“So be it. Since you’re so set on dying, have it your way. I told you if you didn’t cooperate, I would detonate the bombs within the hostages you took aboard your ship. See for yourself.”

On the opposite wall, an image of the Uurahkal sparkled into life, and a bloom of light filled the screen. A mass of debris shot in all directions.

“Your crew has ceased to exist.”
Bringer of Chaos: Origin of Pietas. He must do what he detests. Trust a human... #SciFi #Pietas #SpaceOpera Click To Tweet “That image is a farce. You would not dare to destroy the council’s flagship, and you will not destroy the council. You humans are cowards. You lock us away in a barren room and threaten our people. This is why humans do not deserve freedom. You are worthless, miserable liars.”

“Believe me, your crew is quite dead. The universe is a safer place for it.”

“It will never be safe. Not for you.”

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What king is spooked by a lingering memory #Pietas #SciFi #MFRWhooks

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What king is spooked by a lingering memory #Pietas #SciFi #MFRWhooks @KayelleAllenIn this scene, Pietas is about to face his father, whom he detests on every level. The man was never more than a brutal drill instructor, and the dread inside Pietas at the thought of seeing him dredges up a painful, lingering memory. Six, who cannot avoid hearing Pietas’s thoughts, finds out why he dislikes the nickname “Pi.”

A Lingering Memory

Pietas put one persistent foot before the other. Rising tension stole the breath from his lungs but he soldiered on. His mother waited at camp.

So did his father.

An Ultra tackled what he most wanted to avoid. He did not seek to escape discomfort. Pain was a warrior’s ally. But knowing that, believing it, living it, did not stop the dread.

The past closed in on him. He sat alone in darkness. Entombed in silence. Surrounded by the acrid smell of musty, urine-soaked cloth and his own sweat. Trapped inside a dirt-covered cage, running out of air, with his father’s voice berating him.

“You made a stupid blunder on a simple number like pi. What is wrong with you? If you want out of there, recite pi to the thousandth place. Correctly. Start again, Pietas. From the beginning.”

He’d uttered the last number, struggling to push the sounds out of his mouth. When the cage opened and air whooshed in, he choked, unable to draw it in fast enough. Gasping, retching, he curled into a ball on the ground.

“Get up!” Mahikos hauled him to his feet. “You’re going to learn to hold your breath! What did I tell you? Ultras hold their breath ten times longer than you. You’re a pathetic excuse for a soldier.” He shook him. “How old are you?”

His neck hurt, but he didn’t dare complain. His father would make it worse. “Sir, ten, sir.”

“Ten. You act like you’re two. Stand up straight when I’m speaking to you.”

He drew himself up. “Sir, yes, sir.”

He smacked Pietas on the back of the head. “Pi. That’s what I’m going to call you when you make stupid mistakes from now on. Pi. You hear that? Your new name is Pi!”

“Pietas?”

At Joss’s voice, the sounds of the forest intruded, bringing him back to the present.

She peered at him. “Are you all right?”

The past whirled away like tattered ghost ships on the ebbing tide. His heart raced, throat dry. His fists ached from clenching them.

“Of course.” His beautiful telepath had overheard his thoughts, but his story was not new to her. He’d shared much of his past with Joss. He lifted her hand to his lips. “Let’s go. We’re almost there.”

As she turned away, Pietas inhaled, let it all out, drew in another breath. Some king he was. Spooked by a lingering memory he was unable to forget.

Six came up and walked beside him, head down. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Calling you Pi.” He looked up. “I had no idea.”

“Heard that, did you?” Pietas coughed into a fist, kept walking. “I don’t want you to stop. It will infuriate my father beyond measure when he hears you call me that”– He smiled at Six –“and I fail to flay you alive for taking such liberties.”

Ever have a lingering memory come to mind in your own life? Some linger because they’re pleasant, others are unforgettable because the horror of the moment is imprinted on our psyches. In the Bringer of Chaos series, Pietas is becoming the king half the galaxy fears. His road is not an easy one. Writing his story and sharing each lingering memory that shaped his life has been heartbreaking at times. Others have made me laugh out loud as I write them. Pietas is the most complex character I have ever written. He’s in nearly every book written within the universe he governs.

