A womanising admiral
Here's the blurb.
She's lost her husband, her best friend is missing. What else has she got to lose?
Slightly shady freighter captain, Jess Sondijk, thought she had her life under control until Admiral Hudson's Confederacy battle cruiser stops her ship to search for contraband. His questions reopen matters she had thought resolved. What if her husband's death on his way back from Tabora wasn't accidental? Jess decides to investigate, while keeping Hudson at arms' length.
While he's attracted to the lovely Jess, Hudson is also concerned about what might be happening on Tabora and how that may involve the Confederacy's enemies.
Jess and Hudson's interests collide in more ways than one. But while Jess is more than willing to put her life on the line to protect what's hers, Hudson must balance the risk of inter-species war at worst and the end of his career at best, in a deadly game of political intrigue, murder and greed. At the end of the day, how much is he willing to lose for the woman he has come to love?
So far, I haven't said much about the male main character and love interest, Admiral Ullric Hudson. I'll let Jess introduce you to him when she first meets him when she's taken over to his flagship, Defender, for interrogation…
The warship's side loomed like an apartment block with a few lighted windows. The cutter aimed for the window with the flashing light and slid into the vessel's interior. A few minutes for the airlock to air up and they were out. Jess sniffed the air. Not even a hint of mustiness or cooking. Their filters were obviously better than Saintly Maid's.
Jess and Santh walked together, the troopers behind them, while Lieutenant Douglas led the way to a transit foyer, where he pressed a button to summon a car.
Jess stared around her at clean, grey walls and floors, and a row of no less than ten lifts. Strewth. The buttons went up to thirty. Thirty levels. This ship was huge. A group of people appeared from a doorway, also heading for the transit foyer. Three senior officers. She fixed her 'not sure why this is happening but I'm being co-operative' expression on her face as they approached.
Well, well, well. The captain, a senior commander and a rather dishy admiral. Tall, thick brown hair, heavy eyebrows over blue eyes that right now were shifting his gaze over her body and most especially down the carefully-judged split at the front of her shirt. She smiled at him, taking care to adjust her hair while she did so. Now what would a Star Fleet admiral be doing at Nordheim?
Beside her, Lieutenant Douglas and the two escorts stiffened to parade ground attention.
The admiral stopped in front of her, still staring. "What have we here, Lieutenant?"
The look in his eye sent a sexy shimmy down her spine. No prizes for guessing what was on his mind right now. And under different circumstances, she wouldn't mind. No, not at all.
"Captain and First Officer of a suspicious ship, Sir. The Saintly Maid. They're here for interrogation."
Jess widened her eyes. "Suspicious ship? Oh, really, Lieutenant, you must have mistaken the Maid for some other vessel."
The admiral grinned. The transit car the senior commander had summoned arrived with a gentle ping. The captain and the senior commander both had their bodies pointed towards the open door but the admiral lingered, gazing down at her.
"Delightful to meet you, Captain…?"
"Sondijk. And equally delightful to meet you, Admiral…?"
"Hudson. Ullric Hudson."
She gave him a long, hard once-over, her gaze traveling slowly down his body and back up to his eyes.
"Welcome to Nordheim, Admiral Hudson."
He chuckled, jerked his head down in a brief nod and followed the two officers into the transit.
A womaniser he might be, but Jess soon discovers Hudson's no fool. His arrival is about to make life very complicated for her as he stirs up matters she thought she'd dealt with, like the death of her husband.
I'll be at http://www.melisseaires.com/blog.html tomorrow for a little bit more about that initial meeting.
To celebrate the release of Starheart I'll be giving a $25 Amazon gift voucher to one person who leaves a comment on any of the blogs I visit until 10th March. So leave a comment here and you'll be in the draw.
Greta van der Rol loves writing science fiction with a large dollop of good old, healthy romance. She lives not far from the coast in Queensland, Australia and enjoys photography and cooking when she isn't bent over the computer. She has a degree in history and a background in building information systems, both of which go a long way toward helping her in her writing endeavours.
Links:
http://gretavanderrol.net/
http://twitter.com/GretavdR
http://www.facebook.com/Author.Greta.vanderRol
I've been finding so many writers from the Land of Oz lately. Makes me want to come downunder for a visit.
ReplyDeleteWell-written excerpt and two strong leads. What else does one need?
Thanks so much for popping in Marva. It's the water down here. We have quite a few writers of SF, some that do very well indeed.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a fun story, I can't wait to pick it up. :o)
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the book, Liana. That, after all, is why we write 'em.
ReplyDeleteThe characters sound fascinating, Greta. Lots of potential for heat between the hero and heroine, and a very interesting plot. Can't wait to read it!
ReplyDelete:) Mon
Thanks for the post and giveaway, Greta. Is this novel part of a series?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the release of Starheart and your upcoming projects!
Mary Anne, it's a stand-alone book but it is set in the same universe as my 2 Iron Admiral novels. I'm likely to set some more books in that universe.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mon. They're both very strong characters in their own way.
ReplyDeleteSuper extract with an intriguing premise!!!! Congrats.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Cute excerpt, Greta! I'd love to go down under, too, but I want to do it by transporter. Not sure I can handle that many hours in a plane anymore! Congrats on the release and the blog tour!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Greta van der Rol for being our guest author and to all who stopped by to comment.
ReplyDeleteGreta, we really enjoyed hearing about your recent release, Starheart, and thanks for the generous giveaway to a lucky commenter, too.
Thank you to Laurie for having me, and to everyone who left a comment. You're all entered for the Amazon gift voucher - and I hope you enjoy 'Starheart'.
ReplyDelete