New releases
HARRY'S SACRIFICE (erotic; Resonance Mates #5) – Bianca D'Arc
Embracing the unexpected can lead to all sorts of adventures.
Resonance Mates, Book 5
The prophesied time has arrived and Harry—born of an alien mother and a human father—must journey to the top of the world to unlock a mysterious ship found trapped in an icy crevasse. A ship only someone of Harry’s bloodline can open.
Roshin, a young Alvian scribe, is sent to record events as they unfold. Beneath her remote, icy beauty, Harry feels an unwanted hum of attraction. He has always dreamed of a warm, giving relationship with a human. Not a cold, emotionless Alvian.
Then there’s Cormac, an Alvian officer sent to head the expedition. When all three are trapped inside the vessel, Harry is confronted with an unexpected dilemma—cling to his dream of a human bond, or answer the call of fate and form a lifelong alliance with not just one, but two aliens.
Warning: Harry’s all grown up and ready for action—with not one but two Alvians. Theirs could be a permanent ménage relationship that will resonate in your heart long after the last page is turned.
THE OPHELIA PROPHECY – Sharon Lynn Fisher
Our world is no longer our own. We
engineered a race of superior fighters - the Manti, mutant humans with
insect-like abilities. Twenty-five years ago they all but destroyed us. In
Sanctuary, some of us survive. Eking out our existence. Clinging to the
past.
Some of us intend to do more than survive.
Asha and Pax - strangers and enemies - find themselves stranded together on the border of the last human city, neither with a memory of how they got there.
Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity’s most valuable resource - information - viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society.
Pax is Manti, his Scarab ship a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, keeping the last dregs of humanity in check.
Neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie.
With their hearts and fates on a collision course, they must unlock each other's secrets and forge a bond of trust before a rekindled conflict pushes their two races into repeating the mistakes of the past.
Some of us intend to do more than survive.
Asha and Pax - strangers and enemies - find themselves stranded together on the border of the last human city, neither with a memory of how they got there.
Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity’s most valuable resource - information - viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society.
Pax is Manti, his Scarab ship a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, keeping the last dregs of humanity in check.
Neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie.
With their hearts and fates on a collision course, they must unlock each other's secrets and forge a bond of trust before a rekindled conflict pushes their two races into repeating the mistakes of the past.
Dr. Eos Rai has spent a lifetime dedicated to her mother’s dream of finding the long lost Mona Lisa. When Eos uncovers tantalizing evidence of Star’s End—the last known location of the masterpiece—she’s shocked when her employer, the Galactic Institute of Historic Preservation, turn its back on her. Left with no choice, Eos must trust the most notorious treasure hunter in the galaxy; a man she finds infuriating, annoying and far too tempting.
Dathan Phoenix can sniff out relics at a stellar mile. With his brothers by his side, he takes the adventures that suit him and refuses to become a lazy, bitter failure like his father. When the gorgeous Eos Rai comes looking to hire him, he knows she’s trouble, but he’s lured into a hunt that turns into a wild and dangerous adventure. As Eos and Dathan are pushed to their limits, they discover treasure isn’t the only thing they’re drawn to…but how will their desire survive when Dathan demands the Mona Lisa as his payment?
EVOLUTION:
ANGEL (New Adult superhero) - S.A. Huchton
Candace Bristol has always been obsessed with comic books, but in a world where the nightly news often mirrors these inked stories, her dreams of becoming a real superhero could actually come true. After being rescued by members of the government’s AdvaNced Genetic EvoLution (ANGEL) Project four years ago, getting recruited for this elite team is all she’s wanted.
Now 18, she’s finally reached her goal after years of study and physical training, but little could have prepared her for life as a genetic experiment. As though coming to terms with her new ability to manipulate water isn’t tough enough, she never expected to be swept off her feet by one of her fellow recruits.
With genetic alteration, the threat of physical and mental instability hangs over every superhero like a shadow. When one of their own tumbles over the edge of madness, Candace will have to choose between protecting the world, and saving the one who holds her heart.
[edited to add Eva LeFoy title 3/5/14]
DOWNLOAD MY LOVE (erotic; android romance) - Eva LeFoy
Security Core agent Everett is assigned a special case—protect the daughter of Simon Gold, the father of modern mechanoid life. To ensure her survival, Everett’s given a special EMO upgrade, and can experience love for the first time. He’s soon head over heels and the super-charged sexual attraction threatens to fry his circuits while he fights to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.
Samantha Gold detests her father’s work. She’s an off-the-grid back-to-lander who wants to keep life simple with her cows and her crops. When her father dies and inadvertently transfers a secret code to a hidden receptor in her brain, it’s only android Agent Everett who can protect her. Can she ever forgive her father for creating Everett—a man so perfect for her that he even loves her cows?
Read the excerpt.
WAR'S END (The Reunion Trilogy #1) – Imogene Nix
Forced apart by war five years ago, Renjiro and Selina have another chance at love. Can they make it work or does fate have other plans?
Without the citizenship of the Federation, Indy pilot Selina Codecko is treated like a second-class citizen. When she gets caught up in a bar brawl she's arrested and finds herself in the hands of the Justice Officers.
Renjiro Ito has dreamed of Selina for five long years. As the Commander of the Justice Officers, the plight of this one woman will turn his life upside down.
But there's more going on than just the fate of one woman—there's a seething underbelly that wants to destroy their newly expanded Federation. The chances of a future together are slim, but they'll take any chances that come their way. Will it be enough?
