Today’s Snippet Saturday theme is ‘Emotional Scene’. And what’s a romance novel some good heart string tugging, right? And I don’t think there is anything worse than feeling unwanted, so, I picked something from a book that I hope will have you running for the tissue!
Our leading lady, a totally bad-ass undercover agent, has been snatched by a bad guy while visiting Alexandria, Egypt. What’s our leading man to do?
Enjoy the excerpt then travel on to the other Snippet Saturday authors via the links at the bottom of the post. OH! And don’t forget that on Sunday a new ZART contest will post, as well as every Sunday until the Authors After Dark convention.
Egyptian Voyage
by TJ Michaels
Copyright 2007, 2012, all rights reserved
Damn it, they’d looked everywhere. Mahpiya had been feeding Chrys’ anger, and then her fear, through their bond. He at least knew the woman was all right. Then suddenly, it winked out. It was as if Chrys had disappeared off the face of the earth. He started to summon Mahpiya, but didn’t want to call her away from his mate’s side. Surely she was better off with two spirit guides rather than one.
All of his local family had gathered at Aunt Suman’s home in anticipation of Rahn’s homecoming, only to be met with the news that his fiancée was missing.
His aunt walked out onto the porch and put an arm around him.
“We will find her, Rahn. I promise.”
She meant well and Rahn appreciated it. But it did nothing to quell the deep guilt he felt at allowing the damned woman to go romping around the bazaar alone. It didn’t matter that she now had two spirit guides to keep her safe. He was ultimately responsible for her safety and happiness. Period.
“Thanks, Aunt Suman, I appreciate that.” He knew his words were hard and angry, but he simply couldn’t help it. Damn it, he was angry. Angry at himself for letting her out of his sight. Angry that someone had managed to tail her here, someone he should have caught by now. Angry for not realizing Chyrs was even in danger. She didn’t fit the profile of the others who’d had their lives terminated at every port that damned ship stopped at. Why Chrys? Why her?
“I think I’ll go for a walk, get into my own space so I can think a bit.”
His aunt smiled in understanding and said, “All the family is here for you. And we are expecting a bit of help from an unexpected source.”
“What unexpected source? Who?”
Rahn’s eyebrows quirked in question, but she waved him off with a simple, “I’ll tell you when you return from your walk if they have not arrived by then.”
Rahn looked up at the sky as he went. It was so beautiful here. The sky was so clear, he didn’t doubt he could see all the lights of the entire universe. But nothing compared to the sweet light in his woman’s eyes. The way she brightened when he walked into a room. The way she reached for him, accepted him, both in and out of bed. And he realized Chrys would never allow him to lock her away from life, away from the world. She was a free spirit. But could they find a way for her to be both free and safe?
He kept walking, thinking of the sunset he’d watched alone and how Chrys would have enjoyed seeing the clouds morph from vivid reddish-orange to pinkish-purple to deep gray.
Eighteen weeks until the zombie apocalypse that’s supposed to hit New Orleans at the same time as our awesome Authors After Dark conference. So…let’s continue with our training.
Scouts, Warriors and Spys,
You’ve worked hard so we’ve made it easy for you to play this week. Simply put your name here in the comments and declare you’re an experienced ZART member! List a speciality if you like, but it is not required. We know you’re all awesome.
Noobies,
New to the Zombie Apocalypse Response Team? Though you are not quite ready for missions be a proud noob and shout it loud! To prepare for combat training your first exercise is to flex your index finger and click the Like button! *Noobs who hit that Like button will be automatically entered for this weeks random drawing!* Spread the word!
TJ is working in Austria this week so she’s counting on you to keep the buzz going while she’s away. So far we’ve given away books by Megan Hart and Mandy Roth. Lots more to go!
Today’s Prize: Your choice of a Survival Kit Item (book) from the fabulous ZART authors AND a secret prize that will be brought back from Austria by TJ.
Today’s challenge: Name that character!
In TJ’s books, which character said the following, and in which book did they say it?
