Welcome, fellow travelers. You’ve reached one of the stops in the SFR Brigade’s Midsummer Blog Hop. If you wish to start at the beginning, CLICK ON THE STARRY NIGHTS LOGO to the left.

If you wish to pick and choose whose blog to visit, go HERE for a full list of participants.

And, yes, there are prizes from the authors participating in the tour. Here are the prize packages, and boy, do they look good!

First Place Prize –$100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card plus Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja’s Star, Silver Strife, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Earth’s Requiem, Alien Blood, Starwoman’s Sanctuary, one book from Jessica E Subject’s SFR backlist (ONE ebook title out of the following: Alien Adoration, Alien Admirer, Alien Lover, An Unexpected Return, Another Night Another Planet, Celestial Seduction, Crash Landing, Hey Santa, His Alien Virgin, Made For Her, Never Gonna Let You Go, Never Gonna Desert You, Never Gonna Say Goodbye, Satin Sheets in Space, Sudden Breakaway, or Unknown Futures), LodeStar Series Books 1-3 (Stark Pleasure, Creed of Pleasure and Captive of Pleasure), Reunion trilogy, Terms & Conditions Apply, Wreck of the Nebula Dream, Starheart, Kuralon Rescue, A Matter of Trust, Earth’s Blood, Roman’s Gold, Wolf Born, The Marann, Nightfall, Unrequited, Butterman Time Travel Inc., Legend Beyond the Stars, Hathor’s Legacy: Outcast, Removed, Midwinter Crisis, Shlyer: Finding Home, Boyfriend’s Brother, Surviving the Trap, Captive, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red, Underlighters. (42 books)

Second Place Prize— $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card plus Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja’s Star, Silver Strife, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Earth’s Requiem, Alien Blood, Starwoman’s Sanctuary, Tangled In Time, Terms & Conditions Apply, Escape from Zulaire, Lana’s Comet, Heart’s Bounty, Glad Hands, Nikolai, The Trial of Tompa Lee, The Tribulations of Tompa Lee, The Midas Rush, Prime Obsession, Daughters of Suralia, Morning Star, Hey Santa, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red, Underlighters, Alex Wales:Promise, Recast trilogy (Wither, Clash, Shiver). (33 books)

Third Place Prize–3 separate winners each receive a $25 Amazon or B&N Gift Card plus Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja’s Star, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Hey Santa, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red, Underlighters. (12 books each)

Enter through a Rafflecopter giveaway. There will be no substitutions. Authors donating e-books will attempt to accommodate the winner’s required format.

See below for how to win a prize from me on this blog.

In keeping with the blog hop’s theme of Starry Nights, I’m sharing an excerpt from Prime Obsession, Book 1 of the Prime Chronicles.

Post a comment in this blog, and I will award one lucky traveler, a download copy of Prime Obsession.  I’ll choose that award  on June 25th after 8 PM (EST which is GMT -4).

Blurb:

Melina Dmitros is a seasoned battleship captain for the Galactic Alliance. Calls from ships in distress are not all that uncommon in the outermost spirals of the Milky Way. Calls from the warlike Prime were. Now that they were allies, Mel figures she’d better get used to working in conjunction with the chauvinistic race. She never expected to be attracted to one of them.

The Prime, one of the oldest species in the galaxy, were known for going their own way. But with problems on Cejuru Prime and increasing attacks by the Antareans, the Prime joined the Alliance to lend their expertise in battling the warlike reptilian species–and ultimately, to survive as a race.

Captain Wulf Caradoc, the eldest son and heir apparent of the Prime leader, looked forward to the trip to the Alliance ambassadorial planet. His mission is ostensibly to deliver the diplomatic team to the new Prime embassy. His real mission is to meet his fated mate, his gemate, one of the Lost Ones. Wulf hadn’t anticipated the diplomatic mission being attacked by pirates–and he especially hadn’t anticipated his gemate, Melina Dmitros, being the one sent to rescue his ship.

Two strong people pulled together by biology and fate. Their union will be forged in a crucible of survival, treachery and duty.

Now that you know what the book is all about.  Settle back and enjoy the excerpt.  And don’t forget to comment to get a chance to win a FREE download of this book.

EXCERPT from PRIME OBSESSION, Book 1 of  the Prime Chronicles:

Well-rested after a solid seven hours of sleep, Mel entered the Captain’s conference room in search of Wulf.

He sat alone. Beyond him the expansive port window framed a fiery red, blue, white and peach display of a star cluster in a nebula thousands of light-years behind the Galanti.

