Book Review, Song Inspiration and Giveaway Link: Shrouded by Frances Pauli

This is a marvelous Sci Fi romance full of action and intrigue!
Shrouded
by Frances Pauli

• File Size: 710 KB
• Print Length: 203 pages
• Publisher: Zharmae; First Edition edition (November 20, 2013)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• ASIN: B00GTB3IO4

Genre: Sci Fi Romance
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Book Description:
Vashia’s father is the planetary governor. Unfortunately, he’s also a complete bastard. When he promises her to his lackey, Jarn, she panics. On the run in the nastiest corner of the galaxy, Vashia seizes her one chance at escape and signs on as a bride candidate for the elusive race of aliens known as the Shrouded, unaware that she very well may be chosen as the next Queen of Shroud

Of the seven, volatile Shrouded princes, Dolfan may be the only one that doesn't covet the throne. So the last thing he expects to find in the future queen is the woman of his dreams. If he wants Vashia, he must accept the throne as well. Unfortunately, his long-time rival has the same idea. Now, only the planet’s sacred crystal can decide their fates, but what happens when the right woman is paired with the wrong man? And when Jarn comes after what was promised to him?

Review:
Vashia is the daughter of a powerful, uncaring planetary Governor. She has learned that he has agreed to ‘give’ her to his evil, ambitious henchman, Jarn. Vashia runs, rather than submit, fleeing into unsavory parts of the city to dodge Jarn and his brutes. Her accounts are frozen and her options reduced to only one supposed friend. Her friend steers her to become a bride candidate on another planet for an alien race known as the Shrouded.

Vashia makes friends with other bride candidates on the trip to Shroud. One tells the legend that the princes of Shroud choose their new king by a bride ceremony where the heart stone of the culture selects the “kingmaker.” Supposedly the pair are bonded in true love by the stone. Although some of the girls believe the story, Vashia doesn’t. She just hopes that her life on Shroud will be better than marriage to the evil Jarn.

Dolfan is one of the seven princes and he is more interested in getting a love bond through the heart than getting to be king. He is shocked to feel an electrical attraction to Vashia who seems to respond to him too. He is sure that she is intended for him until one of the other princes shows competing interest.

As soon as Vashia is exposed to the first two of the princes she feels an unmistakable buzz. Then the heart binds her... but not to the man she first was attracted to but to a stranger. The heart is never wrong and no one has ever challenged its choice but things are not right. Dolfan and unexpected allies sense that the match is wrong and they must find a way to correct the situation.

Several men have plotted through betrayal and lies to allow one particular prince to gain the throne. One seeks to escape with wealth, another seeks power and a third secretly plots to take over the planet and its special and protected markets. Now the fractured leadership council faces a nefarious attack by none other than Vashia's father and her enemy, Jarn. Someone within has betrayed the people by allowing evil forces to get past the defenses and threaten to ruin life as it has been known on Shroud.

Vashia first escapes one unwanted match only to end in another wrong match. The characters are extremely likeable... or not when it comes to the evil ones. The emotions range from fear, pain, betrayal and horror to joy. The worlds created are imaginative and intriguing and there is a surprising twist to the heart bond. I loved the action and danger which kept the story moving with a fast pace so that I read this in one 24 hour period!

I received this title from Coffee and Character for Blog tour review and feature.

GoodReads Link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18569448-shrouded

Author Bio:

Frances Pauli writes speculative fiction, usually with touches of humor or romance, which means, of course, that she has trouble choosing sides.
She's always been a fan of things outside the box, odd, weird or unusual, and that trend follows through her books, which feature aliens, fairies, and even, on occasion, an assortment of humans.

                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ms. Pauli shared some music that helped inspire her as she worked on Shrouded:
"I believe at the time I was listening to a lot of Sirius radio New Age channel.
I was mad for, Some Men, by Darkel and I still think of it in relation
to Shrouded. If I had to pick one song, that would be it. There's a
great version here:

{http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLRZE6ngRzI}

I know I listened to a lot of Classical too. Berlioz, Symphony
Fantasitque for certain, and I probably brought out the Carmina Burana
for the invasion scene.  It's always good for the charge to battle."

