Hum the subject line to the music of “Singing in the Rain”… That’s what I’m doing in my head.

That picture isn’t me, my girls, or my pool, but that’s what I was doing today. I took a break from an editing project and hit the pool. The temperature was in the mid-90s until some clouds rolled by and dumped a bunch of rain. Since there was only thunder in the distance, we all ran out to the pool. Lord, it felt so good.

That’s all I’ve got. I finished up the edits a little while ago, and I’m going to close down my computer and do NOTHING for the rest of the evening. I’ve earned some laziness. I don’t even have the energy to break out the paints.

I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend—that you’re recharged and ready for another week. I start on my next book tomorrow! Whee!

UPDATE: The winner is…Cara!
*~*~*

It’s Saturday, and I have edits, edits, edits. Not the fun stuff. I can’t start the fun stuff (my next book) until I get this job out of the way. But onward!

Before we get to the puzzle, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who purchased and read Victoria’s Six. And thank you to all who posted reviews! They matter!

Puzzle-Contest

I chose today’s puzzle image based on the fact that today is International Day of the Seafarer! So have fun! Solve the puzzle and tell me who your favorite seafarers are for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Open Contests

1. The Saturday Puzzle-Contest! Plus, More Open Contests! — Have fun! — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Scavenger Hunt! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. The Weekend–Batman-style! (Contest) — Win a FREE book!

UPDATE: The winner is…Beverly!
*~*~*

Psst! There are four open contests besides this one!
Hit “BLOG” above and scroll down to find them!

I’ve used this art before. I love it. It reminds me of the Batman graphics from the old TV show and comics. Are you old enough to remember them? I loved how cheesy/campy that show was. Blap! Zok! Pow!

Fridays feel like they need that sort of emphasis. Fridays are days I typically look at what I should’ve accomplished during the previous week, and I get a final adrenaline surge to finish it up! Blap!

So, what’s still on my plate? I have a set of edits that were tossed over the fence at me—at the last minute—that I have to concentrate on to complete ASAP (that deserves its own Batman graphic!).

So, for a chance to win your choice of a downloadable book from my backlist, tell me whether you use weekends as a chance to finish up projects or do you look at them as a time to relax? Also tell me whether you think I should do my own Batman-style graphics to describe my superhuman efforts? (Just kidding.)

My favorite romance trope of all time is Beauty and The Beast.

One love interest is scarred and surly and believes they are unlovable. The other love interest is beautiful and optimistic and is bursting with love.

They are complete opposites, yet they work. They’re magical together.

I can read this trope again and again, whether it is the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale version or a steamy paranormal romance with a beast shifter in the beast role.

And I write this trope again and again. Each couple (or more) is different because each character is different. They have different histories, different traumas, different ways of withdrawing or hiding themselves from their unique worlds.

Often the beasts in my stories are the heroes. I tend to put myself in the place of the heroine when I read or write and my fantasy is being with the beast.

In Provoking Odium, my latest Cyborg Romance, however, the human heroine claims that role.

Briella is nicknamed Beast for several reasons. She appears fearless, taking on missions deemed too dangerous by others. She is a skilled pilot, a “beast” in the air. No one can fly a freighter through space like she can. She is also scarred, both physically and emotionally. Having been rejected in the past, she now pushes other beings away. She doesn’t allow anyone to get close to her…in any way.

Odium, in contrast, is physically perfect. He’s a cyborg, and they don’t manufacture unsightly cyborgs. (grins) He isn’t, what I would view as, optimistic or sunny in temperament. But he does have quite a few friends and most beings like him.

He wants to claim Briella as his female more than he has ever wanted anything or anyone else. She is his genetic match, and she is also his soul mate.

She’d realize that IF she stopped avoiding him. Odium is persistent and he is determined to care for Briella and protect her. He’s willing to give up his lifespan to do that.

What is your favorite Beauty And The Beast romance?

Provoking Odium

A Beautiful Cyborg

While accompanying his leader on a mission, Odium, an E Model cyborg, hears a distress call over the communication lines. The voice on that message makes his circuits surge with energy and all his systems light up. He has to respond to the mysterious female, would risk his lifespan and the lifespans of everyone on board their ship to protect her.

A Human Female Others Call Beast

Briella gained her nickname due to her flying abilities, her fearlessness, and her scarred countenance. Her verbal-only relationship with the sexy cyborg who answers her distress call is a steamy yet short-lived fantasy. His kind is physically perfect, and she is…not. He will uncover that truth when…if they survive the attack upon her freighter.