How many times had he sat in the observation area, watching as the galaxy whizzed by? How many times had he sat in that chair, attempting to figure a way out of a tight corner? How many times had he questioned his place in the grand scheme of things, wondering when his number might come up and if he would live to see another mission?

“Too many times to count, gemate. Too many damn times.”

He turned and smiled at her. What had put that smile on his face? With a light mental touch, she read his emotions. Happiness. Love. Both emotions were tied to her–only her.

A sense of well-being swept over her. This was right; they were right.

He held out a hand, beckoning her to join him. “I now have more to fight for. To live for. I have you and our future together. So, I expect that I will find myself in this chair, watching the galaxy whiz by many more times.”

Mel walked over and kissed him lightly on the lips. “But no longer alone.”

“Yes,” he whispered against her mouth. “No longer alone. Forgive me for my loss of control earlier?”

She pulled away from the luscious warmth of his mouth then leaned against the arm of his chair. “Nothing to forgive. We still have much to learn of each other. We are both used to being in control, to acting as we see fit. It’s a learning curve, this battle-mate relationship.”

She stroked the back of his sinewy hand with one finger. “More like a learning cliff. The biological connection is there and has been ever since that moment we first met in the maintenance tunnel. For me, the emotional connection has been there also, almost from the beginning–though I tried to deny it.” She shook her head, laughing at herself. “I didn’t trust it, at first. It’s the psychological connection, the learned trust, I have the most trouble dealing with. Sharing command decisions goes against all my training and experience. But, I know that it, too, will come.”

Wulf reversed the grip she had on his hand and brought hers to his lips. “Thank you. I’m not sure I deserve your understanding, but I’m grateful for it.” He rubbed his cheek against her hand. “For me, it is the emotional connection that is overwhelming. Intellectually, I know you are strong and capable, but my fears for your safety override my brain and I react emotionally. I’ve never had that happen before. I will try to overcome the issue, but it might take time. Prime males have deeply rooted protective instincts when it comes to their mates, even strong battle-mates. Have patience with me?”

“Always. You’re worth the trouble,” she teased. Pulling her hand away, she cupped his jaw and stole another kiss.

His eyes glowed with love as he reached for her face and took control of the kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth and claimed every single millimeter like the conquering warrior he was. It was a kiss that promised hot nights on cool sheets. And even hotter, sultry afternoons of tangled sweaty limbs.

Mel moaned, returning the kiss, trying to get closer to the promise of passion.

The quarter-hour reminder of yellow alert status sounded, startling them both.

Groaning, Wulf pulled away and whispered, “Later, gemate.”

Sitting back in his chair, his molten gaze traveled over her, setting her nerves ablaze. One look from Wulf was worth more than all the foreplay any other male of her acquaintance had ever attempted.

“You are rested?” His voice was husky with restrained heat.

Taking a calming breath, Mel walked to his other side and sat down. “Yes.” Answering his unspoken question, she added, “My cuts and bruises were minor. I’m fine.”

Another of his heated searching glances and, then, a light mental touch had her pulling up the maintenance report on the status of the weapons systems to distract him from his intimate examination of her wellbeing. “I’m fine, Wulf. How’s the weapons’ recharge going?”

A disbelieving grunt was his only response.

Obviously, she hadn’t masked the lingering pain from the injuries she’d obtained during her EVI walk. If she could have, she would’ve denied all injury. But he’d seen the evidence in the EVI staging area and, later, after he’d escorted her back to their quarters. Once there, the doctor quickly examined her, efficiently wielding the ice gun on her bruises and lasering her lacerations and abrasions.

Wulf had stood over them both, alternately cursing each hurt as it was revealed, then lecturing her on the prime importance of her safety for his mental health and the ultimate well-being of every single crew member–for every living being in the galaxy. Then he’d dismissed the doctor and tucked her in bed. As he kissed her, he had pressure-injected her with a sleeping agent which had put her under for over six and a half standard hours.

The sneaky bastard.

She would’ve done the same for him. They really did think alike. She grinned.

Still working on shifting Wulf’s attention back to work and away from her physical status, she commented, “Looks as if we’re still at least five standard hours away from full power on the two forward weapons and two standard hours on the aft.”

“They are making progress.” Wulf caressed her left hand as it hovered over the keypad. “When we get to Tooh 10, let’s take some time, visit Maren at the embassy on Tooh 2. Maybe stay at the resort for some rest and relaxation, and what the Terrans call a honeymoon.”

She smiled and turned her hand up to clasp his. “That sounds like a plan.”

*****
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Other Books in the Prime Chronicles series: