Angel Recommends: CL Sholey

So before I get to the recommendation... just a bit of catch up on what's going on with me writing-wise =)  I'm over 50k words into Mastering Lexie, which means that I'm probably about halfway through.  I'm going to be putting it up for pre-order later this week, and when I do I'll announce it on the blog AND also provide a teaser ;)  Woot!  I've also re-released books 1-3 of the Venus Rising Quartet with edits.  Nothing major, but should make the readability a lot better since grammar is definitely improved and I've fixed a lot of words that were wrong.  Also, working on the next chapter of From Terra.  Yay!

So... in the meantime, if you're looking for something to read, I've become a big fan of C.L. Sholey.

I have to admit, I almost didn't make it through the first chapter of Shield, the first book in C.L. Sholey's New World series, but I'm so glad that I did.  It had a bit of a slow start, but things really heated up fast once the humans crash landed and meet their first alien.  

Rask is a Castian, part of a very long-lived race that looks human when they don't have their armor on.  Their armor makes them utterly terrifying, and when Grace first sees him, she panics and flees.

There's lots of cool things about Castians.  Their armor is part of them, it comes out whenever they feel threatened, and when they don't it sinks into their skin.  They're fierce warriors.  They have blood brothers whose thoughts they can read.  Their sense of smell is so good that they can scent emotions.  Oh, and all females on their planet were poisoned and killed off by their enemies, the Tonians, hundreds of years ago, so Grace is the first female that Rask has seen in - literally - hundreds of years.  

Watching him trying to figure out what she is, and then getting all horny but having NO idea what to do about it, is hilarious.  He's an alpha male, but a totally clueless one when it comes to sex, and it's freaking adorable.  Grace is pretty into it as well, since things on earth had pretty much disintigrated before the shuttle that she was on escaped, and women weren't exactly safe from the depredations of men.  Of course, once she starts showing Rask what to do, he catches on quickly.

When they reunite with the rest of his people, things get even more interesting.  There are older Castians who remember the females, and once they find out about this planet Earth, which is dying, and the fact that human females are compatible, the rescue mission is on!  Picture a bunch of horny virgins, who have never met a female, but are super excited to have one... and they just happen to be 6 1/2 foot tall warriors who are totally alpha male even though they don't know what their cock is for.  The best part is, for the most part, the older males seem to think it's best if they figure it out on their own.  

There's a lot of humor in the entire series, a lot of really sweet alpha males, and some great stories when it comes to danger and strong female characters.  I really enjoyed these books on pretty much every level.  I could go into more detail about them, but not without having to explain a lot about the culture of the Castians and Tonians and it's really just better that you read it for yourself, because otherwise it may or may not make sense if I try to do it =D