More information on Ms. Pauli's work and upcoming releases can be found on her

website: www.francespauli.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrancesPauliAuthor

twitter: https://twitter.com/MothinDarkness

goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3426477.Frances_Pauli

Buy Links:

Direct: http://stores.modularmarket.com/zharmae/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Zharmae&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AZharmae

BN:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Zharmae?store=allproducts&keyword=Zharmae

 

GIVEAWAY: eBook Copy
Ends: December 10, 2013

Rafflecoptor Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule

	Shrouded Tour	Type
11/20/2013	No Bent Spines	playlist
11/21/2013	Bookstore Bookblogger Connection	interview
11/22/2013	Monlatable Book Reviews	spotlight
11/23/2013	Just One More Book Review	review
11/24/2013	Howling Books and Design	Spotlight
11/25/2013	alwaysjoart	playlist
11/26/2013
11/27/2013	Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog	spotlight
11/28/2013	Reviews and Interviews	Interview
11/29/2013	The Ferryman's Wife/ Basically Books	Spotlight
11/30/2013	Paradiseofpages	excerpt
12/1/2013	Shelf Full of Books	review
12/2/2013
12/3/2013	Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf	Review-Soundtrack
12/4/2013	Fabulous and Fun	review
12/5/2013	Clever Girls Read	review
12/6/2013	Paulette's Papers	spotlight

Book Review: Lace & Lead by M.A. Grant

I highly recommend this action packed, strong romance novella.

Lace & Lead, a novella

by M.A. Grant

• File Size: 692 KB
• Print Length: 102 pages
• Publisher: Escape Publishing - Harlequin Enterprises, Australia Pty Ltd (November 1, 2013)
• ASIN: B00FB3MWN4

Genre: Sci Fi Romance
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: November 1, 2013
Breathtaking action, startling originality and polished story-telling combine in this futuristic Sci-Fi novella about a rough mercenary, a pampered daughter, and the lies they both believe.

Blue-blood Emmaline Gregson survived one of the most brutal mining accidents ever recorded in the Republic, but she's never been in a firefight. So when unknown assailants circle the family estate, the only man she can rely on is Peirce Taggart. A former Lawman turned mercenary, Peirce has a simple job: protect Emmaline until her father can collect her and sell her to sex trafficker Richard Stone to pay off his debts. But when Arthur Gregson tries to cheat his way out of the contract, Emmaline seizes the opportunity to hire Peirce for herself, regardless of how crude, dangerous, or appealing he may be. Given the chance for redemption, he promises to help her escape both her father and Stone. But Peirce soon realises that hiding her in his apartment until the storm has passed may be more dangerous than looking down the barrel of a gun...

Review:
Emmaline is a pampered daughter of a wealthy man. She has always had maids and has never had to take care of herself or perform simple household chores. She did however survive a terrifying, brutal mining disaster that left her with nightmares. Her wealthy father has hired a ruthless team of mercenaries to protect Emmaline as she is now his most valuable asset. Emmaline doesn’t know it yet but her father has agreed to sell her to a known sex trafficker in satisfaction of all of his debts.

Emmaline became smitten with the head ‘bad boy’ mercenary, Pierce Taggert, as soon as she saw him. He is a ruggedly handsome ex-Lawman with a confident swagger, a foul mouth and oozing sexuality.

Pierce and his men face an unexpected attack and the clues lead back to a double cross by Emmaline’s Father. Pierce takes Emmaline into hiding as he tries to figure out what to do - first to protect her and then what to do with her! He’d like to treat Emmaline as just another paycheck but there is something about her fresh, naive trust and her willing determination to survive that makes him pause. He remembers another young lady who followed his example working in mechanics and war service. He wasn’t there to save her and the loss has left an emptiness filled only with his guilt. Perhaps he can redeem himself by saving Emmaline from those who would use her, including her father.

This is a quick, fast-paced story with action from beginning to end. The setting isn’t completely fleshed out although there is enough to keep it interesting. The strength of the story is in the characters who are likeable and grab your attention, the action packed plot and the vulnerable romance. The strong combination outweighed the bad language and I enjoyed the story reading through it in practically one sitting. I would be interested in trying other works by Ms. Grant. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy romance and action.

I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Review: Kidnapped by Maria Hammarblad

I found this sci fi romance engaging and entertaining and I think I would enjoy more writing from this author. I recommend trying this!

Kidnapped 

by Maria Hammarblad

• File Size: 387 KB
• Print Length: 210 pages
• Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc (May 10, 2012)
• ASIN: B00825645A
Genre: Sci Fi Romance My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: May 10, 2012
It's a late winter night when Patricia Risden heads home in her car, on a road she's driven many times before. She doesn't have a care in the world, that is, until a man appears from nowhere, right in front of her.