Shut it down man! Think about something else, like extremely wrinkled grandfather vampires in the shower. Better yet, old people sex!
E-mail submissions to ZART@tjmichaels.com with ZART T-20 in the subject line. Contest closes Monday evening at 7:30pm Pacific Time.
Contest rules and the list of ZART authors and members here –> RULES
TJ typically gets this post ready herself each Friday night. Unfortunately she is extremely ill and trying to recover so that she can go to work in Austria on Saturday afternoon.
Since she can’t sit up long enough to take care of this, we’ve posted links to all the other Snippet Saturday authors for her. We hope TJ gets well soon (so she can bring us back cool stuff from Austria ;D) and that you enjoy all the authors with Snippets up today.
21 weeks and counting until the Authors After Dark readers and writers convention in New Orleans! And ZART continues to prepare to kick zombie butt.
Contest rules and the list of ZART members here –> RULES
Today’s Prize: Your choice of a Survival Kit Item (book) from the fabulous ZART authors OR a ZART t-shirt (these are only being given out at the AAD convention so this is a special prize).
Today’s challenge: Zombie Poem Contest
Check out the video blog below and then mention one of the weapons that Mandy and TJ show you in a poem or haiku. E-mail submissions to ZART@tjmichaels.com with ZART T-21 in the subject line.
In addition to the book or t-shirt, the winner will have their poem posted as one of the official ZART theme ‘songs’ until the AAD conference!
Today’s theme is ‘Talk to the hand’ – Character sass. This should have been an easy excerpt to pick a snippet for but I found myself having a hell of a time. Why? Because ALL of my heroines are sassy! Gah!
Meet Reanne, First Heir of Draema Province, Blademaster and all around bad ass. In this scene she shows that she can take care of herself. Besides, the person she has to put in their place wouldn’t last a single round in the circle with her and a blade. Little does she know that she’s about to meet her match.
Enjoy this excerpt from my upcoming release, Wind and Fire, Gathering of the Storms Volume 1, and then be sure to visit all the Snippet Saturday authors via the links at the bottom of the page
Excerpt (Unedited) from Wind and Fire, Gathering of the Storms Volume 1 by TJ Michaels
While mates, lovers and Sensuan were carefully recorded for all members of the Society of War, for Reanne the rules were a bit different. She had two choices. She could take an assigned lover for a time, whose identity and time of service were carefully determined and recorded. Or she could take a mate.
Her mate’s identity would remain secret for a time until she declared the union to the Council or proof of consummation was given. Vows could be taken with only her father and one witness present, perhaps a member of the Council of Seven, or she could elope. This was to keep the First Heir’s mate from being assassinated before he could say, “I do.”
No one, especially Bryan Collaidh, should know that her records were clean – no assigned lover, no mate. If he managed to prove he’d had sex with her, she was screwed and not in a good way. No recourse. No way out.
Except to get free. Right now.
Reanne jerked her hand loose. Fist connected with the side of Bryan’s head, sending it sideways with a wicked snap. The jeweled dagger always strapped to her thigh was almost in her hand when the bastard dropped all of his weight on top of her. She just couldn’t get a full breath. Her head spun. Wriggling black spots swam around her field of vision.
Ugh, she was going to throw up.
A backhand to the jaw didn’t help. She hadn’t seen the blow coming and now both her hands were above her head, securely in one of his big clammy ones. More bile edged upward as his free hand brutally squeezed and twisted a tender breast. And he had an erection? Ewww.
Her dinner bubbled threateningly at the base of her throat. Frustrated and angry Reanne let out an ear-piercing scream when Bryan pushed his hand roughly underneath her tunic searching for the top of her leggings.
The skin of a sweaty hand touched the flesh of her belly. She went completely still.
“That’s more like it, bitch,” Bryan growled, yanking on her already ripped and torn clothing to expose her underwear. “I knew you would see things my way, Reanne. You always were a mewling little puke,” he spat. “It’s your fault I ended up on the borders all those cycles ago. Your fault! If you hadn’t run to your father blaming me for your making me angry I would have surpassed your rank by now. You deserved a beating then, and you deserve one now.”