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt and will come back next week for another snippet.

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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.

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Friends can hear you thinking #MFRWhooks #SciFi #SpaceOpera

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With a close friend, you might actually say, “I can hear you thinking.” In this scene from Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, Pietas and Six have climbed a mountain and are almost at their destination. They’d walked for well over a month to get to this point. The two have relied on one another for survival, despite the fact that Pietas is an immortal Ultra and Six is–or was–human. They should have been mortal enemies, but fate has made them close friends. In fact, for reasons they don’t yet understand, Six has begun literally hearing Pietas’s thoughts.

I can hear you thinking

Friends can hear you thinking #MFRWhooks #SciFi #SpaceOpera @KayelleAllenLast to reach sunlight was Six, the ghost. Not a phantom or aetheric creature, but a member of Ghost Corps. A human who’d died and been resurrected by infusing his body with Ultra blood. Transformed into a quasi-immortal with enough strength to perma-kill Pietas or another immortal. And ironically, the closest friend Pietas had ever had in his entire unceasing, solitary life.

Without slowing his pace, Six skirted around Philippe, trudged up the hill toward Pietas and joined him atop the rocks. He, too, shielded his eyes.

He’d grown lean and ragged over the weeks they’d hiked the planet. Both of them had. No matter how much fish they caught, or what wild fruits they found, there was not enough to gain weight. Like Pietas, Six had no beard, a result of his transformation. His naturally brown skin had grown browner while they tramped in the sun. His dark hair had grown at a human pace and curled over his ears.

Pietas, who could not tan or sunburn, had grown blonder. He’d cut his hair not long after their arrival on Sempervia, but already, it hung halfway down his back. He wore it tied behind him to keep it out of his face.

“Pi, look at this view!”

The nickname irked. He’d asked Six to drop it, to no avail. My name is Pietas. It’s pronounced pee-ah-toss. He might not speak it aloud, but he had to say it. Not Pi. Pee-ah-toss.

“I can hear you thinking. You know that, right?”

Then you know what I’m thinking now.

“Same to you, Ultra. Besides, you call me Six. I call you Pi. Suits you.”

“Six is an integer. Pi is an irrational number.”

The man shot him a smile. “Like I said.”

Pietas rubbed the tight spot between his eyes.

“Hey! There’s the river.” Six pointed. “What a great vantage point this is. No wonder castles were always built on mountaintops. Talk about your uphill battle, no?”

How like his friend to view the humor in a situation. “True.”

“Rain’s coming.”

“Soon?”

“No.” The man bent, brushed his fingertips across tufts of yellowed grass among the rocks and plucked a handful. He tossed it into the air. “Dry. Possible rain doesn’t reach up here often. I give it two hours, amigo. Longer, depending on the wind.” He sniffed. “Smells different. This’ll be a bad one.”

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 in their pods and it’s up to Pietas to rescue them. Before he can save his people, 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…

Amazon and in print. Free on Kindle Unlimited 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.

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Who is the pet here? Pietas gets a panther “kitty” #SciFi #Pietas #MFRWhooks

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Who is the pet here? Pietas gets a panther "kitty" #SciFi #Pietas #MFRWhooksWhen Pietas is attacked from behind, the panther who’s been his shadow for months leaps into the frey and protects him. It costs the cat its life. But this panther is far more than what it seems. While Pietas watches, the cat revives and sits up, facing him. It’s as immortal as he is.
—

On the planet Kaffir, they had a word for loyal warrior. Pietas cupped the animal’s jaw, his face inches from the cat’s. “You answer to no man, but when I speak and think of you, I’ll call you Tiklaus.”

Tiklaus gave him a long, wet lick and nudged him before backing away. The panther made a huffing bark sound. From the group of cats, a smaller panther padded close, dropped and stretched out, belly up. With its nose, Tiklaus butted the cat. The smaller animal stood and came alongside Tiklaus. Side by side, the cat’s more noticeable rosette pattern showed, dark brown on black.