***

Provoking Odium is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It features a human female intent on remaining mysterious, a cyborg warrior determined to uncover her identity, and an enemy seeking to destroy them both before they have the opportunity to meet.

Buy Today:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/provoking-odium/id1605490349
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/provoking-odium-cynthia-sax/1140894003
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/provoking-odium
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1127119

About Cynthia Sax

USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes steamy Cyborg, Alien and Contemporary Romances. Her stories have been featured on TV, in Star Magazine, and numerous top ten lists.

Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled monthly newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com.
Website:  https://cynthiasax.com/
Newsletter:   https://cynthiasax.com/newsletter/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/cynthiasax/
Twitter:  @CynthiaSax
Blog:  https://tasteofcyn.com/

UPDATE: The winner is…LL!
*~*~*

While I’m busy getting ready to start a new book, please enjoy yourselves here!
Play, and maybe you’ll win a $10 Amazon gift card!

Send answers to the following questions to me privately
via email at delilah@delilahdevlin.com!

1. Have you read any of the recent releases shown on my Home page? If so, which ones?
2. Take a look at my Upcoming/Coming Soon (get there through the Bookshelf) page and let me know when Gabriel is scheduled to release!
3. On my Series page, what title is Book 5 in my Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT series?
4. Also on my Series page, in which series do you want to see more stories written?
5. On my Upcoming/Coming Soon page, which story are you most eager to read?

Reminder! Enter to win these open contests while you can!

1. Gabbi Grey: What It’s Like to Get the Call (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Cara North: Big Box of Paperbacks! (Contest) — Win a box of paperback books!
3. The Saturday Puzzle-Contest! Plus, More Open Contests! — Have fun! — Win an Amazon gift card!

Victoria’s Six is out now!  And I can’t wait to hear what you think!!

It’s always a nail-biter when a new “baby” releases! But so far, so good. Readers seem to love the pace of the story, the action, the mystery, and the steamy love story! And did I mention the humor? You know I can’t help myself; folks have to smile, too. 🙂

Anyways, if you haven’t already picked up your copy, please do! And when you’ve finished it, tell someone else about it. Readers love to know—from other readers—whether a story is worth their time. Your opinion matters!

And what are readers saying?

“High energy thrills & emotion…a delectable combination of raw emotion, taut tension, thrilling action and captivating suspense, sucked me right in and had me all too eager to keep those pages turning regardless of what else I had to do.”

“Fantastic thrill ride…”

“…a super romantic suspense story. It’s got lots of action and the pacing is great. The characters are well developed and very likable.”

But don’t take anyone else’s word. Reserve your copy now!

I love this story! It takes you to the lovely Jackson Hole valley. You’ll meet characters who will feel like old friends.

Also, if you read it, be sure to leave a review. Your opinion matters to other readers!

~DD

Athena Project: Victoria’s Six
Brotherhood Protectors — Colorado

A former FBI agent—now, an operator in the Athena Project—goes undercover with an ex-SEAL who threatens her vow to never get involved with a partner while they protect a capricious starlet during a days-long house party at a luxury dude ranch.

Victoria Cross left the FBI, burned out after a months-long undercover operation to break up a sex trafficking ring ends with her partner being grievously wounded. Now, her best friend has roped her into joining the Brotherhood Protectors’ Colorado branch as part of their new startup team, The Athena Project, which pairs female operatives with ex-military partners and then sends them into situations only a smaller team can navigate.

Posing as a couple, Victoria and ex-SEAL, Logan Tackett, head to a days-long house party at a luxury dude ranch. It sounds like a cakewalk of an assignment—and yet both Victoria and Logan find their attention divided between the capricious star they’ve been sent to keep out of trouble and each other. Friction grows between the two operatives when Logan treats Victoria’s rule about not getting involved with partners as a challenge while she pushes against his natural, old-fashioned instinct to protect any woman in his sphere.

To complicate matters further, the woman they’re there to protect is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and between riding ATVs at break-neck speeds through the mountains and zip-lining through the forest, they have their work cut out for them trying to keep her alive and healthy until the movie she’s scheduled to star in starts shooting, especially after mysterious accidents begin to happen.

Pre-order your copy now!

Here are all the Athena Project stories…

All the stories are currently available for pre-order on Amazon, and they will be FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Beck’s Six by Desiree Holt

Victoria’s Six by Delilah Devlin

Cygny’s Six by Reina Torres

Fay’s Six by Jen Talty

Melody’s Six by Regan Black