Wasn’t there an old proverb in the ancient books that said pride goes before the fall?
In his haste to dip into her goodies, he released her hands to get a better grip on her pants. Her elbow crashed into the middle of his throat. Suddenly he was the one having trouble breathing.
Now wasn’t that just too bad?
Knee to the groin preceded a full contact left hook. He rolled completely away, eyes watering, gasping through his bruised windpipe. It seemed he couldn’t decide whether to hold his throat and gag, hold his balls and moan, or soothe his swelling eye.
On her feet, she yanked up her leggings and retrieved her blade from the carpet near the door. The corner of her mouth lifted at the exact moment Bryan realized the only way out was through her securely locked balcony windows or the front door. The first option was a no go – a four story fall wasn’t high enough to knock any sense into his hard head anyway. Unfortunately, Reanne and her blade stood in front of option number two.
There was a third option – part him from the jewels he’d tried to force on her only moments ago.
“You wouldn’t kill a man in cold blood. You don’t have it in you.” But the quaver in his voice said he didn’t believe his own words. He knew she’d do it. Knew she’d shred him. Sweat dripped from his brow, trailed down his clammy pale skin like wax down a spent candle.
Today is the release of Geared for Pleasure by Rachel Grace, who also writes as R.G. Alexander. She’s an amazingly talented writer and I’m honored that I had the chance to read an ARC of this book. If this book doesn’t make the NYT bestseller list I will have lost my faith in that danged list!
The world of Theorrey runs like a well-oiled machine. The elements are in balance, passion is tamed and the young queen is the heartbeat of it all. But in these two all-new stories of elemental steam, nothing is ever as it seems…
Earthly Desires
Demeter “Dare” Senedal is the Queen’s Chalice-her protector and closest companion. So when the queen goes missing, Dare rushes to locate her, even though the search leads her straight into trouble.
A gentleman who trades in secrets and sin, Bodhan revels in carnal delights, but when a naked and bound woman appears on his shore, he finds his hunger to possess at odds with his need to protect. As Bodhan shares his knowledge of pleasure, Dare must decide if she can trust him, both with her mission and her heart.
Fiery Temptations
Seraphina always lands on her feet. After all, she is a Felidae-more feline than human-and an excellent thief. There has never been a job Phina wouldn’t take or a man who could tame her…until she meets Cyrus Arendal.
As the Queen’s Sword, Cyrus should have known better than to fall victim to a beautiful bandit. Now, to find and retrieve the moonfire dagger, he’ll need to convince Phina not to judge a man by his station, but rather by how completely he can satisfy her desires.
We have 22 weeks until the Authors After Dark readers and writers convention in New Orleans and ZART is kicking this thing off with a bang!
Contest rules and the list of ZART authors are here –> RULES…and now that we’ve dispensed with that, let’s get to it!
Win a Survival Kit Item from the fabulous ZART authors. Leave answers and comments here. Twitterentries are acceptable if you wish to tweet your answer. Play every week if you like and survive the zombie apocalypse – We’ll even put your name on the ZART members list. Huzzah!
This week’s theme is first meetings, when our guy and gal meet for the first time. Enjoy this bit from my upcoming release, Silk Road, an Urban Fantasy with some good romance stirred in. After the excerpt, be sure to visit the other Snippet Saturday authors via the links at the bottom of the post!
Oh, and the ZART Countdown contest starts tomorrow – so keep your eyes peeled!
Snippet (unedited) from Silk Road, Seals of Destiny Book 1 by TJ Michaels
Energy with a bit of a dark bite blazed off the oversized man who practically spilled out of her cute little vanity chair. He seemed unmistakably unhuman. Not evil – she knew full well what that felt like – but not quite nice either.
