THE FIRESTORM CONSPIRACY (romantic SF) - Cheryl Angst
One conspiracy. Two reluctant heroes. A meeting that will alter the fate of billions of lives…
On long-term leave from the UESF, Fleet Commander John Thompson is drifting through life until an old war buddy-turned-politician swoops in and shatters his carefully constructed illusion of contentment. In fewer than fifteen minutes, John’s worries go from avoiding the attentions of a professor with marital baggage to saving the human race - again.
Done with ships, and space, and fighting wars, John insists on maintaining his civilian persona for the duration of the mission. However, adjusting to life on board a warship proves more complicated than he imagined. John is horrified to discover he actually enjoys aspects of a journey he thought would be hell.
Of course, anything that seems too good to be true always is. A disaster with a quantum generator vaporizes nine crewmembers—including the captain and executive officer. In addition, his secret is blown out an airlock when Diplomatic Officer Rebeccah Santiago gains access to his confidential records.
With the mission on the line, John must decide: refuse to take command of the Firestorm and jeopardize the operation by allowing someone unqualified to take over, or take command and go against every vow he made after the war.
Oh, and save humanity while he’s at it.
ENEMY GAMES – Marcella Burnard
Kidnapped while combating a devastating plague, Jayleia Durante fights to resist the attractive Major Damen Sindrivik, an officer from a rival government’s spy corps. But with her spymaster father missing, and mercenaries hot on her trail, Jayleia must join forces with the magnetic, charming and manipulative spy. She must see past her desire and remember that his single-minded agenda is for the protection of the empire - not her or her people.
Damen knows a shadowy network of traitors has allied with the violent Chekydran, and that Jayleia’s father holds the key to dismantling that web. She becomes his only lead in a circuitous round of hide and seek and despite their opposing sides, he can’t resist her. Too bad his instincts tell him Jayleia is lying to him.
Now Jayleia and Damen must find the love to match their passion and end the war or they’ll become the prey of the traitors they stalk, and one species’ civil war will consume the galaxy.
TABOO (re-release) - Leslie Dicken
When two strangers meet by chance, their shared ecstasy challenges cultural differences and changes the course of their future.Two societies have lived apart on a remote planet for generations. At the top of the Dwelling live the Aerotaun, people who have built wings to help them fly. The bottom is occupied by the Marimar, hearty swimmers who live and feed by the sea. Because of the mystery surrounding their ancestors’ landing, suspicions and distrust thrive between the cultures.
Until a taboo encounter occurs on an isolated beach.
Ariana, an Aerotaun, cannot resist the seductive allure of the forbidden Andreus. Their few days alone ignite sexual exploration and uninhibited ecstasy. But when Ariana finally learns the shocking secret about their purpose on the planet, she must decide if her heart belongs with her people or the sexy Marimar.
BLUE GALAXY – Diane DooleyJavan Rhodes, the hard-drinking, disreputable captain of space freighter The Kypris, took a mission to save himself from hitting the bottom of the food chain. Transporting Sola, a beautiful young aristocrat, from Earth to an unknown destination on the outer rim of the colonies is lucrative, but also highly illegal.
As tough as it is to evade both the law and the lawless, the hardest part of the job is not falling in love with his irresistible cargo. Just as he decides that he will never be able to hand her over to the warlord she must marry, he discovers that Sola has been playing a very dangerous game—one that could not only cost them their lives, but could also affect the balance of power in an increasingly dangerous universe.
THE LAST WARRIOR (lost colony/historical fantasy) - Susan GrantAs a decorated soldier, the young General Tao knows only one kind of honor -- to his people. But when his own king betrays him, he discovers that his sacrifices, his successes, may not have been for the good of the country at all.
Fate -- and his enemies -- throw him together with Elsabeth, a red-haired beauty who has served as the royal tutor, though her loyalties remain with her father's people, the rebellious Kurel, who worship the old ways, even harboring the forbidden arks that brought their people to this planet ages ago. When a threat greater than their peoples' wars looms, intent on destroying the world they both know, the fierce warrior and the sensitive scholar must unite. Together, they must fight for their planet, for their world, and for their love.
IT HAD TO BE YUU (comedic SFR) - Ilene Kaye
Only space survey pilot Audra Marin's childhood playmate could manage to get himself kidnapped on a planet experiencing its worst winter ever and not even know it. When she gets him home alive, she’ll make him pay. Only corporate heir-apparent Yuu Ra-Dezan's old playmate could stumble into the middle of his embezzlement investigation and complicate matters with her sharp tongue and hot kisses. “She’s my fiancée” seems like a harmless cover story at the time…
While his host’s artificially intelligent robots hold them at blaster-point, Yuu and Audra trip over each other to foil a plot to steal the fastest ship in the galaxy. The only piracy these two will accept is stealing each others’ hearts.
