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Whiskey With My Book

~ And a cozy spot to enjoy them both.

Whiskey With My Book

Monthly Archives: February 2017

Degree of Resistance by Nicola Cameron – Feature With Exerpt

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by WWMB in Featuring....

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

book feature, cyborgs, excerpt, Nicola Cameron, scifi romance, series

Hello, and thanks so much for having me on today! Degree of Resistance is my first foray into cyborg romance, and I had a huge amount of fun building the world of the Pacific Protectorate and discovering Evie and Ben’s story as it progressed (I have to admit, I love these two so much. That scene in Chapter 12 hurt to write) . There are five more books planned in the series with a possibility of two prequels and some side stories as they occur to me, so I can promise you that you’ll be seeing more of Evie and Ben in the very near future.

degreeofresistancecover_med

About Degree of Resistance

A perfect society hiding a terrible secret. A betrayed man condemned to mindless slavery. A woman determined to set him free.

Freelance tech Evie Contreras belongs to the Employee class of the Pacifica Protectorate, the “perfect society” that rose from the ruins of the West Coast. But Evie knows about Pacifica’s festering core and the secrets that keep it in power. And when she discovers that Pacifica has turned her fiancé Ben into a cyborg soldier/slave, she will risk everything to rescue him.

Saving Ben is the first step in a deadly game between Pacifica and a shadowy resistance group known as Rubicon. In return for Rubicon’s help, Evie must retrieve a hidden artificial intelligence that may hold the key to protecting Earth from a deadly new disaster.

Assuming the protectorate doesn’t find Evie first…

Sci Fi Romance, Cyborg Romance, MF
Word Count: 80,000
Series: Pacifica Rising (Book One)
Published by Belaurient Press
Released February 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-54314-670-7

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Excerpt from Degree of Resistance

When Evie had war-gamed the plan with Mr. All Caps back in Redding, he’d warned her that Ben might have assumed the persona of Rene so thoroughly that he wouldn’t consciously recognize her. Worse, if his captors had planted triggers in his subconscious it wasn’t impossible that he might try and fight the extraction team. She had to hope that once she got a chance to talk to him in private he’d respond to her and his core personality would resurface.

What she hadn’t expected was him pressing her up against the hotel room door as soon as it was shut, gazing down at her with a worshipful expression.

“You are one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen, señorita,” he murmured, running a finger along the curve of her jaw. “You make me feel things that I’ve never felt before.”

As lines went it was ancient, but it still stoked a warm glow inside her. “Such as?”

“I want to tear your dress off, throw you on the bed, and ravish you over and over again until neither of us can move.” The words were delivered with a gorgeously filthy grin that made her knees go weak. “And at the same time I want to take your clothes off slowly until you’re laid out like a goddess on some heathen altar. I want to start at the top of your head and work my way down, kissing each and every inch of your body as I go, and not stopping until I’m deep inside you and you’re screaming my name.” That lovely, sexy grin intensified. “Does that sound strange to you?”

She sucked in a shuddering breath. “God, no.”

“Good.”

His lips came down on hers, and twelve years fell away. He still tasted the same, still smelled the same, still felt the same. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him and drowning in emotions that had been buried for so long. Love, lust, a greedy happiness that didn’t seem like a sin at all. He was back, and she would never let him go again.

She laughed while they kissed and he pulled away, brow furrowing. “What’s funny?”

It was impossible to explain. “Nothing. I’m just happy,” she reassured him.

Another of those amazing grins. “Oh. Well, in that case—”

She whooped as he scooped her up and carried her to the bed, placing her on the embroidered coverlet like she weighed nothing. “‘Scuse me a moment, but I need to divest myself of a few things,” he said, straightening up and undoing his gun belt. It went on the bedside table, along with his hat, jacket and waistcoat. “You might want to do the same, señorita. At least the gown and the petticoats.”

She glanced at the clock on the dresser. 9:18 PM. “I’d love to, Ben, but I don’t think we have enough time.”

His smile remained, but his gaze turned a shade quizzical. “My name’s Rene, señorita. You forgot that already?”

A flicker of apprehension ran through her. Maybe he thinks the room is bugged? “You can drop the accent,” she said, hoping she was wrong. “There aren’t any bugs here. I already checked.”

