Pico's Crush: SFR Showcase - Carol Van Natta

Pico's Crush in the SFR Showcase

Welcome to the Science Fiction Romance Brigade Showcase, where authors share snippets from new work, works in progress, cover reveals, character interviews, and so forth. See the other fun posts here.

Today, I'm sharing a short excerpt from my new release, Pico's Crush, Book 3 in my Central Galactic Concordance space opera romance series.

Ex-military sniper and current personal security specialist Jerzi Adams is using his vacation time to visit Pico, his 19-year-old daughter, at the prestigious Optimal Polytechnic university, which happens to be on the paradise planet of Nila Marbela. The last person he expects to run into is an old friend from his military career.

……………………………

“Professor De Luna! Come meet my dad.”

Jerzi turned to see the famous professor of materials science who had inspired Pico to declare a study focus for her certificate. The woman was a little taller than mid-height, conservatively dressed in a long-sleeved, high-necked, dark jacket with half-tails, and her dark hair was scraped back away from her striking face. If she wore makeup on her light brown skin, it was subtle. She seemed familiar, somehow.

“Professor Andreina De Luna, this is my dad…”

“Commander Crush,” she said with a lopsided smile. “It’s a small galaxy.”

It was the use of his old unit nickname and her soft Spanish accent that finally sparked his memory. “Subcaptain Lightning. It certainly is.” Delight bloomed in him, and he grinned and held out a fist to her, thumb up. She bumped his knuckles twice with a fist of her own, once straight up and once turned sideways.

Pico looked back and forth at them, owl-eyed. “You know each other?”

Andra nodded. “Five years together as gunnin in the CGC Ground Division, Command’s Forward Intelligence Unit Zulu Six Echo.” She winked at him. “Your father was the best sniper we ever had.”

Jerzi felt himself redden, as if he was suddenly twelve years old. He ducked his head to hide it. “Thanks.”

He looked at her more closely, trying to reconcile the brash, volatile, very unconventional officer he’d known in the military with the sedate, contained woman in front of him. She was the picture of a dedicated academic, though her straight pants didn’t quite hide her muscular legs, and he suspected her shoes were more practical than they looked.

She’d apparently been thinking along the same lines. “You sure clean up good, Adams. Nice suit. Must have given the designer fits with all those extra muscles.” She winked at Pico, who smirked back.

He had no idea why women were interested in what he wore, but no way in hell was he getting into a discussion about clothes. “Materials science, huh? That’s what they’re calling boom-down these days?”

Andra’s eyebrow twitched. “Claro que sí. Of course. Sounds more dignified in the college brochure.”

“What’s boom-down?” asked Pico.

“Munitions. Explosions,” said Jerzi.

……..

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Blurb: Whoever wrote the guidebook description of the planet of Nila Marbela must have a very different meaning for the word “paradise.” When ex-military sniper and current personal security specialist Jerzi Adams visits his daughter Pico's quiet college, he doesn’t expect emergency evacuations and rogue robots. Nor does he expect to renew a friendship with former squadmate, Andra DeLuna. Explosions, sabotage, and assaults used to be her routine, but she gave it up for a professorship at a prestigious university.

When the hunt for a cunning serial killer leads Jerzi's old friends Luka and Mairwen (Overload Flux) to town, trouble in paradise is the least of anyone's worries when the body count starts to rise. Either the world of academia has gone from merely cutthroat to downright deadly, or more sinister forces in conflict, with the campus as a battleground. It's going to take an improvised miracle or two for everyone to make it out alive.

Pico's Crush is space opera, adventure, and romance that give new meaning to the old curse, “may you live in interesting times.”

Get your copy today and come along for the next wild ride in the Central Galactic Concordance series.

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Pico's Crush is a complete story. It can be enjoyed without having read the series, but your experience will be enhanced if you've read the previous books.
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The Central Galactic Concordance series: