Day 5 Michael's 70k Bash Sara York

Good afternoon. I'm happy to have good friend and fab author Sara York on the blog. She's also a brilliant cover artist as you know. Let's see what she has to say!

This weekend is movie weekend for my family. Today is The Vow. It's a cute romantic story that makes you feel. I love romantic stories that are full of promise, hope, excitement, good feelings and in the end, enduring love. But to get to the enduring love part you have to go through a lot of crap.

I enjoy making my characters suffer. I probably shouldn't admit it but I do like exploring the painful side of life. Before the Proposal is Ryan and Jesse story, written to tell the before of No Fault of His Own which was written for the Goodreads free reads event. Ryan and Jesse's story is sweet, but doesn't come without pain.

In the Texas Soul series, the boys are taken for a ride that leaves some of them broken, other's bereft with a hole the size of Texas in their heart, and still others so fully in love that nothing else matters. The Texas Soul series is Lane and Gresh's story. There are other characters involved, but in the end, it's all Lane and Gresh.

In March I have a new series coming out, Love Without Borders and Love Without Restraint. Jason and David's story is full of complex emotions and pain. Which goes back to The Vow. Losing the ability to remember, forgetting everything about your life would be amazingly disturbing. The crazy thing is that The Vow is based on true events. The complexities of life are so diverse, each person experiencing such different realities that it's no wonder we end up with pain, and hurting each other, eventually causing pain to those we love.

Without You is the amazing tale of Zander and Layton, two warriors who find themselves in a desperate situation. Their pain is huge, leaving them in a desperate situation that neither of them ever thought they would be in.

***** Sara is giving away 2 books, 1 to each winner of their choice!

Blurb for Without You

Within moments of meeting, attraction sizzled between Zander and Layton, drawing them closer than most. But when tragedy strikes, Zander's world is ripped apart, leaving him near crippled. Layton, his partner, blames himself for the accident. Falling into despair, he seeks out dangerous war zones, using his Kito Fighting Force skills to inflict destruction. Pain and agony trumps everything, sending Layton searching for solace with another, only to be caught by Zander.

Unable to hold it together, Layton lashes out, his anger building to epic proportions. Layton won't survive unless something changes. But can the warrior crawl out of his pit of self-loathing and become half the man Zander was, or will he fail at living without Zander at his side?

Buy Link - http://www.amazon.com/Without-You-ebook/dp/B009LD3L8K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1353683787&sr=1-1&keywords=without+you

Without You

Sara York

After the human wars, the governments of Earth fell apart. Distrust wove through the very fabric of humanity as they searched for something good. When the aliens came, they were welcomed. Encouraging the humans to come together, thus creating one governing body, the aliens brought people closer, creating peace.

With the aliens came advancement in technology, medicines, and an overwhelming feeling of goodness. Humans bred with aliens, producing superior beings known as skiffs. Travel to distant planets became a reality, scattering humans and skiffs across the galaxy, giving them hope for a better tomorrow.

Chapter One

Present Year 2316 A.D.

Zander crooked his lips into a smile and tapped Layton on his ass. “This one is your show. Where to now?”

“My show. You brat, you made the plan for this rescue, you lead.” Layton backed up and ground against Zander, leaving him needy as hell.

“You’re insatiable and you’re not distracting me from this path. Those are some nasty beasts in there. I don’t think I want to lead.”

“Ha, you’re too funny. Of course they're nasty, that’s why we’re here.” Layton pushed back again, laughing when Zander groaned.

“So you take the left and I’ll go to the right,” Zander whispered.

“That’s what you put in the plan.”

“Helmets on.” Zander shoved his helmet over his short-cropped dark hair, covering his face with the breathing mask and flipping on the oxygen. As Skiffs, a human-alien hybrid, he and Layton could breathe in almost any atmosphere, their bodies designed to be precision instruments, making them both ultimate fighting machines, but they always wore their masks when entering a battle situation because surprises were the norm and the enemy could throw anything at them.

“Yes sir,” Layton growled over the mic system as he covered his head and face, leaving him looking like any of the other eighteen Skiffs in their unit, but Zander could always spot Layton, even in full gear he knew his lover.

“My count,” Zander uttered into his mic. He had faith in the guys on his team and didn’t turn to check if they were ready, he knew they were. He held up his hand, making quick signals that would mean nothing to civilians, but his elite Kito Fighting Force understood completely.

They would be silent from here on out, only speaking once they’d located the captives and began their rescue. Zander stepped into the large vent tube to the right, his feet rolling with each step, minimizing sound. The bowels of Granton, the fifth planet from Ziar, a red giant, stank like garbage. It was the vilic beasts that contributed to the stink. Their eating habits were disgusting, leaving half-rotted carcasses strung across the caverns as they moved from place to place. He hated vilics, hated the way they looked, hated the fact that they were huge, but most of all he hated their poisonous saliva.

Granton was famous for their mines and their volatile political and economic systems. He wouldn’t even touch their slave habit that cost them more trouble than the slaves were worth. If they hired laborers instead of trying to own them, most of their issues would be solved. This particular uprising was because of the slaves.

Months ago, the government’s balancing act had come crashing down, leaving a mess when a few slaves broke free, capturing their owners and killing them. The citizens spiraled out of control and the army freaked out. Instead of the skirmish ending quickly, the Granton natives, the ones sold as slaves, rebelled. For some stupid reason the army leaders traveled to Lalvo, a neighboring planet, and captured their rulers thus drawing in the Kito. Galactic peace dictated that Zander and his crew move in for the rescue. That was the only reason he would go crawling through the ventilation systems on the side of this mountain full of beasts that blocked the path to the Lalvo President and his cabinet.