KORVAL'S GAME (omnibus; re-release) - Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Plan B: Val Con yos’Phelium is a fugitive. The heir of Clan Korval is wanted by the covert Liaden agency known as the Department of the Interior, whose rulers have declared unofficial war against the entire clan. With only his love, Miri Robertson, by his side, Val Con plans a desperate gamble by forming an alliance with Clan Erob on the planet where Miri was born.But Val Con’s cousin, Shan yos’Galan, can’t wait for help that may never arrive. With enemy agents closing in, he invokes Plan B—setting in motion a series of events that will have dire consequences, not only for him and his life-mate, Priscilla Mendoza, but all of Liad . . .
I Dare: On the run from the agents of the Department of the Interior, Val Con has been separated from Miri. Shan, Val Con’s cousin, and Shan’s life-mate Priscilla, continue to search for him, believing that he’s the Clan’s last hope for survival.
But the DOI is attacking Clan Korval in a more subtle fashion. Pat Rin yos’Phelium—Val’s ne’er-do-well, nearly identical cousin, gambler and shooter—is offered control of the clan. The DOI believes they can manipulate him into serving their agenda.
They’re wrong . . .
OVERLORD (The Fringe, Book 2) - Anitra Lynn McLeod
His planet is his prison…and only she can set him free.
Remarkably Average Mary exudes an intoxicating scent that Michael can't quite puzzle out, even with his unique ability. As long as she remains bound and blindfolded, he has the advantage—and the bonus of tormenting the bane of his existence.Mary's deceptively innocent face has never failed her. Yet somehow she's at the mercy of a man she knows only as "Commander". His demands are simple. Surrender her methods of banditry, or surrender her body. As his essence invades her intuitive ability—and her remaining senses—she becomes increasingly frantic to escape before she yields all that and more to her compelling captor.
Their sensual sparring ignites, and Michael finds himself wanting to erase Overlord's myth from her fantasies in favor of the real man. But first he has to foil the slippery little devil's escape attempts. And find out who's been using her to unknowingly help the empire wipe him off the face of his own planet.
Warning: This futuristic medieval contains a planet-owning alpha hero, a feisty heroine who can swear in over thirty languages, a side-kick with a crackleseed addiction, witty repartee, epic space battles, sensual karate, and tight black leather pants.
SEEING STARS - Erotic SFR anthology from Total-E-Bound
Featured stories:
“Bodies of Light” by Lisabet Sarai
“Bodies of Light” by Lisabet Sarai
Love travels faster than light
Physicist Dr. Christine Monroe has devoted her lonely life to research on hyper-space travel. Her continued failure leads her to sign on to the Archimedes, a sub-light-speed mission aimed at establishing a colony in the Sirius B system. Waking from suspended animation, she discovers that the ship is wildly off course and the rest of the crew are dead due to equipment failure.
At first she thinks the two handsome strangers who show up on the ship are figments of her imagination - erotic hallucinations created by isolation and stress. However, Alyn and Zed are solid, real, and ready to sacrifice their lives for the strong woman they've found stranded in deep space. As her ship begins to disintegrate, Christine must choose between the planet she was sent to save and the two alien beings she's come to cherish.
“The Sevarian Way” by Justine Elyot
In space, no-one can hear you scream. So you can spank as hard as you like.
Commander Azed Paul and Ensign Suka Demontel are space anthropologists in a future civilisation where kink is illegal. Both have learned to repress their natural sexuality, but Suka's undergraduate work on the ancient practice of BDSM has captured Paul's professional attention, and his less academic interest too.
This makes her the perfect crew member to accompany him to the surface of Paladium Three, a dead planet where old-fashioned service and discipline were woven into the fabric of life.
There might not be any life forms left there, but what Paul and Suka discover is fascinating evidence of a culture that both realise might have suited them very well...
The temptation to experiment, risk-free, with the kinks they have been denied all their adult lives, proves too much for the space explorers and they give their fantasies free rein.
But will this be a unique, never-to-be-repeated experience, or will Paul and Suka find a means to fully embrace the Sevarian Way?
“Europa, Europa” by KS Augustin
The Company appreciates its genetically modified humans...as long as they don't get any smart ideas.
Salvia is a genetically modified human, at home in the oceans of Jupiter's moon, Europa. Intelligent, young, lonely, she demands that the mysterious "company" that employs her send a companion or she'll never work for them again. With no choice, the company creates Rhus, a young brash male. But a relationship that begins with mistrust ends up forging deep links between the pair and they look forward to a happy life together.
