The portrait - excerpt from Lure by the Lion for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m posting another excerpt from my new Sci-Fi Romance, Lured by the Lion. This story is part of a new series, Second Chances in Space, with standalone stories about space pirates, spies and second chances for romance.

Relevant background: Josie, a taser-toting captain of a small spacecraft, was delivering a vase to her aunt when she rescues a frightened young woman from a gang of bullies. She offers to walk to the woman’s home and discovers that Penelope is a school friend of her younger sister. Josie meets her father, Leonardo Horlis, a widower still mourning his deceased wife. The Horlises invite Josie for lunch next day.

You can read last week’s excerpt at: https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-grieving-widower-excerpt-from-lured.html

I’ve skipped the next chapter where Josie delivers the valuable vase to her aunt. Here, Josie has arrived for lunch with Penelope and Leonardo Horlis and meets Penelope at the door. This excerpt introduces a conflict.

Josie stepped into the hallway and looked around, curious about their home. The hallway ran the full length of the building with two doors on either side wall and a glass door at the farther end. Coat hooks were mounted on one wall next to a mirror in an ornate frame of carved ebony wood. The life-size portrait of a woman hung on the wall opposite the mirror.

Penelope pointed at the portrait. “That’s Mama. Isn’t she beautiful?” 

The painting showed an ethereal lady with large brown eyes and a halo of blonde curls. Her rose-pink gown had the same high neckline and long sleeves as her daughter’s dress. Perhaps it was a style peculiar to the Felicines’ home planet.

Ten sentences plus a little more:

“Very lovely,” Josie agreed.

“I wish I were beautiful.” Penelope sighed and shook her head. “I’ll never be as beautiful as Mama.”

Scrutinizing her forlorn face, Josie felt compelled to encourage the modest girl without being untruthful. “Perhaps not. I think you look charming. And, if you wore your hair like your mama’s loose curls it would frame your pretty eyes.”

“Do you think such a style would improve my looks?”

“Undoubtedly.” Privately, Josie thought the girl’s sweet smile was her greatest asset.

Pursing her lips in thought, Penelope withdrew her gaze from her mother’s portrait to look at the glass door at the end of the hallway. “We should join Tata on the patio. He’s waiting for us.”

Josie laughed. “And for his lunch, I’m sure.” As she walked along the corridor, the mother’s luminous gaze seemed to follow her. Suppressing a shudder, she wondered if the dead woman’s specter haunted the house and disturbed its occupants. 

Widow with a spaceship meets widower with a dangerous secret.

After the death of her ailing father, Jocelyn Navarre Yazzie is free to roam the galaxy in the Star Condor, the spacecraft she inherited from her deceased husband. She embarks on a trip to deliver her father’s bequest to her aunt on a rural planet outside the civilized sectors.

A chance encounter with the crippled Leonardo Horlis changes her future. Horlis suffers from a debilitating malady and expects to live for less than a year. Josie is strongly attracted to him, yet she cannot hope to compete with his beautiful dead wife, whose portrait dominates his house and his memories. Sympathizing with his grief and illness, Josie offers to transport him in her spaceship to the top medical center of the ultracivilized inner planets.

Their attraction intensifies in the cramped quarters of her spaceship. But, Leo has a dangerous secret that threatens to terminate their voyage and their lives. Can Josie and Leo escape the perils and vanquish the ghosts of their past to find happiness together?

You can pre-order Lured by the Lion for release on the 30^th at Amazon  iBooks  B&N  Kobo  GooglePlay  Other

 

The first book in this new series, Captured by the Hawk, is a fun and fast-paced space opera. An intrepid Irish spy is captured by the notorious space pirate, Captain Hawk, a widower with a tragic secret. 

Discounted to 99c at Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N  GooglePlay

 

I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

 

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.

 

 

The grieving widower - Excerpt from Lured by the Lion for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m posting the next excerpt from my new Sci-Fi Romance. This story will be the second in a new series, Second Chances in Space. This series will have standalone stories with space pirates, spies and second chances for romance.

Last week, the widowed heroine, Josie Navarre Yazzie, met Leonardo Damocles Horlis, a grieving widower with a lame leg and a 22-year old daughter, Penelope.

You can read the excerpt at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-crippled-lion-excerpt-for-wewriwa-and.html

We continue directly from last week.

She returned his warm smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.”

After pressing her hand again, he released her. His expression reverted to the sad, haunted look, which seemed habitual to him. This aura of grieving tugged at Josie’s sympathy. She also knew the misery of losing a beloved spouse.

Penelope took her father’s forearm, saying, “Josie is Annabelle’s sister.”

His brows compressed. “Annabelle?” 

“Don’t you remember Annabelle Navarre, my friend from Summerfield Academy on Saffeen?”

Ten sentences plus a little more:

“We did not meet, although I remember you talking about her.” His gaze switched to Josie. “Mistress Yazzie, what may I ask are you doing in this godforsaken town?”

“I’m visiting a relative, my Aunt Gabrielle. Her lodgings are on Wardle Lane, two streets north of here.” She glanced at the sky where the sun was dipping toward the hilltops. “In fact, I ought to be going there. She expects me for dinner.”

“Josie,” Penelope interrupted, “I’d love to see you again.” Her voice rose in a plea, “Won’t you come to visit us?”

“Penelope,” her father said in a gentle tone, “She might have other plans.”

“My aunt invited me to stay for several days,” Josie said. “I’d be glad to visit you.”

“You could come for lunch.” Mister Horlis sounded as keen as his daughter for the visit.

“Oh, yes,” Penelope agreed. “We can sit outside on the patio. The garden is lovely on a sunny day.”

Josie smiled at their eagerness. “Sure. How about tomorrow?” 