The next thing she knows is being a prisoner of the unscrupulous Alliance Commander Travis 152; an intimidating man who demands information and complete cooperation. Travis soon realizes his mistake; Tricia doesn't know anything, and she is incapable of even getting a glass of water from the ship's computer.

Infamous for being a ruthless executioner, conditioned since childhood to feel nothing besides fear and pain, he still deems her harmless, and finds enough pity for the lost young woman to let her out of the cell; a decision that will change both their lives forever.

Review:
Patricia Risden goes unconscious in a car wreck and wakes up in a very strange place. If she isn’t hallucinating, she has been brought onto a spaceship. Her kidnapper is a big man with one side of his face burned. Initially he seems almost brutal, cold and uncaring as he demands to know why she had contact with an infamous Alliance rebel.  It doesn’t take long before he realizes that this slip of a girl has no information or knowledge that would be helpful to him.  Surprisingly, Travis decides to allow Tricia to roam freely on the ship as long as she doesn’t create trouble.

Whether its Stockholm syndrome or something more Tricia soon learns to care for Travis. Remarkably the conditioned training that Travis has been taught that had him loyal and dedicated to following every order of the domineering Alliance leader is replaced with the same directives but focused on pleasing and saving Patricia.

Travis has to seek help from unlikely sources to protect himself and Tricia.  Can Patricia survive her adventures into a foreign and mostly hostile world? Will Travis be able to find a way to protect Patricia from his Supreme Commander and keep her by his side?

There is plenty of imagination, action and romance in this story.  It didn’t take long for me to be rooting for Travis to find a way to keep them alive and together. I loved how Travis shifts his personality from cold, almost robotic, to a protective lover.  There are surprising friends to seek as well as unpleasant foes to escape. Ms. Hammarblad’s writing flows at a good pace with good descriptions and good character development. The story was fun and engaging. I read it through quickly and was sorry when it ended. If you enjoy action, sensual and sweet romance, and a different world plot, please try this book!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Travis' early view of Patricia:

“I know she’s innocent. She wouldn’t hurt a fly, and on top of that she has the technical skills of a stuffed toy.” Location 853.

Tricia's view of Travis:

He’d been the only refuge she had in this alien environment, and without him, she was deeply lonely and unhappy. Location 1061.

“I always stay close to you. It’s the only safe place.” Location 1263

Thank you to the Author and Bewitching Blog Tour for this book to read, review and share.

This is set primarily in another galaxy although there is a part set in Colorado. I will include this in my ARC and New Author challenges.

Pen Names and Me: Guest Post by Kris DeLake With Giveaway

Pen Names and Me

Kris DeLake

Author of Assassins in Love

     At first, I did it for sheer survival.
     Fifteen years ago, publishers had just started using computers to track book sales. And one thing publishers discovered was this: Some genres sell better than others. Mystery sells better than science fiction. Romance sells better than mystery.
     I’m a greedy little writer. I want to write in every genre—who cares how well the genre sells? I got my start in science fiction as Kristine Kathryn Rusch. So any move to a new genre would be a move up, right?
     Wrong. Editors from other genres would look at my science fiction sales numbers and laugh. Then they’d refuse to buy the new book. So first, I committed a mystery pen name (Kris Nelscott). And then, because that mystery novel was so darn dark, I had to write something funny to make me feel better.
     I wrote my first romance novel, and it was sweet and light and goofy. Enter Kristine Grayson.
     I discovered that I liked having different names. It gave me freedom. It also let my readers know what kind of novel they were going to get. Something unpredictable (but probably science fiction or fantasy in nature)? Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Something dark and brooding, set in the past? Kris Nelscott. Something silly with HEA? Kristine Grayson.
     I have other pen names as well. Some I share with my collaborator/husband Dean Wesley Smith (Sandy Schofield, Kathryn Wesley), and some are secrets, just for me. I have another romance pen name for contemporaries and romantic suspense. That’s Kristine Dexter, who needs to write another novel Real Soon Now.
     Then I wrote a short story called “Drinking Games” for an anthology. I published the story as Kristine Kathryn Rusch because the story is science fiction (kinda) and it’s short.
     What I knew—and the anthology editor didn’t—was that “Drinking Games” is the opening scene to a full novel. One with impossible space travel and non-techy world building. One that focuses not just on the characters (people expect all of my pen names to focus on characters), but on a hot, sexy romance between two unlikely characters.
     Oh, dear. The hardcore science fiction readers would hate the impossible space travel. The sweet-romance-only Kristine Grayson fans would turn away from the hot sex (and [I’m guessing here] the fact that the meet-cute is over a dead body). What to do?
     Simple: I invented another new pen name. And at first, this one was for me. I didn’t want to tell anyone who Kris DeLake was. Then I gave the opening three chapters to some hardcore sf friends of mine. They loved it. And I gave the same three chapters to some romance readers. They loved it.
     So I decided—then and there—to own up to the name. Yep, I’m Kris DeLake and Kristine Dexter and Kristine Grayson and Kris Nelscott and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. And I still have a few secret identities I’m keeping under wraps.

