Cover Reveal SciFi Romance Mission to Mahjundar

I'm very excited this week to be sharing the cover for my upcoming science fiction romance release MISSION TO MAHJUNDAR!

Fiona Jayde is my cover designer, who helped establish the "brand" look and feel for this series right from the beginning. I usually do some browsing through the stock photos (so much fun to do and SO much more fun than actually writing new words on paper LOL) and send her a few that I like - possible heroes, heroines and settings -  just to show what I'm thinking about. She works her magic and I'm set.

This new book is set in the same Universe as Wreck of the Nebula Dream and Escape From Zulaire, although there's no direct link between the three books. Here's the blurb for this new novel, which should be available August 18th at all the major ebook stores and in paperback (from Amazon only) shortly thereafter:

An attempted assassination left Princess Shalira blind as a child and, now that she’s of marriageable age, her prospects are not good because of her disability. She’s resigned herself to an arranged marriage rather than face life under the thumb of her cold stepmother. But then she meets Mike Varone, a Sectors Special Forces officer sent to Mahjundar by the intergalactic government to retrieve a ship lost in her planet’s mountains. After Mike saves Shalira from another assassination attempt, she arranges for him to escort her across the planet to her future husband. She’s already falling hard for the deadly offworlder and knows she should deny herself the temptation he represents, but taking Mike along to protect her is the only way she’ll live long enough to escape her ruthless stepmother.

Mike, for his part, resists his growing attraction to the princess; he has a mission on this planet and rescuing the vulnerable but brave princess isn’t it. No matter how much he wishes it could be.

But what should have been an easy trek through Mahjundar’s peaceful lands swiftly turns into an ambush with danger around every turn. Shalira’s marriage begins to seem less like an arranged union and more like yet another planned assassination. The more they work together to survive, the harder it becomes to stop themselves from falling in love. Caught in a race against time, can they escape the hostile forces hunting them and make it off the planet?

Can there be a future for a simple soldier and an intergalactic princess?

No preorder buttons, bummer!

In other exciting news, the wonderful Michael Riffle is nearly done with recording the audiobook version of Escape From Zulaire so that should be available in August as well.

I hope your summer is going great!

Hot Sci Fi Men in Uniform

We had two choices for theme of the month and I'm going with men in uniform, but adding a science fiction twist, and of course  guys in uniform are always hot. Right?

First, major respect and appreciation to the men AND women in uniform for their country in real life, and for the veterans and the families.

OK, if I was going to pick my favorite military man in uniform in SF, it would have to be Corporal Hicks in the movie "Aliens", as portrayed by Michael Biehn. I always go for that Southern accent and the man is not only good looking, he's calm, deadly with pulse rifle and can survive an Alien encounter.

A close tie for second would be Raleigh Becket and Stacker Pentecost in "Pacific Rim." Played by Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba respectively, they cancel the Apocalypse and keep us all safe from alien Kaiju. (And the character of Mako Mori, played by Rinko Kikuchi, was wonderful!)

Then there's "Firefly" and Captain Mal...."Independence Day" with Will Smith's fighter pilot (although I actually preferred Jeff Goldblum's civilian character)...

When I'm writing science fiction, I almost always make the hero a Special Forces soldier in the Sectors military. (The Sectors being the galactic civilization where my SFR novels take place.) I think they're the most bad ass guys around, the kind of people I want to come rescue me, fight my way out of danger with and celebrate the victory in all possible ways together with. The quiet professonals, as we say of the modern day Navy SEALs.

So far I've done three SFR novels (the 3rd, "Mission to Mahjundar" is coming in August) and the three heroes share some things in common, while being very different individuals. Nick Jameson, in "Wreck of the Nebula Dream," has just come off a really bad mission, blames himself for the loss of his Team and seems to be trying to drink himself to oblivion while on his way to a court martial. But when danger threatens the ship he's on, he's right there, working to save the civilians, putting his life on the line for theirs. It helps that a certain beautiful and competent galactic businesswoman is at his side.

In "Escape From Zulaire," Tom Deverane has served his time and would retire if he

 thought he could handle peace and quiet. He's hiding a secret, which has the potential to endanger everyone whose life he's trying to save. Despite all the odds being against them on a planet descending into war, he refuses to give up. And Andi, the woman he was sent to rescue, turns out to be the key to mission success, with her hard headedness and local contacts.

In "Mission to Mahjundar," (cover reveal SOON, book out in August) Mike Varone has one last job to do before he takes early retirement to help his family out at home. The mission seems simple enough - find a downed ship and retrieve the casualties - until he's thrown into the local political intrigues, takes a detour to go tomb raiding and rescues a reluctant princess from her arranged marriage. But Princess Shalira, although blind, can channel the powers of the local gods and proves to be every bit his equal in solving the challenges they encounter.

The only easy day was yesterday, as the SEALs will tell you, whether you're on Earth or Out There.

Amazon best-seller Veronica Scott is a two-time recipient of the SFR Galaxy Award and a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award finalist. She's written a number of science-fiction and paranormal romances, including Magic of the Nile, her most recent. You can find out more about her and her books at veronicascott.wordpress.com.