Guest Author: Kelly Jensen

Yesterday, Angela posted a review of Kelly Jensen’s new book, To See the Sun, and really enjoyed it! Today Kelly is here to give us a little more glimpse into her world.

Survival is hard enough in the outer colonies—what chance does love have?

Life can be harsh and lonely in the outer colonies, but miner-turned-farmer Abraham Bauer is living his dream, cultivating crops that will one day turn the unforgiving world of Alkirak into paradise. He wants more, though. A companion—someone quiet like him. Someone to share his days, his bed, and his heart.

Gael Sonnen has never seen the sky, let alone the sun. He’s spent his whole life locked in the undercity beneath Zhemosen, running from one desperate situation to another. For a chance to get out, he’ll do just about anything—even travel to the far end of the galaxy as a mail-order husband. But no plan of Gael’s has ever gone smoothly, and his new start on Alkirak is no exception. Things go wrong from the moment he steps off the shuttle.

Although Gael arrives with unexpected complications, Abraham is prepared to make their relationship work—until Gael’s past catches up with them, threatening Abraham’s livelihood, the freedom Gael gave everything for, and the love neither man ever hoped to find.

Excerpt:

Keeping it Casual

As he stood with his hands pressed to either side of the beverage maker the next morning, Bram counted back through the days since their return from Landing. Gael might not have been dreaming of spun sugar and butterflies, but he hadn’t awakened screaming since then.

Gael appeared a half hour or so later, soft footsteps across the terrace tracking a path to Bram’s side. He stood so close their hands touched, and watched the sky brighten to the fullness of yellowy-gray they could expect, then turned to smile at Bram. Bram wasn’t looking at him, but he could always sense Gael’s smiles.

“What should I wear under the environment suit?” Gael asked.

No observation on how bright the sun was this morning, or how the dew sparkled against the tender leaves of Aavi’s small vegetable patch. Just a quiet affirmation of their plans for the day.

Bram turned to him. “If I don’t take you this morning, you’ll ask me again at dinner, won’t you?”

“And every day until you do.”

“I like that about you.”

Gael blushed his attractive blush.

Bram tilted his head toward the house. “C’mon. Let’s go get something to eat and make a list of all the things Aavi’s not allowed to do while we’re in the crevasse.”

“She’ll be good.”

“Yeah?”

“She wants to stay here as much as I do.”

Keeping it casual, Bram nodded and led the way back inside. An hour later, that sweet sense of joy was a little harder to ignore. Gael in the form-fitting garment worn under an environment suit? Holy mother of everything. Beneath tightly woven blue fabric, slender muscle flowed into slender muscle, giving a new definition to lean. There was not a spare ounce, not a wasted cell. Perfection was a myth, but Gael’s body nestled close. Despite his humble origins—or perhaps because of them—he was well made. And he had unconscious grace. His way of standing and turning, every movement enhanced by skintight fabric, only added to the allure.

Gael finished twitching the suit into place over his ribs—evidently taking the warning against wrinkles and pressure seriously—and glanced up. A second later, he was giving Bram the same scrutiny Bram had just given him, and judging by his shy smile, not checking for imperfections in the fabric or places where it might fold. He was assessing Bram’s structure.

Apparently blushes were incredibly mobile phenomenon, able to move from face to chest to groin to legs, and back up again. Thankfully, none of this was visible beneath Bram’s own covering of dark blue.

When Gael had looked his fill, he met Bram’s gaze with a slow grin. “I like these outfits.”

Bram sucked in a breath. Let it out. “You’ll be a sweaty mess inside an hour.”

“Don’t care.”

Publisher: Riptide Publishig
Release Date: August 13, 2018
Length: Print – 243 pages. Ebook – 295 pages.
Subgenre: Science fiction, western
Reader warnings: past and present violence, and references to past abuse.

For a full list of tags, visit: https://riptidepublishing.com/titles/to-see-the-sun and click on “Additional Details”

Links:
Riptide Publishing: https://riptidepublishing.com/titles/to-see-the-sun

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/829052

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-see-the-sun-kelly-jensen/1128691285?ean=2940162126768

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/to-see-the-sun

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/to-see-the-sun/id1383776817?mt=11

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/See-Sun-Kelly-Jensen/dp/162649830X/

About Kelly Jensen:

If aliens ever do land on Earth, Kelly will not be prepared, despite having read over a hundred stories of the apocalypse. Still, she will pack her precious books into a box and carry them with her as she strives to survive. It’s what bibliophiles do.

Kelly is the author of a number of novels, novellas and short stories, including the Chaos Station series, co-written with Jenn Burke. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.

Enter the Giveaway:

Prize: Enter to win any back catalog Chaos Station ebook by Kelly Jensen and Jenn Burke or paperback of Always and Forever: A Chaos Station Collection by Kelly Jensen and Jenn Burke. Open internationally.