Long, long ago...earlier this month...I had invited Rinelle to my blog, but matters got tangled and it didn't happen.
Finally, I have a slot open and Rinelle can have her moment for Reckless Rescue to shine...
Oh Dear! I hope we aren't too late. Rescues tend to be time sensitive...
Reckless Rescue
by
Rinelle Grey
Stranded on
the dying planet of Zerris, Marlee longs for the one thing she can’t have…a family.
Due to the noxious gas covering the planet, she can’t conceive a child, and the
Council, determined to repopulate the planet, have ended her third—and most
precious—relationship. They insist she pick a new mate and try again, but she’s
sworn off love and the possibility of ever having a real family.
When a ship
from the thriving planet of Urslat crashes on Zerris, Marlee rescues the ship’s daring
captain, Tyris. His ship is grounded, winter is setting in, and he won’t
survive without help. She offers him a deal…he can live with her if he pretends
to be her mate so the Council will leave her alone.
Tyris agrees and a hungry desire
sparks between them as they battle the harsh winter and primitive conditions.
Their attraction grows, and soon, keeping their distance becomes impossible,
even more challenging than the snow, the Council, and, for Marlee, the risks of
a real relationship.
Will
she risk her heart one last time for a chance at her dream? Or will Tyris be
her undoing?
Jaimma’s comments signalled the end of her period of grace.
She and Nelor had been apart two weeks, the accepted grieving period. Her
mother’s visit yesterday, Kalim’s insistence that she needed to move on—those
were just the beginning. Over the next week, the hints would become less
subtle, her friends and family would start suggesting possible partners. The
pressure would intensify. She’d seen it before.
Eventually, everyone gave in and made a choice. Not many had
held out to three weeks, and none to four. But she had no intention of giving
in. Not this time. She didn’t want that anymore.
What would happen when she continued to refuse to choose?
Would everyone eventually accept her choice? Her mother? The council? How far
would they push?
She didn’t know. It hadn’t happened before.
She jerked her head up, listening. Far off in the distance,
she heard it again. Screams. Something was horribly wrong. Abandoning the
wheelbarrow, she turned to run back to the settlement when a loud boom sounded
overhead. Instinctively, she ducked.
A large object burned through the sky above her.
Marlee crouched, frozen to the spot, staring at it in
disbelief. All her life she had heard tales of the meteor that had decimated
her mother’s home planet before she was born, but she had never expected to see
one for herself.
She needed to get back to the village, to find shelter.
Would any kind of shelter protect her from a meteor strike? Her heart thudded
in her chest, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the fireball.
Then, right in front of her eyes, the flames dissipated and
a silver form emerged.
It sailed through the sky at an amazing speed, and adrenalin
pounded through Marlee’s veins. She shaded her eyes from the sun as it crashed
through the trees some distance away. The ground shuddered at the impact.
If it wasn’t a meteor, what was it? It looked a little like
a miniature version of the Tenacity, the old rocket ship that had brought her
people to this planet. But if it was a rocket ship, where was it from and what
was it doing here?
After all this time, had someone come to rescue them?
She was too young to remember the hope people held onto
after their arrival, but Nelor remembered. He had told her, childlike hurt and
pain in his voice, how they had waited. How it had taken several years for them
to accept there would be no rescue.
Had they given up too soon?
Marlee picked up her skirts and ran. The ship had been going
down fast. The crash she had felt had been too hard for a controlled landing.
The occupants could be hurt and needing help.
She glanced over her shoulder, back towards the village. She
should wait for somebody to come with her, but she was too excited to stop.
Someone would come looking for her soon enough. She continued on, her breathing
laboured.
After about half an hour, she reached the small stream that
ran through the woods. In summer, the stream trickled along, and she and Nelor
had picnicked beside it, paddling in the shallow, cool water.
Now it was swollen from recent storms, and though it was
flowing too fast for ice to form, it would be freezing cold. The stepping
stones she used in summer still peeked out of the water, so she took a deep
breath and stepped carefully across without incident. The ground rose gradually
after the stream, but at least the rocky surface made for firmer footing.
It took another hour to reach the crash site. Marlee hid in
the scant shelter of the bare branches for a few moments, catching her breath.
The giant silver spaceship rested, still and silent, at the end of the long
furrow it had ploughed through the trees.
Even once Marlee was breathing normally, her heart hadn’t
returned to its normal beat. This ship held so much promise, so many
possibilities. If its occupants were still alive, and the ship repaired,
perhaps they could escape from this planet?
Despite the crash, she could see little damage to its
graceful shape. A shape that bore only the slightest resemblance to the ship
that had brought her people here. The Tenacity had been built for carrying
people and cargo over long distances. Nelor told her it had taken forever to
reach this planet, and she supposed that to a five year old, the nine months of
the trip must have seemed like forever. This ship, long and slim, had been
built for speed.
Not that it was going anywhere now.
After a while, when nothing happened, she stepped out from
behind a tree, wondering where the entrance was. There was no door that she
could see, only a word on the side in raised text. Hylista. She stepped closer and touched the exterior with
one finger. It was still warm.
She ran her hands slowly over the text, down across the
smooth surface then paused. The perfect shell was marred by a rough patch. Her
fingers slid up and down a small crack, imperceptible to the human eye. She
pushed at it with her fingers then jumped back as a gaping hole appeared in the
surface with a hiss. Smoke billowed out.
She hovered a few metres back, coughing. Her nose wrinkled.
It smelled strange, bitter and tangy, not like normal smoke at all.
Even when it cleared, inside remained dark and still. When
no sound or movement eventuated, curiosity overcame her caution, and she
stepped up to the doorway and peered in.
It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the
darkness. Slowly she could make out shapes, buttons, instruments, and a shadowy
form slumped over the console at the front. It didn’t stir. Taking a deep
breath, she ventured inside to find out if it was still alive.
Reckless Rescue (free on Amazon, ibooks
and Nook)
She
believes in fairy tales in real life too, and has been happily married for twelve
years, falling more in love with her husband with every passing year. They
share their life full of adventures with their homeschooled daughter. Yes, true
love takes work, but it’s worth every bit of it. She is optimistic, and
believes that everything will work out, just like in the fairy tales.
So
it’s no surprise that these are the sorts of stories she likes to write. Feel
good romances, with a touch of magic. Her hero’s and heroine’s aren’t perfect,
they’re real people with real problems, and they need to figure out how to work
together to solve them. No one sits around waiting to be rescued in her books.
If
you read a Rinelle Grey story, you can trust in that happy ending. Love will
find a way, even if it seems impossible.
Links:
Webpage:
http://rinellegrey.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rinellegreyauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RinelleGrey
Mailing list: http://rinellegrey.com/notify/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rinellegreyauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RinelleGrey
Mailing list: http://rinellegrey.com/notify/
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