Book Tour for A Touch of Lilly by Nina Pierce (Review & GIVEAWAY)

Fans of the sci-fi genre will find much to entice them in A Touch of Lilly by Nina Pierce.  It's got action, mystery, likable characters, and some SUPER HOT romantic encounters.  What more could you want!?!  Keep reading to learn more about this book, along with my impressions of it.  Make sure to leave a comment answering Nina's question about fact finding while reading for your chance to win a print book and author swag!

I’m a scientist. Not only by interest and education, but right down at the basic core of my being. I mean it’s not as if I decided that’s what I wanted to be, but like my gray hair, poor vision, and extroverted personality, it’s woven into the very fiber of me. I can’t even tell you at what age or place I came to this realization. I suspect it was somewhere between my six year old explorations of the frog pond in my backyard (with my older brother) and my fourth grade science project on white carnations drinking colored water that opened my eyes to the infinite curiosities of our world.

Even now, as a *mumble grumble* year old adult, I’m amazed daily by the wonders of all that surrounds me.

So really, it shouldn’t be surprising that when I gave up teaching science for health reasons and became a fulltime writer my genre interests leaned toward the mysterious and allowed me opportunities to do different kinds of research. (Because isn’t that the best part of science?) I’ve spent time at a fire station and a court house, interviewed an architect and a park ranger, delved into feline leukemia and most recently … studied the science of human sexual arousal. It’s so easy for me to lose myself in finding the perfect fact that brings life to a story—even if the reader barely notices it’s there.

My newest release A TOUCH OF LILLY is a sci fi romantic suspense set in deep space. Creating the story’s setting actually required less work than some of my other stories. Since the Nebulae Galaxy is fictional, I could make the planets and their inhabitants whatever I wanted as long as they followed the conventional truths we already know about space, like:  there’s no gravity; traveling at the speed of light is only possible in fiction; heat and light usually come from a central star and if they don’t then it must come from another source in order for humans to inhabit a planet; or that our sense of time (minutes, hours, days) is relative to the planet’s position from its sun. Ya know … those pesky facts only science geeks seem to know about and make most readers’ eyes glaze over.

But please don’t let any of that stuff deter you from checking out this book. A TOUCH OF LILLY is at its core a romance wrapped around the FBI’s hunt for an assassin. Sexy heroes, a kick-ass heroine and one nasty villain looking to take down the government will hopefully pull in readers of all types … even those who think science is a four-letter word.

What about you? When you’re reading do you enjoy an occasional fact (historical or geographical for instance) thrown in or are those things you just skim over? Of course I want to know. I’m curious about stuff like that.

Ex-Chicago detective LILLY D’ANGELO has a secret she doesn’t share with anyone. A master of the one night stand, she’s given up ever finding a soul mate and thrown herself head first into her career. That is, until she captures the wrong alien. Kidnapped and sold into the sex slave trade, she’s shipped into deep space. Barely escaping with her life, Lilly now travels the galaxy working as a bounty hunter using her secret talents to bring down criminals and seeking revenge on the one male who ruined her life.  

Agent DALLAS SAWYER works for deep space’s version of the FBI. After a disastrous mission that left several of his team members murdered, a president executed, and Dallas near death, he’s determined to take down the assassin targeting government officials. When a sexy human female gets between him and his goal, Dallas and his alien partner find themselves on the receiving end of a passionate night they won’t soon forget and a proposition that may very well blow up in their faces.

Because in deep space … true love can happen with just a touch.

EXCERPT:

He maneuvered them through the growing throng of the tavern figuring he could enjoy a quick romp and get the human as far from this place as he could before all hell rained down.

“I don’t even know your name,” she said.

“My friends call me Sawyer. You can call me Dallas.”

“Like the planet? Dallas Eight?”

“No the city.” He pulled open the door and motioned her onto the street.

The woman scrunched her face in that cute habit she had. Maybe she’d never been to Earth. It wasn’t so farfetched. Since the first wave of humans left Earth nearly sixty years ago, hoping to find uninhabited planets to ease Earth’s overcrowding, they’d managed to reproduce on all dozen planets in the Nebulae Galaxy. Dallas knew there were at least two generations of humans on Reigis Alpha who had never set foot on their planet of origin.