Unfortunately, Salvia's tactic of holding the company to ransom was not well received. While they may have introduced Rhus to Europa, the company are mulling over other options. Options that include the very real possibility of death for Salvia. Or Rhus. Or both.
“Star Struck” by Buffi BeCraft
Smart girls know two things. Don't pick up hitch-hikers and avoid dangerous men.
Down-on-her-luck trader captain, Drew Roberts' fascination for dangerous men is equal to her need for a crew. When the sexy alien kith pair, Ashwin and Kormec wanders onto her ship with the offer of passage for repairs, she knows trouble is not far behind. But a girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do.
On the run, Ashwin and Kormec, know that the best way to avoid a political marriage is one of another kind. Is Drew Roberts "the one" for them? Can she survive an encounter with Ashwin's mother, the fierce Captain Larissa? The three of them may generate enough heat to power a sun, but question is, will they survive it?
“To Bed A Goddess” by Lizzie Lynn Lee
Sometimes, a Goddess is more human than a human is...
Chosen by Gods and cursed by fate, Amaranth, the sacred virgin of the Sun Temple, is destined to consort the ruthless warlord Shanrakhan, as his war prize. But before Shanrakhan could take her virginity, his enemies kidnap Amaranth and pierce her heart with the Star of Hecave, an ancient amulet that freezes her in a dreamless slumber for thousands of years...
Graeme Darin, an ex-admiral of Imperial Arcova Fleet is on the run when he realises the ship he and his crew stole carries a secret archaeological relic--a tomb of a fabled goddess. Out of curiosity, Graeme removes the amulet. To his surprise, the cold body of the goddess springs back to life.
With the Imperial Armada on their tail, Graeme faces problematic dilemmas between keeping his crew safe and his growing attraction to Amaranth. But can a mortal man resist a Goddess' seduction?
“Captain Kate” by Sophie Angmering
Captain Kate Thorn makes a habit of bending the rules to suit her purposes, but then she meets two men who simply break them to get what they want.
Captain Katherine Thorn has one of the toughest reputations in the Galaxy Elite Fleet. Her problems start when she mistakes two powerful diplomats for Rim pirates, and attempts to ensure their silence regarding their rescue by using sexual blackmail.
But Kate has never come across anyone like these two men before, two men who are prepared to use every method at their disposal to ensure payback, and they want to get her back in their power and in their bed.
Author interview
Hero Javan Rhodes from Diane Dooley’s BLUE GALAXY interviews his creator. Oy, and it’s all downhill from there:
Rhodes: Is there any truth to the rumor that the writing of this book was influenced by you gorging yourself on trashy romance novels featuring gratuitously wealthy Greek tycoons?
Dooley: Absolutely not!
Rhodes: I submit this evidence, taken from your own bookshelves: The Fabulous Greek Tycoon’s Secret Mistress, The Greek Bazillionaire’s Virgin Wife, The Filthy Rich Greek’s British Slutwhore, The....
Dooley: Those are my husband’s books! I swear!
Steampunk romance news
DAW’s steampunk romance anthology will release in June. Here’s the cover and a description of the anthology (Via LivLovLife Reviews):
From the co-editor of Steampunk'd comes an all-new collection of adventure and romance amid Victorian steampunk settings. Sparks fly in these original stories of a steam-driven airship searching for a lost city, a crazy inventor in a powered wheelchair with a plot to take over the world, and a love story set in an alternate history version of America. Adventure abounds in these stories of love, loss, and danger- and there is plenty of steam!
Kind of a meh cover, but I’m not about to let that stop me!
Better late than never: Carina Press hosted a Steampunk Week recently with articles by a few of their authors:
Tic-Tok of Oz, or What Turned Me on to Robots by Bonnie Dee
The Way It Should Have Been; by Robert Appleton
Steampunk + Romance = Love by Christine Danse
Also in steampunk romance news, I have confirmation about another forthcoming steampunk anthology that will contain at least two steampunk romance stories. Full details coming soon!
Smart Girls Love SciFi & Paranormal Romance features Lilly Cain’s erotic sci-fi romance ALIEN REVEALED.
At Spacefreighters Lounge, Donna S. Frelick, Sharon Lynn Fisher, and Laurie A. Green are taking readers through a day in the life of an SFR writer.
Support “Kids Need To Read” With YA SFR
Ebook reviewer needed
LovLivLife Reviews is in search of an ebook reviewer. This is an SFR-friendly review site, so if you’re interested, contact Chasity.
Have any SFR news or links to share? Hit me up!
Joyfully yours,
Heather