A Touch of Lilly (Adult title), Guest Post, review and Giveaway

A Touch of Lilly           
by Nina Pierce is my feature today, a yummy science fiction ADULT title.

I am delighted to have a guest post from the author.

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The Fascination of Science Fiction

 by Nina Pierce

I’m pretty sure I can say, without exception, all writers were readers first, and that includes me. Before I even thought about putting fingers to keyboard, I was an avid reader. Not as fast as many, but a couple of novels a month for most of my adult life.

And when it comes to genres … I’m kind of all over the place. But my favorite by far, is first off a romance and usually something that falls in the paranormal or science fiction suspense realm.

I remember reading my first science fiction book in fourth grade. I kept up the love through middle school when even my English teacher knew how much I enjoyed stretching my imagination and chose this really awesome book about stars and witches and mountains for me … I remember LOVING it (though I have no idea the title or author). I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out where the characters were going to take me. It’s that fascination with other worlds and the possibilities of something different from our reality that keeps me picking up science fiction stories.

Madeleine L’Engle’s A WRINKLE IN TIME is still one of my all time favorite series. It’s the story of a young boy whose father disappears and he and his sister take a perilous journey through space and time to find him. The story so captured my imagination, decades later I can still recall many of my favorite scenes in vivid detail.

As I got older, I found myself drifting to the science fiction section of our little town library and read my way through a better part the books. Many of the authors I can’t recall, though I did pick up William Shatner (his brief stint into a writing career … don’t bother), but also found Isaac Asimov’s FOUNDATION series. But the one that got me, the one that pulled me completely into her worlds and kept me coming back for more is Anne McCaffrey’s FREEDOM series. (She’s also the author of the Dragon-Riders of Pern series.) She’s got this great combination of love story, action and other worlds, including aliens, that just makes a science nerd like me go all weak in the knees.

And since my reading life was supplemented by television series like Star Trek and Stargate and movies like Logan’s Run and Total Recall, it was no wonder my writing drifted into the futuristic and fantasy realm as well. I’ve got paranormal stories whose main characters are vampires and another series with cougar and wolf shifters. My first foray into a dystopian future is a very sexy romantic suspense involving humans trying to repopulate the earth after a devastating plague. But my newest release, A TOUCH OF LILLY, is my first foray into deep space.

Like Ms. McCaffrey, I let my imagination take over and created a solar system very different from our own. A TOUCH OF LILLY is at its heart—a romance—but murder, revenge and yes, a little bit of space travel will hopefully keep readers turning the pages.

What about you? Have you ventured “out of this world”?  Please leave your e-mail address and a comment stating the most recent science fiction title you have read or watched.


(A note from ELF:  I LOVED A Wrinkle in Time and still fondly think of the concept of tesseract that I was introduced to in that book, The Ship Who series by Ms. McCaffrey definitely expanded my horizons and I am so excited that Jean Johnson has just released a new book in her Theirs Not to Reason Why series called Hellfire!)






A Touch of Lilly
by Nina Pierce


BLURB:

Ex-Chicago detective LILLY D’ANGELO has a secret she doesn’t share with anyone. A master of the one night stand, she’s given up ever finding a soul mate and thrown herself head first into her career. That is, until she captures the wrong alien. Kidnapped and sold into the sex slave trade, she’s shipped into deep space. Barely escaping with her life, Lilly now travels the galaxy working as a bounty hunter using her secret talents to bring down criminals and seeking revenge on the one male who ruined her life. 

Agent DALLAS SAWYER works for deep space’s version of the FBI. After a disastrous mission that left several of his team members murdered, a president executed, and Dallas near death, he’s determined to take down the assassin targeting government officials. When a sexy human female gets between him and his goal, Dallas and his alien partner find themselves on the receiving end of a passionate night they won’t soon forget and a proposition that may very well blow up in their faces.

Because in deep space … true love can happen with just a touch.


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Excerpt:

Dallas threaded his way through the crowded sidewalk back to the alley. He’d learned over the past month the residents of this territory on Garalon Five were night owls. Not that they had a choice. Things wouldn’t slow down until the first two moons were well below the horizon and the third just beginning to rise. The lack of daylight had thrown him when he’d first arrived. Though the Nebulae Galaxy had a major star at its center, the weak light didn’t reach a good portion of the planets. Heat on the inhabitable planets came from deep within their crusts.

He didn’t give a shit about the specifics, just that the interminable darkness was fraying the ends of his taut nerves. Another two days, a week tops and this mission would be finished and Dallas could return to Earth for a much needed vacation with some human companionship.

Working for the government was a lonely business. Lonelier still when he was out in deep space away from his own species. Five years ago, when Dallas had graduated from Quantico, he’d envisioned this life—traveling the stars in search of bad guys and adventures. But working for QAL wasn’t all the pamphlets had promised. It seemed even in space, shit happened, people died and no matter how far he ran, he couldn’t outrun a broken heart.


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

USA Today Bestselling author, Nina Pierce, grew up in a house full of readers. Nina's discovered the passionate side of romance with her sexy stories. For her, it's all about the sweet scent of seduction mixed with the heartwarming aroma of romance.

Nina resides in New England with her high school sweetheart and soul mate of twenty-eight years and several very spoiled cats who consider her "staff". When she’s not writing she enjoys spending time with her three grown children, one love-sick son-in-law and a heart-melting grandson.

You can keep up with her new books at her website or by following her on Facebook or Twitter

Nina will be awarding A print copy of HEALER’S GARDEN and author swag (Shipping to US winner only. International winner will receive a $25 Amazon OR BN Gift Card in lieu of print book and swag) to a random commenter during the tour.

Please leave your e-mail address and a comment stating the most recent science fiction title you have read or watched, then visit some (or all) of the other tour stops for additional chances to win.

Tour stops:
July 29:  Illustrious Illusions
July 30:  The Reading Addict
July 30:  Deal Sharing Aunt
July 31:  Books and Other Spells
August 1:  Erotica For All
August 2:  Tina Donahue Presents
August 5:  Beyond Romance
August 6:  Wickedly Wanton Tales
August 7:  Wicked Readings by Tawania
August 7:  Smoldering Heat
August 9:  Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess
August 9:  Literal Hotties Naughty Books Reviews 


My review:

4 out of 5 stars
“A Touch of Lilly” by Nina Pierce is an erotic science fiction romance novella.  Lilly is a bounty hunter who has a few extra assets that others don’t, she has the ability to drive males mad with lust and she was trained as a police officer until she lost her position.  She is struggling to survive in the Nebulae Galaxy after escaping the threat of sexual slavery.  Unfortunately, her activities cause her to cross paths with Dallas Sawyer and his partner Thaegan who are out to catch a traitor and thwart an assassination.  Now they have to decide whether to become allies or enemies.



This was a fun and sensual story.  There is a nice blend of familiar elements such as Quantico, bounty hunters and political machinations combined with aliens, a galaxy with twelve planets that are populated by a variety of beings and an imaginative history involving the interaction of humans with an ancient alien race.  I enjoyed the interaction between Lilly and Dallas although I had a little trouble accepting the abrupt about-face of Thaegan’s attitude.  The author has done a nice job of world-building and has lain the groundwork for more exciting science fiction romance tales that connect to this one.  I look forward to additional stories in this universe.