The bewilderment in his expression grew. “I didn’t think a roach would dare show its face in a quality establishment like this. And what does my accent have to do with it, anyway?”

Oh, shit. She sat up. “Do … do you know who I am?”

He leaned against the bedpost, arms crossed as he considered her. “Well, you said your name was Eva Contreras. Apart from that, I’m afraid you are unknown to me.”

He was serious. She was just some random woman he’d rescued from a couple of thugs.

Her happiness imploded, turning into a scorching despair that made her want to scream. Those fucking bastards. What did they do to him?

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About the Author

nicola-cameron-mel_mrstaypuftNicola Cameron is an expatriate Chicagoan who has lived in England, Canada, Holland, and Sweden, and keeps a confusing amalgamation of languages in her head as a result. Currently located in the clavicle of Texas, she has finally mastered the proper use of “y’all,” much to her Chicago family’s dismay.

Despite a healthy interest in sex since puberty, it wasn’t until 2012 that Nicola decided to try writing about it. As it turned out, the skills she picked up during her SF writing career transferred rather nicely to erotic romance. When not writing, she wrangles cats, smooches her husband, makes dolls of dubious and questionable identity, and thanks almighty Cthulhu that she doesn’t have to work for a major telecommunications company any more (because there’s BDSM, and then there’s just plain torture…).

Website: http://www.nicolacameronwrites.com
Blog: http://www.nicolacameronwrites.com/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nicolacameronwrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YesItsNicolaC
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6623791.Nicola_Cameron

What Are You Reading This Weekend?

24 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by WWMB in Art

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cecilia Dominic, Lara Paulussen, Lois McMaster Bujold, military scifi, paranormal romance, Sandra Hill, snow, Steampunk, Tonya Huff, vampires, winter

snow by Lara Paulussen

Snow today in my part of the country.  Will it be the last one until next winter?

Art available at Society6.

This weekend I will finish up Aether Rising by Cecilia Dominic.  This is book 4 in a favorite steampunk series, Aether Psychics.

On the audiobooks side, I’ve actually got two started with a third one in queue because it suddenly became available at the library.  So here is what I will be listening to in the next couple of weeks:

Kiss of Temptation, book 3 in Sandra Hill’s Deadly Angel series.  Vampire-angels.  Yes, it is silly.  But these stories are some of those laugh-out-loud books I can’t resist.   When I’m done with this one, I’ll be back to Lois McMaster-Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga series with The Vor Game.

The Heart of Valor by Tonya Huff.  Another 3rd in a series, this one, Confederation, is military scifi.  I really like this series about Marine Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr.

 

the-heart-of-valor

What are you reading this weekend?

Passages by Laurel Wanrow – Review

21 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, cyborgs, favorite, Laurel Wanrow, scifi, scifi romance

Review by Riley

About Passages

“Find someone you can trust.”

For decades, Eve and her fellow electorgs—part human, part machine—have worked on the quiet planet of Aarde, beating back toxic spores that threaten to poison the native people. When the new commander halts work right before a deadly spore release, Eve frantically plots to protect the villagers she considers friends and family.

On the run after an ambush, Quinn holds a secret that nearly got him killed. If only he knew what it was. Though the attack scrambled his memories, Quinn is sure of one thing—he can’t trust the electorgs. But they know information he desperately needs to puzzle out who wants him dead, and why.

With the fate of life on Aarde in the balance, the logic of joining forces with Eve overrides Quinn’s fears…and erupts into an attraction that could prove fatal for both of them.

Because the planet’s commander might just be Quinn himself.

 

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Review of Passages

D’Air this is a good book!

Lets start with what sets Passages apart from most books I’ve read lately. It’s creative. Laurel Wanrow’s development of the world of Aarde, its physics, biogeography, the goud and most especially, the electorgs and their socio-political structure is very thoughtful and quite original.

One might say that electorgs, or ‘torgs, are just cyborgs and therefore not original. Maybe yes, they are cyborgs, but face it, the Docga have very specific criteria for selection of humans that could become cyborgs. First, they had to have some special talent. And second, they had to be dead. So, not your typical scifi-physically-enhanced human.