The air vent changed directions and Zander followed the trail. Four guys were behind him, the rest with Layton or Brant circling around the mountain, preparing to swoop in and release the prisoners. Micha’s five were following Brant’s team, ready to jump in if necessary, but their primary duty was to escort the Lalvo president to safety.

After an hour of crawling through the vents, his team of Kito fighters were in place. Zander looked through his view scope and spied Layton and Brant’s teams on the opposite side of the cavernous prison, their hands raised to indicate they were ready. He lifted his hand, signaling the beginning of the attack. They descended quickly on ropes, dropping to the floor inside the innermost prison cell, bypassing the vilic caves.

In twenty-five seconds the room was secure, the Granton guards defeated without blaster fire, and the Lalvo President safe with Micha’s five. Now, all they had to do was escape the madness. The team knew what came next, no need to detail the operation. Everything progressed smoothly until Zander’s five ran into one of the hairy vilics roaming the mountain. The stench turned his stomach, the rancid odor reminded him of the open latrines on Jumac, the poorest planet in the galaxy. One bite and it would all be over. Not that their mouths were big or that powerful, just nasty. You’d die from one disease or another if their saliva made contact with skin.

He didn’t want to use his blaster, not this soon into their mission. The Granton guards would be alerted of the blast by sound traveling through the tunnels and send reinforcements, the last thing he wanted.

The vilic advanced and one of his men fired. Now the race was on. Zander’s team would be the last one out, so he took up position at the rear of the troupe as they rushed through the tunnels, blasting everything in their way.

“We’ve got problems.” One of the guys stated over their headsets, Jau if he had to guess.

“Go ahead,” Zander whispered.

“Granton guards have blocked the exit.”

Zander cursed, wishing that Jau were wrong but knowing he wasn’t. “Alternative route, let’s backtrack.” He wished they could use the ventilation tunnels they’d come in on, but there was no way they could get the president of Lalvo and his twelve cabinet members thirty feet in the air without more equipment, which he hadn’t wanted to bring in. Going down wasn’t difficult, but pulling up six very overweight men plus the other six in the cabinet would be difficult. Then having to hoist up the aging president would have been near impossible without someone being injured, most likely the president.

Layton’s voice sounded in his ears but the news wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “This exit is blocked too. Looks like we need to call in for a lift.”

Zander punched in the code, requesting air support. The mission was falling apart fast, leaving him wondering if they could get the president and his party out alive. The situation grew more desperate by the minute as more vilics were released to attack. The Granton guards had to have known a rescue mission would have been mounted, now they would have to figure out if someone in the Galactic governing body had tipped their hat, leaving Zander and his team vulnerable.

A hovercraft arrived, blowing a hole in the thinnest layer of rock over the prison. The Kito used their personal shields to deflect the rocks from hitting them and their charges, too bad the Grantons had shield-piercing rounds, otherwise escape would be easy. Ropes and baskets were lowered and the Lalvo president was pulled to safety. His men worked diligently to rescue the other twelve leaders. Zander’s team, Layton, and two other men were still in the cave when a sound that chilled Zander’s blood echoed through the cavern. The gurgling, boiling, zapping noise could be none other than boiling electric acid. The caustic acid burned everything in its path, even eating away at the rocky floors before the deadly liquid neutralized. That only occurred when the rocks began to melt, blending with and changing the acid to a base. But destruction would be wrought over the landscape long before the acid lost its potency. Few, if any planets would ever use the boiling electric acid because of its devastating effects on the ecosystem, but the Grantons were desperate.

The protocol was set, Zander would be the last to leave. Fear pinged through him as he glanced around. Too many men were on the ground, they had to get loaded on to the ship.

Layton tore off his goggles and mask, desperation swimming in the depths of his eyes. “Zander?”

“Go, I’m right behind you.”

For a moment it looked like Layton wasn’t going to leave, then Jau slapped the cable onto Layton and the decision was no longer his. Layton along with the last two members of his five rose out of the roof of the prison. Layton cried out, his growl of anger echoing around the room.

“Zander, you go next,” Jau called out.

“No Jau, I’m the leader, first in, last out.”

“Zander, you fucker, get your ass up here,” Layton screamed.

Zander tore off his helmet and pulled the ear bud from his ear, cutting off all communication from Layton. The ropes dropped again and three of Zander’s men were pulled to safety. All that was left was he and Jau.

Jau pushed his helmet back, his eyes filled with sorrow as the green acid sizzled into the cavern. They climbed up on a pile of rocks as the instinct to survive wove through them. Clinging to Jau, Zander lifted his gaze to the hole in the roof. The rescue cords were dropping but not fast enough to beat the acid.

"Take care, my friend," Jau growled.

"We'll get out of this."

"You are the best Zander, don't ever forget it."

Green goo rushed toward their feet, lapping at the rocks where he stood. A drop splashed up, melting a hole through Zander’s pants. Another small wave hit the rocks and sprayed on his skin. Pain ripped through him, taking his breath away.

Jau hugged him tighter and spun around. The cable jerked beside Zander and Jau reached out, grabbing it, slapping onto Zander’s suit. The acid rose, swamping his feet, eating away at his boots, socks, and finally the flesh on his feet. Agony seized his consciousness, blanking his mind as a scream wrenched from his lips.

For more information on Sara York books visit http://sarayork.com