 My Review of Utterly Charming -->

     Guess it’s still a survival strategy for me, but more of a silly survival strategy. I keep thinking I might need a secret identity some day, if my life ever devolves into some kind of world-threatening crisis. And I don’t want anyone to know that’s me.
     Yep. I make things up. Fortunately, I do it for a living. And I have fun with it.
     Just like I had fun with Assassins in Love.
     I hope you do too.

Sourcebooks is nicely offering a copy of the book for giveaway.
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY: 

1. Visit the author's website and tell me something that interests you there. This is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, comment on my review of Assassins in Love. (Preceding Post.)

3.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

4. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Five total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* Limit one win per household.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 30, 2012.
The winners will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 31 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.

Book Review: Assassins in Love by Kris DeLake

Can two assassins meet or work together without killing each other?

Assassins in Love

by Kris DeLake

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca; Original edition (March 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402262825
• ISBN-13: 978-1402262821

Genre: Science Fiction Romance

My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Product Description
A fast, edgy, and passionate story."
—Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestselling author

When one killer falls for another

Agent: Misha
Profile: Highly trained in every method the assassins guild has to offer. Always goes by the book.
Agent: Rikki
Profile: Rogue assassin who kills only to rid the world of hardened criminals. Hates organizations. Always does it her way.

Love becomes a matter of life and death

Misha's mission is to get Rikki to join the guild or give up her guns. He completely underestimated the effect she would have on him...and what heat and chaos they could bring to each other...

Review:

This is fun and, in my opinion, better than Mr. & Mrs Smith, which had too much anger and bitterness. This story has gentleness, mishaps and decisions to trust or not to trust.
.
Rikki is a careful and successful assassin who is picky about the jobs she accepts. She doesn’t like organizational rules but she does have her own rules to follow. She only kills hardened criminals who deserve killing and she is particular to plan and execute the assassination in zones that won’t put her in trouble.

Misha is a highly skilled assassin who has been trained by the Assassins Guild and always follows the rules.  He has been questioned about several of Rikki’s recent kills so he seeks her out to determine what is going on.  Although Rikki doesn’t remember him, he remembers her from when she was a frightened child. Misha is drawn to the vulnerability he knows exists in Rikki and he tries to convince her to come into the guild as he thinks she can be better trained and safer there.

As Rikki wrangles an escape and a run from under Misha’s nose he begins to realize that she is much more clever than he first thought. Still he manages to follow her as he is pulled by their undeniable passion. Misha shows gentleness towards Rikki and growing respect for her skills. Can they really learn to trust each other? And why is someone seeking to hire Rikki for a job that could threaten both of them?

I was surprised that the betrayal isn’t revealed until the last thirty pages of the book. But there is plenty of action and anticipation that drew me along, eager to uncover the villain.  The alien world of space crafts, robots and futuristic gadgets is well developed and interesting.  The chemistry and passion between Rikki and Misha is intense and often, but not unpleasantly graphic. The villain seemed rather obvious, although there are a couple of possible suspects. Ms. DeLake does a good job setting up twists so that it is hard for Rikki and Misha to really trust each other. I especially liked the easy and fast flow of the story. If you are in the mood for a quick, light, fun, sexy read, this is a good choice!

Thank you to Sourcebooks for this book to read and review.

Comment on the author's guest post for a chance to win a copy of this book!

Book Review and Giveaway: Kicking Ashe by Pauline Baird Jones

If you followed my reviews from last week you know that I love this series.
I had to sort of re-read the books to do a fair job on the reviews. (A good reason NOT to wait a year to write a review!) Fortunately, re-reading them was a pleasure and reminded me why I liked them so much with the first read. I reviewed the short story Steam Time last summer.
Now I am glad, but sad, to come to the final “chapter”, so to speak.

Thank you to Pauline for allowing me to enjoy the whole series!!

Kicking Ashe

by Pauline Baird Jones 

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 369 KB
• Publisher: L&L Dreamspell (February 19, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007BGZL8C

Genre: Science Fiction Romance
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Product Description

With hearts and lives on the line, a kiss may be all they have time for...

Time has dumped Ashe on a dying planet and she needs to figure out why before she ceases to exist. Or gets vivisected by some Keltinarian scientists. Or worse.

Vidor Shan might help—since someone somewhere is trying to hose him, too—if she can convince him to trust her. Probably shouldn’t have told him that only someone he trusts can betray him. Also wouldn’t mind if he kissed her on the mouth.

Vid would love to kiss the girl, but his brother is lost, he’s got hostile aliens on his tail, and the stench of betrayal all around him. Can he trust the woman who told him to trust no one?

Then a time quake hurls them to a nasty somewhere and some when...

Review:  “Expect the Unexpected.”

The author introduced Ashe and her sentient, internal, ‘side-kick’, nanite, Lurch, in Steamrolled.  Ashe is clearly a ‘kicking’ Time Space cadet who usually manages to handle trouble with some help from Lurch. At the end of Steamrolled she is tumbling from a tsunami like time wave as time, which “is persistent”, tries to right itself from the improper time interference and alternate time realities. She finds the unexpected as she returns to consciousness: she is still alive and she looks up into the familiar face of Vidor Shan.

Vidor has shown up as a slightly different version of his barbarian, roguish self, depending on the time-space continuum when he appears. Ashe briefly met Vidor before getting thrown through time (Steamrolled) and knows that he had some connection to her not-so-great grandma, Doc (Girl Gone Nova). Each version has his own sexy allure and arrogance. There is something wrong about him and his timeline that has drawn Ashe in order to get it fixed once and for all and hopefully give her a chance to get home to the Time Base.

Vidor’s society is a strange mix of archaic living style and extraordinary ships and weapon technology. Someone has betrayed Vidor and has tried to destroy him in several time scenarios.  It has to be someone very close to him that knows him really well.  Ashe is inclined to think it is his missing brother, Timrick, whose scent has appeared with an attacking troop of Zelk, a human like creature with reptilian skin.

Ashe and Vidor stumble through shifting time waves trying to solve the puzzle while fighting off Zelk attacks and giant cockroaches that eat anything in their path, including the hull of their craft. Although Vidor doesn’t want to trust her, he begins to realize that she may be his only chance to survive to a life he can enjoy. 

Although the evil overlord was exposed and hopefully quashed in Steamrolled, I am glad that there is this story for Ashe and Vidor to wrap up the series.  This story seems more about the girl getting the guy, but there is still plenty of action and storyline to move it along quickly. The giant cockroaches are a stretch but sometimes our small fears become huge problems so it fits in this topsy turvy timeline.

I love that the heroines in these books are strong, scientific, skilled and smart women who have been too busy with their careers or lives to have had much social involvement with the opposite sex. Each of them gets to have a first kiss with their sexy heroes and then a HEA.

I also enjoy the use of what I think of as “cliches in cheek.” They may be cliche phrases but they are clearly used with a tongue in cheek sense of humor.  This book provides fun with Ashe’s family line of wonderful strong mantras, many passed on from Doc, like:  The impossible just takes longer; What doesn’t kill us makes us strong; Trouble is an opportunity to excel.  And I agree with Ashe that there should be one about not getting eaten by bugs.

This is a series of stories that I can see myself revisiting again in the future when I want something fast paced and fun with strong heroines and hunky heros, even if some of them are completely alien!

Ashe’s reaction to getting up close to Vidor:

...too close to escape the slam of power he radiated like a solar event. Caught between wanting to move in and move away, Ashe froze–though cold was not the direction her internal temperature was trending. Location 94.

Vidor learns that Ashe is intergalactic in her travels:

“I...” she paused again, “trail trouble.”  He would have said she was trouble. Location 925.

I will add this to my ARC challenge list.
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the Winner's Choice of Print or eBook (International would get eBook): 

1. I sent you to visit the author's website for the giveaway of THE KEY. Today please comment on this review.   This is required for entry..  For bonus comment on the other reviews in the series that don't have a direct giveaway;  one entry for each review (up to three available here and at Girl Gone Nova and/or Tangled in Time.

2.  For two extra entries Comment on the Author interview and answer her Question at #11.

3.  For an extra entry, become a follower (GFC, Twitter, FB, email) or tell me if you are already a follower.

4. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Eight total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 23, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 24 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.

