Thursday, August 15, 2013

Guest Author Spotlight: Toni V. Sweeney

Science Fiction and Roses 

and 

a Handsome Dragon or Two

by

Toni V. Sweeney
Remember that 1987 comedy starring Elizabeth Shue, where a teenager and the kids she’s agreed to babysitter get embroiled in all kinds of wild situations?  Pure fiction, right?  Everyone knows babysitting is two parts dull and one part watching TV while the kids sleep.  What if you saw this ad in the local newspaper: Nanny wanted. Must have desire for, and ability to accept, excitement, adventure, and danger.
Would you be tempted to answer it?  No?  Not even if the address was a New York penthouse and the advertiser a rich, handsome and fairly young widower?  And he had three of the cutest kids you’d ever seen?  And a to-drool-over older son, plus an even more hunky younger brother?  Even if the to-die-for brother had the slightly weird name of “Kitten” and wore sunglasses at three in the morning?
Do I hear “Yes!” popping up everywhere?
That’s the situation for Miranda Wilson when she answers Dominic Andrus’ ad.  Granted the interview’s a little strange—and even Miranda will admit it—for all Mr. Andrus wants to know is whether Miranda likes science fiction, what her opinion is concerning flying saucers and Men in Black, and if she minds traveling.  Son Niki is good-looking and a bit of a flirt though he’s a definite chauvinist.  As for her new charges…triplets, Paris, Diana, and Adrian are smart, cute, and at the center of a gigantic custody battle between Dominic and his former in-laws, a fight so horrendous he has had to leave his home and take up residence in New York where they have no jurisdiction…
That’s the first inkling all isn’t as it seems in the Andrus household appears.  Suddenly Miranda has too many questions—why does Niki carry a concealed weapon?  Who is the beautiful young girl living with the Andruses and why does Niki hate her so?  How did Dominic’s late wife really die? Where is Dominic Andrus really from?
…and then there’s the multi-married Kitten Andrus, handsome, brooding, and father of eight.
Eight?
Children?
Hold it…let’s think this over…
Miranda meets Kit via cellphone, his image set against the billowing flames of an Andrus tanker which those same former in-laws have just blasted.  Naturally, Dominic has to return home, wherever that is, leaving Miranda in charge.  She sees Kit in person months later when he appears in the middle of the night announcing he’s come to take Miranda, the triplets, and everyone in the penthouse “to Dom.”  Boarding a yacht in the harbor, they’re on their way, but minutes after the ship weighs anchor, fighter planes attack, and Miranda learns the truth first hand that everything she’d thought about Dominic Andrus has been a lie…everything except his love for his children, that is.
Miranda is about to experience some very deadly adventures in babysitting!
What would you do if you suddenly learned your employer is an interplanetary Mafioso and the man you love is his chief hitman?  And those in-laws?  Just a rival crime family, that’s all, with a leader is determined kill every member of the Andrus clan and take back Dominic’s children.
What can one Earthwoman do to save the aliens she’s come to love?
What she does is join the fight, nearly get herself killed, and along the way, makes Kit sit up and realize he can’t live without her.
Kill the villain…go into a clench…kiss…cue the credits…
…and prepare for a sequel.
Dragon in Chains takes up minutes after the last scene in The Rose and the Dragon. Big Bad Dragon Kitten turns into ardent lover Kit, defying the imperial law stating it’s illegal to associate with an alien.

There’s a wedding for Niki and Ardala.  Seems he didn’t hate the girl after all, but was pining away in lust for her instead.  The House of Andrus is in the midst of celebrating when in storms Federation Policeman Ceran Synubis, brandishing his badge and making arrests right and left.  Niki is jerked out of his wedding bed. Kit and Miranda are separated. The children are placed in foster homes as their fathers are led away in handcuffs.
Miranda finds herself chief witness for the prosecution in a judicial system where asking for a lawyer is an admission of guilt and if she tells the truth of her relationship with Kit, it may condemn him.
I had fun writing these two stories. There were so many ways to take life on Earth and give it just enough of a twist to make it life on another planet.  I think the surprise at the end—and I sincerely hope no ones sees it coming!—will answer all the questions and satisfy everyone, as well.
Dragon in Chains will be available from Class Act Books on August 15.
The Rose and the Dragon is available at: 




Author’s Bio:
Icy Snow Blackstone was born in 1802, in northern Georgia where her father, the Reverend John Blackstone, was prominent in local politics.  She married a minister, raised seven children, and lived there all her life. Two hundred and five years later, her great-great-great-great-granddaughter began using her name as a pseudonym for her romance novels. The present Icy Snow Blackstone lives far from her Southern roots in Lancaster County, Nebraska, where she continues to write romances generally set in the South.  Her seventh novel, Dragon in Chains, a sequel to The Rose and the Dragon, will be released in April, 2013, by Class Act Books
You can find out more about Icy Snow at:

Twitter: @tonivsweeney




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