Sporting a stylish leather trench coat, black jeans and scuffed motorcycle boots, this whatever was rough-and-tumble gorgeous. He looked like one of those Wolverine types rocking the almost-bald look. Definitely a man that could woo a woman in ten seconds flat then go out and chop a forest full of wood without breaking a sweat.
And right now he seemed to spill all that all maleness over her bedroom…uninvited. Annoyance at having her private space invaded trumped his yumminess by a long stretch.
“So, let’s get down to it. What the hell are you doing in my house? And I don’t even want to know how you know my name.” Though she did like the way it had rolled off his tongue when she’d turned on the light…
Get a grip, girl. Uninvited guest, remember?
“What are you?” she snapped.
“Which question do you want me to answer first?”
Oh, and the man was a smart ass to boot?
“Look, you’ve got two seconds to clear out or I’ll have to call my boys in to kick your ass. Then I’ll throw you out.”
He folded his arms across his chest and huffed as if she’d inconvenienced him, as put out to be here as she was about his unknown intentions. Huh.
“So, are you going to…?”
“Jayla, my name is Larien,” he said, cutting her off.
“Larien?”
“Yes, and I am to assist you in a task.”
“What task? And why should I believe you?”
He stretched out his hand. A folded piece of shimmery-looking paper slowly floated by itself from his fingers to hers. Neat trick but…
“Too damn slow,” she mumbled as she stomped the remaining distance between them and snatched the note out of the air. “Sorry,” she mumbled when Larien mumbled something about her manners or lack thereof. Great, and now she was blushing. “While I may not be afraid of you, I didn’t mean to disrespect you…even if you are in my house, in the middle of the night, in my bedroom with nothing more than a piece of paper to recommend you.”
The landscape of his face went from amused to taut to wrinkled forehead to slate smooth face. She’d managed to confuse a supernatural?
Wow, I am good!
“You look like you’re wondering what my deal is. It’s all over your face.” Okay, the smirk she tried to suppress morphed into a full-on grin. “Well, not anymore. Guess you’ve gotten your shit together and now you’re doing the stoic I’m-a-bad-ass face. No worries.”
Good lord, she was doing the feisty thing with an unknown man broadcasting a serious me-no-play-well-with-others attitude. She must need to go work off some energy or something. First order of business in the morning — go hit a heavy bag at the gym or something.
Remembering the piece of paper in her hand Jayla read it and cocked her head sideways in disbelief followed by the curiosity that never ceased to get her in trouble. She read it again for good measure then flew to the window. With her back to Larien, she was suddenly quite aware of how the little hem on her gown ruffled as she raised the pane and yelled down to Ambriel and his crew in the yard.
“Hey guys, is this for real?”
Ambriel grumbled back, “Yes, Jayla, it is genuine. He is being honest in his intentions…for once.”
Well that didn’t sound good, and when she whirled around to face Larien he didn’t look as if he cared in the slightest, but she didn’t miss the tail end of a curse or two as he coughed into his hand.
Rather than wary, it made her smile.
Back across the room, she settled down on the bench at the foot of her bed, crossed her arms over her chest and sat her pseudo-prickly butt down with an expectant huff. “Okay, Larien, I’m listening.”
“There is an ancient artifact that you are tasked to find and my job is to help you acquire it.”
Genuinely confused, Jayla said, “I’m so not Lara Croft. Seriously, I own a gym and write for the local paper. The university has an archeology department where I’m sure you can find someone more suitable. I’ve never even been on an expedition before though Egypt is on my bucket list.”
“You are more than suitable. In fact, you are the only one we know of that can handle this job.”
Four and a Half Blue Ribbon Review from Romance Junkies
JAGUAR’S RULE is the second book I have read by TJ MICHAELS and she is fast becoming one of my favorite authors and an auto buy on my list. The love scenes pulsate with intense passion that will leave readers breathless. TJ MICHAELS knows how to weave a tale of desire and suspense that will keep readers on the edge of their seat. I can’t wait to see what adventures her next book will bring.