Interview with Pauline Baird Jones, Author of the Project Enterprise Series

I am so pleased to welcome Pauline Baird Jones for an interview visit. You can't help but catch her humor in these answers.

1Q       You have written several mysteries before writing in the science fiction romance genre. How does writing a mystery compare with writing sci-fi romance? What are the main differences, and what do these forms of writing have in common?

P:  When I wrote mysteries, they trended suspense/action type mysteries. Then they trended more and more into action adventure. I finally noticed that and decided that I really liked action adventure because it has less graphic violence. I like the high adventure as opposed to the blood soaked. LOL! So I think I was heading toward space for a while before I noticed. In the past, it was probably easier to write contemporary action adventure because we had “big” enemies, such as the Soviet Union. Alastair Maclean made his a/a chops writing World War II, then cold war type fiction, but I didn’t want to write about terrorists. It hits too close to home. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. (wry grin)

My first wholly action adventure novel was Out of Time, a time travel to World War II. While there is lots of peril and yes, bad guys and such, it’s lacks the graphic gore that I see in so much romantic suspense being written now. I know it works very well for many authors, but for me, I just wanted to go a different direction. After the past, all that was left was outer space. And let’s face it, it has almost unlimited scope for action and adventure.

You did a wonderful job of creating new alien worlds and peoples so I am thrilled you went to outer space.

2Q       Is your writing from your own experiences or is it completely your imagination?

P:  I was going to say, I wish my books came from personal experience, then I thought about what happens to my characters (nasty killers and space battles) and yeah, no, like my life the way it is. So my answer would be: my books are totally and completely made up (including the “science.”)

I wondered about that time theory perception being spouted by Lurch... it sounded good even if it was made up. :-)

3Q       Where did the inspiration for the Project Universe series (THE KEY, GIRL GONE NOVA, STEAMROLLED, Steam Time, KICKING ASHE) come from?

P:  I have a highly technical process for obtaining inspiration and plotting. It’s called “pulling it out of my tush.”
I learned this technique from my daughter who is a graphic designer and often under the gun to create.

Okay, I will try to be serious for a moment, but it is hard to be serious about a process that often results in my head wanting to explode. I really wish I knew how and where I got ideas, because then I could go there without the painful thinking and pacing and eating chocolate part (okay, maybe I’d still eat the chocolate). I just start with a character or situation and think, I wonder how I can hose this person? And then, “How can I make everything worse for this character?” And then I make things so bad, I don’t know how to fix it, which brings me to the pulling-it-out-of-my -tush part. (grin)

 I think this is the first time I have heard of this particular technique. LOL
4Q       What type of research went into creating your science fiction romance novels?

Since my science is totally and completely made up, it’s tough to research. I did do a lot of researching of Victorian stuff when I was mixing steampunk into my science fiction. That was pretty fun and interesting. I learned a lot of cool (and rather disturbing) stuff about the Victorians. I blogged a bit about that here: (http://paulinebairdjones.blogspot.com/2012/02/victorian-quirky-and-book-blurb.html) and plan to blog more it because it is very interesting. And weird. Did I mention they were pretty weird?

 I will have to go check out that weird stuff in your blog post.
5Q       Please share one surprising thing about your experience writing the Project Universe series, or about something else related to your career as a writer.

P:  My biggest surprise came when I realized I’d written something with science in it. I really didn’t think it WAS science fiction and then someone called it science fiction and I was like, I don’t write science fiction. I almost flunked science in high school! I thought about it some more and realized that mixing fiction in my science might be why I almost flunked. Oops.

Ha - Oops - Yes... Science wasn't my top class either.
6Q       When you started The Key did you intend the series and did you have each book plotted out before you started the first one or did the subsequent books flow from the first book?

P:  I did not. Sara, the heroine of The Key, just strolled into my head one day and wouldn’t leave until I told her story. I had amazing fun writing that book and was sad when it ended. When it released readers asked for more and one of the characters was really ticked he didn’t get the girl and demanded a happy ending and so I wrote Girl Gone Nova and another reader pointed out that I had an unresolved story arc and suddenly I had a series. Now I am sad that is had come to an end (for now at least). Though I plan to return to space soon.

Well - considering how volatile time is... who knows?!
7Q       Is there an ancillary character you had the most fun with?

P:  Helfron Giddioni. When he first appeared in The Key, he was supposed to be a villain of sorts, or at least an antagonist, and he is, but he surprised me over and over. He was so bad, but fun, too. He had such an awful name because he was never supposed to be a hero. (Memo to self: don’t EVER give characters awful names just in case.)

