Cowboys and Aliens: Colony: Holiday, #1

By Demelza Carlton

When her boss saddles her with the task of planning a suitable celebration for the Colony's one-year anniversary, Rana settles for an ancient American tradition: Thanksgiving. There's just one problem…what's a turkey, and where can she get one?

Byron fled Earth in the wake of tragedy. Now, he will do anything to protect his new farm in space – including fight aliens. No matter how attractive they might be.

Can a cowboy and an alien set aside their differences, celebrate Thanksgiving, AND find love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lost Plot Press
• Release date: Nov 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393731573

Book preview

Cowboys and Aliens:

An Alien Scifi Romance

DEMELZA CARLTON

A tale in the Colony series

When her boss saddles her with the task of planning a suitable celebration for the Colony's one-year anniversary, Rana settles for an ancient American tradition: Thanksgiving. There's just one problem...what's a turkey, and where can she get one?

Byron fled Earth in the wake of tragedy. Now, he will do anything to protect his new farm in space – including fight aliens. No matter how attractive they might be.

Can a cowboy and an alien set aside their differences, celebrate Thanksgiving, AND find love?

Want to read more hot alien romance?

Get the complete series bundle for 50% off HERE:

https://demelzacarltonbooks.com/products/complete-colony-universe-ebook-bundle

COPYRIGHT

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2020 Demelza Carlton

Lost Plot Press

All rights reserved.

Cover Design by Sheri-Lynn Marean of SLM Creations

All right, everyone, you know the drill. On three. One, two, three...Haaaappy birthday... Rana's voice was quickly drowned out by the rest of the office as they took up the song. She'd never admit it to anyone, but this was why she organised birthday morning teas for the office. Not for the cake, not for the smiles, though both were wonderful, but for the shared song, air vibrating in a dozen or more throats in harmony and joy. For an air elemental like her, it was as close as she came to bliss these days.

If that cake tasted as good as it looked, this would definitely qualify as her best birthday ever.

Now cut the cake and make a wish! someone said.

Rana took the knife gingerly – it was big enough to cut the whole cake in two, and the pastrychef at Sweet Teeth had gone to so much trouble with the airy whirls of cream and frosting – and touched the blade to the top of the cake.

Make a wish! Make a wish! It seemed everyone took up the chant.

The blade slid through the cake like it was little more than air.

She wished...she could make a connection with someone. Someone she could spend time with. It didn't have to be another air elemental – stars knew most of her people had perished when their colony ship, the Titanic, had been destroyed at the beginning of the war, blown out with the ship's air supply, to die slowly for want of air and energy in the vacuum of space. No, just someone whose company she enjoyed, who liked spending time with her. Someone who cared enough about her to remember her birthday, and maybe share her birthday dinner tonight, instead of heading home alone to fall into bed, exhausted.

Not that she had time to meet anyone, let alone go out for dinner, lately.

Especially when her boss kept her so busy she could barely catch her breath most days.

Rana!

Stars. Was Ira's meeting with Paris over already? Usually his meetings with the counselling staff took longer. The mental health problems in the Colony weren't going to simply go away, not after they'd lost so much, both in leaving their homes and then during the war here.

That's why it was so important to celebrate what they could – birthdays, anniversaries, all the small victories that proclaimed to the universe that they were still here, still fighting to live and be happy.

Rana handed the cake knife to one of the detectives, excused herself, and headed over to Ira.

Yes, sir? she asked, summoning a smile to her face.

He waved his hand. Is all this really necessary?

Paris's usually serene countenance darkened with a frown.

Rana's heart went out to her, as she sucked all her courage into her core to strengthen her. He might be a powerful Titan, but she wasn't afraid of him. "Yes, sir, it most certainly is. It's a celebration of another year of life, which none of us were certain of before the peace talks. Every victory should be celebrated, no matter how small. It's also a gesture of appreciation, of thanks for their hard work, because even in the relative peace here in the Colony, it hasn't been easy. Especially with a mixed race force, when Humans