#BlackFriday: Last Chance to Shop by Nina Croft

Black Friday.2014Black Friday is here and we’re discussing the season with Nina Croft’s Saffira Lourdes from Temporal Shift.

Caught between destiny and desire…

After diving into a black hole in search of the source of Meridian, the key to immortality, the crew of the Blood Hunter finds themselves stranded in an alternate universe.

Engineer Devlin Stark doesn’t want immortality. He just wants to live long enough to get his revenge on the man who murdered his brother. Now, he’s trapped in a strange world with a crazy woman who claims he’s fated to be her lover.

Saffira Lourdes has a destiny: to save humanity and lead her exiled people to the Promised Land. Haunted by visions of the past and future, she’s been sustained through the years by a dream lover. Unfortunately, Devlin doesn’t believe in fate. But it’s obvious there’s a connection between them, one that will soon be tested by the limits of time and space. Saffira is about to make the crew of the Blood Hunter an offer they’ll find impossible to refuse.

They’re heading back to Earth, and they’re going back in time…

Make sure you stick around to the end and earn another entry into the Black Friday $50 Amazon giftcard giveaway.
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Last Chance to Shop…

NCroft-Temporal ShiftFrom the window of her luxury hotel room, Saffira gazed down on the Christmas lights all along Oxford Street, and the swarms of people attacking the shops with grim determination. As though this might be the last Christmas they would ever see.

And they could be right.

It occurred to her as she studied the frenzied shoppers, that she’d lived through five hundred Christmases here on Earth—give or take a few—and she’d never been Christmas shopping. Not once.

How sad was that and how pathetic that she thought it sad?

And this year would be her absolute last chance, because if all went to plan, this time next year, she would be far away, tucked up in her cryo tube, and deep asleep.

Suddenly she had the urge to be out there. To be normal for a little while. All her life, she’d worked toward her destiny. Now she was going to go Christmas shopping. Just once. She put on a hat, dark glasses and a long coat and headed out. On the street, the air was cold, holding a hint of frost and just a little swirl of snow.

Strolling along the street, mingling with the hoards, she remembered that there was a very good reason why she’d never gone Christmas shopping—she had no one to buy presents for. She had absolutely no friends or family. Over the years, she’d learned that friends could be dangerous and she had no family anywhere she knew of, certainly not on Earth.

Lights were strung across the street and everywhere sparkled and twinkled like stars in deep space. She’d been in deep space once. And it came to her then, just who she would buy presents for. The crew of the Blood Hunter. She could imagine them sneering at the idea. They hated her, and with good reason.

So what to buy? Doctor Who had been around when Rico lived on Earth—he’d claimed it was his favorite TV show—and it was still going strong. She bought him a T-shirt with a Darlek on the front.

Hmm, for Daisy? The last time she’d seen Daisy, the green girl had been dying. Had she even survived? Her throat had been nearly ripped out. That sort of thing was bound to leave a scar, and Saffira purchased a lime green silk scarf which would clash beautifully with Daisy’s jade green hair.

Wandering through the toy department, her gaze settled on a doll and a little snigger escaped her. It was a miniature Callum Meridian together with a model plane. Callum was a hero here on Earth, a hotshot fighter pilot, and all the kids wanted to be him. The doll would be perfect for Tannis.

Who next? She’d avoided thinking about Devlin, as she did most of the time. But if everything went well, they would meet again. Saffira was relying on it. Would he still fancy her? She’d changed so much since she’d last seen him, but then five hundred years would do that to a person. On the other hand, Devlin wouldn’t have changed at all, because if all went to plan, then for him, the separation would be counted in mere days. This time travel thing did her head in.

Devlin had hated that she was such a naïve little innocent back then. Maybe her present to him should be something to illustrate just how much she had changed. Not that she intended to renew the relationship. This was more in the nature of showing him what he was never going to get again. She bought a pair of skin-tight black leather pants and a black vest, knee-high boots with a four inch heel and scarlet lipstick. She would look seriously hot. Would he like it?

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket and stared at the text. Her presence was required.

Shit.

She headed to the ladies room where she pulled off the hat and the glasses, once again slipping into her role as Founder of the Church of Everlasting Life and Religious Adviser to the last President of the Federation of Nations.

The brightly covered carrier bags containing her purchases littered the floor of the cubicle. She cast them a look of regret, but left them where they lay. Even if she thought for a moment that the crew of the Blood Hunter would appreciate her Christmas gifts—and she was pretty sure they would look with suspicion on anything she gave them—there would be no room on the Trakis One for presents. She’d already filled the allocated space beneath her cryo tube with other more important things, like explosives and timing devices.

She headed for the door, but at the last minute, she turned back and grabbed the bag containing her surprise-Devlin outfit. She’d squeeze it in somehow.

“Merry Christmas, Devlin.” she murmured and hurried out the door.
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Meet Nina Croft!

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of nine-to-five work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina’s writing mixes romance with elements of paranormal and science fiction.

Contact Info: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Amazon | Newsletter

Nina CroftWant to purchase Nina’s novels?
Blood Hunter

  1. Break Out
  2. Deadly Pursuit
  3. Death Defying
  4. Temporal Shift

Order

  1. Bittersweet Blood
  2. Bittersweet Magic
  3. Bittersweet Darkness

Babysitting a Billionaire

  1. Losing Control
  2. Out of Control
  3. Taking Control (Dec 15, 2014)

Please help spread the word: Tweet: Celebrate the chaos of #BlackFriday with #holiday #stories & #contests by 26+ authors @LiteraryEscapis (Nov28-Dec24) http://wp.me/p3SIUp-bGF
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Contest Details

Thank you Nina for taking part in Literary Escapism’s Black Friday!

Here is your daily question: What will Devlin say when he sees Saffira in her sexy outfit? Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered in all LE contests.

Have you checked out the other Black Friday contests yet? Check out the Master List to see all the Black Friday giveaways. To enter the main contest, don’t forget to leave a comment below. All Black Friday contests will remain open until December 31st. All giveaways are subject to LE’s Giveaway Policy.

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About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

10 Comments

  1. now i”m definitely intrigued by this book :) I wonder what she did to make her crew “hate” her… lol… I’ll put my own question… What does Nina want for Christmas?

  2. I agree there was no question listed. I’m glad that Saffira got to go Christmas shopping that first time and I think Devlin will really like her outfit.

  3. I agree that there was no question listed. I think Devlin will like her outfit and think out what he is missing out on.

  4. No question listed. Having problems with commenting. I think Devlin will like the outfit and see what he is missing out on.

  5. Woo hoo! It’s my question ????
    Devlin won’t say anything at all, because he’ll be overcome by the sight of her tight leather pants.

Comments are closed.