Hel did turn out to be a wonderful character even if he was a little scary in the first book. Who knew there was a good guy under that mean attitude?

8Q       How do your work career/hobbies/interests influence your writing?

P:  My career is wife/mom/sister/daughter/friend, so not sure how that affects the writing, though it does give me more time to write now that the nest is empty. And I get wonderful support from my family and friends. My hobbies are reading, knitting dish cloths (yeah, I knit large) and jigsaw puzzles. I do think the puzzle thing influences my plotting. I like the disorder/creating order part and that’s what plotting action adventure is all about.

I can see the puzzle solving at work in this series and it would work for mysteries too. 
9Q       Do you have a favorite mentor or author that you have learned from?

P:  Oh wow, this question could be a whole blog post, but I will limit myself to just one. When I was a young girl, I had a major girl/fan crush on Haley Mills. I wanted to be her. She had adventures and did cool stuff and could sing, too. She did a movie called The Moonspinners and I saw that it was based on a novel. I looked that book up and discovered Mary Stewart. I still love to pull out her books and browse through them, like chatting with an old friend. From her I learned about plotting, satisfying endings and characterization. And she writes great dialog, too.

Oh Wow! That movie started me reading Mary Stewart too and moved me from childhood reads into the suspense/gothic romance genre.

10Q     What do you have planned for your next project?

P:  I’m actually mulling a steampunk novel, set around 1899-1900. I’m a little nervous, because I’ve dabbled a bit in writing history (Out of Time, Tangled in Time), but never wrote an all history novel. Though technically it still won’t be, because it will be made-up-steampunk-alternate-history.

11Q      If you could have readers finish a sentence what would it be?

P:  What I love most in a book is…._________________________???

THANK YOU for sharing!

Project Enterprise (connected) books:

(1) The Key; Bronze IPPY and Dream Realm Award winner; 2007

(2) Girl Gone Nova, EPIC Book Award Winner

(3) Tangled in Time

(4) Steamrolled

(5) Steam Time, short story, Dreamspell Steampunk, Volume 1, 2011

(6) Kicking Ashe, 2012

Some additional Titles:

Comedy/Suspense Fiction:

Do Wah Diddy Die; Eppie nominee; 2001 (reissued in 2010)

The Spy Who Kissed Me (also known as Pig in a Park), 1999. reissued in 2010

Dead and Breakfast Anthology; Do Wah Diddy Die Already, 2007 (free short story now available at All Romance eBooks)

Mysteries from the Green Mist Anthology;  Deleting Dennis, 2010

Ghostly Dreamspell Anthology; Do Wah Diddy Dead

And more ... see Bibliography at this link. 

Book Review and Giveaway: Steamrolled by Pauline Baird Jones

Go for a rolling ride in another delightful, action packed novel in the Project Enterprise Series.

Steamrolled

by Pauline Baird Jones

• Paperback: 454 pages
• Publisher: L & L Dreamspell (April 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603184074
• ISBN-13: 978-1603184076

Genre:  Science Fiction Romance
My Rating 5.0 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2011

With all of time at risk, it's a bad time to fall in love...unless it's the only time... Robert Clementyne is going on a transmogrification machine hunt. He fears finding the machine will be as difficult as pronouncing the name. How can the steam-powered device perform as advertised, and how useful can any information be, coming from a steampunk themed bowling alley/museum? It's pretty crazy, but he's been there, done that, and thinks he can handle it. And then he meets the proprietor/curator...Emily Babcock. Emily grew up in crazy, still lives in it-hey, it's her freaking zip code. So no worries when Robert and his team walk into her bowling alley. The first visitors ever to her museum. But neither of them is prepared for what happens when they open the door to the past...and the future. With a side trip through Roswell...and a face-to-face meeting with an evil genius/wannabe-who is on his way to becoming evil overlord-of-everything...

Review:

This book highlights Robert Clementyne, the brother of Doc from Girl Gone Nova. Robert had been in a mental health facility on earth until Doc pulled him out and introduced some nanites to help his brain organize all the genius that he had been unable to control and express before.  Here we get to enjoy the mental conversational additions of nanites Wynken, Blynken and Nod. :-) Robert and a team from Kikk have been sent to earth to locate the transmogrification machine (from Tangled in Time.)  The team includes characters from prior books in the series: Fyn (The Key) and Carey (Tangled in Time).