“As in Texas?” she asked.

He stopped short just outside the tavern. “You know Earth?”

Even in the blue wash of the unnatural lights lining the bustling street he could see the color flooding her cheeks. “I’m human, aren’t I?” She planted her hands on her hips.

Yep, he’d screwed that up. Her color was indignation, not embarrassment. 

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

Lilly's life hasn't turned out as she planned.  Growing up all she wanted to do was be a police detective like her father when an unscrupulous man in power discovered the secret of her genetics and sold her to the highest bidder as he didn't want such a tainted creature in power.  Being a Seraphelium, and finding herself on a ship heading towards sexual slavery, she used her special abilities to escape and has been on the run ever since.  Convinced her gifts are a curse and that she'll never find anyone to love her for herself, she's now a loner with no friends, family, or allies until the day she meets the one man she can't use her gift on.

Dallas is a QAL agent and still recovering from a mission gone wrong that killed the woman he shared with his best friend Thaegan and left him scarred with unique abilities of his own after coming near death.  He's now desperate to prove that he's capable of finding the assassin who almost destroyed his team and the QAL leak who's been selling them out.  He's immediately drawn to Lilly when he sees her in a bar and thinking her a space prostitute he decides to share a fleeting moment with her that changes their lives forever.  Seeing her in the thick of his mission has him questioning her true story and using rather unorthodox sexual means to learn the truth about her.  He's at once sympathetic towards her while admiring her strength in living with her own emotionally scarred past.  With his own special abilities he's able to withstand Lilly's potent hormones which makes their relationship perfect.  Adding in his sexy and sarcastic friend Thaegan makes for an even more smokin' HOT coupling that is super steamy with moments of playfulness.  Lilly presents this duo with the means to catch the assassin but Dallas is desperate to keep her safe which once again leads her to act on her own and brings shocking truths to light that could end their burgeoning relationship before it even starts.

Dallas is a wonderful hero, loyal and honorable, and is the first man to show true kindness to Lilly.  His feelings for her are genuine and you sense their closeness from the moment their eyes meet.  Lilly is an entertaining heroine more than capable of taking care of herself in her new job as bounty hunter where her unique abilities help her in catching the bad guys.  Thaegan appears gruff at first but he's a truly loyal friend who would die for those he cares about.  He's suspicious of Lilly early on but after learning the truth of what she's endured he becomes extremely protective.  He still retains his snarky manner which brought much humor to the story.  Together they form a steamy ménage and ultimately make an unbeatable team that brings the bad guys to their knees.  Ms. Pierce has created a vividly depicted world full of colorful aliens and bleak worlds.  The bar where Lilly and Dallas meet felt like the Cantina out of Star Wars and I found myself immediately immersed in this intriguing world.  The mystery surrounding the assassin and QAL leak was kept well hidden and was resolved in an action-packed way full of bloodshed, tears, and sacrifice.  From start to finish I enjoyed this edge of your seat thrill ride that perfectly balanced steamy encounters with breathless action and suspense and wholeheartedly recommend it to not only sci-fi geeks but lovers of true romance as well. 

My rating for this is an A.

*I received this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

USA Today Bestselling author, Nina Pierce, grew up in a house full of readers. Nina's discovered the passionate side of romance with her sexy stories. For her, it's all about the sweet scent of seduction mixed with the heartwarming aroma of romance.
Nina resides in New England with her high school sweetheart and soul mate of twenty-eight years and several very spoiled cats who consider her "staff". When she’s not writing she enjoys spending time with her three grown children, one love-sick son-in-law and a heart-melting grandson.
You can keep up with her new books at her website (http://www.NinaPierce.com) or by following her on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nina.pierce) or Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/ninapierce)

**********GIVEAWAY**********

Nina will be awarding A print copy of HEALER’S GARDEN and author swag (Shipping to US winner only. International winner will receive a $25 Amazon OR BN Gift Card in lieu of print book and swag) to a random commenter during the tour.

-To be entered, leave a comment ANSWERING NINA'S QUESTION AT THE END OF HER POST, along with your email addy.

-Winner will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more you comment the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.

-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST TONIGHT (8/9).