Six nudged Pietas. “What just happened?”

“Not sure. I get the sense they’re not mates.”

Tiklaus and the other panther walked toward the Ultras, who all backed away.

“Stand still.” Pietas raised one hand. “You’re not in danger.”

Leading the other cat, Tiklaus padded before the Ultras, pausing to sniff each one.

Pietas had hugged each of them. No doubt his scent remained.

Erryq went down on one knee as Tiklaus approached. “Hello, there.” She held out one hand and the panther put its nose in the center of it. Erryq stroked Tiklaus while the other cat sniffed her. Its breath ruffled the long red curls around her face. “That tickles.” She stroked the other cat.

Tiklaus moved past Erryq and headed for Helia and Dessy, the smaller cat keeping pace.

Helia remained at Dessy’s side. When Tiklaus approached them, his mother held down her hand. Dessy did the same. They stood still while the cats inspected them.

The smaller cat sat beside Helia and wrapped its tail around her feet.

Tiklaus trotted toward Six, who backed away.

“No.” Pietas held onto him. “Let the cat smell you.”

The cat snuffled Six’s legs, walked around him, and then did one more revolution, dragging its tail along him.

“Marking you, ghost. You’ve been accepted.”

Tiklaus plopped down between them, wrapped its long tail around Pietas’s legs and leaned against his thigh.

Six whistled. “I can’t tell if you just got a pet or became one.”

Awww... Pietas gets a panther 'kitty' #SciFi #MFRWhooks Click To Tweet

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.
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Blink twice if you hear me, ghost #MFRWhooks #MFRWauthor #SciFi

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In this scene, Six, member of the Ghost Corps (a human resurrected with Ultra blood), has been taken hostage by Mahikos, Pietas’s father. Pietas and Joss have just found him.

Blink Twice

Blink twice if you hear me, ghost #MFRWhooks #MFRWauthor #SciFi“Are you looking for this?” The unmistakable voice of his father came to Pietas before the man’s faint outline revealed itself in the dark.

Mahikos had captured Six and pressed a knife blade to the ghost’s throat. At the point where the blade dug into him, blood oozed.

The blank passivity on his friend’s face revealed what Pietas had feared. Six had been compelled into submission by the psychic gifts Mahikos wielded. He would stand there and let the man kill him.

Rage propelled Pietas forward.

“That’s far enough, Son.” Mahikos dragged Six backward. “Unless you want your own hands covered in this human’s blood.”

Pietas ground his teeth. For this, his father would forfeit his life. “I will end you, old man.”

“Will you?” Mahikos dug the knife edge into Six’s neck. “You dared bring this abomination into our camp after it threatened your mother–the woman I love–and you want to end me? This thing is going to die by my hands!”

Time slowed to a crawl.

Pietas drew every vestige of Compulsion he had and threaded Chaos along its invisible bands. Mahikos was immune to both, but aligned, they might soften his will.

Wait. Immune. Immune!

That word rattled around his head, a stone bouncing off the sides of a bottomless metal pit.

Pietas had practiced compulsion, sending command after command to Six. The man was immune.

Six, blink twice if you hear me.

He gave two quick blinks.

How he treasured this man! Good job, ghost. You stalled him. If you’re hurt, blink once.

Six remained steady.

Excellent. I should never have left you. I’m sorry. On my mark, drop and get out of the way. Joss, go right. Distract him.

I serve. Her mindvoice packed the simple Ultra vow with raw emotion.

Now!

Joss screeched a war cry and bolted right.

Blink twice if you hear me, ghost #MFRWhooks #MFRWauthor #SciFi Click To Tweet

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 in their pods and it’s up to Pietas to rescue them. Before he can save his people, 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…
Amazon and in print. Free on Kindle Unlimited http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI

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.
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS

Posted in Blog Hop | Tagged , , , , , , , |