After arranging the time, she said goodbye.

Penelope smiled.

Mister Horlis clasped her hand, conveying his gratitude by his warm pressure. “We look forward to your visit.”

Space opera and second chance romance with a moody hero and pirates.

After the death of her ailing father, Jocelyn Navarre Yazzie is free to roam the galaxy in the Star Condor, the spacecraft she inherited from her deceased husband. She embarks on a trip to deliver her father’s bequest to her aunt on a rural planet outside the civilized sectors.

A chance encounter with the crippled Leonardo Horlis changes her future. Horlis suffers from a debilitating malady and expects to live for less than a year. Josie is strongly attracted to him, yet she cannot hope to compete with his beautiful dead wife, whose portrait dominates his house and his memories. Sympathizing with his grief and illness, Josie offers to transport him in her spaceship to the top medical center of the ultracivilized inner planets.

Their attraction intensifies in the cramped quarters of her spaceship. But, unexpected perils threaten to tear them apart and terminate their voyage. Can Josie and Leo escape the dangers and vanquish the ghosts of their past to find happiness together?

You can pre-order Lured by the Lion for release on the 30^th at Amazon  iBooks  B&N  Kobo  GooglePlay  Other

 

The first book in this new series, Captured by the Hawk, is a fun and fast-paced space opera originally published in 2014. 

An intrepid Irish spy is captured by the notorious space pirate, Captain Hawk, a widower with a tragic secret. 

Discounted to 99c at Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N  GooglePlay

 

I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

 

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.

 

A Crippled Lion - excerpt for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

Sorry, I had to miss last week because the internet was too spotty at the place we were staying. This week, I’m happy to announce that my new SciFi novella is coming up for pre-order and releases at the end of March. Instead of continuing from previous snippets, I’ll jump ahead so you can meet the future romantic lead. First, here’s the title and blurb.

Lured by the Lion

Space opera and second chance romance with a moody hero and pirates.

After the death of her ailing father, Jocelyn Navarre Yazzie is free to roam the galaxy in the Star Condor, the spacecraft she inherited from her deceased husband. She embarks on a trip to deliver her father’s bequest to her aunt on a rural planet outside the civilized sectors.

A chance encounter with the crippled Leonardo Horlis changes her future. Horlis suffers from a debilitating malady and expects to live for less than a year. Josie is strongly attracted to him, yet she cannot hope to compete with his beautiful dead wife, whose portrait dominates his house and his memories. Sympathizing with his grief and illness, Josie offers to transport him in her spaceship to the top medical center of the ultracivilized inner planets.

Their attraction intensifies in the cramped quarters of her spaceship. But, unexpected perils threaten to tear them apart and terminate their voyage. Can Josie and Leo escape the dangers and vanquish the ghosts of their past to find happiness together?

In my earlier excerpt, Josie and her crew launched from her home world to travel to the planet of Wick’s Paradise (see https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2022/02/liftoff-excerpt-from-my-new-sci-fi.html).

Relevant Background: Leo Horlis is not a lion shifter, although he has the characteristic thick cat-like fur of the Felicine race.

Josie has arrived in the principal town of Wicksport and she is walking to her aunt’s house to deliver the valuable vase. On the way, she rescues a young woman from a gang of bullies. As Josie escorts Penelope Horlis to her home, the girl discloses that her father has been in low spirits since his wife died.

The story is in Josie’s perspective.

As they walked up to the house, the door swung open and a man stepped onto the stoop. A tall man with a dour visage and shaggy rust-red hair. His clothes were a funereal black that emphasized his broad shoulders and firm chest. His short-sleeved shirt exposed muscular arms covered in dense brown hair from his biceps to his wrists. He leaned on a stout wooden stick.

“Tata.” Penelope ran to embrace him.

“Penelope, what has delayed you?” His deep, gravelly voice quivered with anxiety.

Nine lines plus a little more:

“I got lost and strayed into a mite of trouble.” Indicating Josie, she said, “Josie rescued me from a gang of bullies. She chased off the brutes. She’s so brave.”

Mister Horlis stared at Josie. His frown lifted, his brown eyes brightened, and his gaze lingered on her face. A smile warmed his gloomy visage.

His charming smile stirred a flare of attraction in her, surprisingly intense, the strongest she had felt since losing Jim. Despite the grief engraved on his face, her interest in Horlis deepened.

Seizing her cue, she stepped forward, holding out her hand to greet him. “Jocelyn Navarre Yazzie. I’m glad to help.”

He hooked his cane over his elbow and grasped her hand in both of his, a firmer and warmer greeting than she had expected. Short brown curls covered the backs of his large hands. A distinctive ring gleamed on the index finger of his left hand, a wide gold band inset with a large ruby. He growled, “Leonardo Damocles Horlis. I am deeply grateful to you for leading my daughter safely home.”

His name fitted the man. His unruly mane of hair, short beard, and broad shoulders gave him a leonine appearance. Yet, he was a crippled lion supported by a cane and suffering from the loss of his mate.

 Lured by the Lion is available for pre-order at Amazon  iBooks  B&N 

I’ll be happy to reply to your comments. 

If you’re in the mood for reading, you can find more than 140 Super Free Science Fiction and Fantasy eBooks at https://pattyjansen.com/pages/sff-promo-main/

These books are free at retailers for the five days of the promotion from 12-16^th of March. I can highly recommend many of these books and authors. The collection includes my books, Europa and Grand Master’s Pawn.  

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

 

Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.

 

Star Wars, SciFi and Fantasy Books for March

 

Mar 1-31: Star Wars Fan Giveaway - https://clcannon.net/giveaways/starwarsfan

 

Mar 1-31: Superhero Sale – https://books.bookfunnel.com/superherosale/a1hlc32xq8 

 

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