So there I was, sitting in my hotel room in London (Ramón and I were attending the World Science Fiction Convention, long story) when I decided to get online and check my email. Lo and behold, an acceptance email for my Planet Alpha story appeared!

The current release date is sometime in October, and the acquiring editor decided that Assassin was an appropriate title in honor of my delightfully sarcastic Xyran assassin Zhan. If you’ve been following my Mid Week Teases for this story, you’ll soon be able to read the whole thing. Here’s the blurb I just submitted with my cover art sheet — can’t wait to see what Sour Cherry Designs comes up with for this one.

A routine wilderness patrol goes horribly wrong when Sergeant Deacon Shea and his patrol partner are ambushed by scavengers. After a firefight leaves his partner dead and their vehicle destroyed, Deacon is forced to hike out of the mountains alone. Stumbling across a grounded Alphan shuttle, he thinks he’s found a ride home with the Alphan warrior Taric and his Xyran associate Zhan. The handsome aliens, however, have other plans for Deacon — to make him their mate.

Forced to hide their bond from their respective governments, Taric and Zhan never expected to find their third bondmate on Earth, and definitely not in the middle of an unauthorized mission to stop a vicious Xyran slavemaster. Neither of them can resist the urge to claim Deacon, but will their new mate help them catch their old foe, or turn them over to Earth — and Alphan — justice?