That begs the question, who/what are these Docga, that can take a dead person and turn it into a living being? And these beings still appear to have souls, if I am allowed a spiritual observation. Again I ask, who are these seemingly benevolent beings that give life to the ‘torgs and then send them around the universe to do their bidding.  I must admit to wanting to know much more about these beings, one of whom appears in the form of a sentient wolfhound in Passages. (Appealing to the dog-lovers.) On the other hand, the mysteriousness of the race is just another thing that I appreciate about the them.

The two main characters, Quinn and ‘torg Eva, alternate first person viewpoints from chapter to chapter. If you are the type of person who tends to ignore chapter headings in an effort to get straight to the story, don’t! Each chapter is headed with either “Quinn” or “Eva”, so the readers knows whose viewpoint is being followed. When the action continues directly from the previous chapter, these headings become very important.

I enjoy first person narrations, because I so like getting into the head of a character. Even if a) the character has had a memory loss and therefore, there is not much to get into (Quinn) or b) the character tends to deny some of her past (Eva) in order to not have to deal with it in the present. You many now begin to see also, why I liked these characters so much. They have depths to be explored, they are complex and both are also quite flawed.

And they are drawn to each other, with a number of complications that constantly keep them apart – with good reason. The romance between these two is heartfelt and complicated and perfect. Of the two, Quinn is most interesting. He has lost so much of his memory, but at times seems very capable. Who or what is he? It was very cool to watch him grow into the hero. And the lover.

I find the ‘torg social structure to be quite fascinating and not like anything I’ve run across in other scifi. Therefore, it is another of the aspects of Passages that make the book stand out to me. B-runs, associations of three ‘torgs who live together as a family and work in the community they are assigned to, make up the main ‘torg workforce. Eva, Evard and Evangeline make up a B-run. Each has his or her own function that the Docga thinks is beneficial to the world or community they are serving. In this case, this run of ‘torgs lives in and runs the bookstore Passages while they help the Zeffir Island community with their botany, veterinary, and psychological talents.

E-runs, are the elite ‘torgs or the ministers. The administrative runs are formed from 5 ‘torgs and again, each member of the quintad has a separate, but important, function. You will be slowly introduced to a key e-run in Passages.  As members of the administrative class, you might surmise that they are also a source of intrigue.

While Eva and Quinn are the main characters in Passages, there are several secondary characters that really help flesh out the rest of the story. Primarily, the other two members of Eva’s B-run – Evangeline and Evard. Each has their own story to tell, but only part of is shared in Passages. (I want more!)

Perhaps the most interesting story that is only partially told belongs to Sabein. Sabein is the matriarch and leader of the Zeffir Island community and there is much to her, as you might expect of one who reaches her position. She is especially close to Eva and for that matter, all three ‘torgs in Eva’s group are her friends, despite the fact that they are not natives. She works closely with them within her community. But Zeffir and the residents are her top priority.

Passages is not comprised solely of compelling protagonists. Do you want to talk about the antagonist(s)? Evil? Yes. Clever? Smart enough to get around the good guys – at least early on. Power hungry? Absolutely. I wasn’t 100% clear on the bad guy’s motivation, other than that power-hungry thing. But sometimes, you don’t really need to know more than that.  These adversaries to Eva, Quinn and their friends provide the conflict, the intrigue and the ultimate climactic scenes.

There are so many things about Passages that I appreciated, but this review is getting quite long.  So let me leave you with a list of teasers:

  1. Goud – is it a gem, a weapon, a pharmaceutical, or…..?
  2. Transporter technology
  3. Botany
  4. Blackguards
  5. Death Discs
  6. Long lives and how to avoid overpopulation
  7. Alphabetical order
  8. The Waters

In addition to my 5-star recommendation of Passages, I would also like to recommend the series of guest blog posts that Laurel Wanrow did to introduce Passages. You can find the complete list on her guest post at Whiskey With My Book: https://whiskeywithmybook.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/laura-wanrow-author-of-passage-guest-post/. Ms. Wanrow has put a great deal of thought into the world she has created – from the dynamics of the ‘torg social structure – to the biology of a dangerous spore – to the creation of the compelling characters and drama that make up the story of Passages. This one is going on my favorites shelf!

The author provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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