We are also introduced to new characters, Ashe and Emily.  Ashe, with her sentient nanite, Lurch (once a nanite with Doc aka Morticia, resulting in Lurch’s name), is a fairly new cadet with the Time Service, designed to keep time ‘on track.’  Ashe and Lurch return from a time trip to discover the base and time seriously out of whack. Ashe is the primary hero of the final book, Kicking Ashe.

Emily is a very unusual young woman, a persona of “modified Goth mixed with Steampunk.”  She is the isolated proprietor of the museum designed around the transmogrification machine inventor’s workshop.  As a descendant of the inventor’s sister, Emily has steadfastly taken care of the museum even though there have been no visitors... until now.

But Robert’s team isn’t the only one after the machine. Dr. Smith, on orders of his ‘master’, has been sent to find the machine too. As they battle over the machine, Ashe and Lurch have their own struggles with fluctuating time.

This is another wonderful story with lots of action, intrigue, and a really evil overlord fighting with patrols of robotic-like automatrons. The author has created an imaginative, unique world and wonderfully warm, quirky characters. Once again the dialog is fun and it is delightful how Emily starts mentally thinking of Robert as “oh my darling!” (Check his last name if you don’t get this right away.)  The plot moves around a lot - past, future and time streams in between. Although this could be read alone, I think it would be much easier to follow (and more to enjoy) if you have read the prior books.

Some quotes to enjoy:

Emily had questions, but questions led to answers. Answers were a mixed bag–a baggie better kept zipped when your family inheritance could be boiled down to one word: crazy. P 41

She twisted in his hold–though not out of it he was thankful to note–bringing her mouth into a better position for kissing. ... And then she kissed him, splattering his thoughts, rather like the anomaly had tried to splatter them, but with a much better outcome. P 370.

Thank you to the author for providing another great read!

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the signed Review copy: 

1. I sent you to visit the author's website for the giveaway of THE KEY. So for this giveaway tell me why you think you would like to read this book and or series. :-) This is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower (GFC, Twitter, FB, email) or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 23, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 24 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.
 

Book Review: Tangled in Time by Pauline Baird Jones

When I read this Sci Fi/Steampunk Romance Novella and I couldn't put it down. It was wonderful with great gentle humor!

Tangled in Time

by Pauline Baird Jones

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 213 KB

Publisher: L&L Dreamspell (November 19, 2010)

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Language: English

ASIN: B004D4YL18

Genre: Science Fiction Romance 
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Product Description

Colonel Carey (from The Key and Girl Gone Nova) takes a test "flight" through the Garradian time-space portal, but an unexpected impact lands him somewhere and some when. As he attempts to get to Area 51, he crosses paths with Miss Olivia Carstairs, who could be Mary Poppins' twin sister. Or maybe her cousin. Olivia's got a transmogrification machine powered by steam and a mouth he'd like to kiss like it was his job. Can he convince her to join forces before she shoots him with her derringer?

Review:
This is a quick, fun novella in the Project Enterprise series.
Colonel Carey is a sharp soldier who appeared in the first two books as an officer on The Doolittle, the Earth ship hovering off the planet Kikk. During a test "flight" through the time-space portal at the outpost he has a rough ride ending up someplace other than where he is supposed to be.  As he checks out the area he spots a strange submarine shaped space ship. Outside the ship he spots a Mary Poppins' twin with an umbrella ... and a derringer aimed at him.

Olivia is a prim and proper young lady who chose to be a scientist's assistant rather than marry a boringly proper beau. Which is a bit unconventional for a woman from 1894. Olivia has arrived in the wrong place, and time, in a steam powered transmogrification machine. Now they have to figure a way to get back to where they came from. Things get sticky when an army patrol picks them up and then Dr. Tobias Smith steps in trying to convince Olivia to go with him.

This story moves quickly with warm characters, sweet interaction and quirky dialogue between a1894 bluestocking girl and a 2010 soldier guy. There is a bit of suspense and mystery that kept me wondering. Again, this story could be read alone but has more meaning and connection with the past characters and situations when read in order in the series. I was sorry this one was so short and looked forward to the next book!

Some humorous quotes:
Carey thinking about Olivia:

Seriously, he could kiss this girl like it was his job. P36.

Olivia thinking about Carey:

If a woman of science could not figure how to get a man to kiss her, she did not deserve the label. P.67.

Olivia's response to crashing in a chopper:

“I rode in a flying machine and crashed. Everything is better than all right. It is bodacious.” P68.

Thank you to the author for another wonderful book to enjoy and review.