SpecFic
'13 to include sci-fi romance article
Thea and Ana of The Book Smugglers are the editors for
2013's Speculative
Fiction: The Best Online Reviews, Essays, and Commentary, "a
collection that celebrates the best in online Science Fiction and Fantasy
non-fiction."
They recently announced
the list of contributors, which includes author Diane Dooley (MAKO'S BOUNTY). Ms.
Dooley's contribution will be the hilarious post she wrote for TGE called Mars
Needs Women? Too Bad!
Congratulations, Ms. Dooley!
Useful
worldbuilding resource
Io9 posted an interesting article
called The
Worst Blunders People Make in Inventing Fictional Alien Worlds. Researching
can be fun and easy!
New
publisher alert
Via Erotic
Romance, I discovered a Publishers
Weekly article about Brown
Girls Publishing. Seems like they'd be open to science fiction romance featuring
diverse characters:
Brown Girls Publishing is committed to providing an avenue for fan favorites and fresh voices to publish their work. We are always in search of new, unpublished QUALITY writing. We accept submissions from all genres, except poetry, erotica and illustrated children's books. Unagented submissions welcome.
Author
interviews
Veronica Scott (ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE) has a new gig writing about sci-fi and fantasy romances for the USA Today Romance blog! Her debut column features an interview with S.E. Smith, author of HUNTER'S CLAIM.
At the time of this post, HUNTER'S CLAIM had 175 reviews. According to the article, HUNTER'S CLAIM recently shot to #1 "for books and Kindle SFR."
Paranormal Unbound features an interview with S.E. Gilchrist (STAR PIRATE'S JUSTICE):
At the time of this post, HUNTER'S CLAIM had 175 reviews. According to the article, HUNTER'S CLAIM recently shot to #1 "for books and Kindle SFR."
Paranormal Unbound features an interview with S.E. Gilchrist (STAR PIRATE'S JUSTICE):
Sci-fi romance – especially erotic sci-fi romance – is a big seller right now, and Aussie author SE Gilchrist is writing cool, sexy space opera romance with lashings of high adventure. And, y’know. HOT DUDES. As well as some scorching fantasy romance on the side. A multi-talented lady!
Wow, between the review numbers for HUNTER'S CLAIM and the news that SFR "is a big seller right now," I do believe this genre is poised to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!! :p
SFR Brigade presents Meet
the #Author Monday: Melisse Aires:
What inspired you to write this particular story?: I wanted to write an SFR story with a more ‘traditional’ feminine heroine—not a bounty hunter or soldier. A character without a lot of training or any type of super power.who seems weak--but who still manages to attain what she wants most.
Key word, of course, being
"seems." Strength comes in all shapes and sizes!
SFR
or Not SFR?
A thoughtful Galaxy Express passenger alerted
me about BROKEN by Cedric Johnson and Veronica Giguere. I reached out to
Mr. Johnson through his Facebook
page to ask if BROKEN would have appeal to sci-fi romance readers, but
unfortunately I haven't heard back. Does anyone know if this book has a
romance/romance subplot that would place the book under the SFR umbrella?
Here's the blurb:
The city of Charlton is a city divided: Upper Charlton, where the rich and powerful work and play, and Charlton Terrace, where the poor are kept from crossing the ever-widening economic gap by corporate dynasties controlling the flow of capital, their security firms controlling the city police, and numerous gangs controlling the streets.
Miranda Garren has a chance of escaping the Terrace's oppression and making a new life for herself with the help of an old family friend and his plans for advanced medical technology. Criofan Byrne is the city's favorite son, champion of the local boxing circuit and heir to a corporate empire. Their separate worlds are brought together and destroyed around them in a single night by the leader of the Cabezas de Muerte gang, who will stop at nothing in order to make a name for himself in Upper Charlton.
Forced into using the experimental
prosthetic technology Miranda had been working on, Criofan must put aside
everything he knew of his privileged existence and work with Miranda. Together,
they must find a way to escape the machinations of the cruel, vindictive gang
leader, the life he's thrust them into, each other and themselves—and reclaim
control of what remains of their lives.
***
The authors are also releasing BROKEN via podcast
and it's currently up to episode 9.
Can
authors of SFR attract more readers by improving their craft?
At Spacefreighters Lounge, Donna S.
Frelick discusses When
I Stop Reading, And Why:
She also raises issues of POV, pacing, and length. Whether you agree or disagree, there's lots of food for thought.I’ve been reading a fair amount of SFR lately, and the Number One killer of SFR stories, like their SF counterparts, is backstory, oodles of it, in info dumps of epic proportions in the beginning of the book. This passes for “worldbuilding”. Stop. Let me discover the world your characters inhabit, little by little, not all at once. Show me, don’t tell me. And, by the way, the omniscient third POV was last used to good effect by Charles Dickens. Or maybe Somerset Maugham. You can’t talk about this character and that character on board a ship as if you are God introducing them to the reader. Do it for yourself and keep it in your Notes file. Leave it there.
Superhero
steampunk variants just for fun!
Another Galaxy Express passenger sent
me a link to cool images of
superhero steampunk variants. My favorite is Aquaman. What's yours?
For more sci-fi romance news, opinion
pieces, a steampunk romance short story, and more, download your free copy of Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly #2!
Now I turn the mike over to you. Got
any science fiction romance news/links to share?
Joyfully yours,
Heather